What? What’s wrong, Now?

You have problems. We all do, I understand. One of the

biggest problems indy musicians (especially those that do their own recording) have is how to quickly improve the studio to advance the workflow and move those recordings along.

What is the single best improvement you can make
We are all saving for these fancy new must-have-toys – er, uh, Tools. But let’s face reality, you don’t have the cash, and they aren’t going to rescue from the “I need to get some work done blues”.to your studio today? A new mic-pre? New mics! Oh, I love  new mics! A new computer (see my article on Cubase and UAD computer issues)…

What will do the trick, doesn’t cost anything, and can sometimes be accomplished in an afternoon? Streamlining your studio can be the most effective method of rescue for the recording musician.

What a tangled web we weave

You have boxes and knobs, sliders and cables, mics, amps, instruments, all set up and ready to record at a
Get rid of it! That’s right! Un-plug, remove, clean, and re-configure that mess. How many drum programs do you have? More than one or two is probably a waste. You have to decide which to use – hours of listening to samples and beats that have nothing to do with your song – and yet another interface to figure out.moment’s notice, but it has all been cobbled together over a long period of time and it’s a wreck, right?

Six organ pluggins? How many do you play at once? Have you got that patch-bay set up so that everything gets it’s  own route to everything else? I’ll bet you don’t remember which cable goes where.

I don’t have time to go through 4 pages of menus to
This subject has been on my mind because I just ordered a new machine. When it comes in there will be the week-long process of putting it together, loading all the software, finding the right drivers, and connecting all the periphials. Yes I’m already drawing routing  maps and making lists of processor order, and putting a lot of thought into the best way to get the most out of my studio with it’s new bigger, better brain.find the right input channel when it is time to record. I need to hit a button and Go!

Every time I go through this, I always come out the same. I wind up with fewer cables, more options, and

Making the best of itless clutter. It takes practice and dedication. Hey, I’m a musician, if you think I can get by without 32 effect pedals connected to my guitar, you are dead wrong! The biggest hurdle is getting over the “but what if I need it?!?” thought. If you have not used it in 3 months, forget it, get it out of the way… keep it handy, but out of the way.

What we are after here is what we need – a simple set-up with all the necessities at arms reach (or at least within a few step) of the controls. A clean desk and floors help, too.

How do we do this? Simple, follow these steps:

• Make a list of your very favorite gear.
• draw a little map of the best way to connect
  most of it for the most  options
• list what you don’t need
• Now, go through the racks, re-cable what needs it, remove the cables that aren’t doing anything important.
• Do the same with the computers, if they are full of software you don’t use, remove it, or at least remove it from your DAW’s “load” list
• Clean the gear, organize the cables, gather the little adaptors and give them a good handy home.
• Now clean the desk and the floor, empty the trash and maybe even the ashtrays, and light a pretty smelling candle ( or break out the smudge-sticks if that’s your thing).

After a hard afternoon of cleaning, re-arranging and generally streamlining your studio, you’ll be pooped, but excited and motivated.

I always get the most work accomplished after one of these hard core streamline sessions. The excitement sometimes lasts for months! Yes, the benefits are mostly psychological, but who cares if it’s a Jedi Mind Trick as long as it gets you making recordings faster and better. All the new toys in the world don’t do a bit of good without a mind-frame that is ready for using them completely unfettered by clutter and chaos!