DAW templates for computer-based composer

As a busy composer with a day gig too, I'm constantly pressed for time when I'm in my studio. With one of my gigs I have deadlines to meet, sometimes with a 2 day or shorter turnaround to submit demos. Also, for some reason there seems to be more opportunities to submit music then there is time to fill all of the requests (admittedly a nice problem to have!). All of this activity demands an efficient approach to generating ideas and getting a piece up and running quickly.

So what's a composer to do to? Well, my answer is: Create templates in your DAW for the different types and styles of music you write.

For instance, I write orchestral and hybrid electro/orchestral pieces fairly often. I have a very large template set up that addresses 3 computers and has a wide selection of articulations available on many, many MIDI tracks. While it may seem like overkill, when I need that marcato trumpet articulation, it's already loaded. Admittedly this approach takes a lot of computer horsepower, but if you have the power, it's worth the time it takes to set up a large orchestral template. I do find myself adding tracks and articulations from time to time and at that point I'll overwrite the template so it's updated or I'll save it as a new one.

So how should creating templates be approached?

Some people have expressed concern that a template may lock them in to using the same set of sounds. In order to avoid this, just take one step back and load up the VIs but don't load any sounds in to them. This way you can have, for instance, Stylus, Omnisphere, EZ Drummer and Kontakt loaded up but they would come up "empty" instead of with some default sound you chose before.

If you play to a click, just use the standard click in your DAW, or if you like to play to a loop, don't have the template open up on a generic beat, choose the loop as a part of your creative process. The same goes with tempo. My DAW comes up at 120BPM as the default. I consciously try to tune in right away to the right tempo for the vibe I'm trying to create, partly to avoid having 85% of the pieces I write end up at 120BPM!!!! LOL

Create templates from a "high level", rather than too far down in to the process. The style of the music will suggest how far down to create the template. For instance, a template for electronic music might just have a bunch of "blank slate" synths loaded up whereas a "hard rock" template might need to have the basic drums, bass and guitars already loaded up.

Don't forget to include things like countoff duration, controller setups, extra audio tracks, display parameters (bars/beats/frames, etc.), any default settings that your DAW offers that you find yourself setting up each time. If your DAW offers that function as a selectable default, use it.

A template is a good place to organize the tracks in to folders if your DAW supports it, color schemes if you're visually oriented (my DAW offers the feature of track colors, for instance), and track layout (I lay my orchestral templates out in classical score order).

Here's some other ideas that you might consider:

1. Have a basic solo piano template for improvisation and creating solo pieces.
2. Augment the solo piano template with a basic rhythm section and maybe an organ or pad sound.
3. Leave your mic always connected to the same input and always include an open track for it in your templates.

Feel free to leave some ideas and comments on your approach to templates.