So which instrument do you record first?

[SloppyJo]

I'm sure a lot of us are mutli-instrumentalists or at least like to think we are

So my question to all of you is which instrument do you track first? Do you do a a sort of a scratch track, record/program a drum track and then record the "real" parts playing along with the drums?

Or how bout the bass first? Vocals? Play all instrument simultaneously?

I'm just trying to figure out which instrument to do first so everything... grooves and melds together nicely. But I suppose it also depends on the arrangement of the tune as well.

Thoughts?

 

[miroslav]

For me, everything usually begins with a scratch track, usually just guitar and vocal...and also a click track.

Then come the drums, guitars and bass, any kind of keys, lead vocals, backing vocals, and finally instrument leads.

 

[ibleedburgundy]

This is a great question. I used to start with drums over a metronome. Possibly even a guitar reference track with the nome first. Lately I noticed mixes I make with the metronome are tight but sometimes lack some energy. So I started making throwaway mixes on the MIDI keyboard including drum sounds and one basic bass line or melody. I've only done part of one song this way but I already think it's going to be better. So this will be my process:

1) Throwaway track (MIDI drums, minimal tonal instruments)
2) Rhythm guitar (be prepared to re-track after drums if the feel needs correction)
3) Drums/Percussion
4) Bass
5) Keys
6) Vocals
7) Solos/ambient sounds/extra dodads and stuff

Important: Rhythm guitars, drums, bass, and keys are all recorded listening to the throwaway track. After that you can mute that track.

 

[DM60]

This is a great question. I used to start with drums over a metronome. Possibly even a guitar reference track with the nome first. Lately I noticed mixes I make with the metronome are tight but sometimes lack some energy. So I started making throwaway mixes on the MIDI keyboard including drum sounds and one basic bass line or melody. I've only done part of one song this way but I already think it's going to be better. So this will be my process:

1) Throwaway track (MIDI drums, minimal tonal instruments)
2) Rhythm guitar (be prepared to re-track after drums if the feel needs correction)
3) Drums/Percussion
4) Bass
5) Keys
6) Vocals
7) Solos/ambient sounds/extra dodads and stuff

Important: Rhythm guitars, drums, bass, and keys are all recorded listening to the throwaway track. After that you can mute that track.

I start with guitar maybe vocals (sometimes bass, depends) no click as I am still not sure of the BPM. Once I get what I think is what I like, I then go and determine the BPM (usually an average since I am all over the map) then go back and start laying things down. I find once I have the BPM set, then go and try and find some drum parts that will give me the feel I am looking for and that helps when I go and do the rhythm guitar and bass.

Many times, it is just the guitar, drum pattern then bass and the words come later. After that, the pattern goes all over the place.

 

[RAMI]

Yeam, I often do drums last.

Once I decide the tempo and put down a simple drum machine beat as a click, next is usually a scratch track of guitar. From there I'll do bass, then guitar (getting rid of the scratch track. Then, depending on how much noise I can make, I'll either do drums then vocals or vocals then drums.

My scratch tracks are the messiest, most out of tune pieces of crap you'll ever hear, full of bad punch-ins, etc.....It insprires me to replace them with real tracks as quick as possible.

 

[MetroCenter]

I track in four phases:

• "Scratch" - Record just enough scratch tracks to get all the timing right.
• "Foundation" - Record a solid rhythmic foundation (drums, bass, rhythm instruments).
• "Leads" - Mute the scratch tracks, and then record the "focal point" parts (vocals and lead instruments).
• "Sweeteners" - Record the accents and other extras to fill out the arrangement.

Each of these phases has a specific set of goals, which I focus on completely while I'm in that phase. I don't move on to the next phase until I've satisfied my goals for the current phase.

In practice, this usually leads to the following sequence:

1. Click track.
2. Scratch vocal + simple rhythm (guitar/piano).
3. Drums.
4. Bass.
5. Rhythm guitar(s).
6. Any other rhythm or pad instruments (e.g., keys, strings, horns)
7. Forward vocals.
8. Any other leads (e.g., guitar lead, harmonica solo, piano figures).
9. Backing vocals.
10. Accents.

 

[c7sus]

It's about 50-50 between the neighbor's lawnmower and the train horn from half-a-mile away.

Every once in a while I'll change it up with one of my kids walking through the front door unannounced.

 

[Steenamaroo]

For me, everything usually begins with a scratch track, usually just guitar and vocal...and also a click track.

Then come the drums, guitars and bass, any kind of keys, lead vocals, backing vocals, and finally instrument leads.

