I recently had to learn github for my job , and to me it just seems like they figured out the perfect way to backup and deal with multiple versions of project files , ability to branch and revert to previous versions and share projects , especially for me I tend to always have like 10+ versions of the same project and it gets confusing really fast , its a mystery to me why no company thought of doing something similar

 

hey this might be off topic, im not a programmer and im not the "smartest tool in the shed" but i fucking hate when a program says "hey last branch available on our github, you just have to compile, learn python, make sure to download the right package, read some obscure documentation, ecc"

dude i just wanna download some pr0n!

 

I can feel the pain , I had to give up eventually and learn how to do it

 

Because you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Git is already there. Just like software developers, producers can use Git (not necessarily GitHub) to track changes in projects. However, the difficulties with non-linear workflows which are due to the nature of binary project files can only be overcome with some kind of a human-readable format (e.g. XML). But then again, music production is much less modular than software development. In most cases it's not very practical to have one person work on the bass track, another person on the strings and then merge them at the end.

 

I think most people just want run-in-the-background super simple versioned backup. Cloud backup solutions like Dropbox work well enough for most non-tech savvy people.

 

I am working with some collaborators on an original tune. We actually have a running history of the work that has been done on it. I can show you this if you DM me.

 

apparently splice thought about doing something similar but they eventually abandoned the idea
https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/09/splice-music/

 

nice! but how you have achieved the history? that was the op's question!

 

It's like anything. It's not that hard once you know how it's done. This is what I am showing plainview. I have tried to show all you guys this stuff here in this forum, but have had almost no interest. I just quietly use it.

 

In this forum we get hecklers and people messing with me/us, so I m not going to put myself out there to be a target for assholes. If you want to know how to do this DM me.

 

Now that you've seen it in action, I think you'll agree it's quite a system google has given us for free.

 

@kooper figured an amazing collaborative system of sharing project files and tracking progress, he made a complete network that allow you to host your own stuff and easily share it , its honestly really smart i am enjoying it till now and I want to thank him for spending alot of time setting it up and teaching me how to use it

 

I saw alot of people attempting to do it with xml files and git like @Olaf said but they always face a problem they cant solve
but also https://jukeblocks.io/convert/ figured a way to convert projects so there is way
but handling media files will be challenge also

this is exactly what i mean , sometimes I make a new version of a project and I completely change the song to a new direction but I still want to continue on the previous versions , something like a git branch would be amazing to track everychange and revert to exactly the point you wanted without having ton of project files + you can have an entire map to your track and the levels it went throught till you finished it which is really interesting

 

Some DAWs alreay support multiple versions of one song

 

Yes it is done through google drive. They have given us a new "kit" for this. @Plainview now has this new kit and really likes it. If you look at the video I shared you see an actual history of the different mixes that I posted during this project. You can indeed look back. As for reverting to earlier saves, just do non destructive saves. You will have a bunch of saves with different names which in itself is a history.

 

number project versions. my scheme goes something like:

00 orig.xxx
01 add bass.xxx
02 etc.
and keep em in a folder that has the project name.
has worked for me for years.
and keep a text file with the names of the plugins you've used in the folder too.
backup is as simple as copying the folder to wherever you want it.

good luck.

 

Reaper will save automatically (gotta turn that on, I think, but I have it on). It also has a "save new version" in the menu, which.. Gasp.. Saves with an incremented number on the end.

Maybe my projects are way different than others, but I'm with @scrappy... I just save with a number on the end. Every time I make a fairly major change, I save with a new number... 0001 on up to whatever it takes.. And all projects are in their own folders with all the versions and files required like samples. I typically name the folder with a description of the song to make me know what it is quicker/easier.