Hans Erik

By Björgvin Benediktsson of audio.tutsplus.com:

There are tons of way to increase your productivity and workflow in the studio. Whether the studio means your home voiceover room or a big commercial recording space, all of these tips can apply. Increasing your workflow and making your sessions go smoother is a crucial ingredient in looking good for your clients. Everybody wants you to be fast and do everything they ask of you in record time, so these tips can help your productivity and efficiency in the studio.

1. Create a good workspace – Set up your studio area so that you aren’t distracted by tedious tasks when you should be on top of the session. A clean, uncluttered desk with everything you need close at hand is a good way to keep you focused on the task at hand.
2. Use templates – Using templates can speed up your workflow significantly. Instead of always opening up a clean empty track and ending up with the same types of tracks every time, try saving your next session as a template so you can use it as a guideline for your next track. No need to create the same auxes and inserting the same old delays and reverbs when you can have it all ready immediately.
3. Save your presets – Some people frown upon preset-cruising, and I would agree that preset cruising doesn’t work when the preset is in no context to the actual recorded track. But when you are constantly recording the same tracks – whether drums, guitar or vocals – it can be good to have a preset that you know will work. Then it is only a question of tweaking the knobs to accommodate the new recording, instead of starting from scratch.
4. Take notes – I like taking notes. I like taking notes so much I designed my own custom track sheets to use when I’m away from my DAW. (You can download them here for free if you are interested). On the assumption that I like taking notes, there must be other people out there that like taking notes. So even though having loose papers on your desk violates the uncluttered nature of the first tip, I do recommend having a legal pad or a notebook to scribble in ideas, especially if you do not have access to your session or want to brainstorm your productions with someone.
5. Close your applications – I really need to learn to close my browser and other applications when I’m working. Whether you are recording, mixing or just plain doing some regular work, taking away distractions is the key to actually being able to focus on your projects.
6. Use keyboard shortcuts – I used to play first person shooters when I was younger. I had one hand on the mouse, and the other on the keyboard, giving me the most flexible and fast control over my character. Today, working in my audio program isn’t much different. Still one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard, frantically hitting keyboard shortcuts to speed up my workflow. Get familiar with your program’s keyboard shortcut so you can work faster and more efficiently. Joel wrote a great set of tutorials on workflow in Logic and you can check out his shortcut tutorial here.

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