Order of recording instruments

[Leftybass12]

Hello. Pretty soon I'm going to be recording my band. I've done home recording before, but I always went with this order and I'm not sure if it's a good order or if there is something better.

Here's the order:
1. Record everyone live, as if at a show
2. Drums
3. Bass
4. Guitars
5. Keyboards
6. Vocals

[iamlowsound]

Sounds like a solid order. You could switch up the order of the bass, guitar and keyboard if you wanted to. I would prefer to record bass number 5 on that list, but that is just preference.

lowsound

[pasta4lnch]

Originally Posted by Leftybass12

Here's the order:
1. Record everyone live, as if at a show
2. Drums
3. Bass
4. Guitars
5. Keyboards
6. Vocals

that's usually the way I do it . . . though the group part is usually just for a scratch (at least for me).

[tdub0199]

1. Drums
2. Guitars
3. Keys
4. Bass
5. Vox

[baba]

Originally Posted by pasta4lnch

that's usually the way I do it . . . though the group part is usually just for a scratch (at least for me).

Yes on the group part as a scratch, but the exception is you want to get keeper drum tracks on each one. Ideally a couple live takes will get both keeper drums and bass.

[pasta4lnch]

yeah - I normally don't have the luxury of space when recording so mostly I do the scratch guitar, bass and vox at my home set-up for expedience. even in bigger places I wouldn't risk bleed from a bass amp on all the drum mics. . .

I have a pretty comprehensive home set-up, I just lack space. So when I track drums elsewhere it's crucial. everything else I can fix at my leisure (w/ no extra $$ )

[ahiddentableau]

+1 to lowsound's comment, IMO he hit it dead on. Most people (assuming they aren't going for a live take (or a live instrumental take w/ vocals and dubs afterwards) want their main drum track locked in and then proceed from there. Personally, I like to track the guitar or the bass guitar second depending on which instrument carries the main feel and/or melody of the song the most (whichever is more important). Sometimes having the guitar track is a big help to the bassist, sometimes the opposite. I suppose this could be the case for any instrument. If that banjo line is the meat of the tune, I guess i'd do that one second. Then I add the pads and vocals and overdubs, as your list suggests.

Best of luck with your recording

[lunarpollen]

I'm fine with recording a scratch bass track at any point, but for my final bass track I definitely prefer to hear all the other instruments in the mix while I'm being recorded. They can be scratch tracks themselves, I don't care.

[tZer]

1) record the entire band - everyone to their own track and everyone thinking 'rhythm/bed track' - no solos or features. Have the singer lay down a 'scratch track'. The goal - a rock solid, multitracked set of rhythm/bed tracks.
2) patch/fix minor issues with bed tracks (if needed)
3) Add vocals
4) backup vocals
5) solos/features


The key is to get really great, groovin' rhythm tracks (all on separate tracks - a little bleed never hurt anyone) that are as close to error-free as possible. Once you have that the rest is gravy.

Trying to manufacture groove with each member tracking separately is more challenging (even if they're using their own live take to work against) than capturing the natural groove of the band playing together and feeding off of each others vibe.

[dukaruk]

We do :

1) Drums with a click; scratch vocals and guitar (scratch only on take 1)
2) Bass
3) Guitars
4) Vocals

I've never attempted in any other order but I have always wanted to record bass last to make any melodic changes that might sound good with guitars/vocals.

[coreyfyfe]

We've always gone:

1. Scratch drum and bass
2. Drums
3. Bass (main part > loops/overdubs)
4. Guitar (Rhythm > Leads)
5. Vocals (Leads > Background)

Unless there was a specific need for everyone to be playing on the scratch track, we usually just do drum and bass. I think there was a song we did once where the guitar part was really key to the timing so we did a scratch guitar, but usually we left it out. For scratch bass I've done both DI and mic'd amp in an iso-booth.

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by tZer

Trying to manufacture groove with each member tracking separately is more challenging (even if they're using their own live take to work against) than capturing the natural groove of the band playing together and feeding off of each others vibe.

I couldnt agree with this any more.

The last record I did, we tried to get the producer to record us in a live setting. We were SUPER tight as a live band and had very good chemistry together. He down-right refused and ended up recording us track by track.

Alas, the record turned out terrible and none of us liked the final product. It was VERY polished, vanilla, and lacked every bit of energy that we were trying to get on tape.

If you have the space to record live, take advantage of it. ESPECIALLY if this is a demo or PR recording for live gigs. It will come across much better than a halfassed 8 track demo.

If you need to do individual instruments, this is how I recommend doing it...

