On the topic of tips and tricks, for the concept album I worked in my previous post I pretended I was staging a musical production. In my mind there was an actual stage and actors, and I blocked their actions in my head for each number including the non-musical parts. Also planned the transition from song to song just as I imagined it would be on stage. None of the staging actually happened of course, but I found the device useful, and it made the project more fun.