I've previously discussed a process I call 30-Minute Mining, which generates many musical ideas that can serve as creative sketches. Some of these sketches will eventually grow into full songs, some might be harvested for parts when you're working on another song, and some might spark other ideas.
To make my 30-Minute Mining sessions as efficient and productive as possible, I’ve made a custom DAW template that streamlines my workflow and lets me capture ideas quickly. A template is simply a pre-made session with commonly used audio and software instrument tracks, plugins already instantiated, and signal routing set up. It means that rather than opening a completely blank session and starting from scratch, requiring tedious setup that wastes time and breaks my creative flow, I can start from a place where the prep work is already done. The tools I use are already there at my fingertips.
FYI: I’ve just finished developing a learning guide called 30-Minute Mining - A Practical System for Generating Song Ideas That Actually Go Somewhere, a downloadable PDF which includes printable Session Checklist and Four-Week Challenge Tracker resources ($47 value), currently available free for The Music Factory Substack subscribers (click here).
Apologies to readers who prefer my more conceptual articles - this one dives right into production territory! It’ll be particularly valuable if you’re a music producer, engineer, or musician trying to improve your in-the-box demo creation skills.
Here's a breakdown of my template and some tips on how you can build your own.
My Creative Template
My preferred DAW software is Pro Tools Studio, but the principles discussed here apply to any DAW. If you have any questions or want to clarify anything I brushed over too quickly, please leave a comment - I'd be happy to discuss further.
Here’s what my template looks like. It’s a long image… the article continues below!
Ready-to-Go Audio Tracks
I have dedicated audio tracks prepared for vocals and guitar - the two most common things I record at my home studio. Each track is named and colour-coded, and the go-to plugins are loaded. Most plugins are deactivated by default, so they don't slow everything down, but can be quickly activated as needed.
These are the specific audio tracks I have ready to go (Logic/Ableton users: when I mention “routing folders”, mirror with track stacks/groups):
- Lead vocal tracks x3. EQ with low end rolled off to 80Hz, compressor with some preferred settings dialled in, deesser. These tracks are nested under a Lead Vocals routing folder.
- Backing vocal tracks x 4. Same plugins as above, except I use the FabFilter Pro-DS on backing vocals, as it can completely duck out S sounds, which the regular Waves DeEsser I use can’t do (I often deess backing vocals quite heavily). These tracks are contained in a Backing Vocals routing folder.
- Vocal FX routing folder set up, empty to begin with but created so that any effected vocal clips that I make along the way can be added to this folder (I create lots of sounds using vocal effects - read about my approach with vocal manipulation here).
- Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, and Vocal FX routing folders all go under a VOCALS ALL routing folder, which goes to the master bus separately from the INSTRUMENTS ALL routing folder. I keep these separate as I usually add an unmasking plugin such as pure:unmask (Sonible) to the INSTRUMENTS ALL folder track, sidechained to the lead vocals so it very subtly carves clashing frequencies out of the instrumentation to make the lead vocals stand out more (do this with care). Having separate vocals and instruments folders also means I can mute all vocals at once to create instrumental bounces, work on the instrumentation, or mute all instruments to hear the vocals in isolation.
- Guitar audio tracks x2, set up with inputs that come from my Amplitube guitar amp simulator software, which I usually run standalone rather than as a plugin.
Virtual Instruments
I have tracks loaded with virtual instruments that I frequently use as starting points for creative ideas. This is useful because all I need to do is record-enable a track to start making familiar sounds with a MIDI keyboard (or using the musical typing keyboard feature most DAWs have). You can change the sounds later if needed, but having a range of software instruments ready to go lets you quickly try ideas as they come, rather than spending 30 seconds setting things up and potentially forgetting the cool idea you had.
Like the preloaded audio plugins, these software instruments are deactivated by default, so they don’t consume valuable CPU until needed. Opening a blank session that is already slow would be counterproductive! I activate the instruments I want to use as I go.
Here are the virtual instruments I have in my template, all nested under their relevant subfolders (noted in bold):
- Drums
- A basic acoustic drum kit with multi-track output routing using Handy Drums Studio Standard (GoranGrooves)
- Kick drum designer using Kick 3 (Sonic Academy)
- Snare drum designer using DC Snares (Scaler Music)
- Percussion
- A stomps, claps, and finger snaps sampler called El Clapo (Boz Digital) - Side note: this is a secret weapon production tool; hardly anyone seems to know about it!
