Best way to record an EP for a rock band

  • Thread starter Thread starter Trevascus
  • Start date Start date
T

Trevascus

New member
Hi

I'm using Logic Pro 9 with MXL 990 and 991 mics, focusrite saffire 14 interface. A friend has asked me to record an EP for his band and i'm not really sure which way is best. We tried recording the guitar parts individually but i found that they just don't flow together. Is it best to just record the guitar all in one take? I'm pretty new to recording and i want it to sound good as they're a fairly good band. What other techniques are there to get a good recordng? At the moment im micing the amp and its producing a pretty nice sound. Just having alot of trouble getting the song to flow and sound like an actual song.

Thanks in advance!!

James.
 
That part comes down to the players and their limitations.
 
Trevascus said:
What do you mean?
Click to expand...

He means if the players can play well together, then that might be a good approach. But if the players cannot even make individual tracks flow together when they're recording them one at a time, then good luck.
 
chrisharris said:
He means if the players can play well together, then that might be a good approach. But if the players cannot even make individual tracks flow together when they're recording them one at a time, then good luck.
Click to expand...

No what i mean is its down to my recording methods. If i record the verse and then the chorus it just doesn't sound right when they move into eachother. There seems to be a little skip and it just doesn't sound in time. Is this cause of the guitarist? he does struggle to keep time quite a bit
 
I think the main thing is to get down good tracks that are in tempo. They will start to flow once you start mixing the tracks together. When I record multiple parts on the same track, I will cross-fade the recordings to get them to step into one another so they continuously flow.
 
Are you recording the verse, then stopping, then recording the choruses, then stopping and then doing the next verse ?
From what you said in your opening post, it seems that everything is beginning with the recording of the guitar. Try recording the guitarist with either bass and drums or just drums. And if you must record the guitar alone as the thing to follow, use a click/metronome/drum machine to set the tempo and time reference.
I think it would certainly help with the initial flow to get the song down in one take.
 
Trevascus said:
No what i mean is its down to my recording methods. If i record the verse and then the chorus it just doesn't sound right when they move into eachother. There seems to be a little skip and it just doesn't sound in time. Is this cause of the guitarist? he does struggle to keep time quite a bit
Click to expand...

It can be challenging to get a seamless connection between parts that are recorded separately and then added together. I think it works better to record the rhythm section playing the song all the way through, and then add overdubs as desired.
 
Trevascus said:
No what i mean is its down to my recording methods. If i record the verse and then the chorus it just doesn't sound right when they move into eachother. There seems to be a little skip and it just doesn't sound in time. Is this cause of the guitarist? he does struggle to keep time quite a bit
Click to expand...

If you're having problems punching in the guitar (which means stopping the recording after the verse and than starting again for the chorus, next verse, bridge, etc, etc) then you either have to learn how to punch in better or your guitarist needs to record it in one take.
 
thanks for the help guys, i checked out a few videos and saw the multiple take feature in Logic, i might give that a try with an initial recording in one take and then brush up on certain parts afterwards. Thanks again
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top