Creating template projects to speed up workflow

Creating template projects to speed up workflow

Creating your own template projects is a great way to speed up your workflow.

The beauty of creating your own template projects is that you have full control to do things how you’re most comfortable, if you use plugins that you already know then you don’t have to relearn anything – you’re simply speeding up the setup process every time you jump into your DAW.

Often I find when that creative moment strikes, having to sit and set up an entire project just to experiment with a simple lead line can slowly deplete that initial creativity.

Being able to jump into a semi-decent sounding, pre-structured arrangement will not only speed up the workflow, it will most likely help get the creative juices flowing.

The more time you take creating a thoughtful structure for your templates, the easier it will be to jump in and start working. If you take the time to name your tracks, folders and groups accordingly – it will obviously save a lot of time when you jump into the track.

Plugins like Kilohearts Snapheap are great for creating templates, particularly on something like a Kick/Bass group, where you might often apply a filter or effects sweep.

Leave space for the imagination…

It’s important to not get too technical when creating your template projects, you want to leave space for the imagination to “fill in the gaps”. If you jump into an arrangement that already has everything there, what more is there to add?

I like to apply a lot of basic EQ and mix preparation at this stage like I said not too in-depth but allowing each element to at least fit where it’s supposed to in the mix, so that there isn’t too much to do to get it to sound good in the creative process.

For an in-depth walkthrough on how I set up my template projects check out the tutorial video here: