My New Year's resolution (workflow-related)

S

StinkyDog

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I've been in the home composing/recording scene for 20+ years - started on Fostex 4-track, migrated to DAT & dedicated hard disk multitrack, and now on PC-based DAW (Cubase) for 6 or 7 years now. Most of the time (90%), I've written and recorded my own original material for personal use.

Although my technical knowledge and my listening skills have vastly improved over the years, lately I've noticed that the songs/mixes I've produced in Cubase are lacking some musicality. And that although my songs from my old cassette and DAT days have plenty of technical flaws, they're simply more interesting to listen to.

At first I thought "well I'm just getting older - lost that musical edge". But then it dawned on me - back in simpler days, I would write a song (or at least develop many of the parts) offline, rehearsing them on vocals/guitar/whatever, programming sequencers or drum machines. Then at some point I'd sit down and record the tracks, as if I were in a studio. There would be some retakes, and probably overdubs/punches here and there. But for the most part, I was just tracking and then mixing a song that mostly existed.

In contrast, today I tend to start a new project in Cubase, maybe laying down 8 bars worth of a drum groove, bassline, or guitar/keyboard riff. Then I start messing around with the mix, adding VSTs and effects to make it "sound good". Basically I'm mixing and even "mastering" (of sorts), before the musical idea is fully fleshed out. I'm replacing instruments, panning stuff left and right, messing with EQ and automation, sidechaining compressors... you name it. This will go on for a while, and pretty soon I end up with a bloated project, loaded with "polishing" effects that eat up computer resources and cause latency, and I haven't even recorded the vocals yet! ("Hell, I'm not even sure there's room for vocals in this song anymore. But the kick drum sounds great!").


So, my New Years resolution is this: The next new project I start, I will compose the song and record all of the tracks without breaking out any VSTs or slapping Ozone on the stereo bus to make it sound "better". I'm not gonna let the "polish" interfere with my creative/musical process. I'm going to lay down a song with an intro, some stuff in the middle (hopefully with good melody and hooks), and an ending. I'll then let the thing simmer for a week or so. THEN I'm going to export audio tracks to a new project and mix it.

We'll see if I actually stick to this plan, but here's hoping...:)
 
It's a great way to look at it and, actually, something I've been trying to keep an eye on myself.

Because of the way I work I have a tendency to mix on-the-go. I've slowly learned that it's not a good idea most of the time.
I'm making a conscious effort now to treat tracking and mixing as two completely separate jobs, because they are!

Preach it, brother, and good luck. ;)
 
I'm in a similar place so can relate to what you are saying, we can get bogged down with the technology, in the past I used to write stuff, reherse it and work with it quite a bit before even recording it, I've tried to become an engineer when I know I'm more of a musician and composer at heart, but it's mostly been worth it as my recordings have improved so much over the years.

Thankfully I managed to create an album this year which was my new years resolution at the beginning of 2014, I plan to keep creating more albums for next year and spend far less time on the mixing/mastering stage, my last album was too complex because I spent FAR too long creating it and when through several setup changes making it harder to master at the end, I've learnt a few lessons from creating it.

Sitting down with a real guitar, real piano and singing is still the best way to create music in my opinion, we all need to do more of this, best of luck with it all and here's to an early happy new year.
 
Good idea - it's too easy to get too involved with the technical aspects and forget about the song.
 
I'm the opposite. My ideas end up in my mixes until I'm almost done with everything. Then I start worrying about getting the performances done...maybe I've been going about this backwards. It's really hard to change the direction of a song (i.e. add an extra chorus or rewrite the bridge) when you do it this way...But sometimes hearing the song fleshed up and full like that is the only way I realize the extra chorus is needed or the bridge is wrong for the song.
 
OP I am with you. I think Greg would to SCREAM about it. I am on my third collection of music (Album but I am not sure they still call it that). My first set of songs were record arrange in real time. They were pretty good as I was exploring and learning at the same time. Second set really just fell flat as I was composing with the tools more than the music. The current set I am working on, I play it, get it 70-80% arranged have a real good idea where I want the song to go, then start the recording process. I am trying to take more of a real studio attitude.

I think the songs are coming out better, easier to correct issues and focus on the presentation and mix rather than spending so much time polishing the turd.
 
BroKen_H said:
I'm the opposite. My ideas end up in my mixes until I'm almost done with everything. Then I start worrying about getting the performances done...maybe I've been going about this backwards. It's really hard to change the direction of a song (i.e. add an extra chorus or rewrite the bridge) when you do it this way...But sometimes hearing the song fleshed up and full like that is the only way I realize the extra chorus is needed or the bridge is wrong for the song.
Click to expand...

There's merit in that.
We're in the process of re-recording a lot of our older recordings in a new studio and, in fairness, I think that knowledge and familiarity is really paying off.

On a smaller scale it can pay off to do demo recordings and mixes with the intention of scrapping them and starting from butts once you've got the story straight.
It just depends on how you work and how you write. A lot of people get the thing down on guitar/vocal first and that's that.
 
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