how long does it take for you to record a perfect take?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bball_1523
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Jouni said:
Shit, I totally forgot about leads...

I don't plan them ahead. I always try to do them right on track..
And because I'm no good, if flawless they usually sound too much alike.
I'm actually pretty sure I'm soon hearing someone say I always play the same solo.. :(

So, unless, I've got a melody or something rehearsed and planned ready, the leads take usually some 20-1000 takes for me... :o
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I'm plan my leads as I would plan the rest of the song. I double the leads most of the time too. I'll go as far to make sure the vibrato of bends and such are timed correctly to the tempo of the tune. It's things like that, that will separate the men from the boys.
 
HangDawg said:
On the general subject of doubling a track. If you can't play the same thing twice almost identically, then either A you don't really know the part and should practice it or B you suck and should practice.
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I can double a part exactly usually the first or 2nd time. But getting a good, solid track from the start is where I have a problem.

And it's not always a case of "you suck and need to practice". A lot of people, myself included, get anxious and overly-conscious after pushing the record button.

I wish I could hit record and then forget that I hit record. :confused:
 
bball_1523 said:
How long does it take you all to record a perfect take of your tracks? Especially recording rhythm guitars in stereo with screwing up the timing on both tracks?

It takes me forever. I was wondering if any of you have any tips to practice better?
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Double tracking for stereo rythym guitar doesnt take me long.
Maybe 2 takes each side usually. But if there is techincal rythym parts then it can take a bit longer.

Double tracking clean guitar technical licks can be very tricky IMO.

Eck
 
danny.guitar said:
I can double a part exactly usually the first or 2nd time. But getting a good, solid track from the start is where I have a problem.

And it's not always a case of "you suck and need to practice". A lot of people, myself included, get anxious and overly-conscious after pushing the record button.

I wish I could hit record and then forget that I hit record. :confused:
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Yeah getting nervous when recoring makes things alot harder.
Best to learn to not think about it that much when recording.
If you do get flustered then best to take a break for 5 or 10 and dont think about recording, then go back in fresh.

Eck
 
bball_1523 said:
How long does it take you all to record a perfect take of your tracks?
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First take, everytime, regardless of the instrument. I don't even rehearse the parts. I hear them in my head, sit down at the instrument, and belt it out. A lot of times I will have never even played a particular instrument and same thing, first take, everytime.

I'm THAT good.
 
bball_1523 said:
how do you guys record in stereo? Do you copy and paste the one guitar track and delay it or do you just record two different takes of the same rhythm and pan them hard left/right?
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I've done it both ways and gotten results that I've liked....If you do it with separate takes, you can do stuff like hold a note out longer at the end of a phrase on one of the takes, or other subtle differences that can sound cool. Copying a track can sound more precise, if that's what you're going for.

You don't have to hard pan them either. Sometimes less is more.
 
what are good techniques to just copy the same track? How do you specifically pan and delay the 2nd track? My tracks sound too 'mono' when I do that, or one side sounds messed up.
 
I may be the king of retakes. On a song I did about a year ago, the solo take that made it into the mix was #19. A few months ago a bass track was at least take #20 and I didn't even make it thru the song...I ended up copying and pasting that fucker together. I have hours of aborted takes for each and every song I produce. Someday I'll have to go and delete all of those .wav files of dead takes to free up some wiggle room on my HDD.

I think my drum sequencer is the only instrument in my studio that does anything right on the first take :)
 
Ok. Here is what works best for ME... my music is very progressive... it changes alot, and is ver fast moving... guitar based... usually two guitars or even three at any given time.

1) Record a scratch rythm guitar track to click track. Unless is is just totally fucked, one or two times is plenty.

2) Record drums to the rythm scratch track. I do all of my drums using drum machines where each drum is done on a separate track, and recorded one drum at a time... usualkly starting with hats, then bass, then snare, then whatever else is in the mix. If needed to get it to my level of perfection I can easily time correct even a single note at a time. I spend a considerable number of hours getting my drums like I want 'em.

3) Once the drums are finished, delete the scratch track of the guitar, and lay down the OFFICIAL rythm guitar. At this point I do only a section at a time. Anywhere from 2-16 bars. I will do as many takes as I need to to make it sound good. Usually 3-6 times, sometimes less sometimes more. I will usually record each take to a separate track (even though I have nearly unlimited virtual tracks), and will A/B each of them to get the overal best cut. All others are deleted here. I will edit, EQ, and process this one track so it is very tight with the drums before doing anything else. The drums are all done up front so I can do guitar work each section one riff at a time in this manner for entire song. This one guitar part may end up as 4 different tracks, which I will then have to edit and combine into a single track.

4) Lay down the remaining guitar parts while listening to both the drums and rythm in headphones. Same procedure as rythm guitar. Do 3-6 takes, one riff at a time, each on a separate track, find the good one, kill the rest, EQ and edit, combine all kept lead tracks into a single track.

5) Once the entire song is together with all non-vocal parts, I go back through and make minor tweaks. There are likely no overdubs at all that I will do. The reason is that my amp and effects settings will never truly be the same twice once they are changed so I do all of it at once.
 
bball_1523 said:
what are good techniques to just copy the same track? How do you specifically pan and delay the 2nd track? My tracks sound too 'mono' when I do that, or one side sounds messed up.
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It's not the same thing as tracking the part twice and there's really no reason to do it.
 
Got to agree with the Ironflippy method. Seconly, how many takes? As many as it takes. Pun intended.
 
how do you record time signatures, I think those are really tough.
 
i find it hard to keep a balance between the "carefree, have fun, capture good energy" mindset that usually inspires great takes and the "dont fuck up, time is money" mindset that saves me dollars. when i find that balance, i'm golden.
 
It can get ugly after a few screwedup takes. As the tension and stress levels start to rise it gets harder and harder to nail it. You have to get into a zen-zone when recording in order to overcome the uncertainty that can overtake you, making it impossible to get a keeper out of the session. One thing that works for me...stop recording and practice the move that's giving you problems, focus on it till you got it nailed then play the whole thing with a click or metronome till it FEELS right. Another thing...stop messing with it and play scales and arpeggios for a few minutes till you feel more relaxed.
Another thing that can help....send your buddies on a beer run so they won't be sitting in the booth criticizing your every twitch....huge help.


chazba
 
I just record two or three takes and comp the thing. Especially for rhythm guitar. For leads, I usually get those when I get them right. But that basically isn't a problem since I mostly improvise the solos. So usually one take will do.
 
RightOnMusic said:
all of 'em?
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haha I re-read what I wrote and messed up.

what I mean is how do you record tempo changes? Such as going from 180 bpm 16th notes, to 135 bpm 8th notes.
 
Having to do loads of takes can get pretty frustrating, so I like to practice parts with a looping pedal quite a bit before I try to record them, I also like to do the whole thing in one take because it feels more 'honest'

If I'm having trouble getting a particular take, one thing I've found that helps is to think about which tracks you're playing along to and which order they're recorded in - sometimes muting the other guitar track or the hihats or something can make it easier to concentrate on the rhythm you're trying to follow.
 
I'm posting a guitarsong in the mp3section now, all tracks recorded in 4hours...

The thing is that none of them are perfect. Some tracks are good as they are when they're a little less...


:o
 
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