Recording tracks...

[Capt Hair]

So something that has been really puzzling me lately is how to record the individual tracks into my DAW. I'm new to recording in general and the site and trying to figure out the best most time effective way to go about my recordings.

I honestly have no clue if professional musicians actually record a guitar track for example straight through from beginning to end perfectly or if they do individual sections and then string it all together. Like record the chorus then a verse, intro, etc.

I haven't had much luck with doing the second mentioned, recording in parts, I can never match up parts perfectly and it just doesn't sound natural.

I don't claim to be an Eric Clapton or anything but consider myself a good guitarist, but it still seems like asking alot, to record a track almost flawlessly from beginning to end.

I just wanted to ask the community how they go about the tracking process?


Tlr: What's best? to record a track all the way through, or in separate parts?

 

[miroslav]

Record 3-5 solid takes, and then comp to a final track...
...or you can to 835 takes trying to nail that one perfect take...if that's how you like to fill out a few hours of your time.

I usually have one out of 3-5 takes that's the strongest, almost good throughout...and then I'll just comp in those few spots where things went a bit off.

Sometimes it's also fun to just do a few freestyle takes...then edit comp bits-n-pieces to creat your lead parts...then learn and actually record that lead you created....but that takes time too.
The best/fastest is the 3-5 takes and comp to a final.

 

[dleflerrice]

solid advice! the key is if your going to play more than one take and comp them together you have to make sure all your settings are exactly the same or the tone or volume will change when you have to switch from one to the other.

 

[Capt Hair]

solid advice! the key is if your going to play more than one take and comp them together you have to make sure all your settings are exactly the same or the tone or volume will change when you have to switch from one to the other.

Thanks for the quick replies and advice guys!

I have complete level controls and everything so that's not really the issue. Maybe it's just the individual riff I'm messing with, but I'm just having sooo much trouble connecting things together. I end up hitting the low E string and let it ring throughout the rest of the riff, and it continues on into the same riff, I just end up hitting it on a different beat. So it's damn near impossible to sync up since that ringing of the E has a natural decay of the sound.

Maybe I just need to do take after to take and nail that part then comp the rest of the song together from that.

I was just really curious how the different people record tracks.

 

[c7sus]

Set your editor to overlap clips rather than replace them entirely.

That should allow the note to ring over the next measure.

Also, be sure to make your cuts where the waveform crosses through zero.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

There is no one right way, it depends on the preferences of the engineer and the performer. I know one producer who wouldn't record and entire track all the way through even if it were Eric Clapton on the other side of the mic. I know another who on the other side of the spectrum wouldn't punch in any overdubs at all if he could ever help it. Most folks (including me) are somewhere in the middle.

It's fairly unrealistic these days to expect to get through an entire track and want to keep the whole thing; there's almost always something that even an EC would say, "I could've done that bit better". And in these days of digital editing, it's so easy, why not?

What might help you is to play back what you already have, listening in headphones, and start playing the re-done part a half-bar or so early so that you're in-groove by the time you get to the part you really want to replace. The you can go back and pull the beginning of that dub track to the measure where you actually want it to start, leaving the earlier stuff untouched. Yes, you can do that; you're technically not recording over the old stuff, it's still on the computer. You're just recording a new clip and the deciding later where that new clip will actually start.

You also might find it even easier if you have a friend or relative who can play assistant engineer and hit the Record and Stop buttons for you in that process so you can concentrate on the playing.

G.

 

[TripleM]

There are bunches of different ways to do it. I think you should try all the approaches you've heard here and see which one works best for you.

Here is how I do it. I'll do a take all the way through until I get one that I think is "close" by my own definition. If I don't think a take is close, I'll re-take until I get there. Then I'll listen to the track solo'd. As I listen I'll mark down the spots that I'm not happy with. Maybe I didn't grab a chord just right, maybe a guitar stab was a little early, etc. Then I'll listen again with the drum part if I have it or a click track if I don't. During that listen, I'll pay particular attention to the timing and the "feel" of the track. Does it "bounce" with the rhythm of the song? That kind of thing. I'll again mark down spots I'm not happy with. Now I have my "punch list." I'll go through and do punch-ins until I get them done. I'll give it one more listen and when I'm happy, I'm finished.

Doing punch-ins is a whole discipline by itself. You need to be able to figure out where to start and end the punches well. You also need to practice playing consistently with your original recording so that the punches sound natural. It might take a little practice, but it can be done.

 

[miroslav]

...the key is if your going to play more than one take and comp them together you have to make sure all your settings are exactly the same or the tone or volume will change when you have to switch from one to the other.

