Starting templates

[antic604]

Here's mine in Bitwig. I like to start from a blank slate:

Zrzut ekranu (262).png

It doesn't have any tracks, busses or sends; shows both Clip Launcher and Arranger and only contains Bitwig-native "mastering" chain, which consists of:

• mid/side EQ, to typically high-pass the sides and sculpt the mids
• a clipper made in FX Grid, to shave off excessive peaks
• dynamics section, that does upwards & downwards compression
• limiter, for err... limiting
• imaging section to monitor in mono and adjust stereo width
• oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer, both in mid/side mode

I have all the key parameters abstracted to the remote controls, so - ideally - I can tweak them blindly to avoid refusing to do certain moves because they "look wrong", which I'm often guilty of

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Care to show & explain yours?

[kritikon]

I don't and have never used templates. Simply don't see the point of them as every track I make is different in some way. I rarely use all the same VSTi, my FX vary immensely depending on the style of music, and mastering is never going to be the same for every track. Sometimes I use groups, sometimes I don't, sometimes I'll use loads of s/w other times I'll use mostly h/w.

I actually tried templates years ago and found I changed it all up so much it was a waste of time. And it fixed the creation process so much by having a template that I found it distorted my creativity. I simply don't want to sound the same each time. Even my mixing/mastering process is different each time. I get the idea of it but it was of absolutely no use to me. I suppose if you make only one rigid style of music then it makes sense. TBH psytrance all sounds the same so I get it if psytrance makers have a template including the kicks and even the actual bassline - all the basslines are identical across the whole genre from what I've heard of it, excpet they maybe play a different note - but the sound, the rhythm, the dynamics are identical.

[antic604]

...I suppose if you make only one rigid style of music then it makes sense. TBH psytrance all sounds the same so I get it if psytrance makers have a template including the kicks and even the actual bassline - all the basslines are identical across the whole genre from what I've heard of it, excpet they maybe play a different note - but the sound, the rhythm, the dynamics are identical.

I don't think that's fair (or accurate, really). Most people who have hardware gear - synths and/or effects - have them pre-mapped and routed in their templates, to quickly access them. Any classical / film music composer will have a huge template with pre-loaded orchestral libraries, articulations, etc. Most professional producers will have couple of starting templates for genres they're working in. Professional mixing / mastering engineers tend to have folders, busses, VCA's and effect chains ready to drag in client's stems. And so on...

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with them

[donkey tugger]

I always like to start with something inspiring.

tw2.jpg

[kritikon]

Possibly pros do that. But the vast majority here are not. If you do it for a living then time is money and churning out product is your living. Hence organisation and speed of calling the sausage factory up is far more important. Plus there is far more rigidity if you do it for a living - generally you'll be doing the same style over and over, so again it makes sense. It likely doesn't make sense to the majority here unless they're aspiring pros (and too many just copy what they read the pros do - even if the pros have no f**king idea what they're doing - at least the musicians anyway)

I've generally used far more hardware over the years than s/w and I haven't felt the need to have them all mapped. Once upon a time I had a pretty large fully fledged studio complete with racks of FX and banks of synths, 24 inline 8 buss desk - when DAWs were becoming more featured and mapping them out and midi editing etc became more nuanced it still wasn't a shortcut for me. I actually found it more fiddly and time consuming. I remember making up my own editors for Junos etc - complete with midi controllers mapped to sysex - and it was a nightmare. I scrapped it all pretty quickly. I find the same with templates for DAW mixing etc - it just becomes too rigid. I do start up a new track with a Cubase preset but TBH I may as well not do because the first thing I do is delete a whole load of channels and add various more as I go. The starting point never gets anywhere close to what I finish up with, yet it's supposed to be a formatted 16channel desk for making a standard song. It doesn't relate to how I do it at all.

Ultimately, one works how one is comfortable. If templates are comfortable then go for it. But don't do it just because someone who sells music says they do it that way...there's too much of that going on.

[kritikon]

I always like to start with something inspiring.


tw2.jpg

[cryophonik]

It’s not about rigidity, it’s about efficiency. When inspiration strikes, the last thing I want is my DAW to slow me down. My project templates are blank, but have empty instrument and audio tracks set up, in folders by instrument (e.g., drums, percussion, FX, bass, synths, guitars, vox, BG vox) all pre-routed to busses, multiple reverb and delay sends, metronome set up, screensets optimized for composing, mixing, MIDI editing, step sequencer, etc. and a single piano instantiated for improvising or whatever. I also have instrument presets for my most used multi-output plugins so that I just insert them, as needed, and they are already routed to individual outputs, so I can get straight to work. Nothing in my templates forces me into any specific way of working, but it does save me a ton of time doing the tedious things that slow me down.

