How do you lay out your channels?

Drums all the way right, starting with kick, then snare(s), etc. Instruments all the way left, starting with bass, then guitars, keys. Vocals, turd polish and what not, they go in the middle.

The kick and bass try to occupy some of the same frequency spectrum, so i find placing the bass all the way left and kick all the way right provides for added separation. That's my story, so....*shrug*
 
The US standard for live sound is drums, bass, instruments, vocals. One reason is that vocals often need the most attention during the show so putting them near the master section makes it an easier reach, especially on a larger board. I follow that pattern in the studio, but sometimes I move things around for various reasons.

When using analog tape it was common to put bass and kick on outside tracks to minimize the effect of the bleed to adjacent tracks. If you put something with no LF content next to them you could high-pass out any bleed.
 
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As I typically start with an EZD repeating drum pattern (even if the final mix does not have drums), it's EZD on the left, then scratch track(s) - guitar or keys, then guitars in no set order, but leads are usually done after the rest of the instruments, so to the right, then vocals to the far right.
 
Btyre2013 said:
I've always done things in terms of drums first, then bass, on the left side and then anything goes from there, I like to have kick on track 1, snare track 2, toms, overheads and other mics, then bass guitar. The main reason is that I started out on analog desks and still find it useful to put the same order for all my mixes making them consistent and easier to find my way around. I've tried other orders and it just didn't work for me
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yup, old habits die hard, kick, snare, hat, rack, rack, floor, OHs, bass, keys, guitar, vocals. I worked on a PM 3k , 4k for years
 
I have a Template I made in Reaper that I start with, EZDrummer with separate tracks for each. Kick, Snare T, Snare B, HiHat, Tom 1, Tom 2, Tom 3, OH's. Then Tambourine, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano, Organ, Vocals, Reverb. I have my VSTi's set up on these starting tracks for Piano, Organ and Sonitus Reverb Plug on the Reverb track.

I have all my routing and everything set up from the start this way and it makes my workflow easier. (Not that it's difficult to start a project from scratch in Reaper) I add/delete tracks as and when I need them. When I've finished tracking and start mixing, I'll create new Sends to Drums, Guitars, Vocals and whatever else busses.

:thumbs up:
 
I'm a self-taught leftie, so I'm a little backwards. I have Vox on the left, than harmica, guitar, bass, kick, snare, and overheads.
However, we just upgraded to a nicer board that's forced me to rearrange. Is anyone else constrained by the input types? I have 8 XLR inputs with Insert I/O's and phantom power, as well as 24 TRS ins. So far, I've been filling channels based on need. If I need phantom power I have to use 1-8. Similarly, I have to use my 6aux sends and the inserts to get signals to my DAW. So again, if I have to plug in where I can get out.
Is anyone else in the same boat? How did you work around it? What if you need phantom where there is no phantom, or an insert where this is no insert?
 
Hi everyone, first time poster.

I guess I do it a bit differently. I work in the box, but used to do something like this in the console days.

BASS, DRUMS ( bass next to the kck so you can work on them together) PERC, GUITARS,
KEYS, L VOX, HARM, BG VOX, ANYTHING ELSE.

i mix through group subs, so there would be stereo aux sub after drums, guitars, bgs etc.

