Help needed with making a cover song.

[Marcell Simó]

Hey guys!

I decided to make a cover of a song. This is my really first time recording a whole song in good quality and as I want to do the best that I can I need some tips for recording.

First some informations: I prefer acoustic songs so the intruments that I will be using are the piano, a cajon drum, chello, violin, an electric guitar and the vocal.
I have all the necessary stuff to record it but:

1. What software should I use to achieve the best quality?
2. Which is the priority? Which instrument should I record first? We don't have drums in the whole song. The piano leads the song.

Thank you for your answers in advance.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hey there,

1: I'm sure there'll be plenty of petty countering, but for the purposes of this thread software is pretty much the only thing that won't effect your quality.
Sure, the different bundled vsts may operate differently or sound different, but for raw audio quality, it doesn't matter which you choose out of any recognised 'professional' suites.
Take a look at reaper if you're shopping.

2: The priority is down to preference, and depends if you plan to work to a click track or not.
If you're working to a click, it doesn't really matter.

I tend to do the things that can't (or aren't likely to) be out of tune. Drums and piano come to mind.

If you're not working to a click, get your rhythm down first. If you're not using a full kit, the rhythm might be the piano.

Obviously if the piano only comes in for a few bars here and there, then it's no good, but if it's a piano based song, I'd do that first.

If you don't want to work to a click and there isn't an instrument that plays throughout, you might consider laying down a full length piano scratch track to follow.
You can build the whole song around this then remove/replace it at the end.

With acoustic singer songwriters I often record them live then overdub everything to the point where I can remove the live scratch track.
Food for thought.

Finally, If it's a strict cover version, you might import the original song into your daw and build your own recording up around it.
The same as a live scratch track, you'd just delete it once you have your own foundation in place.

 

[singer202]

I concur with Steenamaroo all the way. The software is NOT going to make a difference as long as whatever you're using has the features you need (i.e. VST, group, sends, etc...) Whatever you wind up with, spend some time reeeally getting to know the software and features so that you can take full advantage of it in the tracking and mixing stages.

Also, as Steenamaroo said, I would also lay down the piano track first, as long as it does play all the way through. Then build the rest around it and edit as necessary.

Lastly, it is interesting that you would say

I have all the necessary stuff to record it but:

and then ask

What software should I use?

If you dont mind, what exactly is the

necessary stuff

that you have so that we might make suggestions or comments to help get you going....

 

[mjbphotos]

I have a feeling the OP needs to start by reading all the Newbie threads at the top of that section of the forum!

"Acoustic songs" >>>> electric guitar "chello"

 

[Marcell Simó]

singer202:

Well I meant it for the hardware part of it. However I have a bunch of softwares I don't really know which I should use. But if it doesn't effect the quality then it doesnt matter.. I am just wondering which one is the easiest to use and has a lot of options.

As for the hardware part: I have a Rode Nt1-a microphone and an alesis i/o 2 USD soundcard. The piano can be recorded digitally as it is also electric. I would record the other instruments and the vocal with the rode mic.

Thanks for the help. The piano scratch thing sunds good. I will definitely get back t you as i finish the song.

If you have any other tips then please share them with me

Thank you guys