How to transfer a sound library on an external disk

Today, there’s a huge number of sound files or data that can be used in our DAW. With this increased amount of data, the internal hard disk may quickly suffer of lack of space and an external HD may be of interest to make the job.

This holds especially true for SSD Drive due to their high-speed response whilst their price are still a little bit expensive especially if ones is interested by high storage capacity.

ALIAS, THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT ?

However, those sound libraries don’t necessarily need to be located on the internal HD and may be fully functional even located on an external one. In addition to the space recovered, your computer will work faster and smoother.

Many options are proposed and especially the one using the alias concept. Let’s briefly remind that an alias is like a virtual folder that seems to be where you see it but in fact it’s like a « hub » that brings you where it is really located on your internal or even external Hard Disk.

Those alias are easily recognized since the file/ folder is associated to a small arrow like in the example shown below.

However, the use of alias is not - as ones could believe – fully « transparent » and the sound libraries included in it will not be functional at 100 %.

Let’s take the following example using Logic Pro X. Once the sound library is moved to another location through an alias, it will work well and Logic Pro X will use it properly but will be excluded of any updates when Apple add some new sound files.
Indeed, Logic won’t be able to copy the downloaded files in the correct folder through an alias.

However (and fortunately for us) in macOS systems, there is another type of alias that may really deceive the attention of Logic Pro X (as well as other software or virtual instruments) so that Logic still believes that the folder is at its original location and that its content has not been moved away.

They are called Symbolic links and their use is the topic we’ll describe right now.

SYMBOLIC LINKER’S INSTALLATION

By default, their creation is not direct in macOS but requires using the Terminal which appears to most of us complicated to say the less and few of us like to use it….
Fortunately, there is a utility program called SymbolicLinker that allows creating Symbolic Links very easily directly from the Finder and can be downloaded at this address.

SymbolicLinker works from Mac OS X 10.6 up to macOS 10.14 Mojave and its installation doesn’t require special competences.

The starting point is to click on the Library folder located on the root of your internal HD (not the ones of the System or User Name folder), the second is to copy the SymbolicLinker.service into the Services folder

The second is to copy the « SymbolicLinker.service » into the Services folder located in
Mac HD > Library > Services

Would a Services folder not already existing, just create one without forgetting to write the « S » in Capital letter…if not, it won’t work.

To start using SymbolicLinker, just right-click on it and proceed to Open, once it is in the Services folder.

Normally it will be displayed as follow after a « right click »

MOVING LOGIC PRO X LIBRARY

This huge library will be moved in 3 steps :

• Move the folder containing the Library
• Creation of the Symbolic Link
• Copy the Symbolic Link to the right place

FOLDER TRANSFERT

In Logic Pro X, the main folder is located here :
Mac HD > Library > Application Support

Copy this folder on the external HD (it also works on different kind of support such as a memory stick or a memory card (that can be permanently stored in a MacBook pro i.e.). No need to say that the support device should have enough space available.

CREATION OF THE SYMBOLIC LINK

Right-click on the recently copied folder and proceed to « Create a Symbolic Link »

SETTINGS OF THE SYMBOLIC LINK

For not allowing Logic Pro X to detect this subtle change and still can access to the data,

• Copy the newly created link at the place where the folder was located :
  MacIntosh HD > Library > Application Support
• Rename it as Logic.
• Open Logic …and you normally are able to access to your Library « moved ».

This procedure also applies for folders that are « space consuming » such as

• Mac HD > Bibliothèque > Application Support > GarageBand
• Mac HD > Bibliothèque > Audio > Apple Loops

In addition this procedure is also fully valid for every type of content and not restricted to Audio. Therefore, would you have « space consuming software » don’t hesitate to this tip.