Advice on how to make the most of time when recording at home
I find myself with less and less free time to record my music these days, so i was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to make the most of the time I do have when recording. I have a large queue of songs that i would like to record (some from several years ago) so I'm not generally writing music when i do get time to play with reaper. However, i don't always feel like i'm making the best use of my time.
it's entirely my hobby, so it's not like there's someone else imposing a deadline, or that there's anyone else I'm recording with - it's all on me. does anyone else set aside specific time to record e.g. wednesday night is 'music night'?
Time constraints aren't exactly negative. It forces a person to make choices and stick with them.
I find that if I only concentrate on one aspect in a particular session, that works well. Say you have a few hours this evening. If you're tracking, you might just focus solely on bass. You can really dive deep if you're not thinking you need to also get on to piano or whatever.
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On the one hand, it's not a bad boat to be in! But I feel your pain. I have a few suggestions:
Templates templates templates! Make some project/track/fx templates (whatever suites you) so that you can quickly start working.
Use your "other" free time to plan in your head. When you're driving, on the toilet, waiting in line for fast food (haha), anytime you have a moment free in your head, use it to plan your next studio session, so that you will already know what you want before you even start.
Make decisions and move on! Sometimes when we do (finally) get to work, we get stuck on one element of a project. This is a good time to exercise decisiveness and move on to the next element to keep the flow of creativity going. Of course, save save save all your iterations, just in case.
Do something else, sometimes we just aren't productive in whatever we're doing for whatever reason, so maybe jumping onto another project will resonate better in which you can be more productive with your valuable time.
Then you can load project template, switch on hardware, immediately start. Like a groovebox. Reaper and js/vst replacing a real groovebox internal software and intelligence. Much more fun than clicking around with the mouse, you can always freely record and perform certain actions on the hardware, turning knobs, faders, hiting buttons, notes. Playing guitar, piano, all freely, like Vangelis or Tobias Hornberger, an ambient master.
On the one hand, it's not a bad boat to be in! But I feel your pain. I have a few suggestions:
Templates templates templates! Make some project/track/fx templates (whatever suites you) so that you can quickly start working.
Use your "other" free time to plan in your head. When you're driving, on the toilet, waiting in line for fast food (haha), anytime you have a moment free in your head, use it to plan your next studio session, so that you will already know what you want before you even start.
Make decisions and move on! Sometimes when we do (finally) get to work, we get stuck on one element of a project. This is a good time to exercise decisiveness and move on to the next element to keep the flow of creativity going. Of course, save save save all your iterations, just in case.
Do something else, sometimes we just aren't productive in whatever we're doing for whatever reason, so maybe jumping onto another project will resonate better in which you can be more productive with your valuable time.
templates - that's good advice. i don't use them very much apart from some track/project templates for drums (and a few FX settings like an unnecessarily complicated vocal verb that I like). i have Reaper on a portable drive, so while I'm at the office i can probably tweak some things and set up some templates and projects so they're ready to go when i'm at home and able to record.
templates - that's good advice. i don't use them very much apart from some track/project templates for drums (and a few FX settings like an unnecessarily complicated vocal verb that I like). i have Reaper on a portable drive, so while I'm at the office i can probably tweak some things and set up some templates and projects so they're ready to go when i'm at home and able to record.
thanks!
exactly. don't forget to setup your routing in advance, setup your track inputs, monitoring, etc. You can also set tracks to auto rec-arm when selected. Every little thing just makes it that much easier to get right to work.
I find more and more that it is essential to have a target when I walk into
my studio. Have a target and move on to the next one after finishing.
Recording new work I always leave it until the next morning to listen to the work/creativity done and then make the decision to keep the new work done or bin it. I always bin if even if just a small doubt.
Then I get about creating more.
Tip: Reduce any and all "setup" duties with the goal of being able to record within 2 minutes or less of being inspired. I adopted that approach a decade or two ago and it's wonderful. I have everything within arm's reach so when it's time - it's usually a matter of the time it takes reaper to launch and maybe turn on a preamp and set the level.
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Also helps to have the means to record instant stuff as it comes into your mind.
My recording habits changed forever when I bought an Olympus handheld digital recorder. Means you can hum/whistle/grunt that great melody you just thought up instantly.
Which in my case means I am forced to make the chords fit the melody rather than ending up changing the melody to fit the chords I find easy.
Absolutely changed everything.
My workflow improved hugely, my output quality not only improved but it also increased the number of new songs I finish.
Tip: Reduce any and all "setup" duties with the goal of being able to record within 2 minutes or less of being inspired. I adopted that approach a decade or two ago and it's wonderful. I have everything within arm's reach so when it's time - it's usually a matter of the time it takes reaper to launch and maybe turn on a preamp and set the level.
this is something that I struggle with, especially if i have put everything away (cables, mics etc) the previous time I did anything recordy. although having said that, my problem is not that i don't record things when i get inspired (I have a long list of things to record, so there's no shortage of material in one form or another), it's that I don't use the time effectively when i am recording.