Ok, I made this thread on the LPU but it didn't get much response, so I'll try again here... My band (or rather just me & my mate lol) are going to record our debut/demo album sometime this year at a proffesional recording studio at his university. All our songs are more-or-less finished and wirtten (some have already have digi demos in Cubase) so now we just need to record all the guitars/bass/drums/piano & other instruments and of course Vocals. So my problem is - What is the best order to record all the parts? Especially from a song from scratch. Drums first? Bass? Guitars? or does it depend on the type of track? Help/ideas? I dunno how LP does it or any other band really, so thoughts suggestions welcome!
If you have a producer then he'll sort it all out for you and tell you how to record things. When my band got recordings done we started with drums, then rhythm guitar (and a second take of rhythm guitar to fill the recording out and fatten the sound), then lead guitar, then bass and then the vocals are done last with backing vocals being the final thing recorded. Edit: Just to be clear, the parts for every song are done during the recording. By this, I mean that if you're recording 5 songs then drums are tracked first for all 5 songs, then guitar for all 5 and so on.
My suggested order would be the following: Drums > Bass > Guitar > Vocals Recording the drums first will help the bassist keep a beat a lot better (since some bassists follow the drums), and also establish the time signature of the song. Using a metronome sometimes is a good way to keep everything at the proper speed, and certainly after the (in my opinion) two most crucial parts of the song are done (bass and drums) laying down guitars and vocals should be a piece of cake. Vocals (imo) should always come last, because the vocalists can listen to the instrumental and work their vocals around the song, instead of the drummer/bass/guitarist having to work their way around the singer.
This is actually exactly how it should be done. Music recording is my major and what I want to do, and every teacher I've had (who all own professional studios) have said to do it exactly like that. It's the easiest system. I'd also suggest to put the drums on a riser a few inches off the ground to get a better sound and to eliminate rumble in the floor. I actually have a list right here of a few tips my teacher gave me: If you mess up a part while recording, don't stop. Punch-in mistakes instead. Tune up often. Don't double track everything, it hides the subtleties that make a song likable and personal. For vocalists, always bring water WITHOUT ice. Ice constricts vocal cords. If there's any more things you need help with, contact me and I'd be glad to help out.
Thanks for the awesome tips/suggestions guys! A big eye opener on how recording music works. There is one more thing though however... what if a particular song you are recording has a long intro without either bass or drums (e.g. a piano) would the best solution be playing with a metronome or something to keep the time signature? Thanks!
Oh absolutely, and just in case, record that song last, so it doesn't wear out the band for the rest of the recording session.
Nate hit the nail on the head with his last comment. Always record the easier and less challenging songs first, so that way the "big" songs get the honest attention and energy they deserve.
Thanks dudes, makes perfect sense. that way your more used to the studio and how it works. Should be fun!
I always do drums -> rhythm guitar -> lead guitar -> bass -> extra (keys and effects) -> vocals (eventually anyway) No matter what I'd say starting with drums is best. It gives you a rhythm to play everything else to rather than a click track.
That being said, for the type of music you are going to do, its best if the drummer can record to a click track. This means everything will line up on ProTools (or whatever you are using) and make things so much easier to edit and overdub on, and it will eliminate any tempo inconsistencies. Just my 2 cents!
I'm not going to rehash what everyone else has said, but they are all spot on. But just a tip. Before you go on to anything else, get your drums completely perfect and tight. If you screw up the drums you can't go back and fix them later because all the other instruments will be out of time with the drums for that part.
XD absolutly! I'm always stressing over little nuisances like that. If the drums are out, everything else might as well be. Luckly I have a really good drummer so this shouldnt be much of a problem Just songs like "a place for my head" that starts off with guitar. how'd you go about recording that when you've got to record the drums first???
Maybe just record a quick guitar part over a metronome before you record the drums. And then of course go back and do the guitar again after.
I like it to be done all at once. It gets that live feel. There's tempo changes and stuff that happen naturally in a song that are hard to capture otherwise.
If you try that, you run the risk of sound bleeding into other microphones, or, for example, the bass rumbling too loud and shaking the drums, causing unwanted noise. Yeah you get a different feel but the sound quality drops.