Your preferred Method...Chronologically

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gofortheheart

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I'm curious to know what order you guys prefer to record a project. Let's say you have a five piece band (2 guitars, bass, keys, drums and vocals).... What order would you go about tracking a project like that. Any suggestions about scratch tracks and such? ....Thanks!
 
I usually record the whole band, paying special attention to the drum track, considering everything else scratch, unless one of the players just knock one outta the park, then once the drums are there, it's bass, rhythm instruments, lead instruments, prelim mix on those, then vocals, I spend a lot of time, and energy on the vocals.

And......NEVER delete anything, till the project is done!

Hope this helps.
 
It depends on what you want to do. Do you want to record them live, or multi-track it one piece at a time?
 
Drums w/ scratch guitars to a click (or just a click).
Bass
Guitar
Keys
vocals
 
I'm definitely tracking one at a time in my current projects
 
Cowbell
'Woo....yeah' sample
'Ah yeah' sample
'3 women being worked over by 6 men at an orgy' noises
Banjo


(but seriously.. I don't do a lot of multilayered arrangements. It's usually just me with an acoustic guitar singing about stupid shit like carnivorous feminine hygiene products or something....but when I do, the whole process is part of the songwriting for me. I tend to do my writing in the DAW. Usually record scratch guitars, then program some drums underneath, then I listen to it thorugh to get an idea...cut bits out, move things around until I'm happy. Then record everything properly, and finish by tweaking the drums...I'm rarely ambitious enough for these sorts of arrangements unless I have a really good idea though)
 
Drums miced and bass direct first. There's nothing like a rhythm section that's actually playing together. I may or may not have the rest of the band in direct for scratch tracks. Scratch vocal either goes down with the initial tracking or soon after, then whatever else seems appropriate. Real vocal takes are generally last.
 
Greg_L said:
Scratch guitar to a click.
Drums to scratch guitar and click.
Erase scratch guitar.
Record everything else to drums.
Click to expand...

^^^^THIS^^^^

It's been my SOP for like....years! :)

I like to also include vocals to the scratch track(s), since I found that even drummers ;) listen to the lyrics for various cues! :laughings:
 
I record guitar s and bass to a click/ drum/machine beat.

Then I play drums to that. Often, I'll do vocals before the drums, so drums often end up being last. I'm a drummer and I'm used to drumming along to the rest of the band (which is me in this case), so I'd rather do drums last.
 
I record drums first, after nailing down the arrangement. Once I'm satisfied with the drums, then bass, then guitars. Then vocals. Then overdubs of all sorts.
 
my usual:
Drums mic'd and bass direct (click if needed)
Once drums are set i record rhythm guitar (double tracked usually)
Rerecord bass if original track is not usable
do a prelim mix
Record lead guitars or keys (pending if keys are lead)
Record the other
Mix
Record Vocals

if i have enough stuff (mics/inputs) ill record all of the instruments at once and try for a good drum track.
 
feartoxin said:
Cowbell
'Woo....yeah' sample
'Ah yeah' sample
'3 women being worked over by 6 men at an orgy' noises
Banjo
Click to expand...

See, I've been doing the exact same order but I'm never happy with the results.
Do you use a click? I have been, but I think it's been throwing off the natural rhythm of my "Ah yeah" sample.

I usually do:
Scratch guitar and/or vox to click
Manually drop drum samples into the grid. (EZ Drummer is for chumps!)
Randomized synths and drums (if I have them), but then I often mute them until mix down.
Bass to all previous.
Mute scratch guitars. Rhythm guitars to all previous.
Lead guitars to all previous.
Mute scratch vocals. Lead vocals to all previous.
Harmony vocals to all previous.
Random stuff that I throw in at the last minute to fill things out.
 
I record the whole band together (or at least drums and guitar). I'll use a click track if necessary but not all the time. Once I've got the drums down I record the actual bass along to the drums and scratch guitar. I then do the same for the guitars and all the other instruments. I do the vocals last. I usually record lead vocals first and then any harmonies over them unless there are a lot of two part 'ooh' or 'ahh' type harmonies in which case I record them first.
 
I try to get everything in the first pass with the option of replaceing whatever doesn't make the cut. In reality, the drums and bass and MAYBE a rhythm part may stay and everything else gets dubbed in.
 
I play all instruments myself, so have to multi-track. The instrumentation for most pieces is similar to what you're asking about. Except on rare occasions, I will record the drum track first (I play an acoustic drum kit). After that I will record a bass and keyboard rhythm section, depends on the piece whether it's the bass or keys first. Then I record solo instruments etc. I will often do a scratch track for the bass and or keyboard rhythm section and then try for better takes. For me it's a lot easier when I'm recording the solo instruments if the entire rhythm section is finished. I have used a click track before with classical music (no drums in it). I've also used a click track for a jazz ballad piece where the drums were mainly light brush accents, rather than holding the beat.
 
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