Often our time to work or play in the studio is limited. There is nothing more frustrating to leave the studio feeling like you've got nothing accomplished. In this article I'll share some productivity tips that I use in my studio.
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| Don't blame the computer, it's your short attention span! |
Remove distractions
If you find that you're spending more time on Twitter and Facebook than actually working on music, UNPLUG from the internet! Sometimes signing out and closing the browser isn't enough. I do this when I really have to get something done on a deadline, otherwise it easily takes 5X longer. This will help avoid the urge to look online for new samples or plugins or DAW updates.
Next, turn off your cellphone or leave it in another room. It's just a good habit to get into. Besides being a potential distraction, a ringing phone can interrupt a recording and cell phones often cause interference in mics and guitar pickups.
Some people thrive in chaos. For me, a messy workspace is a distraction. I don't need anything on my desk except keyboard, mouse, and a cup of coffee or water. I like to do a 30 second clean up of my desk by taking a cardboard box and tossing everything I won't need into it. The box goes into the closet. Amazingly more than half this stuff never comes out of the box again.
Have a goal
If you go into the studio without a purpose, you probably won't accomplish anything. The goal doesn't have to be big, in fact it's better to have many smaller goals because it feels good to start and complete a task. Goals like "I'm going to learn Song X"; "I'm going to record all the vocals for my newest song"; or even "I'm going to play with this new synth plugin." It's ok to spend time learning a new technique or plugin, just try to keep the experiments separate from your 'work time'.
Be prepared
Make some songwriting templates so that you can get right into recording when inspiration happens. If you already have a bunch of songs recorded, you can remove all the audio files and save it as a template. Think about how much time you just saved!
A template for a heavy metal song would be something like 1 instrument track for virtual drums (already set to an appropriate metal preset), 3 audio tracks for guitars (panned Left, Right, Center) with high-gain amps on each and a 1/16th note delay on Center track, 1 audio track for bass, 2 audio tracks for vocals (with compression), 1 reverb bus.
An electronic music template could be several instrument tracks with your favorite synths on each and a few FX buses with your favorite presets.
Before you sit down to mix, make sure all the distracting timing and pitch issues are taken care of and all extraneous noises are removed. If you are going to replace some of the drums with samples, set up a few options ahead of time so when you're mixing, you're ONLY mixing, not editing and mixing.
Schedule breaks
This might seem a bit weird, but I've found this technique to be really effective, especially at crunch time on a project. I set a timer for 25 minutes, I work non-stop until the timer goes off. I do something else for no longer than 5 minutes. Then set the timer for another 25 minutes. After 4x 25 minute segments I break for 30 minutes. On the breaks you don't want to do anything that would fatigue you further. Washroom, snack, check Twitter, or just relax your eyes and ears. It really works!
What is YOUR distraction in the home studio?
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