I've previously talked about a process I call 30-minute mining which is useful for generating lots of musical ideas that can act as creative seeds. Some of these seeds 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 (read my previous article about 30-minute mining to understand how beneficial this framework can be for your creative process).
To make my 30-minute mining sessions as efficient and productive as possible, I’ve developed 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 takes me out of my creative flow, I can start from a place where the prep work is already done, and the tools I use are already there at my fingertips.
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 a 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 (right at the bottom of this article you’ll find an image of my entire template).
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 brush over too quickly, please leave a comment - I'd be happy to discuss further!
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, colour coded, and go-to plugins are loaded up. 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:
- 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 cips that I make along the way can be added to this folder (I create lots of sounds using vocals effects - read about my approach with vocal manipulation here).
- Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, and Vocal FX routing folders all go under a VOCALS ALL folder, which goes to the master bus separately from the INSTRUMENTS ALL 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. Having a separate vocals and instruments folders also means I can mute all vocals at once to create instrumental bounces or work on the instrumentation, or mute all the 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 means you can quickly try ideas when you think of them, rather than spending 30 seconds setting things up and potentially forgetting the cool idea you had.
Like with the pre-loaded audio plugins, but more important here, these software instruments are deactivated by default so they don’t use up valuable CPU before they’re needed. Opening a blank session that is already slow would be counter productive! 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)
- Drums - Kick drum designer using Kick 3 (Sonic Academy)
- Drums - 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; hardy anyone seems to know about it!
- Percussion - 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
- Bass - Reece bass patch using Serum 2 (Xfer Records)
- Bass - Pluck patch using Serum 2
- Bass - Clean sub patch using Serum 2
- Bass - Distorted sub & bass generator called Random I’ve just started trying out (Beatsurfing VST)
- Keys - General purpose electronic piano patch for chord ideas using Serum 2
- Keys - Pluck synth for lead melody ideas using Serum 2
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, which I have 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.
Auxillary / Effect Return Tracks
I have several tracks set up with useful reverbs and delays to use as starting points, mainly for vocals. These include:
- Reverb - A vocal reverb using FabFilter Pro-R 2 (FabFilter)
- Reverb - A more vast, longer tail reverb using Equinox (iZotope)
- Reverb - An ethereal reverb using EchoBoy (SoundToys) modified from the “EchoBoy’s Galaxy” preset
- Delay - A lush sounding general purpose delay using Timeless 3 (FabFilter)
- Delay - A multi-tap vocal delay after a short reverb using SuperTap 6 (Waves)
- Delay - 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 effect 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 of the tracks I don’t need, add others, change settings as required, etc. but this helps me get started without much menu-diving.
Tips for Building Your Custom Template
You're welcome to copy any of my ideas above, but here are some tips for how you might approach 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 time and time again; 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 quicker, avoiding blank page syndrome and focusing 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!
💬 What are some tracks, plugins, or instruments that you use regularly enough that they would feature in your creative production template?
*Screenshot of my full template here!
