How long does it take?

[emomusician]

How long does it take you to track a song..

with perhaps.. sequenced drums, guitar, bass, maybe keys, and vocals?

I started one at like 4 pm.. and stopped at around 7, and there are still parts I want to go back and redo. This normal?

I sometimes get the "I have to finish this now so I can put it on the interweb" syndrome.. I was just curious how long it takes u guys to finish a track from tracking to mixing.. etc.

thanks

[Trell Blaze]

Take the length of the song and multiply it by the amount of tracks to be recorded. Add about 20 - 40 minutes for time spent making adjustmets, setting up tracks, or multiple takes <<< vocals not included.

Vocals are usually a seperate session and that could take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours...

[Track Rat]

A VERY general observation I've made is that a well rehersed band takes on average about 4 hours per song. That number goes up exponentially from there.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

If it's a good band of quality musicians who have properly rehearsed and retraching in a properly set up environment, a 3 minute song takes about 12 minutes to record three takes and maybe an hour to mix.

If it's a great band of real quality musicians who have properly rehearsed and have a budget to try something adventureous, it could go something like this post here.

Anything in-between is normal . But I think 1-2 songs a day is a reasonable clip for your average rock combo production, including mix.

G.

[BushmasterM4]

Hours, Days, Weeks, Years. Me, a couple hours Thats why I stink.

[Trell Blaze]

Originally Posted by emomusician

How long does it take you to track a song..

with perhaps.. sequenced drums, guitar, bass, maybe keys, and vocals?


thanks

Oh you meant only the drums were sequenced. I thought you meant all of the above.

Yea in that case disreguard whatever I said and listen to the other two posts...lol

[Grey Angel]

Originally Posted by emomusician

How long does it take you to track a song..

with perhaps.. sequenced drums, guitar, bass, maybe keys, and vocals?

I started one at like 4 pm.. and stopped at around 7, and there are still parts I want to go back and redo. This normal?

I sometimes get the "I have to finish this now so I can put it on the interweb" syndrome.. I was just curious how long it takes u guys to finish a track from tracking to mixing.. etc.

thanks

Sequencing drums can take a loooooooong time, if you want them to be creative at all.

[emomusician]

oh I already have the drums sequenced...

I did about 2 hrs of recording and all i got was the acoustic guitar, double tracked.. done..

is this a good pace or should I be moving faster?

[Trell Blaze]

Why would you rush? You take however long it takes to get it right...period.

[Seafroggys]

I've done pretty good takes in 3 hours, though we could have done more (or done better) if the band weren't such goof-offs.

[cusebassman]

Originally Posted by Trell Blaze

Why would you rush? You take however long it takes to get it right...period.

I'd say this post is the most accurate - don't expect it to take any particular amount of time, long or short. Taking longer on material can mean any number of things:

- You are an anal perfectionist
- You don't have the skill to play what you wrote
- You haven't practiced a part enough to actually know it well enough to play it through entirely
- You have a very complicated song with lots of timing changes, instrumentation, etc
- You are limited by the capacity of your humble recording equipment and room
- You are too busy with life to get anything done most of the time

...and the list goes on.

This certainly isn't a rant saying that you don't know how to play your own songs - I've found that even for myself, if I like a particular little guitar bit or piano/synth bit in a place or two, I try and record it immediately, and find I just don't know it well enough not to screw it up. So, I've got to practice.

Another issue of mine is the last one on my list - the time factor. I sit and write and play a considerable lot, but the recording process is a long one as I am working with decent equipment in a mediocre room. Hell - all I really play is folkee music, and I play a combo of acoustic guitar, mandolin, electric bass, piano/synths, and percussion. No room to record an actual drumset, but I see you've already accepted that reality

I don't have much properly recorded right now because it is so damned difficult recording acoustic guitar, especially in a poor-quality room. Most of the stuff I do have recorded was done at the campus church on off-hours, and you can only get so much time scheduled, and make so much use of THAT time, as you have to factor in setup/teardown, and hauling equipment around.

[guitardude]

I agree there is no particular time.

Im as perfectionist as it gets and its killing me...moving on. I'm learning to break this bad mindset.

I have been working on this one song for a bout 6months...(versions/ideas/retracking/ etc)....its almost there!

[cusebassman]

Originally Posted by guitardude

I agree there is no particular time.

Im as perfectionist as it gets and its killing me...moving on. I'm learning to break this bad mindset.

I have been working on this one song for a bout 6months...(versions/ideas/retracking/ etc)....its almost there!

I find I have this problem more with songwriting than I do even with recording, of course, I don't have much recorded

I am constantly rewriting lyrics, adding verses, changing arrangements, etc etc... its getting to be a problem

[Harvey Gerst]

When full bands come in, I usually estimate about 1 to 1.5 hours of studio time needed for every recorded minute.

[brother sport]

i guess it depends on the song also

a solo guitar/voice deal can't take too long, but a 12-piece psychedelic ska/blues band might take a while

[Ironklad Audio]

it depends - mostly on the complexity of the music, and whether i'm writing it and THEN recording it, or doing both simultaneously

there's a song i'm working on right now that has a super-fast tremolo picked part that lasts about a minute, and after god-knows-how-many takes, it still isn't right...at least not to my ears. i've spent hours fucking w/ the same little part, and i'm not much closer to nailing it than i was last week when i started.

[metalhead28]

Approximately 2 years.


Some I finish in a couple hours though so there is a bit of a range that I've noticed.....

[NYMorningstar]

Originally Posted by metalhead28

Approximately 2 years.


Some I finish in a couple hours though so there is a bit of a range that I've noticed.....

It's taken me about 2 years too but then again I'm a guitarist
It took me 6 months of rudiment practice before getting a kit and I've been learning on the kit for another year and a half or so. After a couple more live gigs I'm going to try to record a song.

Funny thing happened along the way though....as I learned more about the drums I began to understand more about my guitar parts. Hmmm, go figure.

I guess that lends credence to the saying you don't really know your own language until you learn another.