File Management for Music Production (with External Hard Drives)

If you still need to format your hard drive for MacOS - https://youtu.be/1jp-punDnCU This video walks through a file management system optimized for music production. It walks through where to store sample libraries, VST, plugins, project files, DAWs, and if they should go on your laptop/pc or on an external hard drive with the goal of getting the best performance out of your setup for music production. As a music producer, it can be a bit overwhelming to research the best organization for where to install applications, VSTs, etc. I've tried to distill everything I've come across here into an explanation and walkthrough that I definitely wish I had found earlier in my music production journey. We'll talk through a setup using your main laptop/pc and 2 external SSD drives (solid state hard drives), a couple options for how to backup your project files or sample libraries (physical drive and/or cloud storage), and some general tips on the hardware to connect everything. Affiliate Product Links (from this Video): SSD (new M.2 NVMe format) - https://amzn.to/4ahxAKa Enclosure for M.2 NVMe SSD - https://amzn.to/47ZQZOp SSD (older internal format) - https://amzn.to/3GLnIuz Enclosure for internal SSD - https://amzn.to/482blGL Native Instruments Komplete 13 Ultimate - https://amzn.to/3GTfFMh Free Templates & Presets: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsJEg9cNBvQTeclZ4BGG5Ugajym5Pl9ll&si=aTdgPk7KY9IxBN0L "Ear Drops" Sample Pack: https://www.cradlecat.com/product-page/ear-drops Support My Content / Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.cradlecat.com/buy-me-a-coffee My Setup: https://www.cradlecat.com/my-setup 00:00 - Intro 00:16 - A typical starter setup for music production (we'll switch away from this) 01:08 - Why should you use multiple hard drives for music production 03:12 - Where should projects, DAWs, and sample libraries be installed/saved for music production 04:10 - Why use SSDs instead of HDD for music production hard drives 04:37 - Cables and docks for connecting hard drives to laptop for music production 05:28 - How to backup project files, samples, and more for music production 09:24 - Summary of best file management setup for music production using 2 external SSD hard drives and cloud storage backups 10:23 - How to format external SSD hard drive for MacOS I hope this helps you with your own setup for music production! - Cradle Cat