Order Of Recording Instrument/Vocal Tracks: My Theories And Your Suggested Insights

Mike Freze

New member
Hello! I have been doing a lot of experimenting with my recording lately (I use Cubase LE). It seems most books on the subject encourage one to record the drums first (alone or with the bass track) to get that foundation/rhythm part of the project down first so everything else you record later follows that foundation.

Then you here of doing your melodic instruments next (rhythm guitar/piano) along with a "rough" vocal track. Then comes the orchestral instruments for added arragements, maybe followed by the last step of final vocal tracks to finish it off.

If one is promoting original songs, I sometimes wonder if it's best to start out for your initial track with the melodic instrument FIRST (say, rhythm guitar or piano) along with a rough vocal track to set the foundation for the rest of the recorded tracks. THEN lay down the drums/bass tracks secondly. Why? Because the basic song dictates what type of feel, foundation, style, etc. you are shooting for. That means listening to the melody line, the way the vocalist phrases a song, the ebb and flow of the melody and vocals, and so on. In other words, have all the recorded tracks work around the basic melody, style, and melodic tempo to keep the song as the main focus (not the background insstrumentation).

How can foundational tracks (drums/bass) record their parts first if they don't have a clue as to the structure of the song, the style, or have a vocal melody line play against to compliment that song? Seems to me it should be in this order: rhythm guitar or piano track first along with a rough vocal; then the drums and bass; then the orchestra sounds, and final vocals re-recorded after all the music is laid down.

Am I wrong in this approach? Recorded drums and bass first is great if you are composing and looking for a "groove" to build a guitar or piano part around (you could even use a drum/bass pattern off your external electric keyboard for this). It might suggest a certain type of guitar rhythm, the types of chords (and how many) you play along with the foundation, the genre you want to write in, and so on. But sometimes doing this makes one "force" his new songwriting project to adhere to what drum or bass pattern that was pre-selected.

Any suggestions or insights you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Mike Freze
 
Your "theory" is kind of self-defeating in a way. If you say that the melodic instrument/vocals are the main feel of the song, much of that "feel" or "drive" comes from the fact that they're playing to the groove/feel/drive of a rythm section behind them. So now, the instruments/vocals with the "main feel" might lose that feel/drive because they don't have that rythm section pushing them (that they're probably used to having)...they're singing with no background all of sudden.

Also, when people say they lay the drums down first, they rarely mean that the drummer is playing alone singing the song in his head. There's usually a guitar, and probably bass, scratch track. Sometimes, the drummer's playing with the whole band playing along in his phones. The other track's are then replaced, if they were recorded tracks.
So, while the more-or-less "conventional" thing to start with is the drums, the drummer's usually playing along to something.


Having said all that, I always record my drums last after laying everything else down to a drum machine/click. :D

How can foundational tracks (drums/bass) record their parts first if they don't have a clue as to the structure of the song, the style, or have a vocal melody line play against to compliment that song?
I don't understand this. Are you talking about writing or recording? If it's recording, then why wouldn't the drummer or bass player know the structure, style and melody of the song? When you hit RECORD, you should know your part and play. This is not voodoo. Musicians have been learning songs for centuries. :eek:

If you're talking about recording for the sake of working on an UN-FINISHED song, then your post makes much more sense. :cool:
 
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RAMI speaks da troof...

"Usually" you would have a scratch track of various instruments / voices so that the drummer and or bass player and or whoever else you're recording at the time is aware of what's going on in the song.

You are recording the drums first in the sense that this is the first bit of the track's formal recording process that you'll keep - the scratch track(s) will be thrown away in the end.

By getting rhythm tracks down "first", you give the remaining players the opportunity to "work with the groove" (for want of a better term) and then, in theory, you'll get a better, more coherent whole.

Depends entirely upon what you're recording however, both in terms of genre and instrumentation. If you're not using a drummer, then obviously that goes out the window.

Horses for courses...
 
Your (OP) method is fine for a very rough demo, or for recording something live that is (hopefully) well thought-out and rehearsed.

But if you are going to devote a lot of time into a project and ever want to edit that project, it will always pay off to have the measures you played be in sync with the measures in the DAW.

That means "one" is always on the "one" beat, not moving all over the place.
 
The OP's method can work, and often does but the timing of the "melody" instrument has to be super rock solid and it has to carry sufficient rhythmic weight to establish both a groove and a feel. It can be done but the bass and drums naturally do that which is partly why it makes sense much of the time to start there. Even when playing to just the melody instrument and vocal, the bass and drums are going to muscle their way into proceedings and do what they do so well.
Besides which, as RAMI pointed out, the drummer and bassist will know the song they are playing to and will bass and drum in appropriate ways while searching for the best way to enhance the song, thereby actually making it easier for the other parts to do their own thing.
But there isn't really a way or not a way. There's a variety of approaches and willing musicians should be able to handle any of them. Even the dreaded 'one note at a time' scenario....
 
OP, I think you are just a bit confused. No big deal. I would say that VERY rarely would a drummer record his part without any other instruments being played (either live or pre-recorded) for him to listen to while playing.

The last song that I recorded went like this:
1. recorded scratch acoustic gtr & scratch vocals
2. recorded drums
3. threw out scratch ac. gtr. & vocals
4. recorded keeper bass
5. recorded keeper ac. gtr., elec. gtr, and vocals
 
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