jonny deep
Disappointing Member
What article?
How do you record a song? What are your steps?
- Thread starter scdaymon
- Start date
What article?
fat_fleet
Swollen Member
With me it usually means I said something and then realized I'd probably get a ration of $h1+ for it.
My steps:
1- Decades of recreational substance use.
2- Get melody stuck in head for hours.
3- Hum melody into cell phone voice recorder.
4- Leave work early (priorities)
5- Scratch guitar/scat vocal track.
6- Gradually record all instruments over and over again trying to get "the take".
7- Going slower than expected so quit job (again priorities).
8- Keep tracking.... now my tight drum part is making the guitars sound loose.... time to re-track guitars.
9- Now tight guitars make drums sound loose, re-track drums.
10- Finally instrument performances as good as I can get them. Time for vox!
11- Track vox.
12- Listen back.
13- Wince.
14- Retrack vox.
15- Repeat steps 12-14 about 50 times.
16- Decide song would be better as instrumental.
17- Get on the mix, now that my ears are "primed" from tracking at deafening volumes for 12 hours.
18- Mix.
19- Listen.
20- Mix again.
21- Steps 19-20 a whole buncha times.
22- Post song to HR clinic, realizing it will most likely go viral when people bear witness to it's awesomeness.
23- Watch as song sails effortlessly off to the third page.
24- Get baked, decide next one's gonna be better.
25- Realize I don't have a job anymore.
26- Get new job.
27- Back to step 2!
robgreen
no face
With me it usually means I said something and then realized I'd probably get a ration of $h1+ for it.
My steps:
1- Decades of recreational substance use.
2- Get melody stuck in head for hours.
3- Hum melody into cell phone voice recorder.
4- Leave work early (priorities)
5- Scratch guitar/scat vocal track.
6- Gradually record all instruments over and over again trying to get "the take".
7- Going slower than expected so quit job (again priorities).
8- Keep tracking.... now my tight drum part is making the guitars sound loose.... time to re-track guitars.
9- Now tight guitars make drums sound loose, re-track drums.
10- Finally instrument performances as good as I can get them. Time for vox!
11- Track vox.
12- Listen back.
13- Wince.
14- Retrack vox.
15- Repeat steps 12-14 about 50 times.
16- Decide song would be better as instrumental.
17- Get on the mix, now that my ears are "primed" from tracking at deafening volumes for 12 hours.
18- Mix.
19- Listen.
20- Mix again.
21- Steps 19-20 a whole buncha times.
22- Post song to HR clinic, realizing it will most likely go viral when people bear witness to it's awesomeness.
23- Watch as song sails effortlessly off to the third page.
24- Get baked, decide next one's gonna be better.
25- Realize I don't have a job anymore.
26- Get new job.
27- Back to step 2!
Ha, very good Fleet, I recognise more than a couple of those stages
You missed a couple of stages in the chain though:
23.1 - bump thread as it hits page 2
23.2 - bump thread as it hits page 2 again, but this time promising to reciprocate feedback
23.3 - ignore feedback that has now been posted, and instead ask whether anyone has any more feedback
23.4 log out of HR site until you find yourself at stage 22 again
Last edited:
scdaymon
New member
Bro...you really made me laugh.
And just like robgreen said, I recognize myself almost in all those steps!!!
Awesome post.
Cheers
fat_fleet
Swollen Member
Ha, very good Fleet, I recognise more than a couple of those stages
You missed a couple of stages in the chain though:
23.1 - bump thread as it hits page 2
23.2 - bump thread as it hits page 2 again, but this time promising to reciprocate feedback
23.3 - ignore feedback that has now been posted, and instead ask whether anyone has any more feedback
23.4 log out of HR site until you find yourself at stage 22 again
Our methods seem strikingly similiar.
I find it works smoothest to focus on getting drums/percussion right first. If you don't, it's quite possible evrything after is a do-over.
I seldom use a click. Usually I mic the drums and DI a guitar or maybe a bass to give the drummer an idea where he is in the song. I seldom keep the first guitar/bass track because I tell the drummer not to stop if I screw up guitar because the focus is to get a drum track first. Next is a scratch vocal because I use it as a cue for most anything else. I've played the guitar solo on the wrong verse a few times until I started doing this.
Next, after a finished drum track with scratch guitar or bass, I do whatever I feel I ought to do next, but usually I will get rhythm guiatars done right, then bass, then whatever else might be in the song, and lastly, the final vocal track.
Then I edit. I do this by exporting the tracks from my Tascam and importing them into Audacity on my laptop. There I will clean them up with noise removal, compress, add some reverb or other effects. The only time I record a track with effects is if I'm using digital delay and the delay repeats are part of the rhythm of it. Anything else is done afterwards during editing/mixing.
I usually mix using Audacity too. My computer won't properly burn cd's (a problem no amount of technical expertise has been able to solve) so I then export a final stereo track back into the Tascam, master that, and then burn a CD.
For me, it is always drums first. It just plain keeps me from wasting time.
I seldom use a click. Usually I mic the drums and DI a guitar or maybe a bass to give the drummer an idea where he is in the song. I seldom keep the first guitar/bass track because I tell the drummer not to stop if I screw up guitar because the focus is to get a drum track first. Next is a scratch vocal because I use it as a cue for most anything else. I've played the guitar solo on the wrong verse a few times until I started doing this.
Next, after a finished drum track with scratch guitar or bass, I do whatever I feel I ought to do next, but usually I will get rhythm guiatars done right, then bass, then whatever else might be in the song, and lastly, the final vocal track.
