6 Tips for Collaborating Remotely Using Different DAWs

In the era of social distancing, it may seem hard for songwriters and producers to collaborate from their houses. But remote collaboration is not new: just last fall, Robbie Robertson re-recorded his band’s classic hit, “The Weight,” with a globe-trotting lineup of musicians; almost 20 years ago, The Postal Service got its band name from its method of collaboration: its prominent members traded material over the mail.
But there are roadblocks to modern collaboration: producers often use digital audio workstations (“DAWs” for short), but there is a plethora of DAWs out there: Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Nuendo, FL Studio, Live, Bitwig, Reason, and Studio One to name a few. Many of these DAWs don’t play nicely with each other.
What do you do if you and your partner use different DAWs for the same project? Read on to find out.

Make Use of a Common Folder in the Cloud

Our first tip is organizational, but it will prevent headaches: set up a folder in the cloud for you and your partner to use. Save your work to this folder—backing it up often, of course. Dropbox and Google Drive both work well.

With a folder for each song, you can instantly see what your partner added to a project—no need to email things back and forth and download files manually; all audio files, documents, and projects sync automatically.

Keep an Organizational Document for each Individual Project

Make sure each project has a governing text document to keep track of key information (band name, song name, etc.). If you’re working on music, be sure to write down the tempo (BPM) and time signature of each tune.

This document will come in handy when your collaborator uses their own DAW. Referring to the document, your partner can label the project with the right name, derive the right tempo/time-signature, and sidestep potential headaches down the line.