Tracking instruments in the recording process

[Vin82]

I was wondering how you pros track your instruments. Do you record guitars first, bass, drums, etc...

How do you guys handle playing with a click? Do you do drums first with a click and have the other instruments play along? Do you track all the other instruments with a click and just play a long with the drums w/o a click, etc...?
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[cjbdrm]

[deseipel]

my small experience in the studio = everyone tracks at the same time.


in my home studio, since I play all the instruments, I program a drum track first and then lay the bass line down, then keys and I'll do the drums last, and cut the programmed drums. Or sometimes I'll lay down a 'scratch' drum track using actual drums, then bass, then keys. Then I sometimes go back and record the actual drum track. The stuff I do isn't super complicated though and tracking this way works, for me. I normally use a click, mostly because it's easier to work with the software if everything fits in the grid. I can only track 2 stereo channels at one time anyway.

If you want true multitracking, (which someday I'll get) you'll need a Presonus Fire Studio or something like that.
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DeSeipel

[chris perra]

I have several ways of tracking,..Sometimes I'm working with just one musician who records all the parts by themselves.

In this case 1st thing to get recorded is a scratch guitar/vocal part. Some times they have a drum part in mind, so they'd play to a scratch programmed drum part. Sometimes they have all the other instrument parts worked out, they'll play scratch parts for all of them.

Then I'll play my drum parts, then they redo all their parts to make it tight with the drums. Having them lay all the parts down before I do helps me come up with a drum part that will stay out of the way of other things.

Sometimes if the band wants a Live performance I'll track all at once.
Then just touch up little mistakes.

For the best results I can give. I'll track the band live, but only keep the drums, then redo the other parts using my high end pre's and mics.

For all, If I'm playing drums I use the click. Some bands prefer to not. But without a click it can be more difficult to edit things.. and using time based effects like delays take more time to get in sync.

In a perfect world you have enough high end Mics, pre's and inputs to track the band live without a click.
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[nomsgmusic]

I just did a nice singer songwriter's record where I tracked to (get this,) a click and loops, synth pads, a synth bassline, and the singer singing live scratch tracks in the phones, and giving me aural cues (we're going to the bridge 4-2-3-4, Bridge!) It came out really good (according to the engineer, and the artist, I haven't heard anything "final" yet.) It was a pro tools session etc... We all know what "that" means.

I recently interviewed Curt Bisquera for the PAS, and he told me about his preferrence to hear the vocals (live and in the studio) really predominantly (!!!) in his mix. Saying something like, "Hey, it's all about the melody anyway, and if everything is right, the vocal melody will reflect harmonic rhythm, bassline, rhythm tracks, subject matter, emotion, everything!

That made sense to me, so I tried it on this session (and the strange tracking situation.) I think Curt even told me that on occasion he had tracked to (only) a scratch vocal part in the past, successfully! I also asked around to a bunch of "the cats" to see if they had ever done this type of tracking. Many said that they had, and that these days NOTHING is truly "unexpected."

Back to the date that I did. The engineer was amazed at my freedom within the click, and when we listened to some playbacks I asked him to mute the click, and it sounded really "human." But was "right within the grid." I am going to ask him for a burn of the drum tracks with and without the click to check out.

The engineer also remarked on the "control" of my sound. He actually said that he was basically relying on overheads and room mics, because it sounded so good (and pre-mixed) without relying on close micing. I do know that the more mics, the more phasing issues you can run into, and there were mics EVERYWHERE (just in case, I guess.)

As an equipment aside, he loved the crack of the 7x13 Brady, the fullness of the Ocheltree Phantom, and the pop of the N&C Aluminum Cast Alloy. I had 4 other drums at the session, but they didn't even make it out of the case. He also loved recording my 16" hats (on a few tunes,) and my 602 Crashes

So, it seems that I made the songwriters job easy, and the engineers job very easy. In the end that's our job, right? Oh and to supply groove, musicality, structure and emotion to the musical landscape, and some good well placed jokes and levity during "times of musical crisis" (that's my specialty!)

