If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I posted a screenshot of my DAW in another thread the other day:
That snippet reminded me I've been curious about what everyone else chooses for the color of their tracks in the DAW. Do you use track colors to help organize your work? What's your reasoning for choosing each color? (Or, if you don't choose specific color or color families, why not?) A related question is how you order your tracks: do you have an order you like for them, and why?
For me, here's the order (top to bottom) I always lay out my tracks, and my rationale for specific colors:
Black/dark grey - global automation tracks. This may be DAW specific; I use Studio One. With it I can assign one automated parameter to actually appear within a track itself, but for global parameters (think Vol on the master fader), Studio One allows separate tracks. I use a dark non-color so as not to detract attention from any of the other tracks that follow. I also shrink these tracks down to their minimum height unless I'm working on them.
Green - for drums and percussion. Green means "Go!", like at a traffic light. What instrument part makes the song "go" - the drums, of course! Lighter green goes to "higher" instruments (cymbals, triangle? shaker?), middle greens to toms/snare, and dark green to kick.
Blue - for the bass part (synth/keyboard bass, or the real thing, etc.). Because "blue" and "bass" both begin with the letter "B".
Red - for rhythm guitars, or anything that fills the role rhythm guitars play. For red-hot, smokin' guitars! Also, red as a color is a bit brighter therefore "higher" than green (drums) or blue (bass), and the guitars kind of ride up on top of the drums and bass.
Yellow - for whatever part has the main melody of the tune. So, for pop/rock styles, the lead vocal. For an instrumental, whatever instrument carries the melody. Of the colors I use, yellow stands out the most...just like the melody should.
Lighter yellow or orange - for whatever part has "secondary" solos. Examples are lead guitar parts in a pop/rock tune, perhaps a harmonica that fills in often between verses of a song, etc.
Darker yellow or orange - backup vocals or parts that predominantly harmonize with the main melody. That color stands out some, but not as much as bright yellow. Likewise, parts harmonizing with the melody should rise above the rhythm section, but should not steal the show.
Purple - "filler" - organ/keyboards (that are not already taking a solo role), etc. Purple is more muted in comparison to the other colors so far, kind of laying in the background; the role of these types of parts, like pads, should also stay in the background (usually).
Basically, I assign colors based on the role that instrument plays in the song, not necessarily on the instrument itself. (A guitar part could be either red, or yellow/orange, depending on the role it plays in the song.) Almost every tune will have green/blue/red/yellow, and everything else depends on the song. Additionally, I can set colors on Bus or F/X tracks in the mixer view which do not appear alongside the audio tracks. For these, I always use grey for busses, and white for F/X.
Your turn...I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
That snippet reminded me I've been curious about what everyone else chooses for the color of their tracks in the DAW. Do you use track colors to help organize your work? What's your reasoning for choosing each color? (Or, if you don't choose specific color or color families, why not?) A related question is how you order your tracks: do you have an order you like for them, and why?
For me, here's the order (top to bottom) I always lay out my tracks, and my rationale for specific colors:
Black/dark grey - global automation tracks. This may be DAW specific; I use Studio One. With it I can assign one automated parameter to actually appear within a track itself, but for global parameters (think Vol on the master fader), Studio One allows separate tracks. I use a dark non-color so as not to detract attention from any of the other tracks that follow. I also shrink these tracks down to their minimum height unless I'm working on them.
Green - for drums and percussion. Green means "Go!", like at a traffic light. What instrument part makes the song "go" - the drums, of course! Lighter green goes to "higher" instruments (cymbals, triangle? shaker?), middle greens to toms/snare, and dark green to kick.
Blue - for the bass part (synth/keyboard bass, or the real thing, etc.). Because "blue" and "bass" both begin with the letter "B".
Red - for rhythm guitars, or anything that fills the role rhythm guitars play. For red-hot, smokin' guitars! Also, red as a color is a bit brighter therefore "higher" than green (drums) or blue (bass), and the guitars kind of ride up on top of the drums and bass.
Yellow - for whatever part has the main melody of the tune. So, for pop/rock styles, the lead vocal. For an instrumental, whatever instrument carries the melody. Of the colors I use, yellow stands out the most...just like the melody should.
Lighter yellow or orange - for whatever part has "secondary" solos. Examples are lead guitar parts in a pop/rock tune, perhaps a harmonica that fills in often between verses of a song, etc.
Darker yellow or orange - backup vocals or parts that predominantly harmonize with the main melody. That color stands out some, but not as much as bright yellow. Likewise, parts harmonizing with the melody should rise above the rhythm section, but should not steal the show.
Purple - "filler" - organ/keyboards (that are not already taking a solo role), etc. Purple is more muted in comparison to the other colors so far, kind of laying in the background; the role of these types of parts, like pads, should also stay in the background (usually).