*Scratch track with main guitar structure (if you have a good drummer, have them do it together and only record guitar. Again, that energy thing...)
*Drums
*Guitars (no leads)
*Bass
*Keys
*Guitar Leads
*Vox
*Fills/solos/extras

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by dukaruk

I've never attempted in any other order but I have always wanted to record bass last to make any melodic changes that might sound good with guitars/vocals.

Thats a really good point.

I always find myself hearing a melody that's missing AFTER the record is done.

Chalk another one up to the Guitards vs. Bassists depate.

[tZer]

Originally Posted by goldenglory18

I couldnt agree with this any more.

The last record I did, we tried to get the producer to record us in a live setting. We were SUPER tight as a live band and had very good chemistry together. He down-right refused and ended up recording us track by track....

I spent the better part of 2006/2007 doing nothing but figuring out how to multitrack my 5-piece band in our tiny basement rehearsal space.

My goal was for us to be able to play like normal, but capture each instrument on it's own tracks. The trick was the guitar player and I both use our POD's to send an unamplified signal to the mixer. The keys went direct and the only 'out loud' or ambient noise makers were the drummer and the vocalist.

I was able to mic the kit with 4 mics (Glyn Johns style) and send the 4 drum mics, guitar, bass, keys and vocals to their own tracks via my Delta 1010.

I sent headphone mixes to all of us. Hit record in Sonar, count in and we'd play like a band. Finish the song - hit stop. 8 nicely separated tracks sitting there all pretty and ready for whatever.

The singer was singing into his mic quietly just to provide us with a cue then he went back and recorded his track alone right after we finished the whole band. We were able to go through anywhere from 5 to 10 complete songs in a typical 2-1/2 to 3 hour session.

Now that provided good, solid tracks that were ready for mixing. But because I was exploring all possibilities, each of us ended up spending time laying new tracks, experimenting with alternate parts, etc... and ultimately came up with literally dozens of possible tracks for each player... NOT a good thing!! LOL or rather, WAY TOO MUCH of a good thing.

The fundamental takes were usually perfectly fine and all the additional 'try this, try that' ended up slowing and cluttering the process.

BUT - we'd just walk in, plug in, headphones on, hit record - bam! 8 great individual tracks ready for production!

[Unrepresented]

I like to record bass without guitar in the way. Lets me lock in tighter with the drummer IMO.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by tZer

I spent the better part of 2006/2007 doing nothing but figuring out how to multitrack my 5-piece band in our tiny basement rehearsal space.

My goal was for us to be able to play like normal, but capture each instrument on it's own tracks. The trick was the guitar player and I both use our POD's to send an unamplified signal to the mixer. The keys went direct and the only 'out loud' or ambient noise makers were the drummer and the vocalist.

I was able to mic the kit with 4 mics (Glyn Johns style) and send the 4 drum mics, guitar, bass, keys and vocals to their own tracks via my Delta 1010.

I sent headphone mixes to all of us. Hit record in Sonar, count in and we'd play like a band. Finish the song - hit stop. 8 nicely separated tracks sitting there all pretty and ready for whatever.

The singer was singing into his mic quietly just to provide us with a cue then he went back and recorded his track alone right after we finished the whole band. We were able to go through anywhere from 5 to 10 complete songs in a typical 2-1/2 to 3 hour session.

Now that provided good, solid tracks that were ready for mixing. But because I was exploring all possibilities, each of us ended up spending time laying new tracks, experimenting with alternate parts, etc... and ultimately came up with literally dozens of possible tracks for each player... NOT a good thing!! LOL or rather, WAY TOO MUCH of a good thing.

The fundamental takes were usually perfectly fine and all the additional 'try this, try that' ended up slowing and cluttering the process.

BUT - we'd just walk in, plug in, headphones on, hit record - bam! 8 great individual tracks ready for production!

This is a great post. This is exactly how I'd do it. Recording kind of tore apart my old band. We were a great live jam band. We've recorded pretty good grooves on a digital 16 track, but nothing of good isolated quality. So we tried to isolate our sounds and never were able to pull it off. The main reason was the pressure to record (we hired an engineer and we couldn't get past the ticking meter). If I knew what I know now, I would have used a set up exactly like this with my motu 8 pre and ableton live 8. Ah well, water under the bridge.

[sonic assassin]

i normally go

drums
guitars
bass
vocals

as we are a guitar and drum based band. my bassist would be lost without the guitars. i think next time we are gonna have scratch guitars for the drums to play to. his timing was a little crazy on his own, and he cant play to a click. so if we do guitars to a click, he should be fine.

ive always done guitars before bass because guitars take more time. overdubs and layers and multiple mics, multiple amps, multiple players. get it out of the way. then do bass, one track, one person, fewer mics. then move to vocals which is another long process. pacing myself in a way.