Then I edit. I do this by exporting the tracks from my Tascam and importing them into Audacity on my laptop. There I will clean them up with noise removal, compress, add some reverb or other effects. The only time I record a track with effects is if I'm using digital delay and the delay repeats are part of the rhythm of it. Anything else is done afterwards during editing/mixing.
I usually mix using Audacity too. My computer won't properly burn cd's (a problem no amount of technical expertise has been able to solve) so I then export a final stereo track back into the Tascam, master that, and then burn a CD.
For me, it is always drums first. It just plain keeps me from wasting time.
toddbarriage
New member
Every band has their own way of doing things and I prefer to go by their process than my own, but when I record songs entirely myself here's my process:
- Record (& edit if need be) rhythm guitars to a click
- Record & edit drums
- Record bass
- Mix drums&bass so they get along nicely
- Record & edit lead vocal
- Mix bulk of the song
- Work in backup vocals
- Automate the whole mix (bass up in chorus, guitars down in verse etc.)
- Touch mix up a few more times
- Master that sucker
- Sleep
- Make sure it's all okay in the morning
- Record (& edit if need be) rhythm guitars to a click
- Record & edit drums
- Record bass
- Mix drums&bass so they get along nicely
- Record & edit lead vocal
- Mix bulk of the song
- Work in backup vocals
- Automate the whole mix (bass up in chorus, guitars down in verse etc.)
- Touch mix up a few more times
- Master that sucker
- Sleep
- Make sure it's all okay in the morning
This is basically the format, but if at all possible I like to record live. It depends on the skill level and chemistry of the band.
potatocellar
New member
I work similarly to justsomeguy. Once the song structure is solidified in pre-production, I usually scratch in a guitar part first. While I encourage our guitar player to hit the click as closely as possible, I'll often use flex editing to ensure that the guitar really is locked onto the click. While this doesn't always sound great, it saves time - and the scratch will be discarded eventually anyway. My overall goal is to ensure that we start with a solid foundation. Most of the time, that foundation is established by a guitar that really is locked on to the click.
Once a guitar scratch is done, I'll scratch in a vocal. This helps the rest of the recording process follow the structural and emotional aspects of the song. To keep things moving quickly, I usually have the singer finish 3 passes. It's often a great learning exercise to sit with the singer while comping the best of the 3 takes into one master vocal scratch. They start to hear the nuances that best fit the song and can help them better prepare for their keeper tracks.
I like to record drums at this point. Its easy to push lots of volume through the drummer's headphones when its just a blend of click, vocals, and guitar. If the drummer depends on the bass part, I'll record it before the drums. However, I have found that a bass guitar in the headphones at high volumes creates its own problems with distortion and an overall lack of clarity for the drummer. For these reasons, I like to record drums before bass guitar when possible. I focus heavily on timing and dynamic control. With tight drums on the drives, I remove the click for good.
I like to capture the guitars next: bass guitar, rhythm guitars, then lead guitars. From there, I'll add whatever else the song needs: keys, additional strings, horns, percussion, etc. The specific order often changes based on who's available at the time or specific requests from the band itself.
Most amateur vocalists I have worked with like to focus on particular instrument parts to nail their vocal parts. Based on their personal choice and particular parts of the song, I am able to adjust what the vocalist is hearing by adding/removing/mixing what they get in the headphones. Without having all of these parts recorded previously, the vocalist wouldn't benefit from this flexibility.
While I do have a few preferences that I'll insist upon, I generally follow the flow of the group I'm working with. The creative process is different for everybody. I just try to ensure that we get a quality product during each step in the recording process.
My project studio is very different from the others above. Mine doesn't have "awesome dial" - it has a "suck button". Once I stopped pushing the suck button, things started sounding pretty good!
Once a guitar scratch is done, I'll scratch in a vocal. This helps the rest of the recording process follow the structural and emotional aspects of the song. To keep things moving quickly, I usually have the singer finish 3 passes. It's often a great learning exercise to sit with the singer while comping the best of the 3 takes into one master vocal scratch. They start to hear the nuances that best fit the song and can help them better prepare for their keeper tracks.
I like to record drums at this point. Its easy to push lots of volume through the drummer's headphones when its just a blend of click, vocals, and guitar. If the drummer depends on the bass part, I'll record it before the drums. However, I have found that a bass guitar in the headphones at high volumes creates its own problems with distortion and an overall lack of clarity for the drummer. For these reasons, I like to record drums before bass guitar when possible. I focus heavily on timing and dynamic control. With tight drums on the drives, I remove the click for good.
I like to capture the guitars next: bass guitar, rhythm guitars, then lead guitars. From there, I'll add whatever else the song needs: keys, additional strings, horns, percussion, etc. The specific order often changes based on who's available at the time or specific requests from the band itself.
Most amateur vocalists I have worked with like to focus on particular instrument parts to nail their vocal parts. Based on their personal choice and particular parts of the song, I am able to adjust what the vocalist is hearing by adding/removing/mixing what they get in the headphones. Without having all of these parts recorded previously, the vocalist wouldn't benefit from this flexibility.
While I do have a few preferences that I'll insist upon, I generally follow the flow of the group I'm working with. The creative process is different for everybody. I just try to ensure that we get a quality product during each step in the recording process.
My project studio is very different from the others above. Mine doesn't have "awesome dial" - it has a "suck button". Once I stopped pushing the suck button, things started sounding pretty good!