tally ho ! dd
 
The set-ups here, for the most part , resemble my own ( starting with Kick on 1 and ending with vocals and efx subs). One thing that I use differently (and frequently) is book-matching an instrument to the players vocal track. Ie: Lead singer plays acoustic rhythm guitar. I will place his guitar to the left and right of him/her panned 10% or so left and right respectively then sub group that so I can "move it around the panorama of the mix as needed to create a sense of space or "room" placement in the mix. I like to do two separate take for this to give the guitar a bigger/better sound and will use chorus and eq directly on those tracks...any efx I feel that is going affect the vocal / guitar group in total I will apply to the sub-group or to the master track, such as pre-delay, reverb, etc to create a total environment. Of course I can't do this live but like so many here I find having my vocals and efx closer to the summing section of my console makes my live workflow better. Generally speaking, you will be doing most of the exf and level changes to guitars and vocals and the rest of the instruments (Drums, bass, keys) take care of themselves. I used to work with a soul/r'n'b band with a 3 sometimes 4 piece horn section...eight players in total.So eight vocal mics, 3/4 horn mics, 9 drum mics (2 on the kick),guitar mic, bass DI, and 3 keys DI. Outside of the occasional sax solo the horns, once set, stayed put and the same of the keys except for songs with string ensamble parts and then I had to ride his sub group, but the rest was guitar and voice. Sorry didn't mean to ramble on.
 
I use templates so all the tracks are set up when I start a new project. Some won't get used. Once I know which ones won't, I delete them. When the song has most of the meat recorded, I'll delete the scratch tracks.

Left to Right

Scratch Vox
Scratch Acoustic
Vox
BGV Left 50%
BGV Right 50%
BGV Left 100%
BGV Right 100%
AC Guit Left
AC Guit Right
Lead AC Guit
Elec Guit Left
Elec Guit Right
Lead Elec Guit
Piano
Organ/Strings/Pad
Bass
Kick
Snare Top
Snare Bottom
Hihat
Toms 1 and 2
Tom 3
Overheads
Room
Any percussion I might add
 
Channel Arrangements

First the practice of leaving a track or two between recorded tracks was during the era of tape on two inch, where crosstalk was an issue. you generally don't have that with digital. Second, you should set up your channels the way you feel comfortable but always in that arrangement so you know what's going on. It does help to keep a paper trail or an engineer's record so you know what you're doing from project to project. I often set up synth channels on about ten channels and name them according to the instrument after the number of the selection on the instrument (another good reason for keeping an engineer's log. Personally I do drums left, Kick, Snare, Hat, tomes, OHL OHR Percussion L, Percussion R, Then Bass, Piano, Guitar1, Guitar 2, Guitar 3, Acoustic Guitar, Sax, Synth 1-10Back-up Vocals 1-5, and finally Vocals 1 and 2. That's 32 channels, but in a computer, you can have as many as you want. I always keep that as a project master, make a copy each time I start a new project. That way I always have the master available and I don't have to set everything up again for each project. I use my settings to trigger the stops on the synth and fine tune the synth stops to my liking. I hope that helps; do it your way to your preferences but it is always nice to have a system you like first.
Rod Norman
Engineer

BroKen_H said:
A little grim-esque, I'm afraid, but I'd like to get some opinions.
I've always grouped the vocals far left, drums far right, and instruments between. If I have the room to leave one or two channels blank between, it really helps me. I find it much easier to work with mixdown if everything is in these groups.
Other opines? Other thoughts? Chaos theory?
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For recording:
I just go Left to right: drums - basic gtr - bass to get the song started then build.
For mixing:
I rearrange them in logical groupings
After which I arrange the guitars by panning positions putting the balancing pair together
(leftish on left/rightish on right) etc.
Then I put the Drum, Gtr & Vocal busses to the right of their respective bundle,
Fiddle about with teh group until the rough idea is reached
Before moving all busses over on the extreme right or left,
Depending on how much of the screen is filled,
Ready for the difficult stuff.

Chili - I don't dump my scrtch tracks - I'm almost certain to use something from them in a project. That & I'm afraid I'll move too far from the original idea if they aren't there to remind me.
 
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rayc said:
Chili - I don't dump my scrtch tracks - I'm almost certain to use something from them in a project. That & I'm afraid I'll move too far from the original idea if they aren't there to remind me.
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Ha!! I would hate for anyone to hear my scratch tracks. gawd-awful singing... Plus, i'll make notes to myself. Like to cue where a solo might go or a bridge or something. Yeah, you don't want to hear my scratch tracks.... :)
 
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