How do I back up my Sinfonia work?

We strongly urge all of our Sinfonia customers to make frequent backups of their Sinfonia work. When you are doing edits, it is all too common to make a mistake, and create an edit which doesn't work (or which causes a problem with how Sinfonia functions). If you have made a recent backup of your work, you can restore your changes so mistakes do not get in the way of your playing Sinfonia.

 

To backup your Sinfonia edits:

  1. Go to the Sinfonia editor, and click on the tab labeled Utilities.
  2. You will see a drop down menu list whose first item is labeled Backup Sinfonia Show. Click the Run button to begin the backup process (you will be guided through this process with several dialog boxes.)
  3. If you have the USB keypad connected, you can insert the USB stick into one of the available ports on the top of the number pad. Otherwise, plug the USB stick into one of the the USB ports on the left side of the computer. (Note: we have provided you a free USB memory stick as part of your Sinfonia rental- the memory stick will be attached to your Sinfonia score. If you cannot find the attached USB stick, you can use one of your own- Sinfonia will work with just about any portable USB device.)
  4. Once you have the USB memory stick plugged in, click OK.
  5. You will be prompted to select the show you want to back up- click on your show in the list and click OK. NOTE: with this selection, you are backing up all of your work- all your show files (whatever you renamed them) for all acts of the show, including all of your edits (such as cuts/repeats, mutings, and tempo edits). This also includes all of the files which came with Sinfonia when you first received the system, so nothing will get lost or omitted in the backup process.
  6. You will then be asked which device you wish to back up to. If you have inserted the USB stick we supplied, it will be called NO NAME; if you are using your own USB device, select its name from the menu. If you do not see any device named in the menu, it likely has not been inserted properly: quit out of the backup process by pressing on Cancel, reinsert your USB device, and try again. Once you have selected the name of the device you want to back up to, click on the OK button.
  7. Finally, you will be prompted to enter a name for your backup file. Please keep this name short and simple- use only letters and numbers. Do not use spaces or slashes like \ or / in your backup name. The best name to use would be today's date- for example, 12Jan2011 or 070712. The name you will be creating will be added to the name of the show (i.e. 070712_LesMis) so you do not need to use the name of your show or the word "backup" in the name you create. If you are doing multiple backups on the same day, you can use names like June06a or June06b.
  8. Once you have named your file and clicked OK, wait a few seconds. You should then see a message, "Your show has been successfully backed up to NO NAME, which has been safely unmounted." Your backup file is now on your USB memory stick, so you can remove the USB memory stick from the USB port you have it plugged into.

 

To restore your work from a backup file:

  1. Go to the Sinfonia editor, and click on the tab labeled Utilities.
  2. In the drop down list, select Restore Sinfonia Show. Click the Run button to begin the restoring process (these dialog boxes will look and work similar to those from the Backup process.)
  3. Insert the USB stick which contains the file you want to restore from. Click OK.
  4. Select the name of the USB stick you have inserted and click OK.
  5. You will be asked for which archive you want to restore from. A list of all the backup files you have created on that USB device will then appear for you to choose from. Note that if you have been naming the backup files with the date you created the backups, you should have no problem selecting the most recent backup file. Click OK once you have made your selection.
  6. As part of the restore process, all of the work from that backup file will then be copied over to the Sinfonia computer, and it will replace the work which currently exists there. You will not lose any of the work you have done on your show (as all of your work was already copied over to the backup file as part of the backup process).
  7. Once the process is complete, you "Your show has been successfully restored from NO NAME, which has been safely unmounted." Your work is now in Sinfonia; you can remove the USB stick and continue working.

 

Some more points about making backups:

  • The backup files are data files- they can only be opened by the Sinfonia program. They will not open on any other computers, and you won't be able to play them on an mp3 player or other music device.
  • The backup files are rather small in size, so you should be able to fit at least 30 backups onto the USB stick that we have provided you.
  • As stated above, all of your edits will be included in the Sinfonia backup file. If you have any concerns or questions, you are welcome to contact us (including emailing us the backup file you created) for further assistance.
  • A final reminder: as soon as you make edits to your Sinfonia show, back up the data! Backing up now can save you a lot of frustration if something goes wrong later.