I'm in the middle of an album project in my home studio, and I'm almost ready to begin recording the new songs. I've always done one song at a time as they are written, but this ends up with inconsistent sounds across the tracks. It's got me thinking about how to do this as a cohesive 10-12 song unit. As far as I can tell, there are two options.
Option 1- Record all the drums for all 12 tracks, then record all the bass parts, etc...
Pros:
-Consistent mic placement
-Consistent settings (EQ, effects, etc)
-Seems consistent with what professionals do ("John is tracking vocals right now on our new record!")
-All tracks are finished at the same time
-If I bring in outside players, they can do all their work over the course of one or two sessions
-Save time by not resetting mics, gain staging, preamps, etc
Cons:
-With 12 tracks to do, this approach will take FOREVER.
-Fatigue on the musicians trying to track 12 songs back to back (more so since it's mostly going to be me overdubbing)
-Much more likely for musicians to rush to get done
Option 2- Build each track one at a time, resetting for each
Pros:
-Keeps each step of the process fresh and energized
-Keeps musicians (particularly vocals) healthy and fresh
Cons:
-Lots of time wasted in resetting mics and other equipment, particularly in regards to drums.
-Requires each musician to come in twelve separate times to track.
-When overdubbing, this will still create a lot of fatigue and frustration
-Inconsistent and hasty placement of mics, setting of equipment, etc
I know I can do a little bit of both (track all the drums for all 12 then build one song at a time from there, for example), but in your experience, what works the best for a large project like this?
Option 1- Record all the drums for all 12 tracks, then record all the bass parts, etc...
Pros:
-Consistent mic placement
-Consistent settings (EQ, effects, etc)
-Seems consistent with what professionals do ("John is tracking vocals right now on our new record!")
-All tracks are finished at the same time
-If I bring in outside players, they can do all their work over the course of one or two sessions
-Save time by not resetting mics, gain staging, preamps, etc
Cons:
-With 12 tracks to do, this approach will take FOREVER.
-Fatigue on the musicians trying to track 12 songs back to back (more so since it's mostly going to be me overdubbing)
-Much more likely for musicians to rush to get done
Option 2- Build each track one at a time, resetting for each
Pros:
-Keeps each step of the process fresh and energized
-Keeps musicians (particularly vocals) healthy and fresh
Cons:
-Lots of time wasted in resetting mics and other equipment, particularly in regards to drums.
-Requires each musician to come in twelve separate times to track.
-When overdubbing, this will still create a lot of fatigue and frustration
-Inconsistent and hasty placement of mics, setting of equipment, etc
I know I can do a little bit of both (track all the drums for all 12 then build one song at a time from there, for example), but in your experience, what works the best for a large project like this?