[jamcat]

My Studio One 5 template has MODO DRUM setup with full routing, plus 2 guitars and bass setup with ampsims. I have 3 scenes: Tape, Mixer, and Drums. The Tape scene represents the tracking session, and the Mixer scene represents the mixing session. Drums scene has the MODO DRUM instrument source channels, which are routed to buses in the Tape scene. Tape channels have console preamp plugs feeding tape machine plugins for each. Guitar audio channels with ampsims are found here as well. Ampsims are first, followed by console preamps then tape. From there, each channel is routed (via send) to a mixer channel in the Mixer scene. Each mixer channel has a console channel strip. Send effects like reverb and delays are in this scene. I have a Mix Engine FX summing plugin on the mix with Passthrough turned on. The Tape channels are routed to an FX channel as their destination, with the volume all the way down. This prevents the Mix Engine FX crosstalk from reaching channels in the tape scene, most importantly the ampsims, because Mix Engine FX do not pass through FX channels, only buses. That walls off the tape channels and keeps other tracks out of the amps, and direct guitar from bleeding out. That's why I use a send to pass the signal from the tape channel to the mixer channel.

I guess you had to be there.

[antic604]

Possibly pros do that. But the vast majority here are not. If you do it for a living then time is money and churning out product is your living. Hence organisation and speed of calling the sausage factory up is far more important. Plus there is far more rigidity if you do it for a living...

I'm not sure why you insist on equalising using templates to being lazy, talentless and derivative, but thanks for your input

[DJ Warmonger]

I prefer to start from scratch, just to avoid any previous traps and mistakes. And overall mix gets better every time

I use, however, many custom effect racks in Ableton and drop them on certain busses when the mix time comes. Before that point they would only waste CPU and also blur the overview of current stage of the mix. It's not a good idea to rely only on master effects during early sound design.

[antic604]

...it's not a good idea to rely only on master effects during early sound design.

That's why mine is totally transparent / neutral in the template.

[legendCNCD]

Used to have a template with everything! but it slowed me down too much as I want DAW to be just ready for anything. Well I do have a template but it just puts the channels as I like them (DrumGroup and few channels under it, then few ready midi channels).

[whyterabbyt]

Most people who have hardware gear - synths and/or effects - have them pre-mapped and routed in their templates

Evidence?

[antic604]

Most people who have hardware gear - synths and/or effects - have them pre-mapped and routed in their templates

Evidence?

Anecdotal, obviously. Couple of my producer friends who can afford (partially-) hardware setups. But I'd think this one's the least controversial - if I had several synths, effects, mixers, etc. the last thing I'd like to do is to set up MIDI & audio ins & outs every time. But I don't have, so perhaps I'm overthinking it

[cryophonik]

Most people who have hardware gear - synths and/or effects - have them pre-mapped and routed in their templates

Evidence?

I meant to mention that in my post, but I do. They aren’t inserted into my templates, but they’re saved as presets in Logic and S1 so that all I need to do is drag or insert them into the project and they’re pre-routed with their plugin editors, correct synth and MIDI channels set, return audio tracks already designated, and ready to go, easy to automate, etc. I have a lot of hardware synths, so that's a major timesaver when I want to get my ideas from noodling away on my hardware and into my DAW.

I guess I really don’t understand what people are doing with their templates that they feel slows them down. When I open my template, it’s a blank canvas, but the environment is ready to go. I’d say it’s akin to having a dedicated art room that is organized and ready to go with a blank canvas and all my supplies in place, as opposed to having to get all of my brushes and paints out, setting up an easel, setting up a blank canvas, etc. each time I want to paint.

Even more on point, what is a DAW? It's a virtual studio. When you go into a studio, do the engineers start with an empty control room and set up the console, route the snakes to the booths, mount all the rack gear and run the cables to patch bays, etc. for each session? No, that's all set up and ready for any artist to come in and lay down their tracks, and the engineers' job is to set up mics, patch in external gear, set levels, etc., as needed for each artist. That's how I approach my templates. The things I know I generally need are there. I'm not stuck with anything and can easily add, delete, or re-route/re-configure, as needed, but it saves me a ton of time compared to starting from nothing.