I've been doing this lately since I've been recording singer/songwriters rather than bands.
Sometimes it's great to listen to the scratch track again once the session is complete!

 

[c7sus]

Today I'm tracking the nailgun of the roofer on the next block over.

Would like to get a good recording of the woman next door having an orgasm but am starting to think she is frigid.

 

[mjbphotos]

Scratch guitar or piano to a repeated drum pattern (I lose track with a metronome).

Then, if necessary, I go back, do any tempo adjustments to the drum pattern (i.e. speed up the chorus, slow down the bridge, etc.) Re-record the scratch track.

 

[Raymeous]

How do I record?

Generally speaking I record .....

When I get the spark of an idea, it could be on guitar (most likely), bass, keys, drums, or a vocal (rare). I then start a new session in PT10 or Studio One. I have templates in both set up and ready to go with all the routing done and my main effects already added in. The templates mean I don't have to spend time routing anything and all the types of tracks I could want are ready to go.

Assembly process:
1) Drop in a loop from EZ Drummer as I prefer them over a click. I may even take the time to tweak this drum track later to help define verse vs. chorus etc... but not at the beginning.
2) The Spark - Record the part that made me want to record something.
3) Depth - Record any harmony bits or any other ideas that pop up in my head while recording " The Spark" before I forget them. Most of these will be tossed out, but a few generally stay around.
4) Bassline - these can really fill out or alter the overall vibe of the song and spark new ideas
5) Writing & Arrangement - Create any new bits and make use of copy/paste to complete the arrangement.

6) At this point there are a few ways to go.
Option 1 - Record the real drums
Option 2 - Rerecord everything, played all the way through, for final takes.

7) Mix - Listen to it for a week in the car, and figure out what needs to be fixed.
8) Fix it - Whatever I found in 7 gets fixed. Sometimes this is only a remix, sometimes its time for retracking things.
9) Final Mix & Listen

10) New project.


I hope this helps in some way.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Surprising how many people track guitar/piano to a click or loop.
I thought I was special (read-doing it wrong).

 

[SloppyJo]

It's interesting... I figured most people recorded from the ground up, doing drums and bass, rhythm then lead.

But maybe doing it backwards is an interesting way of going about it, something like:

In a group setting, the singer is alone in his/her own world really not listening to the other members of the band... [I'm being facetious here ]

Then the guys laying down the harmony [rhythm guitar, keys, etc] are reacting to the singer and locking in with the drums+bass

The bass is locking in with the drums and reacting to everybody else

Drums are listening to everybody else, keeping it together.

Plus random fills, solos, etc.

There's obviously more to it than that, but I'm just trying to rationalize why people do it backwards.

 

[witzendoz]

My current band records live, drums, gtr (including solos) and bass. We love the live feel, overdubbing only vocals. If anyone messes up we do the song again. The band is based on a 70's sound and thats how they did it back then so thats what we do.

My last band which was world / electronic dance music, I tracked the bass (I am the bass player) to the drum loops first, then a quick guide vocal, then other instruments, guitar, keys, percussion, samples, and somewhere along the way the vocals. Sometimes we would rework the drum loops / samples at the end.

Most bands that come into the studio record the drums first, with the bass and guitar(s) playing along as a guide, (which are sometimes a keeper), and even a guide vocal track if needed, then we track everything else to the drums.

I have even recorded acoustic albums with everything live including the vocals, just like the old days to get that old style feel, there are quite a few out there that have been released.

The answer after reading what I have written is, whatever works for you and what ever works for the style of the music.

Cheers
Alan.

 

[Chili]

Scratch guitar and vocals to a click. Vocals are almost a narration for the different sections of the song; verse 1, "here's the solo", etc. And because i don't really chart my songs, I might mention what chords I'm playing.

After that, I start with whatever instrument is closest to me at the time. Usually a simple drum track, then bass and other guitars to get it sounding halfway like a song.

Then I call it done and post it here.....

 

[Armistice]

I'll preface this by saying I record only myself and one other person, who mainly just sings, sometimes some guitar.

I start with a basic MIDI drum beat, rather than a metronome - one that captures the feel. I'll make it the exact song length and vary it enough so that there's a crash at the start of a chorus or middle 8 or whatever... just as place markers, and a count-in, which i remove later.

Then I record real guitars. No scratch tracks. I know what goes where and how to play it... no point starting recording if I don't. The main ones anyway, I might add others later as accents.

Then I record bass.

Then I go back and get the drums more correct (I'm only using MIDI drums in my recordings anyway but I spend more time on this than anything else) - get them to 90%.

Then I'll get lead vocals with the full band sound happening so I, or the other guy, can get right into it...

