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The Production Grid

Over the course of an album, the number of songs and various versions can balloon to incredible numbers. On a recent 15 song project, I had 50-60 verses to record and edit, (including 3 from guests) and about 80 mixes to print. (For how I got that many, check out my previous column on alternate mixes). Without some form of organization keeping track of all this is nothing short of a nightmare. The solution? A production grid.

I stole this idea from legendary engineer Frank Filipetti a few years back, adapted it to my specific needs. and now can’t do an album without it. (If you’re not familiar with Frank, Google his discography and be impressed). Frank would use a white board, but since we live in the future, Google Docs is great for this. So many albums are done without people in the same room, the document sharing feature is a huge plus so everyone can keep tabs on the progress.

At the bottom of this page is a link to download an Excel file of a blank grid, please feel welcome to not only change it for your needs, but to also leave comments here on what you added or removed, others might benefit from your feedback. Most of the columns should be pretty self explanatory, but I’ll highlight certain details.

Besides Song Title, Producer, and Track Number, columns just get an “X” when that task is completed, therefore showing the progress of each song. Don’t hesitate to type in any pertinent info though.

Song Title: Throughout the course of making an album, song titles will change, maybe many times over. This is a great place to also use the “Comments” feature found in most spreadsheet applications, (under “Insert” in Google Docs) use it to keep track of whatever the hell “Song 13” is now called.

Producer: Great for keeping track for album credits. If you’re not the only engineer, you may want to add an additional column for other engineers, and put their contact info in the comments if you have it. If you wind up with missing files when it’s time to mix, you’ll be glad you have it handy.

Album: Every song you record is not going to make it on the album. Use this to keep track of what stays and what becomes an iTunes Bonus cut.

Track Number: Once you create your track order and put the numbers in here, sort this column A-Z and you will quickly reorder your grid in your new playlist.

The image above is the grid from Super Chron Flight Brothers’ Cape Verde, on which I was Executive Producer and primary engineer. With the verses from Zesto, Masai and Jus coming in from various places/engineers, mix files coming from Nasa, beats from BOND and dozens of verses from each of the Flight Brothers, there was simply no way to keep track of the two year recording process without a visual display of progress.

Download: Master Production Grid Template

• 
  Quick Tips: Three Things to Remember
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  Automation: An Engineer’s Best Friend
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  Secrets For Mixing Samples
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  Buying Gear: Confessions of a Shopaholic
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  Lost In Translation: How to Make Mixes That Sound Great Everywhere
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  5 Alternate Mixes All Engineers Should Be Doing
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  For The Record: 9 Rules of Recording Studio Etiquette
• 
  Mixing 2-Track Instrumentals

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