Glenn Stanton Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 a general purpose mixing and recording template - includes the use of the Pro Channel EQ and in some tracks & busses, compressors. Ambience busses include the Sonitus reverb, and/or Sonitus delay. I deliberately left out the soft synths because there are many many choices, and in my own templates, i use licensed products which may not be generally available. besides, would you ever learn something if it was simply handed to you? 🙂 in essence: tracks flow into sub-mix busses grouped by type of instrument tracks, sub-mixes feed into "stem" busses for overall gross-level setting, and those feed into the master buss. sub-mixes may have send to the "ambience" busses for drums, vocals, instruments, solos. stems may have send into a "room" buss for overall gluing. q&a yes - there are many opportunities to change, improve, or even wreck this template 🙂 hopefully it's a just start for folks. no - there is no support for this other than kind sharing between people and positive commentary. attached are some diagrams which provide insight into how the flow and console is set up. 000_mix_record_template.cwt 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teegarden Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 First I read "cracks" where it's meant to be "tracks" (interesting font!) and thought, Oh, there we go...😉 Nice idea. I've constructed my (very extensive) template according to an old tutorial from Groove3, Building a DAW Mix Template (highly recommendable). I'm going to study how yours differs and hope to learn something new. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stanton Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 yeah, the UNICA font can be tricky that way 😉 i do remember the groove 3 stuff from long ago... in this case, i focused mainly on the flow from recording -> mix -> export and less on specific effects or track processing since that is really material dependent. the addition of the dedicate "noise output" and a virtual room (monitoring) (or turning it off for speaker monitoring) are a couple of interesting ideas i've picked up - using noise to partially mask the overall mix to see what jumps out or isn't audible, and having a dedicated monitoring output so i can export from the master buss without changing it (like forgetting i have a virtual room enabled or the noise going...) in my use case, for example, i use a bunch of Slate and Waves plugins, as well are various instrument synths like the Kontakt-based Session Guitarist where i want to augment (or even replace) my own performance since it changes up the feel which can make things sound different than perhaps i was expecting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teegarden Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 23 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said: in this case, i focused mainly on the flow from recording -> mix -> export and less on specific effects or track processing since that is really material dependent. the addition of the dedicate "noise output" and a virtual room (monitoring) (or turning it off for speaker monitoring) are a couple of interesting ideas i've picked up - using noise to partially mask the overall mix to see what jumps out or isn't audible, and having a dedicated monitoring output so i can export from the master buss without changing it (like forgetting i have a virtual room enabled or the noise going...) Interesting approach. I do have some questions: I don't manage to scroll up to the gain knobs completely on top of the busses. The flow you use does not allow for separate tracks to be placed in the 3D-field individually with the help of FX, since they all go to one mix buss with the same FX. Do you use dedicated track inserts to do that, which are not routed to an FX buss? Why do you use audio and midi tracks? I always use instrument inserts, which combine the two. Is there an advantage to do it different? I don't get how you use the noise buss. I assume you use some kind of noise signal of which you increase the volume until you start missing to hear certain instruments/voices in order to level them up or use FX to improve them and stand out more? What goes in the noise buss? What is different to the monitoring busses from the hardware outputs (the main faders for monitors/headphones completely on the right - usually hidden-) ? My routing is as follows: tracks -> dedicated instruments busses -> mix buss -> master -> hardware outputs FX on tracks -> FX busses -> mix buss -> master -> hardware outputs FX on instrument busses -> mix buss -> master -> hardware outputs (and some side-chaining) Any suggestion is welcome if it could/should be improved! A maybe dumb question: when you start mixing, do you first print stems or do you mix before printing and why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stanton Posted January 16, 2021 Author Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) each track has a default PC (High Pass EQ only) and each sub-mix buss (one or more instrument tracks per each) as same PC (High Pass EQ only). then depending on what i want to do, of course i'm not limited to what effects i can put on the tracks or busses, and if i need more busses or tracks i can add them. add more effects like delays, reverb etc for 3D, and so on. it's just a starting point to the journey 🙂 i don't use dedicated instrument busses (unless we mean them to be the same as the "sub-mix" busses) since having a