Ok so I thought it would be fun for us to start a thread where we can share our favorite workflow tips. We might be able to pick up some new stuff as we all have our flows and tricks. Anything from naming tracks to programming drums. Favorite templates etc…
I find I start with a blank canvass a lot and decided I really should make more templates. My basic production templates consist of Maschine, Battery, Kontakt, PLAY, OMNIsphere, nexux and sylenth1.
I generally prefer to record in Pro tools these days for convenience sake. But if the track is not finished when its time to record vocals I set my cubase up with vocal bus and basic delay/reverb.
What are some your favorite workflows for getting started with new tracks, favorite tips for getting your foundations down, do you mix on the go? etc etc…
There’s a preset macro, move tracks to new folder and assign to a buss which I use all the time. The only thing I might try is also having a macro that in addition to that links the channels within the group.
Another neat thing is to use the logical editor to only play the midi notes associated with snare, kick, hihat etc. Then if you have written a drumtrack with whatever drum sampler, you can then duplicate that track several times over and solo say, kick on one, snare on another and hihat on another. It’s useful if you want to process solo sampler drums with the Overheads too.
Speaking of blank canvases, I recommend making your own custom “empty” template in place of the default one. Mine has tempo, signature, marker, ruler, and chord tracks already created and visible in the top section of the divided project window. Other tracks go in the bottom section. Also my preferred I/O routing, colors, zoom settings, and visible racks in the mixers are saved in the template, too.
I just got so sick of having to set all of that up every time.
Templates are very helpful. I have several at this point and use depending on the kind of project I’m starting or what I’m trying to learn better.
My primary Template is called “Song Starter” and is set-up much like yours is. – It includes a basic set of assigned instruments, audio tracks, routing, chord, marker and arranger tracks… It takes a moment to load, but it’s a great way to have a good starting points created automatically. I also have other Templates for other tasks and “research” if you will.
Once you have the preset written it’s quicker use than deleting yeah. And sorry I should correct and say the ‘transformer’ which is the midi insert version of the logical editor.
The Macros are in the edit menu and you can make your own from the key commands window. Really useful!
+1 for well thought out templates. I keep a notepad at hand where I jot down changes I want to make to my template(s). Then every six months or so I go in and update the template. Always learning new Cubase stuff (even after many many years) and periodic template updates help capture that.
I’ve recently added a set of disabled Instrument Tracks to my template. VSTi’s that I almost always use are on enabled tracks, but the next tier down, instruments I frequently but not always use, are on the disabled tracks.
Building templates with disabled instrument tracks is a technique I use too. It’s particularly valuable for large orchestral templates with many slowly-loading VSTi’s (e.g., all of EWQL’s libraries!). Waiting five minutes for a template to load when I have a great idea is a real creativity-killer.
Hi guys… since we’re on the issues of templates and workflow for 2016, i have a wired question with regard to Kontakt.
all along i have large template sets in various instances of Kontakt; some with more instruments and some with less - from 6 instruments to 12 maximum. They are all set up with their own folders and then the MIDI tracks will load and placed into their respective folders.
recently, out of laziness, i decided to use one instrument per single instance of Kontakt. i found the advantages as follows:
easy track controls - (need need to look for track being MIDI or Instrument Audio Track; MUTE, SOLO, VST… etc
easy to Freeze a single instrument - as opposed to the whole Kontakt collection
easy to change to a different instrument (ie from Kontakt Piano to Korg M1) - all Track, MIDI, Notepad, Version… etc data is retained
dont have to double check on either MIDI or Audio Automation
some other benefits…
i was wondering if using one instrument per Kontakt instance is more efficient or still using the previous workflow of Kontakt Multitimbral with separate MIDI tracks… any advice is much appreciate.
I haven’t done any detailed testing on this but from casual observation, using multiple Kontakt Instrument tracks vs. 1 multi output Kontakt in the Instrument Rack seems to be about the same on the ASIO meter so I just use Instrument Tracks now for the reasons you’ve listed above.
Hi guys, thanks for the replies… somehow it does feel a lot more efficient though… looks like i’d be modifying the templates and workflow then.
much appreciated…
As for the ASIO spikes or rise, i noticed there is significant movement only when Tracks have ARM enabled. Other than that, the ASIO meters will stay below the first quarter of the meter.
in the past i used to leave all that on by default and the ASIO meter will really jump wildly. it never really bothered me though even when ASIO bumps the red as there are no pops or clicks. however, these days i tend to disable ARM after sequencing or recording. Apparently the meters seems to calm down.
