Recording Bass and Drums (LAST?)

[Bassman7PM]

Am I old fashioned or what? Has recording in the studio changed this much or is the artist a bit nuts? I was asked by a friend and pretty decent singer to add bass tracks to his recording project. The songs (Contemporary Christian/Gospel) are really good, but he recorded all of the songs with the lead and background vocals first using the keyboardist and click track. Then he added some acoutic guitar and lastly he wants to add the drums and bass. Recording the first two songs took quite some time because the drummer and myself were a bit lost on the timimg of the keyboard player, even though he's quite good. Is it me or is this project doomed to fail and need to start all over again?

[staindbass]

i have done takes with just a click track, no drums or anything. anythings possible. if your using a click the keyboards timing shouldent matter. if he is off have him start over.

[Bassman7PM]

Originally Posted by staindbass

i have done takes with just a click track, no drums or anything. anythings possible. if your using a click the keyboards timing shouldent matter. if he is off have him start over.

Too late to redo the keyboard tracks. The other problem is a lot of his left hand passing tones and ghost notes are hard to distinquish making it difficult to hear what he's playing.

[bassgod0dmw]

When we've recorded, my drummer made an extensive click track with all of the changes in tempo. He did the drums first, using only that as a guide. Then, depending on the part or person playing, they were able to record their part using only the click, the drums, or both.

I would not want to record drums last. The whole is built on them. I suppose if the musicians laying their parts down first were perfectly in time, and more importantly perfectly in time with each other, that it wouldn't matter too much in the end. It just seems wrong and more difficult.

[RustyAxe]

I did a project like that last year ... a major PITA. The rhythm section should drive the music, not the other way around. It's somewhat easier to add bass last when the drums were recorded first, but it's still not the ideal. I found I had to listen and learn carefully to match the slight changes in tempo and timing introduced by the keys player. More work than it was worth. The music was contemporary Christian stuff, btw.

I was asked sometime after that to add bass tracks to a female singer/songwriter's solo recording ... and found it just impossible after hearing her tracks. I turned down the project ... "I haven't got the time for it". It was true ...

[full_bleed]

It depends on the song I suppose. What is important to the song and how good is the drummer? In other words, if its going to be one of those rare songs that has the drums off in the distance I would say you could get away with tracking drums last. In all other cases I have to agree with RustyAxe that the rhythm section should be driving the music. I personally like to get good scratch tracks across the board from all instruments and then start tracking drums. It can be a little time consuming but it's well worth it. Depending on the song it can really affect a drummers performance and feel by having good and tight scratch tracks for a little guidance in addition to the click track. Just make sure that the click is still much louder than the music.

If the keys are recorded with a sub par performance it is going to make the rest of the recording feel unprofessional. Why is it too late to redo those tacks?

[Bufalo]

How about asking to do your parts to less of the arrangement? "Can I play over just the rhythm guitar and vocals?" If the keys are throwing you off, that's the reason there are faders and mute switches.

[tdub0199]

Nothing wrong with that method but not typical either.....