buss per individual instrument seems redundant. of course if your sub-mixes (similar to perhaps the "mains busses" in a HW console) need more, simply add more - if you do a lot of orchestral work, you might break it out as separate string, horn, and percussion section busses. the sub-mix controls the general levels per instrument group. The monitoring buss has the option to enable Waves Nx (in my templates) which is the virtual room for headphones. it goes directly to the HW IO. the master buss is where i tap off for the export since it has little or no effects, EQ, etc on it and i can choose to listen to the mix down via the virtual room while exporting. if you're not using a virtual room, or do not want to simulate the mastering levels, then you can remove it and simply route the master to the HW IO. the ambience busses are just (again) gross levels for a stem group - more reverb on the vocals or drums, more room across everything, less vibe during quiet parts, etc. also possible to automate. obviously these don't address instrument specific effects and those generally go on the instrument tracks and sometimes the sub-mix busses (i like to add Vocal Doubler on the BVOX sub-mix). for soft-synths - i print those to audio before mixing once i'm happy with the general sounds. i use midi tracks so i can disconnect them from the audio tracks later in the process, or re-use them for other instruments if i change my mind later. once i have printed things and disconnected and muted the soft-synths, i'll hide the muted stuff to get it out of the way. the noise uses a simple noise generating plugin (or you could import a clip) to check levels. i usually set it so it's about the level of the snare or a bit less so i can check that there is instrumentation and vocals above that (unless it's a snare exercise video 😉 ) i seldom print the "stem" busses for my own work. and again you could add more or use less "stems" as desired. in my case, i use them to simply make broad adjustments like bring up the vocals 1db, or bring down the solo by 2db, add 1db more bass and kick (low) etc. and they can be automated if needed 🙂 if i'm doing work for someone who specs they want stems, then i'll use those busses as the export source to the stem files. Edited January 14, 2023 by Glenn Stanton grammar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teegarden Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) Thanks for the explanation. Regarding synths and midi/audio: can't you just replace the synth on an instrument track while keeping the midi? That would save a track and keeps the overview simpler? In my template (a combination of different tutorials I followed to set up a full template, ready to go for any kind of project except for orchestral works), I start with an audio repair track, followed by a voice and drum track with looped sound on it so I can quickly check the result of different FX plugins. Then 3 reference tracks where I can put music on the kind of style I would like to reproduce, followed by 3 mockup tracks to sketch a song with rhythm, chords and melody. These all go to a clearly visible NoMix buss, so I can silence them quickly when recording and mixing the real project. After that I've the usual instrument and voice tracks. On some tracks I've prepared EQ and routing to reverbs. I was still in the process of deciding which kind of EQ I want to be active from the start. I guess your settings are a good idea! With the dedicated busses I meant one drum buss for all drums, keys buss for all keys tracks etc.😉 In the buss section I've got ready to go busses for any kind of FX, one for each kind of reverb, one for 1/16 delay, one for 1/4 delay, one for 1/2 delay and so on, all with many plugins already inserted and non-activated so I can try them one by one. The busses go to the MixBuss and that one goes to the Master which then goes to the hardware output. On each track and buss I've also placed pictures in order to quickly recognise them. Main disadvantage from my approach is the long template loading time, even on my fast PC. I've archived all tracks hoping that it would make some difference, but no🤨 I think your noise buss is a nice addition to my template. It took a long time to build, now I need to start learning how to use it🥴. For the rest, any commend on how to improve it is welcome... Btw, I tried to attach two picture of my setup, it showed that they were ready for uploading, but they don't appear in the submitted message... Edited January 17, 2021 by Teegarden try to insert pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stanton Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 i could just put the MIDI on the instrument track. but i found that i can reuse the same midi track on other instruments to see how it works without having to move it around. and once i go into mixing mode, i just hide all muted tracks so it gets simpler pretty quickly. and i'm in the "buss" side of the equation so it's about 12 channels of instruments (if using all) and 4-5 ambience busses, and 3-4 stem busses. the latter i don't really change until i think the mix is overall balanced, then the stems are the final check and adjust - vocals up/down (in my case mostly down 🙂 ) lows up/down, etc. lastly a noise injection test maybe some slight tweaks on the sub-mix busses, a quick "mastering simulation check" by engaging a -6db limiter threshold and a tilt EQ - see if things are still ok at the increased volume - levels, harshness, etc. the template with all 15 soft-synths, and another ~50 effects (mainly the PC EQ, a few reverbs and compressors) across 48 tracks, and 20 or busses, i think a new project from the template takes maybe 25-30 seconds to load up. most of the soft-synth and effects are turned off and/or muted so loading is fairly low esp during recording (i'll set the ASIO down to 5ms - about 240 samples) and then during mix up to 2048 samples to reduce load when engaging/adding the effects. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Muse Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) Dude, Thnaks! Edited January 25, 2021 by Ron Muse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garybrun Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 (edited) This was an interesting discussion. Thanks for sharing. I am working on track templates at the moment. Usually I have just started from scratch every time on each new project. Somehow I got to think more of how to produce the song and what I could do with it. I know it takes a lot of extra time. I bought the Groove template video quite a while ago... but never really got around to implementing the recommendations. I have just downloaded your template Glenn (thanks for sharing) and I am now customising it a little with just track colours as mine are different. Also need to get my head around you midi workflow. My workflow seems to be the same as @Teegarden but the "noise" is a new one for me... do you mean this for the pink noise mixing method? Gary P.s. I have just recently purchased the Slate Digital VSX system and can recommend it... very good. Hence looking at the monitor section of your template Glen. Edited February 3, 2021 by garybrun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stanton Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 i tried to follow the "standard" color scheme for tracks and busses, but, there are too many of them! 🙂 so i compiled them and did it based on % of templates and color schemes... some from pro tools, recording standards, and many contributions from folks regarding how they color their tracks and busses. so let me know what you do with it as i'm always looking out for more normalization of my templates. yeah, the noise is used to listen to a low level (reduced 12db + pink noise) to see what pops out and what's missing. i've only just started using that technique in the last month or so and i've found it handy as a reference. for my monitoring - i use the Wave NX when under the cans. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garybrun Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 I use these:- Drums = Red Sound FX = Yellow Bass = Dark green Guitars = Light green Keyboards = Blue Orchestra = Orange Backing Vox = Purple Lead Vocals = Pink After consulting an expert in color psychology to assign those colors. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stanton Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, garybrun said: I use these:- Drums = Red Sound FX = Yellow Bass = Dark green Guitars = Light green Keyboards = Blue Orchestra = Orange Backing Vox = Purple Lead Vocals = Pink After consulting an expert in color psychology to assign those colors. 🙂 ok, after reviewing these, you're fired man! 😝 Edited February 3, 2021 by Glenn Stanton 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno de Souza Lino Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 That's a lot of tracks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garybrun Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 10 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said: ok, after reviewing these, you're fired man! 😝 @Glenn StantonI got those colours from the book "My Mix Sucks" 🙂 I have recently been trying some light colour schemes as I have always used dark. Your template looks amazing in "FLAT WHITE matcha" and I have kept your colour scheme too! Happy now!!! 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoods Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Thanks for this Glenn! Is there some kind of general depository where users can share their templates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stanton Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 i don't know of a shared template repository but i suppose if someone asked the moderators if it were possible to set up a persistent thread which people only posted their templates and related info only (a separate thread of people to make comments etc on to keep it down). and i suppose it would probably be nice to have some naming convention agreed to searching for a template could be made easier 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teegarden Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 @garybrun, please find my template in the link as promised! The template is a combination of several template tutorials I’ve followed: Mainly Building a DAW Mix Template (since I consider that one the most useful for my workflow and kind of recording –mainly pop, jazz, rock, soundtrack, classical- hardly any EDM) and some others worth mentioning: Andrew Scheps mixing & template tips, and Mikael Baggström’s Youtube channel (who gives his own interesting twist to templates and workflow) Notes: Notes field: contains guidelines about calculating time settings for delay and compressor Many tracks and busses have info (Track Properties -> Description) that explains what and why All tracks (repair, test drum, test vox, reference tracks, Mock-up) that are not meant to be in the mix are