Band recording advice needed

SpamBurglar

New member
I am the drummer (who also wears the 'Recording Engineer' hat) for my three piece hard rock band, and we are getting ready to record some of our songs.

We have had discussions on the best way to record. With the last project we did, we all (drums, bass, guitar) recorded our parts at the same time. I have heard of recording each instrument seperately, i.e. drums first, then bass, then guitar, etc. The guitar player is afraid of losing the "cohesion" that we can get (on a really good take :) ) when we all play at the same time.

If there truth to this notion? How do you guys record a band - one at a time or all together? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

sb

PS. I am using a GL824 and inputs aren't a limiting factor in recording us all at the same time.
 
My experience has been that you do lose some energy when you track everything separately. Actually, my main focus during basic tracking are the drums alone. Everything else can be redone, in my opinion. With eveyone jamming at once initially, the drums will have more energy which will in turn encourage a better performance from the other instruments if/when they need to be redone later.
I wouldn't try to do vocals during basic tracking, though. Separation is key, too. The best thing you can do is to physically separate the amps from the drums as much as possible. Do this by either moving the amps to a different room and monitor in headphones (a pain, I know) ... or make some gobos to place around the kit to avoid as much leakage as possible.
Good Luck!

[This message has been edited by BigKahuna (edited 04-26-2000).]
 
It very much depends on how you view it. I know quite a few bands. Some record seperatley and some record together. The Beach Boys I think recorded together mainly. When recording seperatley it gives you the option of looking at each instument in more detail. It's easier in my opinion to record together because it feels right but it is not always the best way to approach it. If you are looking for a more perfect sound I would record seperatley. It also depends on the type of song you are recording. If all the instruments in a song are quite intense and heavy it may be easier to record together. Vocals are usually done a few times to get the best sound. I would say to record the vocals (if any) seperate.
 
Why don't you get the best of both worlds.

Record live but track the guitars seperately.
If you have the option of isolating the guitars you can punch in on the track with no leakage problem.
If the take was kicking but there is 1 or 2 stupid mistakes
you can fix it but still retain the live feeling.
 
Very good points all around.

Here's my dilemma: At times, our guitar player's timing is not great and it pulls me out of time. OK, ok, there are times that I get a bit off too (that hurts me to say that!) and my thinking is that, if I lay down my drum tracks first and if I goof it a bit here or there but the overall track is good, I can punch over the mistakes. When the bass player records his tracks, he will have a good, solid drum part to record to. Fix any problems with the bass track and move on to guitar. Now the guitar has a nice groove to play along to and the timing of everything will be consistant.

We use in-ear monitors (Shure) and love them. Everyone can hear the click but the click doesn't bleed into any live mics the way that monitoring through headphones can.

Thanks for the input!
 
You don't have to lose any cohesion by tracking your instruments seperately. It's all a matter of how comfortable you are in doing things that way. I'd suggest that you try it on at least one or two tunes if you can. It's not always possible for eveyone to be there when recording and good musicians should be able to play with prerecorded parts. Hell, some of my music didn't have drum parts until six to nine months later. I recorded everything but vocals and then added drums. But then, I've become extremely comfortable working this way out of necessity. Not everyone is.
 
I used to record the whole group at once and separate everyone as far as I could in different rooms, and record them on individual tracks.
Then find the anchor. The best performance, usually the bass, and build around it afterwards. You can't punch in really unless there is zero leakage. Then the ambience will be different. The fusion will still be there if you start with the all together.
 
I'm glad you mentioned that Ears, that's a great point...find the anchor. If you are adding instruments to a track that isn't on solid ground, then you're going to have a tune that doesn't gell as well or just sound bad.
 
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