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Use A Sketchbook
give your ideas time and space
In my recent diary entry I referred to my sketchbook folder. Its probably the single most important workflow tool that I use throughout computer music production.
I started using a "sketchbook" folder separate to my "in progress" folder about six years ago. Similar to an artists sketchbook, I use it as an archive of all my ideas, random samples and unfinished work.
Since then it's become one of my most invaluable resources and has helped my music production process immeasurably. Now I can't imagine working without it and losing it would be an unmitigated disaster. As such, all 191.46GB (and counting) of it is triple backed up on three external hard drives.
Through the music production process there are many occasions when you'll happen upon a brilliant idea or happy accident that doesn't fit the current project. Instead of wasting hours trying to make a square peg fit a round hole why not save it to a separate sketchbook folder?
This will allow you to continue working on the job in hand without the nagging feeling that you've ignored something that's potentially brilliant. Using a sketchbook reduces the temptation to go off in random tangents, significantly increasing productivity.
Another productivity killer is the "never-ending tune". We've all got them, those pieces that we've been working on for months (I've got some Logic Pro, Ableton and Reason files that I've been working on for years) but which we just can't finish.
Often the best plan is to forget them for a while by saving them in your sketchbook folder and deleting them from your work in progress folder. This is because seeing all your unfinished DAW files every time you turn on the computer is a sure way to reinforce self-doubt and an even surer way to kill inspiration.
The moment I removed these constant reminders of my creative failures and shortcomings from daily sight I immediately experienced a big productivity boost. I now have a policy that if I have't finished a piece within a couple of months I move it to my sketchbook.
Psychologically this means I can move onto pastures new knowing that the possible brilliance that I've yet to unlock in those unfinished files will always be there for me to exploit at some point in the future.
Often it just takes a little time and distance from a project to bring a eureka moment, at which point I'll retrieve the file from my sketchbook and finish it within a couple of hours rather than freaking out for days.
I also use my sketchbook as a repositiory of work I've brainstormed. For instance, when I started work on both of my albums I first spent a week working on a basic idea until I ran out of steam, at which point I'd move onto a new idea.
Every time I got stuck, I'd save the Logic Pro, Reason and/ or Ableton file to my sketchbook folder and start on something new. After a week I had oodles of new material to work on and could even flesh out what the album might look like. And if I didn't use any of the material, it didn't matter as it was all saved for future use.
The main benefit of using a sketchbook is that it gives you space to think and focus on the job in hand rather than constantly going off on random tangents. But it also has the added benefit of being a resource to dip into when you are feeling uninspired or don't know where to start in the music production process.
As it grows and by using it daily, you'll get to know and remember certain musical ideas and sounds which will at some point make perfect sense even if they don't right now. By using a sketchbook you'll give your subconscious mind the time and space to work them out.
- © Mike Monday 2010. All Rights Reserved.
