Which track to lay down first?

[Timmay]

Hi All,

Maybe a stupid question, but what is the best track to lay down first? At the moment I can only record one thing at a time, so I assume drums is the best to put down first. But should the drummer learn the whole song so he can play without anything else? Or should I put down a ruff guitar track fro him to play to?

Cheers

[manning1]

click trak
rough drum track
rhythm instruments
scratch vocals
fill in leads
once you have a picture of the song and how you want it to sound fill out the drums and do your final vocals and lead instruments.
hth

[Benreturns]

As a general rule i always try to nail the rhythm first. I go: click track - rhythm part (guitar) - bass and then drums and percussion. The vocals are the last thing (i might do a scratch if one is needed) and before the vox i will complete the instrumentation with lead parts etc...

[tmix]

Timmay
I don't always do anything! But when I could only record a small number of tracks at a time, I would often put a click track (if needed) then a very,very simplified (did I say very?) scratch track of vocal / guitar just so everyone could keep referenced to where they were in the song. Dont make it busy where the drummer gets distracted.

Ther are other ways to do it, but this most often worked for me on songs that are driven by the drums.

If it is an acoustic slower ballad song, I'd go straight for the acoustic guitar after laying a click(if needed).

[Timmay]

Cool, thanks for the info, what we had tried was playing the rythm to a keyboard beat, then putting down the drums.

So where can I get a click track?

Cheers

[Phyl]

How about having the whole band play the song together, but only record the drummer. Then you add the other instruments in one at a time. Obviously it would take some isolation to keep bleed from the rest of the band out of the drum mics, but the advantage is the drummer gets to feel the "groove" created by playing with other people instead of a click track

This is more of a question than a suggestion. When I read the bitch slap diaries they appeared to record this way quite often.

[87PRS]

Most songs are written on a rhythm instrument with a vocal melody line, both are important for the "structure" and "dynamics" of the song. I usually record the rhythm guitar or keyboard with a vocal scratch track, then add bass guitar for augmentation, then drums. Click tracks are good for dance music, but loose some feel for a band. Some engineers actually increase or slowdown click tracks at moments in songs, such as a chorus or bridge where the feel for the music would lend to a more live band sound, click tracks can make your music mechanical sounding. If you can play and keep time go for the feeling. JMHO

[KillRoy Ver 3.0]

When ever I've recorded with my band, what we have done is lay down the drums first and then I would plug into a pod, feed it to a mixer and send the signal to the drummers headphones. That way he has something to play along with, you aren't wasting time recording a scratch track and you aren't getting any bleed into his drum mics by playing along in a live situation with him. Hope this helps.

[distortedrumble]

guitars and bass are line in so the drummer hears it all but theres no bleeding....scratch vocals are done in another room altogether. then from there i go back and lay down the guitars and then bass and then vocals. when I'm recording myself i dont bother with the whole click track thing. i make the drum beats in fl studio and put them where they need to be in song the formation

[distortedrumble]

Originally posted by 87PRS
click tracks can make your music mechanical sounding.

the only thing i figure some people would need a click track for is if they have no musical ability to keep time themselves. but the one thing that a click track is useful for is when the song starts with vocals. i've found singers mess up the most on where to come in on songs

[Timmay]

Thanks for the replies people! Was talking to some people today. What I have been told is that everyone plays together. Then using multitracking you take out say, the drums. So its just everything but drums, so then the drummer chucks on the headphones and drums to the recording. Then you can go and re-record all the other instruments and vocals in the same way.


Cheers

[NYMorningstar]

Originally posted by distortedrumble
the only thing i figure some people would need a click track for is if they have no musical ability to keep time themselves. but the one thing that a click track is useful for is when the song starts with vocals. i've found singers mess up the most on where to come in on songs

Are you saying that if you use a click track to keep timing you have no musical ability? That's a stretch. I'll bet that if you record 2 identical tracks of guitar, vocals, drums, whatever, without a click track or a metronome you won't get them to match period. You'll be spending the rest of your life editing with even the best musicians. A click track is for reference and is simply a good tool to use.