Before opening your audio software you create a structure of your DAW session with this widget. This means you can put together a track list, define your routing and set production standards. This allows you to jump right into mixing or recording. You can use either your computer keyboard to get faster control over the interface, or even just use your mouse to click on fields and buttons.
To begin assembling your own session, click on the Assemble button after choosing a template family from the drop-down list. Doing so will fill out the session with tracks set up for songwriter demos, electronic production, band tracking, or even scoring hybrid.
How to Set Up Your DAW Session
Or if you prefer adding your own tracks one at a time, click on the role buttons above the track roster. These buttons is used to add individual instruments such as drums, bass, keys, guitars, vocals, or generic MIDI and audio channels.
After adding your tracks you can name them as well as direct where they should of be sent. There’s a dropdown menu and an input box for each of the rows (tracks) that directs to one of the buses. There are specific lane for prints, FX returns, vocals, music and drums. Use the raise and lower buttons to move your tracks up and down in the list. Use the retire track button to delete tracks from the list.
You’ll notice from the routing spine on the right just how many tracks feed in to each bus. This allows you to see your signal flow right before it is sent to the stereo master. Select Audit signal routing to double-check your setup. This highlights any tracks that aren’t named or go straight to the master, helping you keep a tidy structure in your mix.
The Trace one channel button help you see your signal flow, highlighting the routed channel and bus it belongs to in the routing spine. Forking a traced channel allows you to double a source that retains the original routing. This is handy when establishing backup or parallel tracks without having to manually route them again.
The production standard section is where you enter the nuts and bolts of what’s going on in your session. These include time signature, tempo, buffer size, bit depth, sample rate, and session code. If you click on Stamp tracking standard, it will use their recommended settings: 24-bit at 48kHz and a 128-sample buffer. All tracks will be named with your session code as a prefix to maintain an organized file.
The arrangement locators allow you to map out the structure of the song. Pin markers for the verse, chorus, and intro at the right bar numbers on the form. There is an option to add a pop-song marker map in just one click that will add a standard structure from bar one through to bar ninety-seven. If you want to change the layout, you can tap any of the locators in the timeline area to remove them.
Perform a preflight check before finalizing your template. Make sure your names are unique, your tracks are routed by subgroup, print lanes are reserved, and your locators are in place. Pass? Create a handoff manifest. It creates a text version of your session (markers), track list, routing; you can cut and paste into your DAW or send to colleagues.
Template creation has been speeded up with keyboard shortcuts. Number keys 1-7 will now add their appropriate track role(s) immediatly. Use A for audit routing, T to trace a channel, and F to fork the existing trace. All of these shortcuts allows you to stay hands-on the keyboard as you create the structure of your session.
Experiment with various types of templates and routing. Create a live band configuration, then fork the vocals and hear what the router does. Run a preflight check to make sure your session is solid prior to recording. Pick a family of templates and watch as it rapidly forms into a pro session structure.