Basically, I assign colors based on the role that instrument plays in the song, not necessarily on the instrument itself. (A guitar part could be either red, or yellow/orange, depending on the role it plays in the song.) Almost every tune will have green/blue/red/yellow, and everything else depends on the song. Additionally, I can set colors on Bus or F/X tracks in the mixer view which do not appear alongside the audio tracks. For these, I always use grey for busses, and white for F/X.
Your turn...I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I only use colors for group fader tracks, and those colors are chosen by Reaper at random.
Rebel Yell
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Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I use whatever default colors Reaper chooses.
Or rather "chose" in that I use the "classic" theme.
Or rather "chose" in that I use the "classic" theme.
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Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I do Red for left (port) panned guitars and Green for right (starboard) panned guitars. Blue for drums, Orange for bass. The rest can all be random. I don't much care after that.
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I've started to do this on my current project.
I didn't know Reaper did randoms - I found selecting colours annoying so will allow Reaper to do it next time.
Just groups/sends to bus stuff anyway.
I didn't know Reaper did randoms - I found selecting colours annoying so will allow Reaper to do it next time.
Just groups/sends to bus stuff anyway.
Cheers
rayc
rayc
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Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I hardly ever see the track section. I mostly see the mix section and the rack section (Reason), but I do have all my instruments in the same channel number every time. Just makes it easier for me.
“Naaaaaaaaaah man. I ain’t touching that mic. That thing’s expensive!”
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I just use the standard Reaper setup. I don't think I've ever even chosen a theme.
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Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
The current green theme has more-or-less been constant for about a decade.
However, I started using it prior to that theme, and like the high contrast of the original theme. Switch to the classic theme (or see any screenshot of my workflow I've ever uploaded) to see the difference!
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I liked theme 2.0...or maybe it was 3.0. One of the early-ish ones, but I can't get it back now. I'm on like theme 4 and I'm used to it now but I'm not crazy about it. When I go to other people's setups and they're on the most modern theme, I hate it.
Rebel Yell
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
black = guitar/bass di's
blue = guitars
purple = bass
green = drums
red = vocals
yellow = reverb/fx
orange = keys (I very rarely use 'em)
blue = guitars
purple = bass
green = drums
red = vocals
yellow = reverb/fx
orange = keys (I very rarely use 'em)
Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Jackson
Ceriatone, Marshall, EVH
TC Electronic, MXR, Yamaha
My music @ Reverbnation
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I've toyed with colors before but I find that I just go with the default bland grey colors of Reaper. I do use a custom skin though, and I like the subtle colors that it adds.
After reading through this thread last night I went to the Reaper stash and hunted around for an updated theme or two. I didn't find anything that I like, so I'm sticking with the Janne 2015 SSL skin that I've been using for a couple years now. It just suits me.
After reading through this thread last night I went to the Reaper stash and hunted around for an updated theme or two. I didn't find anything that I like, so I'm sticking with the Janne 2015 SSL skin that I've been using for a couple years now. It just suits me.
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
Drums-red
Bass-yellow
Guitars - green
Horns - purple
Keys - blue
All busses would use a similar color
All effects would use a similar color
I have no idea why I started doing it this way but I have been for almost 10 years.
Bass-yellow
Guitars - green
Horns - purple
Keys - blue
All busses would use a similar color
All effects would use a similar color
I have no idea why I started doing it this way but I have been for almost 10 years.
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I use a custom theme made for me by a Reaper user a few years ago...I've tweaked it quite a bit over time so the colors aren't as jarring/bright, & made some other changes like the timeline text is white, along with other things I can't remember at the moment...FWIW, I don't color the entire track panel, only the little track name bar thing...Tadpui wrote: ↑Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:18 pm I've toyed with colors before but I find that I just go with the default bland grey colors of Reaper. I do use a custom skin though, and I like the subtle colors that it adds.
After reading through this thread last night I went to the Reaper stash and hunted around for an updated theme or two. I didn't find anything that I like, so I'm sticking with the Janne 2015 SSL skin that I've been using for a couple years now. It just suits me.
Armor 4A Theme
Something I've learned over the years is no single skin/theme works for everything for me...The version of this theme I use now is tweaked quite a bit & just makes everything better for me...YMMV
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Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Jackson
Ceriatone, Marshall, EVH
TC Electronic, MXR, Yamaha
My music @ Reverbnation
Re: If your DAW has configurable track colors, what colors do you choose, and why?
I'll use them if I have a logical reason to do so but not if I don't. I don't want the colours on the tracks themselves, just the faders, as I use the Reaper spectral peaks function which initially I thought was just pretty but which as turned out to be incredibly useful for isolating exact bits of sibilances, pops and other unwanted noises.