Backups

I’ve learned the hard way to properly back up all files. I’ve so often had to go back and pull up files from like 10 years ago, and in some cases of early files (before I got organized) no longer had the files.

In addition to project files I export stems of each project, titled by project name and instrument.  In future you can easily pull I stems to use on other projects or make revisions if needed.  Sometimes if you need to pull up a project from 5 or more years ago all sample libraries and plugins might no longer be compatible and load up the same, plus working with stems is faster and easier.

My system now is to backup in a number of ways:

I use Backblaze to backup my computer and current work hard drive and sample library hard drives. The catch with backblaze is, depending what plan you choose, it only keeps backed up the files that you regularly (I think at least once every 30 days) have plugged in. It’s great for those drives and computers though. So for example my work computer is always backed up automatically in the background, my current work hard drive and my sample libraries drive. It has actually saved me on a couple occasions, where I lost a file and was able to go online and instantly download it from the backup.

You can check them out here: Backblaze for personal backups or Backblaze business

Large external hard drive. Each year I get a new work drive that has my current projects on it for that year. In addition to that I have a super large external hard drive that I copy all my files from a years work drive to at the end of the year. That drive therefore has all my projects from all my past work hard drives. I can easily plug it in, search for a file from lets say 8 years ago and instantly have it if needed.

Lastly, and this might just be me being extra secure, I backup all past work drives on my dropbox. This way it’s also in the cloud and if I’m traveling I can find files online quickly and easily. To do that I have the unlimited plan with them. It’s pricey but I use dropbox constantly, everyday and therefore is well worth it.