Do you use production templates?

[morbid]

I used to always start each track from scratch and still do but have a modified starting point which is basically 8 bus tracks - VOX / ATMOS / KICK / BASS / DRUMS / PERC / FX / SYNTH

Then a bunch of fx on sends with some of my favourite presets eg couple of reverbs I like on synths, couple of plugs for kicks and drums, saturator and comps etc

I load the template and start from scratch but as soon as I start to get a bit of a vibe going on I route everything to the busses and focus on how the track sounds as just 8 components

Makes it easier for controlling stuff live as well, my brain only works in 8s, 16's and 32's anway so if I have song with 22 tracks or whatever it doesnt make sense to me

I find I can make really complex arrangements and play around with subtle differences on each individual track but still easy for me to understand what fits in where tonally

All on Ableton