routed to the NoMix bus (clearly visible, in order to avoid mistakenly messing up the mix), which is muted when mixing Orchestral tracks are limited for scenarios. I’m planning to make a separate full orchestral template. Metronome bus is placed to be the separation between instruments and FX busses Master bus inserts => FreeG (very clear, big faders for gain staging - found thanks to CbB Gain Staging, one of the great tutorials of @Creative Sauce)+ AB plugins I haven’t figured out yet which EQ settings are the best start per track/bus. So far, I’ve mainly shelved off some low frequencies in a part of the tracks in order to start with a little cleaner signal. Also, still figuring out what FX settings would be most efficient as a start point for each of the busses in the template. Feedback on this (and other parts of the template) is very welcome! Remarks: Having many plugins preloaded (even when all are frozen/inactive) as was shown in the tutorial I’ve followed made loading the template annoyingly slow (despite a using a Threadripper PC with fast SSDs). However, having all preferred plugins readily available already inserted where you need them has been proven to save me lots of time. While making the template I noticed that is very easy to lose custom colours (for some reason the ones I save are lost after a while from the colour options menu)) and that it is not so easy to copy a colour from let’s say a bus to a track folder. I noticed after uploading the template there are still some colours different from what I intended In the link are the template + pictures with my mainly custom icons used in the template (the custom pictures are not saved with the template, I think it should be optional to choose to do so or leave them in the standard icons folder). I’ve tried to insert pictures in my posts, but dragging them into the post field has not worked and uploading them to another server and inserting a hyperlink has also not worked. No clue what goes wrong? Template in the link below: CbB template 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garybrun Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I will study and get back to you. Cheers and all the best as always, Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Kendrick Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 On 3/1/2021 at 7:05 PM, Teegarden said: Template in the link below: CbB template @Teegarden This link doesn't seem to work - any chance you can repost? Interested in seeing how others route busses and sends. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stanton Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 (edited) in the past couple of years since i posted this, i've re-thought my process & templates. i found my process for personal work was significantly different than my client work, and now that i'm (somewhat stuck at the moment) using a lower power laptop, i decided to make my personal process more like a client one: 1. i have separate composition and separate recording templates - this puts all the VSTi stuff into their project which preserves CPU for later. the output of the recording projects are purely audio files - same as if i get them from a client. the recording project either includes the full arrangement, or the parts to easily create it. i don't record the VSTi tracks into the project, i use the export function with "{trackname}" to create the output audio. this saves storage space on the order of gigs... the project files (i may end up with 3 or 4) are small. the audio tracks whcih are recorded live are in the normal audio folder, and i export all the tracks to audio/export/tracks folder + a stereo raw file for reference and also for recording vocals or solos. i have a separate vocals template for those projects. 2. the audio files are imported into the mix template project and all of the mix activities occur there. this has significantly reduced the load on my laptop as all non-mix stuff is no longer there. no extraneous things to inadvertently get touched, no scrolling or hiding/unhiding tracks not essential to the mix. if i need to "re-perform" a part i go back to the recording project and re-export the changed tracks, re-import and edit them as needed. actually somewhat faster than un-archiving and un-freezing (on my system anyways). 3. the stereo or multitrack (depending on the project) are exported from the mix project and then imported into the appropriate tool for "mastering" -- and then subsequently into the output files required. if the project is going to a professional mastering house, then whatever it is they need - stereo, multitrack, stems etc. so, while there are now a number of project files (grouped within a single folder), it's not a hardship and it has created a clean break in my mental approach to composing, performing, mixing, and "mastering". it has significantly reduced system load for me and avoids cluttering. as a note: the CW export function with tasks makes life so much easier to quickly setup outputs on each stage and add others, then run the tasks and take a break. the templates have the export tasks preset and i simply adjust them as needed. not recording the VSTi into the project but simply exporting saves me a lot of storage space which would be redundant waste. attached are my latest templates.Project Templates.zip Edited January 14, 2023 by Glenn Stanton template files had vst etc removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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