- An experimental percussion sampler I’ve just started trying out called Random Metal (Beatsurfing VST)
- Bass
- Bass guitar emulation using MODO Bass 2 (IK Multimedia) with EQ, distortion, and multi-band compression plugins shaping it up as a good starting point
- Reece bass patch using Serum 2 (Xfer Records)
- Pluck patch using Serum 2
- Clean sub patch using Serum 2
- Distorted sub & bass generator called Random (Beatsurfing VST)
- Keys
- General-purpose electronic piano patch for chord ideas using Serum 2
- Pluck synth for lead melody ideas using Serum 2
PRO TIP: You may have noticed in my DAW template screenshot that all my Audio and Virtual Instrument tracks are set by default to -6 dB. This helps with gain staging, so your levels don’t hit the ceiling when you start stacking sound sources, preventing issues down the track.
Samples
I have a dedicated folder of pre-indexed percussion and effect samples, which I can quickly access using the Waves COSMOS sample finder plugin set up on an empty track. I also use Splice, which is now built into Pro Tools. I don’t tend to use loops (unless it's something as simple as an egg shaker percussion loop), so these are mostly one-shot sounds.
Auxiliary / Effect Return Tracks
I have several tracks set up with useful reverbs and delays to use as starting points, mainly for vocals. These include:
- Reverbs
- A vocal reverb using FabFilter Pro-R 2 (FabFilter)
- A more vast, longer tail reverb using Equinox (iZotope)
- An ethereal reverb using EchoBoy (SoundToys) modified from the “EchoBoy’s Galaxy” preset
- Delays
- A lush-sounding general-purpose delay using Timeless 3 (FabFilter)
- A multi-tap vocal delay after a short reverb using SuperTap 6 (Waves)
- A vocal slapback using EchoBoy, modified from the 15 ips Tape Echo preset
Master Bus
My master track will be set up with the plugins I usually use, but they'll be disabled to start with - I don’t want these to affect the sound until I'm at the stage where I have a basic mix going. These are the plugins I start with on my master bus:
- FG-Grey (Slate Digital), which emulates the SSL bus compressor, set to the “Punchy Mix” preset, with a wet/dry mix at 50% (I'll set the threshold when I eventually turn it on)
- Ozone 12 (iZotope)
- Insight 2 (iZotope) for visual metering
That’s it! Once I’m underway developing a song, I’ll delete any tracks I don’t need, add others, change settings as needed, etc.
Tips for Building Your Custom Template
You're welcome to copy any of my ideas above, but here are some tips for building your own custom template.
1. Identify Your Go-To Tools
- What are the instruments you most frequently use in your music? If you're a guitarist, have a guitar track ready. If you use software synths, load your favourites.
- What are the plugins you reach for most often? Having a basic signal chain already set up for each track can save you valuable time. There are probably a few plugins you use over and over; might as well eliminate the repetitive setup steps!
- What are your favourite samples? Create a folder with your most-used percussion and effect samples, and get some software that can help locate relevant samples when you need them.
2. Create Dedicated Tracks
- Set up tracks for each of your core instruments and virtual instruments.
- Label the tracks clearly for easy navigation.
- Colour-code your tracks to visually distinguish between instruments, and use the same colour associations every time so you get familiar with them.
3. Configure Basic Settings
- Set input and output settings for each track.
- Add your essential plugins to each track.
- Save instrument and plugin presets for your most used sounds.
4. Organise Your Samples
- Create a dedicated folder for your favourite samples.
- Organise the samples into subfolders by category (e.g., kicks, snares, percussion, effects).
- Get a plugin like COSMOS that can index and search for appropriate samples.
5. Test and Refine
- Use your template for a few 30-Minute Mining sessions.
- Identify any bottlenecks in your workflow.
- Adjust your template based on your experience to optimise efficiency.
Set Yourself Up for Success
By investing a bit of time upfront to build a custom template, you'll be able to jump into your 30-Minute Mining sessions much faster, avoid blank-page syndrome, and focus on what matters most: generating ideas! Remember, this is about embracing imperfection and prioritising efficiency, so keep your template streamlined and focused on your core creative tools.
Happy mining!
Ready to mine? Get the complete 30-Minute Mining system for free ($37 value) with guide, session checklist & 4-week challenge tracker (free for Substack subscribers only):
