TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- Templates
Pages (3): [1] 2 3 »

Templates

How many of you actually start with a template for each song?

Like you have a drum rack of several kick's that you like on one channel another for hat's.

Then you have a channel with Midi's for sub basses - mid basses and so forth.

Also running Fx's send channels for the usual reverb delay.

All channels with an Eq attached to them also.

So basically you have all the instruments at first hand so your production flow can be continous.

The reason i'm asking is i feel when i start a new tune i'm taking far too long in getting it going, sure i have a nice kick and bass going but i feel instead of trawlling through my sound banks for a kick and hat's i could be doing in a more productive way at gettng the structure of the song going.

Anyone got any thoughts on this or tips......


Waza

I have a preset template that I usually expand on for most songs. It has about 10 tracks laid out with instruments/fx that I use quite frequently. For instance I have 4 percussion tracks that have the EXS24 sampler with no instrument loaded (I use Logic Pro 8), and a few other tracks with synths I regularly use such as omnisphere, massive, and trilogy.

I also have 5 aux tracks ready to go. One with a 1/8 dotted delay, one with a 1/4 delay and the rest with reverbs with no patch selected.
There is also two tracks that are used for side chaining the usual kick/bass thing and one that is on the upbeat (for gating) that are muted and ready to go.

I also have all the tracks colored with the various colors I usually use relevant to the instrument so I don't have to do it later on.
It just seems to save time since I'm usually going to use those synths, verbs, and colors anyways.

It just increases my workflow since it decreases load time for instruments and setting up the session. It makes it easy for when I come home from work with an idea in my head to get it down as fast as possible.

I use Live so:

My default template is currently just 3 midi channels right now but im expanding it:

1 for the Kick with an empty Simpler loaded, also a Utility with 0% width and a filter to filter out some of the highs and extreme lows in a kick

1 for Bass which is pretty much laid out the same way as the Kick channel except without the Simpler

1 for all my Percs (Drum Rack) which just has a hpf at around 250hz on top.

im in the process in making my starting template more complex like Icrqq's, ESPECIALLY with the lovely effect racks in Live that you may create/customize to how you see fit. *nom nom nom*

I use a template every time, it taks too much time setting up reverbs, sidechain channels etc. every time one feels like making a new tune ...

quote:

Originally posted by lcrqq I have a preset template that I usually expand on for most songs. It has about 10 tracks laid out with instruments/fx that I use quite frequently. For instance I have 4 percussion tracks that have the EXS24 sampler with no instrument loaded (I use Logic Pro 8), and a few other tracks with synths I regularly use such as omnisphere, massive, and trilogy. I also have 5 aux tracks ready to go. One with a 1/8 dotted delay, one with a 1/4 delay and the rest with reverbs with no patch selected. There is also two tracks that are used for side chaining the usual kick/bass thing and one that is on the upbeat (for gating) that are muted and ready to go. I also have all the tracks colored with the various colors I usually use relevant to the instrument so I don't have to do it later on. It just seems to save time since I'm usually going to use those synths, verbs, and colors anyways. It just increases my workflow since it decreases load time for instruments and setting up the session. It makes it easy for when I come home from work with an idea in my head to get it down as fast as possible.

This is pretty dam close to what I do and in a way what you'd do in a pro studio for a composing/mix setup.

If you know the tools you go for everytime just bung them in a tamplate.

I also have 4 stereo aux's for verbs (blank) and 2 more for compressors (blank).

Oh, and if I'm using a drum sampler (battery/guru) then that will be already on there with my custom kit.

In all, I probably have 30 odd tracks in my template (including about 10 stereo audio tracks, 5 mono and 10 midi)

Then there's the master channel but that's a whole other conversation

Yep. I have a template that has all my bus routing, environment setup, etc. I couldn't imagine trying to start a track without one.

I have about a dozen templates for Sonar. My "new project" templates have my various drum VSTi's routed in different combinations of each, effects busses set up, etc. I also have templates set up for recording various combinations of instruments (e.g., vocals & scratch track, vocals and guitar, etc.) with the outputs already assigned to my headphone amp, levels roughed in, etc.. They save me a ton of time.

my templates are blank.

well i've finally built the template so here's hoping it will be better.

I always start from nothing, no templates.

I use a template, but it doesn't have any preloaded sounds, just the basic channels I use to build my tunes as well as the effects that I would use on them.

Once you have a production methodology, creating one can be a bit of a time saver.

hmm i've never really considered templates, i usualy try different techniques on every track i make, but im willing to give this method a try. I usually transfer in some elements from side projects once in a while though.

I use a template for the mixing chain, which has typical routings, common instruments (i.e. Battery), and common effects (compressor on the kick, reverb on melody with no impulse loaded, disabled mastering plugins on the master, etc.), as well as a few spare group and FX channels.

I don't actually preload any patches or samples in the template. It's purely the static stuff that almost never changes.

Probably saves a good half hour over the course of a production. More importantly, if I have an idea that I really want to sketch quickly, I don't have to waste time and lose inspiration on menial tasks.

i use soundlibrary templates so that i can load everything while i take ashower.

I also use a ready-to-go template. I know I'm usually going to route my bass into my bass grouping, and my bass grouping into the master channel, so why spend time, every single project, setting that up the same way? The times where I do want to route it differently, it's just as quick to reroute it as it is to set it up from scratch.

