When it comes to writing an album or EP, it is important to develop a comprehensive solid production workflow. In this article, we are going to explore some enviable music lessons you should know.
Producing music is not a child’s play; to stay on target, you will need to engage in some form of logistic planning and careful preparation. Scheduling musicians, booking studio time and reviewing master recordings require a huge, consistent process.
This is why, in this insightful article, we have compiled 5 tested and proven tips that will enhance your production workflow.
All these tips are geared towards keeping your project in line and on track and ensuring you improve your workflow production faster than you can ever imagine. Here are the details:
Studio Production Tips – 5 Ways to Improve Your Production Workflow
Know the songs
What song are you producing? To what extent do you know it? Is it something you are familiar with? Knowing the song is the key. Some analysts say it is the real deal. If you are producing any lyrics or demo songs, make sure you know every detail about them.
Experience has shown that not every producer knows all the essential details in their music. If you don’t know the basics of your music or the song you are producing, it will affect your workflow productivity because you can’t give what you don’t have. Knowing the song is the first step, as we have mentioned above.
Make out time to know them; you will never regret doing so and always identify chords. If you are aware of how the song is going, you will be better positioned to make adjustments when and where necessary. This is essential.
Learn your shortcuts
Do you know your shortcuts? If you do, to what extent do you know them? If you are unfamiliar with your shortcuts, it will negatively affect your performance.
Shortcuts are helpful in life only if you are perfectly aware of how to use them. Learning your shortcuts remains one of the most effective and efficient ways of enhancing your workflow in the studio.
Spend quality time to learn how you can use keyboard shortcuts. Learn about these basic commands; paste, cut, open, zoom, play, delete, toolbar, scrolling, pause, etc. You will never regret knowing all these.
Master what you have first
As a producer, you need to master your kit and what you have first, such as audio production software and tools. Doing these will help you to take your production expertise to the next level of excellence. If you fail to master what you have first, it will affect your overall performance.
You can start by learning how some great free software works, and from there, you can progress by learning premium versions.
Be open to learning. Once you are open to learning, you will keep learning more and, invariably, you will achieve more at the end of the day.
Reduce muddy sound with EQ
If too many frequencies are partly coinciding in your mix, it will result in a ‘muddy’ situation. This can be avoided.
To prevent mud, all you need to do is keep in mind the volume of frequency you are putting in any of them. But keep in mind that frequencies will always overlap, irrespective of the instrument you select.
Learning to ‘notch out’ and ‘roll off’ is something that requires enough time, determination, and energy. And you must learn the process very well. A spectrum analyzer will assist you with this. Doing this will enable you to come up with a cleaner mix.
Learn about compression techniques
This is highly recommended, and you shouldn’t make any mistake about it. To improve your workflow production, you will need to understand your mixing and compression. Take time to learn about them.
One of the great advantages of compression is that it minimizes the variations between one lowest gain and the highest levels all through the track. This will make you turn the volume to your preferred choice without clipping.
The keyword here is to learn about compression techniques. This is something you really need to do. Once you do it, you will be happy with the outcome. There are many resources online that will enable you to achieve this.
Concluding thoughts
Take advantage of these 5 tips mentioned in this article to maximize your production workflow.
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