I hope the final product reflects all of the "ease" that I brought to the table. And I hope that I'll be as proud of it upon completion as I am now.

Either way the check cleared!

I LOVE my job!
MSG
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http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/mark_griffith.html

[cjbdrm]

[drum6282]

I just did a session yesterday morning at a studio where I recorded with only a scratch acoustic guitar track and scratch vocal which were recorded to a click, of course. Bass player couldn't make it and will record his part later. I know they'll redo guitars and vocals later as well. So this was kind of backwards in tracking every instrument. It's usually the others get their parts and I'll come in and do drums after other rhythm parts are done. I prefer live tracking with a rhythm section though.

Here's another rant and rave since I'm on a roll here. GUITAR PLAYERS NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY WITH A CLICK TOO! It makes it extremely difficult if the other instruments in your headphones are off with the click. I had to almost take the guitar completely out of the mix and I was using a chart because I hadn't heard the tune before. Luckily, it was a typical verse chorus verse bridge chorus out tune. Very frustrating though.
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[Vin82]

How often do you guys fix stuff, as far as timing and tuning?
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[patdrums]

Most of the tracking I've ever done is the same method....

The point of the initial tracking day is to get a good solid drum track and bass track but everyone plays at the same time for "vibe" sake and if the tracks they get are good then we'll keep them. With pro level players it happens more often than not. If my track is good but the other guys need some fixes, I take a break and let them go back and fix what they need. Most often it's just a quick punch for a few notes or say, the bridge section and first part of the last chorus. If needed we might do a entire band punch for an entire outro to tighten up a ritard ending or something if the rest of my track is good up to there. But generally, the whole point is to get a decent drum track all the way thru and then let everyone fix to that if necessary.

Once the rhythm track is good, the guitarists will usually go back and do solos or additional tracks if they feel it.

It's a pretty effective method but it sometimes can leave you wishing that you could track last because the additional parts added after you're done could inspire you to do something differently. I really like doing ones where I'm the last guy to track because I don't have to imagine what's gonna be there and adjust accordingly. I can hear the whole thing and react to what's there immediately. Sometimes a vocal inflection or guitar part that's added after the fact makes me wish I could redo my part to fit it better. But I don't know it's gonna be there until I hear the final track! Such is life.

Most of my sessions involve a click just for the simplicity of re-tracking other parts but there are exceptions where we don't use one and try to get a whole track live. It really depends on the music we're playing and the opinions of everyone on how we want it to sound. I don't mind one either way. I've tracked drums to a demo guitar or scratch vocal track that was all over the place but we used a click and I stuck with it despite everything then let them go back and redo it and it came out great! It's tough but it can be done!

Thanks to the world of digital recording this method is simple and easy to manipulate. If you are lucky enough to have an engineer who is experienced and knows his stuff, it makes it ALOT easier and quicker. The engineer is like another band member, IMHO. They're just as much an artist as the musicians at what they do. I LOVE tracking with a guy who knows how to get a great headphone mix, knows how to drop markers (lots of 'em!) and knows music as well as everyone in the room. Guys like that are a joy to work with!


Pat

[Rhythmatist]

[DrumKit_Cat]

I have a Tascam 2488 for my home recording purposes. I'll have the band record the song as a scratch track with a click, that I'll bounce up to a stereo channel that everyone can use as a reference.

Then I'll have each member actually record their part often starting with bass, then guitar, then vocals, then drums. All using the scratch track as an in-ear monitor reference while they're actually recording their part on a separate channel.

I've found this method works best for any group I'm working with that wants to do a demo. Everyone seems to feel more comfortable hearing the band play the song while they're doing the serious version of it.

Then after everything is recorded I simply turn off the scratch track and mix all the other channels down together.

In my case I normally do the drums last mainly because it's my place - everyone can record their part and take off - I can record my part later or next day, next week, etc.
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I'm a wolf in cheap clothing