(crosses fingers and hopes this thread won't deteriorate into "if you use a template then you'll get into a rut and won't approach each project in a fresh, new way" stupidity, as if it isn't possible to re-examine your template and make sure it's appropriate for each new project...)

quote:

Originally posted by derail (crosses fingers and hopes this thread won't deteriorate into "if you use a template then you'll get into a rut and won't approach each project in a fresh, new way" stupidity, as if it isn't possible to re-examine your template and make sure it's appropriate for each new project...)

this was my only fear in making a template and as I continue to build mine I am hoping it does not limit my creativity. If it does then i'll just go back to blank template.

quote:

Originally posted by Nightshift this was my only fear in making a template and as I continue to build mine I am hoping it does not limit my creativity. If it does then i'll just go back to blank template.

That's why I have several templates. But, I don't think that having a starting point for my routings is ever going to stifle my creativity. Actually, I believe just the opposite - when it's tmie to get creative, the last thing I want to be doing are the tedious tasks of routing drum pads to outputs, setting up busses, etc.

Sonar gives me the option of which template to choose as soon as I create a new project. Here's an example of one showing my combined view in my two monitors (track view on the left-hand monitor; console view on the right):

http://www.cryophonik.com/files/cry...ar_template.jpg

(the image is too wide to post here!)

This particular template is designed more or less for just quickly getting an idea from my head into Sonar. It has my Maschine (drum VST) already inserted, with each drum pad assigned to its own track, and all routed to my Drums buss. It's also got tracks inserted and assigned to the appropriate busses for percussion and vocals, and I have effects VSTs already inserted on busses. This particular template also has SubBoomBass inserted and routed to the bass buss for quickly getting bass ideas down, and Nexus inserted with the Drums expansion loaded and routed to the Drums buss in case I want to just fire up a loop. Aside from that, none of my templates have any sounds/samples pre-loaded, just instruments, effects, and routings.

One other tool that I use a lot is track templates, or device chains. I have these set up for every one of my synths so that I can quickly insert them and have them automatically route to whichever buss I want - makes it very convenient for me, and that's really what templates are all about IMO - making things convenient enough that producing doesn't get in the way of being productive and creative.

I do the same thing here. I dont have any instruments or patterns preloaded, but its just about getting my production environment set up properly. I have all my stem busses setup, all my drum tracks loaded with EXS24 instances, etc. All I have set up is a 4/4 kick pattern so i can start fresh. There are also a lot of project level defaults set up like MIDI sync preferences, audio routes, the environment, recording channels, etc.

Here is a couple of pictures of a "blank" template I use when starting a new track (1 picture for each monitor).

Thanks guys this is great. It's giving me lots of ideas on my template.

@Eric J: Looks almost exactly as mine =)

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik

Same I don't have any sounds loaded at all, but I'm starting to really get into using Ableton's effects racks.

However what I have so far is nice, espcially the kick channel having a pre-setup Utility @ 0% width, a filter, a compressor, a dynamic tube and an EQ in that order is nice. Helps me get a nice warm sounding kick real quick.

6 years of producing music and never used a template so its just a habit i guess lol. Time to see what I've been missing out on.

Only thing im not really sure about is setting up reverbs on sends because it does sound quite nice when things feel like they are occupying the same space, but im used to applying reverbs to individual channels. Anyone have any advice with this?

My workflow has been changing frequently, and I believe for the better since i moved from FL Studio to Ableton back in February and I've been trying many new things. I'm very comfortable with Ableton but I can't say I've settled in with it yet. Can't wait to see what happens when I do.

BTW Cryo, Sonar just goes straight over my head LOL

"what does this button do?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBS6nnBV4w

Eric - nice setup, we do a very similar one in terms of flow in the studio and mine at home is incredibly similar.

One question: why busses 40, some 50 and I take it the input on the master is 60?

I always just use the last busses available - is there a specific reason for spreading them like you do?

Nightshift - Sonar is one of those things - you either swear by it, or take one look at it and go nope.

Sonar does the same thing as all the rest (and quite well) but I'm just too conditioned for Logic/cubase by this point.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Eric - nice setup, we do a very similar one in terms of flow in the studio and mine at home is incredibly similar.

Good, that must mean I'm doing something right

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN One question: why busses 40, some 50 and I take it the input on the master is 60?

Just worked out that way really. IIRC, I decided to use the busses in the 40 and above range because I knew those would be "static" and wouldn't change much, thereby leaving be busses 1-39 for any dynamic routing specific to each track.

Bus 60 is where everything eventually goes, which is then routed to three sets of stereo outputs:

1. Main Out (to Central Station then to my main monitors)
2. Monitor Out. This is a S/PDIF connection to my second computer where i run a Spectrum Analyzer, Phase meter and Realtime Waveform Analyzer.
3. DJ Booth Out. This gets routed to my DJ mixer. I do this so I can periodically check my mixes when I'm composing and mixing against other tracks on the CDJ-1000's. It has turned out to be a good way to keep my levels in check versus other tracks.

I've been using this template for the past few day when starting a track. simple but it works for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Eric J 3. DJ Booth Out. This gets routed to my DJ mixer. I do this so I can periodically check my mixes when I'm composing and mixing against other tracks on the CDJ-1000's. It has turned out to be a good way to keep my levels in check versus other tracks.

Holy sh1t I'm doing that!!

Beats exporting as wav then loading into Serato on my missus mac in the front room. I'm just going to get a 10m phono to phono cable - ain't pro or anything but it would work. Line input it then mix against Serato on the fly FUKING COME ON!!!!

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.