Track order... does it matter

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dpholmes

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I recently recorded bass & drums to 1/2" 8-track tape. Not knowing that track placement on the tape may matter, i recorded it like this:

1. Scratch vocals
2. Scratch guitar
3. Click
4.
5. Bass
6. Kick
7. OH
8. OH

I've read that it's better to have your bass/kick tracks on the outside of the tape. How important is this? I have one free track, so I could possibly move the scratch vox to #4 and then move the bass to #1... but there are 13 songs spanning two reels, so it's not ideal.

If it were you, would you move the bass track, and if not, where would you put the remaining tracks (Vox, Backing Vox, Guitar, Lead Guitar) on tracks 1-4?

[Edit: I should note... the tracks sound great right now, but I don't want to risk them negatively affecting the vocals, hence my concern.]
 
Traditionally...you would put your "less critical" tracks on the outside ends, since there is more chance for damage/dropouts on the end tracks. I would also avoid putting bass-heavy tracks, or very loud tracks next to more "delicate" tracks, as there is always some cross-talk, but the low frequencies and very loud tracks are the biggest culprits.
 
as a general rule, it's a good idea to put less important elements, or elements that don't require a lot of high frequency detail, on the outer tracks. the smaller the track width, the more important it may become. the reason is that when tape wears, or if there are any problems with the tape or the machine, the edge tracks will be most affected by it. and these kinds of problems typically result in a loss of high frequency detail. instruments like bass and kick drum don't have much high frequency content, so that is why it is often recommended.

that said, it's not too much of a big deal, you can work around most minor issues that may come up as a result.
 
Would a reasonable plan for these tapes be to record the remaining tracks like:

1. Guitar
2. Vox
3. Backing Vox
4. Lead Guitar
5. Bass (already recorded)
6. Kick (already recorded)
7. OH (already recorded)
8. OH (already recorded)
 
Again, put the stuff with less high frequency detail to the outer tracks. Keep vocals, OHs, things of that nature that have, shall we say, "delicate" high frequency info in the middle tracks. Put the bass heavy or less critical things like kick and bass at the outer tracks. Electric guitars are generally all midrange, not much high (or sub-bass) frequency info there; acoustic guitars are a bit more critical at the high end. In your scheme above, you have kick and bass in the middle where things like vocals and OHs should be, and vice versa. But if most of that is set in stone and you're trying to get the most out of damage control, I would put the vocal on 4, b.vox on 3, and the guitars on 1 and 2; if one gtr track is darker than the other, put it on 1.
 
thanks brian, i follow what was said above and i realize that the track order i listed wasn't in agreement with it. but, as i said, i recorded two full reels of 13 songs with tracks 5-8 as bass, kick, OH, OH. so, what i'm trying to do is figure out the best way to lay out the tracks alongside those. unless everyone thinks that's an awful idea and i have to bounce tracks around for all 50+ minutes of music to get them in the right places.
 
Nah, I wouldn't sweat it that much. Sounds like you'll make the best use of the tracks not yet recorded and I'm sure it will all end up fine :)
 
+1 to all...use the recommendations above for future tracking but I doubt you've done any damage with what you done already, particularly depending on the type of material and the machine/tape type and operating level. I think your plan is reasonable that you put in post #4...I'm assuming that the gtr on track #1 is rythym and therefore less critical than the lead on #4, and you've got the vox away from the tracks with LF content and also not placed on an edge track. You'll be fine.

Have fun!
 
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