How to Work on Music When You Don’t Have Time
If you're a home musician, it can sometimes feel impossible to find any time to work on music. Between family, friends, kids, work, and chores, life throws a lot at you and takes up most of your day.
That's why today we're going to talk about how to make the most of your limited time so you can keep making music, no matter how busy life gets.
Have a Dedicated Area
Setting up every time you have a chance to work on music wastes valuable time. Try to find an area where you can keep your gear set up, ready to use, and dedicated to your music. For many people, this space is their home studio.
If you don't have a home studio, you can download the free Home Studio Starter HERE and start making your own today.
Once you have a dedicated area to work in, make sure it's set up the way you like. The goal is to start working on music as quickly as possible. Keep your instruments within reach, make sure any cables you might need are accessible, have your speakers or headphones ready, and most importantly, make sure the space is comfortable. Nothing kills creativity and motivation faster than being uncomfortable.
If you often find yourself getting up to grab something after you sit down to work, that item should probably be in your dedicated area.
I have my home studio set up so everything is within reach while I'm sitting at my computer. My guitars and basses are to my right, my MIDI keyboard is in front of me on my desk and connected, my audio interface is easily accessible, and I use hooks on my desk for my headphones and guitar cable when they're not in use.
Try to make the most of whatever area you have, no matter how big or small it may be.
Use Templates
If you're not using writing, recording, and mixing templates in your DAW, you should start now. They can save you a significant amount of setup time.
All DAWs support templates in one way or another. If you're not familiar with what a template is, it's a pre-configured project that already has tracks, effects, routing, virtual instruments, and anything else you commonly use. Everything is set up and ready to go, so you don't have to add it all every time you start a new project.
Templates are usually created for different types of workflows. Songwriting/recording, mixing, and mastering templates are some common examples.
When creating a template, think about what you find yourself doing repeatedly when starting a new project and what your goal for that project is.
Here's how to create a simple rock songwriting template:
Create tracks for the Drums, Bass, Guitars, and Vocals
Go through each track one at a time and add the virtual instruments and effects they need, such as:
Virtual drums (if that's what you use)
Amp Sims for Bass and Guitar
Reverb and Delay sends for Vocals
Using these tracks, create a simple 4-bar song. It doesn't need to be good, just something to help you tweak the template
Adjust the volume and panning balance between the tracks
Add or adjust any of the instruments, effects, or sends as needed
Remove any audio and MIDI you recorded for the simple 4-bar song
Save the template
Now you have a basic rock songwriting template you can use to start a brand new song without wasting time on setup.
This is just the beginning. One great thing about templates is that you can refine them as you use them more. You'll start making adjustments like adjusting volume and panning, adding new tracks and instruments, tweaking effects, and shaping the sound to match what's in your head. Just remember to overwrite or save a new template when you make these changes so you don't have to redo everything later. If you don't, it defeats entire purpose of using templates.
I've refined my songwriting template over the years, and now I can get amazing sounding demos quickly and without constantly adjusting settings.
Set Aside Time
Sometimes, when you don't have time, the only option is to make time.
How you make that time depends on your own unique life:
You might need to make agreements with your family, roommate, or significant other
You might have to wake up earlier than usual or go to bed later
You might have to adjust other parts of your schedule just to create enough space
Pick a day (or days) and a time (or times) to dedicate to music, figure out how you can make it work, and commit to it.
After a while, this time will not longer feel borrowed and will become part of your regular schedule.
Final Thoughts
By having a dedicated area, using templates, and setting aside time, you can make the most of your limited day and work on music regularly and consistently.
Life is busy and stressful. It is important to take time for your hobbies and what makes you happy, even if it is as little as 15 minutes once or twice a week.
What do you struggle with most when working on your music? Is it simply finding the time? Coming up with ideas? Recording yourself? Mixing? or something else? Leave a comment below!
-Anthony