Tools to 10x Your Audio WorkFlow
Quality is obviously the most important aspect of any Audio Production. Whether Producing, Mixing or Mastering what comes out of the speakers is king. However, a close second is how quickly you were able to achieve that sound. In today's click-bait-y world, artists and clients not only want superb sounding audio they want a quick turnaround. Thus every click of the mouse and tap of the keyboard matters when you might be doing it thousands of times to complete a song.
Over the years, I've developed tried and trued methods to hasten the time it takes from the moment you had the idea until the moment you are able to hear that idea come out of the speakers. You don't want the gear to get in the way of that process. The more you have to "think" about the technical details of achieving a sound, the more likely that sound is to leave you(or even worse leave your artist in the middle of a session).
Quick Keys:
You already know about Mac/Windows pre-programmed quick keys like CMD Z is undo, CMD P is paste, etc. You probably even know about the quick keys the developers of your DAW have cleverly come up with. In Ableton, CMD T always makes a new Audio Track, CMD Shift T makes a new MIDI, etc. The additional sauce lies in editing the MIDI mappings of these pre-programmed commands. In Ableton, you do this by clicking CMD K to enter MIDI mapping mode. In Logic, it's OPTION K. I've programmed the letters R to activate global recording, so that whatever track is armed when I hit R, it begins recording. I've mapped M to activate/deactivate metronome, and P to take me back to the beginning of the song. None of these are preset in Ableton and all of these simple and repetitive commands would require me to reach for my mouse, move it and click to execute. Now it's just a key.
The Super Secret Sauce: Keyboard Maestro: Quick Keys on Crack
If you're a seasoned Producer, it's likely that none of the information herein has been novel to you thus far. However, this next one might blow ya mind! Keyboard Maestro is a very cheap software that allows you to create macro mappings across any software to automate any repetitive process you are constantly doing. Tired of creating that one vocal track, with that specific color, and that same old title and same signal chain? Boom, it's now a single command. Automate all of your favorite tools to be a single button, no more typing into your User Library master search. Populate your audio tracks with your most used plugins using single clicks. It has been the biggest time saver/game changer for my workflow in many years. You can click the button below to check out their website and scope their 30-day free trial.
