Am I the only one who suffers from this embarrasing problem?

antispatula

antispatula

Active member
Ok. I've been recording for a few years, and have played some form of music, whether it be piano, sax, guitar, etc nearly all my life. I love music. I love writting it and recording it. But there is one thing that always haunts me when I feel like recording a new song.

I hate laying down the first track..

It can take me FOREVER to lay down that first basic guitar or piano track alongside a click track for me. Its as if I cant keep a steady beat when I have nothing to play along with besides a click track. I always get off in the middle of the song and have to start over. I dread laying down that first track. Anyone else suffer from this too? What can I do to improve? After I have the first track layed down though, it is smooth runnings and love it.
 
Use a simple drum pattern, something that has an emphasis on the 1 or 3 or whatever is appropriate to the song. Make the pattern change for verses, choruses etc. It'll be much more natural to play to.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Use a simple drum pattern, something that has an emphasis on the 1 or 3 or whatever is appropriate to the song. Make the pattern change for verses, choruses etc. It'll be much more natural to play to.
Click to expand...

+1 - playing to a straight click can be a bit soulless... liven it up a bit by doing a more complex "click" via a drum machine... makes a big difference, trust me.
 
Yeah completely agree with you OP. But what is even harder is turning on my software, setting up microphones, checking levels, and turnig on my preamp.

So I'm long gone by the time it's time to lay down any track
 
thanks guys. Can anyone recomend me a good free drum machine or step sequencer vst?

another question. I have this piano song that just doesnt seem to work on a constant beat. The chorus is slightly faster than the verses, by about 10 bpm. Is this normal, or should I just try and make it constant all the way through?
 
antispatula said:
another question. I have this piano song that just doesnt seem to work on a constant beat. The chorus is slightly faster than the verses, by about 10 bpm. Is this normal, or should I just try and make it constant all the way through?
Click to expand...

Yeah, i know what you mean about the first track. I use scratch tracks just to get the timing and structure of the song down.... verses, choruses, chord changes, etc.... They are usually guitar and vocals and they're throwaway, so the first track doesn't matter a whole lot. I'm usually still writing the song when I'm recording the scratch tracks.

Yeah, you can have the chorus faster than the verses. Not too common, but not unheard of nor wrong!!! If you're using a DAW (like Cubase) it will probably have a tempo map or tempo track. You can use that to change the tempo where you need. This is where scratch tracks come in handy, just as a marker for where things are in the song for when you lay down the permanent tracks.

I babble too much, sometimes. :D
 
...a scratch track!!!! that is the best idea Ive ever heard! That way I can lay a stress free foundation, lay everything else ontop, then go back and lay down a nice basic track while listening to the other layered tracks. That may help me a lot. Thanks!
 
I still have this problem from time to time. One of the things I've found that works is to practice the song to some type of metronome (click). You'll notice parts that push and pull the time, be it a chorus or a verse. Note this change mainly because if you listen close enough to your favorite music you'll hear slight tempo changes. This can drive a certain part home to the listener.

Another trick I've come to enjoy is to make a scratch track with your voice or another voice counting 1, 2, 3, 4 set to the click. This way even if you're kind of lost within the tune you'll know where the 1 is no matter what.
 
I have found that 'Band in a Box' is an excellent tool for making guide tracks. you can alter the tempo, meter, and style in each individual measure if needed. You can also mute as many of the instruments as desired. Pretty cool for my purposes.
 
We all deal with that. Except Gerg, he just lays down perfect tracks effortlessly.

Don't sweat it, you've got all the time you need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top