Then I'll get either harmonies or other accent bits... keys, additional guitars etc. I don't really "do" guitar solos, just instrumental bits that might require some reinforcement, counter melody etc. All the extra bits are in this phase.

Then I'll spend about a zillion hours "perfecting" the drums, moving a hit here, a hit there, including at least an eon tinkering with the snare drum sound. GRRR... don't start me on snare drum sounds...

The only time I'll do a scratch track is if I'm recording the other guy and I want him to sing before I've got other stuff down, due to scheduling issues... I really have zilch need of them if I'm recording myself... and I don't get why everyone else does them, frankly...

 

[Mo Facta]

For me, it depends on what the scenario is. If I'm hired to record and produce a band, we'll usually start with whatever instrument is the core instrument of the song or whichever instruments are needed to effectively cue the drummer, in most cases the guitars and vocals. However, these are only guide tracks to guide the drums. Being so, they don't have to sound tonally amazing although the timing is still critical despite being "scratch".

I've put a lot of emphasis over the last few years on scratch tracks that are played well in good time because it is crucial for the drummer to get into the groove. No use having a terrible scratch track with bad timing all over the place. Once we have decent sounding scratch tracks the first attempt at a proper capture is almost always the drums.

Often I'll track the drums along with amp-sim guitars played live and a scratch vocal to click. This gives the band an opportunity to play together, which is often better and faster than laying down time-perfect scratch tracks. The method varies but the name of the game is setting a solid foundation for the drums to play to, which is pretty much always the first instrument that gets a proper capture.

If it's my own stuff I'll lay down which ever instrument I wrote the song on, most often guitar or keys.

Cheers

 

[grimtraveller]

I figured most people recorded from the ground up, doing drums and bass, rhythm then lead.

That rather assumes that everyone is using the same instruments in all their songs {I'm assuming two guitars, bass guitar and drums because few people refer to other instruments as 'rhythm' and 'lead'}. Unless by "drums" you count percussion, "bass" you count double bass or synth bass, "rhythm" you count any instrument that forms the or assists in the rhythmic foundation and by "lead" you count anything that, well, leads, breaks, counterpoints or solos.
Now, if you do, then that takes how the song comes together into a whole different realm.

There's obviously more to it than that, but I'm just trying to rationalize why people do it backwards.

I think alot of it is to do with availability. I reckon if every one of us had access to a drummer who could come in at virtually any time to lay down their bit, you'd see many have a very different schedule of recording to the one they've described.

The answer after reading what I have written is, whatever works for you and what ever works for the style of the music.

That's the thing. For me, it really depends on the song, what's going to be in the song, how simple or complicated it is......

For me, it depends on what the scenario is.

As a general rule, songs will begin with bass and drums, bass and percussion, guitar and drums or guitar and percussion. If the guitar is going to be acoustic, if I'm recording it with the drummer then I'll DI an electric and count that as a scratch. I spent too many years fighting the drum bleed in my acoustic guitar tracks !

The only time I'll do a scratch track is.......I really have zilch need of them if I'm recording myself...

My use of scratch tracks developed in 2011 when I had to make use of my drumming mates in pressured situations because neither live in London anymore. One lives in Zambia ! So quite often, we'd track a number of songs in one sitting, depending on the length of song. On one of those sessions, the song was 20 minutes long so I did a scratch on bass and re~did it later. Another time we managed 13 songs in under 4 hours {they were pretty short} and most of them were scratch bass. The drums are always keepers. If the double bass is used, I'll do the scratch on bass guitar. The problem there is that sometimes, it sounds so nice and I have to fight with myself to maintain the original plan !
On the long songs, I record in sections so whatever section is being worked on, we'll do it until we're happy with it, then move on to the next bit. I've done sectioning for years so it's second nature to me. Not every long bit is done that way, but most are and even some short ones. There's no real rhyme nor reason though. My main goal is to get the drums or percussion down as the keeper because I know where things are going to go from there. I'm not averse to unplanned sections or happy accidents either. They're some of my favourite bits. If they work.

 

[BassMan53]

For me, I create a simple drum loop to serve as a metronome then add guitar and bass.

At this point, depending on the complexity of the song, I'll program a complete drum track to distinguish the different sections or parts of the song or, I might add the lead vocal and then tweek the drum track and add any other instruments.

 

[ibleedburgundy]

I've put a lot of emphasis over the last few years on scratch tracks that are played well in good time because it is crucial for the drummer to get into the groove. No use having a terrible scratch track with bad timing all over the place.

This is why I do my scratch tracks in MIDI.