Tips & Techniques:Organization: The Studio Capability Inventory

Something you might have fun doing in your spare time is creating an inventory of all the capabilities of your studio. Most of us have equipment inventories (some publish them on the studio website) but the Studio Capability Inventory takes that a step further.

For instance, how many reverbs are there in your studio? At first thought, you might say, "A couple of rack units. And then there's a few plugin reverbs." Would you be surprised to learn the number was actually 100 or more different reverbs? Think about the reverbs in each virtual instrument, each guitar amp, stompbox, multi-effect unit, the amp simulators you have both hardware and software, etc. And then think about chamber reverbs...the tracking room, control room, even bathroom can be turned into a reverb tank.

List all of these capabilities as they come to you...it can be really enlightening to push yourself to thinking about all the things your gear can do. And when you feel a pang of Gear Acquisition Syndrome coming on, you can always reassure yourself that you have options available you haven't even tried yet. Alternatively, this can show you the areas your inventory is weak and where your money is best spent.

Sort them with your favorite options on top. Not only individual applications like reverb or compression or guitar amp, but entire favorite chains can be listed for reference.

And when you're thinking "this track needs something else" you can just pull up your Studio Capability Inventory and run through the options. A great tonic for creative use of gear!