What order do you record instruments when multitracking?

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sk8man121

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Just wondering what order you guys record instruments when multitracking...for example, do you lay down a bass track first then drums? Or maybe guitar first then bass then drums etc etc...
 
It depends, but usually, drums last.

I'll usually do a scratch guitar track first. Then, starting with the bass, record around that, replacing the guitars, before doing the drums.
 
normally...

synth line (leads, main hooks)
synth bass
sequenced drums/drum loops
guitar
live drums
bass guitar
vocals
 
do you guys ever have trouble getting the live drums to be perfectly on the beat with the click track/drum loop used as a backtrack? I have a hard time with this, and i consider myself a pretty decent drummer...
 
sk8man121 said:
do you guys ever have trouble getting the live drums to be perfectly on the beat with the click track/drum loop used as a backtrack? I have a hard time with this, and i consider myself a pretty decent drummer...
Click to expand...

I find that it's got to be LOUD. But playing to a click or guide track takes practice on it's own.
 
for me guitars first, then someone else does bass, then i do the drums. i can not play to a click track, i pretty much suck at it. i used to just record the guitars to no click or anything, then the drums obviously would come out all shitty. now, i am recording my guitars to a click, then no click when i do the drums. the first song on my myspcae page was done with no click at all for anything, and as you can hear, it is a bit sloppy. the third song was also done with no click at all, and that one is super shit.

basically since i have been playing drums longer, and learned how to play by playing with others, I have a better fell without a click. plus i never practiced to a click......this explains why i cant play to a click for the life of me, plus i suck
 
sk8man121 said:
do you guys ever have trouble getting the live drums to be perfectly on the beat with the click track/drum loop used as a backtrack? I have a hard time with this, and i consider myself a pretty decent drummer...
Click to expand...

Once, after several fruitless hours of recording, the drummer turned to me and said quite seriously "so I'm supposed to play along WITH the click then". I kid you not! :eek:

I agree with RAMI that having the click loud is very important. In fact I've found that this applies to most instruments.

The order I record in depends on the song. Different bands require different methods. I find it easy to "imagine" songs so I will often record guitar parts with just a click track though if I'm using a drum machine I normally do the programming first.
 
like rami said, playing to a click takes a LOT of practice......and it can be frustrating.

but that's usually why i lay down the drums first......b/c i can make the rest of the tracks match any variation in the drums.

although, sometimes it's nice to lay the drums down last so you can match the drums to the tracks.

either approach is valid if you can make it work.


cheers,
wade
 
it takes practice, but is very possible to do. I'll usually lay down my own drum parts. Use obnoxious distorted loud sounds for the click.
 
I usually do keyboards, or rhythm guitar first. Or, at least, something that gives a really good indicator of chord and phrase changes. Then add bass. Then other guitars. I do most drums from synth or soundfont players, so I can add them any time.
 
Rhythm guitar
Drums
Bass
Re-do rhythm guitar
Strings/synths/other background or "filler" instruments
Lead

That's on the rare occasion that my song has drums, bass, etc. in it. Other times, it's:

1st take rhythm track
1st take lead track
Render as MP3, submit to the MP3 clinic, and regret it later.
 
do you guys play every instrument yourselves when you record?
 
also, do you write the parts while recording (trial and error) or beforehand?
 
sk8man121 said:
do you guys play every instrument yourselves when you record?
Click to expand...
I think you'll find, since this is a home recording forum, that alot (most?) of us here do all the instruments ourselves.
sk8man121 said:
also, do you write the parts while recording (trial and error) or beforehand?
Click to expand...
I like to have my parts well rehearsed before recording. But often, I'm getting my best practice while recording. During the recording process, parts can change, too, as other instruments come in. So, a new idea can lead to having to rehearse a new part over and over again.
 
For the project I'm working on right now, we're doing this:

Scratch Guitar
Scratch Bass
Scratch Vocal
Drums
Bass
Guitars
Leads
Vocals

Next time, I'll probably do this:

Guitars
Bass
Scratch Vocal
Drums
Leads
Vocals

Don't really have a good reason for it, I guess.
 
I usually do this sort of thang...

Midi Drum track set to tempo (EZDrummer)
Rhythm Guitars
Bass Guitar
Lead Guitar Lines
Scratch Vocals
Real Drums
Vocals
Harms

This way I have a really easy time playing the guitar parts in time, and then the drummer can hear what the guitar, bass, and vocals are all doing, and can feed off of everything and mesh the best. The drummer can focus on the music, not a click track, but still stay in time and on tempo.
 
sk8man121 said:
also, do you write the parts while recording (trial and error) or beforehand?
Click to expand...

As a rule of thumb I like to have the main parts well rehearsed before even attempting a take however as I've become a more accomplished guitar player I've also gotten lazier!
 
for me, songs tend to morph into fairly different entities between the beginning and end of a recording process, so I like to go into it with an open mind and write my parts throughout the process.
 
On the occasions that I record myself, I usually start with an acoustic guitar and a click track, unless it's a piano composition. To me, acoustic guitar more than any other instrument is capable of framing all the elements of a song in a single take.
 
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