Towards a Universal Track Color Scheme in DAWs?

Organizing and color coding tracks in a DAW like Ableton Live is essential in order to improve one’s workflow. It improves our ability to identify what each track contains and helps us quickly locate it within the project. When tracks are organized and color-coded, a producer can easily access the tracks they wish to work on, locate the effects and plugins for those tracks, and work more creatively. With the right color structure, using DAWs like Ableton Live can become much more efficient and intuitive.

The Problem

The problem may seem strange: in modern DAWs (like Ableton Live), you can choose whatever color you like for your tracks. No doubt, it’s fun to choose colors that suit your style. But this plethora of choices has some disadvantages. First, it slows down collaboration because everyone has different color schemes. If a project is shared between two or more producers, the other producer must decipher your custom color scheme. Second, the multitude of choices often slows down new producers’ workflow: which color should the kick track get? How about the lead? What about the hi-hats? And what happens later in the project when you don’t remember the colors you assigned to which? Although choosing a color should be a minor decision, shouldn’t you be focusing your decision making skills on what matters the most (i.e., the music)?

Adapt the Visual Light Spectrum

To solve these issues, I purpose that producers (especially new and intermediate producers) adopt the order of the visible light spectrum to color code their tracks according to their frequency content. The visible light spectrum (430 Terahertz to 750 Terahertz) is characterized by its distribution of colors from red to violet according to the frequency of the light (or inversely, according to the wavelength). These colors can be further divided into the approximate wavelengths of red (~430 Terahertz), orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ending at about 750 Terahertz). By mapping the frequency distribution of the visible spectrum to the (much lower) frequency of the hearable audio range (~20Hz–20kHz), we can form a logical and consistent color mapping scheme for tracks.

To color code tracks in a DAW with this scheme (e.g., Ableton Live), color low frequency content tracks to the same color as low frequencies on the visible light spectrum (red), and higher frequency content tracks to high-frequency light (blue). For example, the color of the sub bass track, because it is the lowest frequency element in a project, should be colored red. The hi-hats, by contrast, could be coded blue, because they occupy the high frequency range. A lead, which often sits in the mid to high frequency spectrum, could be colored a blue-ish green, and so forth.

By connecting the visible light spectrum distribution to the audio spectrum that a typical human perceives, producers can more quickly color code the tracks in their projects in terms of each track’s frequency content. This approach should not only help them understand the distribution of frequencies in their project more rapidly (to improve mixing and other matters), but could also speed up and improve collaboration with other producers that use the same method. As we move into an era with more new producers, greater collaboration, and faster workflows, it seems wise to adopt a consistent and logical color scheme that links the visible frequency spectrum to the audio one.

Concluding Thoughts

Pros

1. Easier collaboration
2. Less thought on what color a track should get
3. Consistency in workflow

Cons

1. Less individualistic (maybe you think your individual color scheme is vital to your creative process?)
2. Some tracks occupy a large frequency spectrum. The kick, for instance, typically has elements distributed throughout the frequency spectrum (the transient is often high frequency content, the body is low, and the tail varies). Some might find this method too restrictive. I tend to color the kick red, as shown in the example above, because the kick is the anchor of most tracks and its low frequency content is its most essential element.