Back in my analog live sound days, I had a trusty mixing board.
Whatever the bands threw at me on stage I would massage into place in the mix, dodging, bobbing, and weaving the tracks so that the audience in that dark and musty music venue would enjoy it.
Each show would be different.
Each show would have random bands, each with separate instrumentation so I just had to mix whatever they were playing.
So I got good at mixing fast, massaging the faders, and twisting
the knobs until the bands sounded awesome.
Even with only a 16-track mixer with a four-band EQ, an outboard compressor and a couple of effects returns.
And although I didn't have a mix template back then, I did have a workflow.
I developed a set of systems so that I could adapt to any band that showed up, regardless of how different the lineup was for each show.
Even if one band had a keyboard player with one stereo piano and a mono mini-Moog, and the other band had a brass section I had set up my mixer to the point of having these "catch-all" channels handy so that I
could respond to whatever the show threw at me that week.
But the home studio has infinitely more flexibility for you to be more efficient and productive.
Creating templates allows you to save so much time for each song because you've got everything set up and ready to go.
- You've got all the busses ready.
- You've got all of your go-to plug-ins in place for each track.
- Your effects returns are armed and ready with your favorite reverbs and delays.
And if you're like me, you've already dialed in your favorite starting
presets so that you can get creative immediately instead of spending the first hour of your mix playing with what's basically just a fancy-looking virtual patch bay.
Having a template is just so important if you want to save time and be more effective as a music producer.
Once you learn the power of
systemizing your templates and creating workflows around your production process, you'll immediately free up your time for more creative work.
I put together the Easy Mix Approach because I want to help you save hours in
the studio.
You achieve that by setting up templates and systems to create a more efficient workflow.
You'll spend a few hours with my materials, but those hours will teach you how to save hours every time you sit down to work on your music.
An easy return on your time.
So if you'd like to find more time to make more music, grab the Easy Mix Approach right here.
Enjoy!
Björgvin
P.S.
The Easy Mix Approach includes my personal Logic Pro X mix template that you can open straight into Logic. It includes all of my groups, busses, auxiliary effect returns, and all of my favorite stock plug-ins ready to go.
And if you don't use Logic Pro, I've translated my mix template into four other DAWs: Pro-Tools, Cubase, Ableton Live, and Reaper so you can apply my time-saving techniques immediately.