PRO TIPS

DAW TEMPLATES

When creating a new project from scratch, I always turn to one of my custom DAW templates. Using templates seems obvious, but it can be a huge workflow booster. In my main template, I start with four folders: drums, bass, music/vocal and FX. Inside all these folders sit pre-routed group channels and auxiliary buses, and alongside will be ready-loaded plugins with my own saved presets. For other templates, I’ve routed tracks to particular groups – for example, I’ll have saved snare and kick channels already funneled into my drum bus, and pre-piped to aux reverb and parallel compression buses. With this, I can simply throw in sounds, load synths and easily manipulate inserted plugins to save time. It might seem tedious to set up at first, but I’ve found it can really influence the way that new sessions and ideas come together.

REFERENCING WITH HEADPHONES

If you’re a night owl like me, and you like to hit the studio in the early hours, noise is almost always a factor. Turning your speakers off and reaching for those headphones is usually the only option when annoyed neighbours and angry flatmates come knocking at your door. But headphones aren’t just for keeping that booming bass down – splashing out on a good pair of cans has really improved my mixdowns and general production chops.

I like to use headphones to assess sounds with a wide stereo image (such as high percussive sounds or synths), as you feel a lot ‘closer’ to the music – but there are things to watch out for, such as the overenthusiastic need to EQ everything, or getting your bass balance perfect.

Plus, don’t forget to watch your volume levels and give your ears a break!