PreSonus Forums

Often I find myself of attributing certain colours to certain types of instruments by their colourised character I imagine in my head. I don't why this is, but it's somewhat like taste I think. Guitars for example would say brown to me, blue I would associate with synths and drums and percussion I would associate with red almost always.

However with so many instruments which are synths for example, there are only so few shades in Studio One, some shades are barley indistinguishable from each other but that's another story on a similar subject.

Evidently though if one is going to use the same limited colour set for a certain categorisation of instruments, the grouping of sections of an arrangement is much more difficult to manage and identify because you have less choice of colours to choose from for other parts.

If you choose the grouping option such as synths, drum sort of category system then it makes it much harder to identify individual tracks for example if they are in a grouped folder.

A much better and immediate way to mark, classify, categorise and search for tracks without the need of opening submenu panals and trying to fiddle around with tiny damn dots to view tracks really needs implented I feel to streamline the process of track management. Something like the tag system of the browser with a search field, and hay what about having actual different coloured tags on tracks so they can be more easily identified in a 50 to 100 + track as well ?

My original post intention was to ask users how they associate colours to certain instruments and the method they used however as you've may have just read, it's developed more into a feature request sort of discussion thread, and with that I've reworded the heading from that of the original I had, but anyway... I think I've raised a few discussion points in my post for you to pick up on anyways.

What you're talking about is known as synaesthesia (British spelling). Parts of your brain are wired up in such a way that certain sounds evoke certain colours. I'm also a synaesthete. But for me, bass is brown, piano is somewhere between cyan and blue, drum sounds are from white to dark grey, and so on. I've already requested more colours - a complete colour wheel would be best, IMO - for exactly this reason.

I colour tracks for instrument identity purposes but not because I imagine colours for different sounds (guess my brain is missing that connection and probably quite a few others!), just because its a convenient way to find things more quickly.

For what it's worth (and of course it's purely subjective) ~ I use an overall colour for an instrument category and then different shades of that colour for tracks within the category (including the associated fx and buss channels) so in general I use yellow for drums/percussion, purple for bass, blue for guitars, red for vocals, green for piano/synth, brown for brass/woodwind and or other colours that might take my fancy - not by association.

On a more useful tack, I find that identifying fx and buss channels in the mix console, in order to differentiate between them and the audio/instrument tracks, to be visually less easy with the blue fader button not being striking enough and getting lost in the colour fest that results from using the colouring option.

Consequently I would like the facility to be able to choose whether an individual console strip/fader section has just the small (track title) panel at the bottom of the fader coloured (as per previous versions of S1) or coloured in full as per S1v3 - or, hold on to your hats here.... The option to colour the smaller bottom panel, (maybe the fader button, haven't thought that through yet!) and the main fader section separately, this would enable me to utilise a main colour to identify a buss, fx, vca fader etc (probably black, white or grey for instance) whilst colouring the small bottom panel to associate it with the instrument group... Phew - after that I might get some music recorded and mixed down ~ but more quickly

Regards....

P.S. I know we can group the faders to the right of the mixer section but I don't always find that convenient.

one thing i wish they would do is... say you have all your drum parts as tan/brown (i always use brown for drums... drums are the base of everything so i see them as dirt lol) but again... say all your drums are grouped and colored tan... i wish that if you put them in a folder that the folder would recognize the color of the section and make itself that same color. i hate having to color all the stems in a group then when i pack them in a folder... i have to color that folder too. not a big deal... but still a drag

jBranam wroteone thing i wish they would do is... say you have all your drum parts as tan/brown (i always use brown for drums... drums are the base of everything so i see them as dirt lol) but again... say all your drums are grouped and colored tan... i wish that if you put them in a folder that the folder would recognize the color of the section and make itself that same color. i hate having to color all the stems in a group then when i pack them in a folder... i have to color that folder too. not a big deal... but still a drag

You can also have the Folders content (tracks) follow the Folder color. Under Studio One | Options | Advanced | Editing | Apply folder track color to content. I realize this is not the same as what you are asking but it does get to the same end result...just bass ackwards for you.

I'd love to see a full color wheel as well. not enough options as it is.

funny how we all see different colors for different instruments. i use green for drums, blue for pianos, yellows for guitars, red for synths, browns or oranges for bass etc...

thnx mike... must have missed that. that helps a lot cheers


jay

p.s. i do stuff bass ackwards anyways

I too would like to see a wider color pallet. I would also like to see the addition of icons so we can visually label tracks. I've used other software that allows you to do this and it helps me a lot, especially with larger projects.

