Seafroggys
Well-known member
The whole band recorded everything at once really was a myth by the early 60's. Abbey Road, which was notorious for being way behind the times technology wise, got a 4 track recorder in 1963. That's when overdubs started happening.
Now granted, a lot of times a large portion of the band did play all at once, at least the rhythm section. And then they'd overdub vocals and guitar solos and other instruments. So really, its a combination of both. Or a lot of times, the band would play live, but have those be scratch tracks, and then the band would redo most if not all the tracks based on the scratch performance.
My approach would be do rhythm section live. At least drums and bass, if not also rhythm guitars. Then from that foundation, do your overdubs for everything else. That way you get the best of both worlds.
Now granted, a lot of times a large portion of the band did play all at once, at least the rhythm section. And then they'd overdub vocals and guitar solos and other instruments. So really, its a combination of both. Or a lot of times, the band would play live, but have those be scratch tracks, and then the band would redo most if not all the tracks based on the scratch performance.
My approach would be do rhythm section live. At least drums and bass, if not also rhythm guitars. Then from that foundation, do your overdubs for everything else. That way you get the best of both worlds.