Well yeah...but I never found that to be an issue...though when I do several takes, it's one right after the other, so the tones and the "vibe" all feel the same.
Heck...even if you put down the guitar without touching any of you knobs on it or the amp, and then go have lunch...chances are that when you come back the "vibe" will be a touch different.
That said, unless your takes are days apart, and you're having to reset your knobs from scratch...it's not that hard to micro-adjust the tones of different takes in the DAW so they match flawlessly as long as your guitar/amp settings are as close as they were the last time and your playing has the same vibe.

To the OP:
Here's the thing...when you plan on comping takes...you also have to plan on playing somewhat with that in mind.
What I mean is...if you do one take and you know that in the first half of the song, your playing was almost perfect...then make sure that on the next take you focus on getting the second half perfect....or think about the parts you are playing and how they can fit...or if you flub the licks during the first chorus of the first take...you can probably use the licks of the second chorus of the second take...etc..etc.

I can appreciate the fact that when recording we all want to just focus on playing...but if you are going to also play at being the engineer...then keep that hat on your head too while you are playing... ...and think about how you will proceed from a logistic/technical/engineering perspective, and not just the creative one.
When you are the only guy in the studio...you have always be thinking on multiple levels siultaneoulsy, otherwise you end up going back a lot to fix things. I think the typical home/project/solo musician/recordist has it much harder because of the need to wear many hats at the same time.

 

[grimtraveller]

Like alot of people, if I can go through an entire song in one go, I will. This is alot more likely when I'm tracking with a drummer or percussionist and actually, we'll sometimes go in unexpected directions, down unintended paths and these parts will end up kept. But when tracking on my own, I'll sometimes record in sections, especially on an instrument that isn't one I play well or with regularity.
Some of it is a cross between laziness and pragmatism. This is a hobby, I'm never likely to play these songs live or with a band or with all the participants there at the same time, so I can slow the recordings down and record in sections and when it's all finished, it makes me and some of the other players sound wonderful. For those kind of songs I could sit down and learn the whole thing in real time but time is getting on, I'm not getting any younger !
A friend of mine from Zambia was over here a couple of years back and we did some recording. He's a drummer and session musician and does alot of live work and he was thinking of opening a studio. When we played, he was fascinated to record in sections. He said that such a thing had never occurred to him or anyone he knew. It was a real eye opener for him. But I explained that we didn't have 3 days to sit down and learn and thrash out a song. We had 2 1/2 hours ! And many of my songs are not short. I often joke that in the 60s, session musicians would play on 9 songs in a day, three 3 hour sessions. They got them in one go ! And made great songs. But they don't have to be done that way.
Going back to my friend, most of the songs we recorded weren't in sections, they were played through in one fell swoop. I intended for my parts on guitar or bass to be scratch tracks but some of them, I ended up keeping. I have to be honest, I surprized myself. I was beginning to wonder if I could still do it !

 

[Capt Hair]

Thanks for the advice guys, I spent a whole session yesterday trying to record in sections, and it was such a pain lol. I tried your original suggestion Miroslav for a little bit today. So much better results, and alot less of a pain of having to try to sync up certain parts and maintain proper levels.

 

[mcmetal]

A lot of great suggestions.For me it's always on a per song basis.I've got songs on guitar where i have no breaks so i try and play all the way through.Sometimes it takes hours and it's frustrating beyond belief.Usually there's a spot where you can do a punch in and it'll work without any noticable gliches.Most of us will double track the guitar parts so sometimes when you listen to a take soloed you notice every little flaw.But when you listen back to the several takes panned,together,those little flaws don't stick out so much.

Bass isn't my main instrument but i can get by and lay down a decent bassline.It'll usually take me multiple takes and punching in here and there is always necessary.

We tend to be perfectionists while recording cause we can be.I've personally sat for hours recording a lead just because i wanted to hit that one pinch harmonic perfectly.Of course when playing live,you don't get do overs.You just have to shrug it off and keep playing.If you're in a studio and recording with a band on a budget then there's always those little things you have to live with.Nowadays with modern software you can get better quality with home recording.

If it takes you a hundred takes to get it right then do it.If you don't take the time to get it right now,10 years down the road you'll be listening to your tune and you'll wish you had.Of course you can always practice more and record it at a later time.

 

[grimtraveller]

I've found that whatever methods one becomes comfortable with, they're the ones one tends to go with and they cease to be problematic, while someone else can look at that way and be totally stumped.
For me, recording is like bringing up children. There is no definitive way, despite what the 'experts' say in their books. There are various overlaps between ideas and both are pretty progressive and ongoing.