It's interesting that some of us here associate colors to instruments the same. I always associate bass with brown but from there I seem to differ. I usually make all midi green just so I can differentiate it from audio tracks quickly.

When I hear what I consider a good mix I sort of see it in shades of grey. I hear it on a graph plane with focus directly on the x axis (horizon) in a dark gray + and - a few lines tall with it fading above and below those points from a lighter gray to white. I know it's odd but that's the best way I can describe it.

I don't hear music that way with 99% of newer commercial material, but I do on almost all recordings pre-1990-ish. I've only ever achieved it once with my own recordings and I have no idea how I did it. Craig Anderton seems to have a knack for getting that sound on some of his mixes that I've heard on youtube. I don't know if he does everything in the box but I'd sure love to be a fly on the wall in his studio some time.

Thanks,

I also wish we had a color wheel. I feel pretty limited as it is. Where my colors usually fall...

Deep Blue= Drums
primary green=rhythm guitars
Lighter greens=guitar solos or overdubs
Purple=bass
Yellow=lead vocals
Other yellows=backup vocal parts
Light Blue = reverb busses
White=master channel

The rest I kinda wing it.

Add to the chorus of "me too's" for more color choices.

My track colors are:

Acoustic Drums = Brown
Drum Samples = Green
Bass = Blue
Guitars = Purple (It's always been a Prince thing for me)
Keys/Synths = Yellow
Vocals = Red
BG Vox = Orange
SFX = Gray
Busses = Black

tg

This is indeed very interesting.
Guitars - All shades of Green (What I am best at)
Vocals - Red (What I am worse at)
Drums - Blue
Bass - Brown
Kbd/Piano - purple
Percussion other (cowbell, guiro, tambourine, shakers etc) - pinkish

Color Wheel and Track Icons....great ideas! I second (or third) that motion.

2019 and still nothing on this... whats so hard about getting more colors in a program that we pay good money for and that's now into it's 4th version... what the hell

Try this:

viewtopic.php?f=151&t=34475

A free and lovely excellent macro very kindly supplied from Lawrence.

I mostly just accept the default colours. I tend to just drag the tracks I'm working on to the top of the sequencer window or occasionally I will highlight those tracks in something that stands out, like bright red, then put them back to something drab after I've done with them.

But I would fully support more colour choices because it's an easy thing to do!

I have been going on about the limited colour options and the stupid order of colours in the pallette for ages. But you have to vote for this on the suggestions section of the Presonus site. At the moment this colours issue is ignored by Presonus - and yet we get loads of functions I never voted for and don't really need. Colours do not seem regarded as a serious issue - unless you vote in numbers for some of the suggestions. Vote for everything regarding colours if you want any change.

https://answers.presonus.com/3364/custom-colors

I put a sheet of clear green plastic over the screen and it gives it a whole new color vibe.

I'm kidding, Gary. I just voted for custom colors cause I like freedom of choice.

But not for everyone, mind you. Just for us "elites" in the upper crust.

roland1 wroteI put a sheet of clear green plastic over the screen and it gives it a whole new color vibe.

I'm kidding, Gary. I just voted for custom colors cause I like freedom of choice.

But not for everyone, mind you. Just for us "elites" in the upper crust.

The only thing that is Elite about me is Bias FX (and they upgraded me as I was a beta tester and then they screwed up my advance order so nicely made me an Elite by way of apology). Otherwise just a prole who cannot understand how the colour palette is in the "order" it is - seemingly random:



Just putting some order of tint would help. Otherwise I have the colour toolbar which is good and have my custom colours :


But keep voting - they don't seem to respond otherwise.

I read a comment the other day from someone who said that most of the DAWs out there today look like toys. I agree. Only a few exceptions, like Digital Performer, etc.

And I suppose if companies want to capture a fresh market of new buyers who have never stood in slack-jawed awe before a large analog recording console, then they need to appeal to what they did grow up looking at, which are video games and dance club lighting — and people who played records instead of instruments.

Hence, the Candy Cane Color Craze thing that's infected most DAWs, including S1. And all the rest of it.

roland1 wroteI read a comment the other day from someone who said that most of the DAWs out there today look like toys. I agree. Only a few exceptions, like Digital Performer, etc.

And I suppose if companies want to capture a fresh market of new buyers who have never stood in slack-jawed awe before a large analog recording console, then they need to appeal to what they did grow up looking at, which are video games and dance club lighting — and people who played records instead of instruments.

Hence, the Candy Cane Color Craze thing that's infected most DAWs, including S1. And all the rest of it.

What you say is relevant!
Anyway, I always sucked at painting and drawing!
That's why I play piano