Recording order when recording individually?

[gonzilla]

This is probably a mind-numbingly simple question, but I'm new to all this and don't want to reinvent the wheel...

When each band member (singer, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bassist, drummer) records for a song seperately (out of necessity), who tends to lay the their tracks down first? If I'm guessing right, it would probably be the drummer first, followed by the bassist to complete the rhythm section. Then, probably the rhythm guitarist, followed by the lead singer, followed by the lead guitarist. What order tends to be more practical and helpful to all band members for a rock band recording original music?

Also, who tends to record first when, say, the drums aren't finished yet?

I'll take both practical explanations and personal experience, if you have them. Thanks.

[iScott]

I don't have much recording experience at all, and certain nothing that would be considered formal, but when we record at the band room we always do drums first. He has a click in his ear and also a scratch guitar (just for reference). Then we build it up from there. Bass, then guitars, then vocals.

[excane]

We recorded everything first as a scratch track (while listening to a click track to keep time)

Then drums were recorded first (while he listened to our scratch bass and guitar tracks)

My bass was second, then guitar, finally vocals.

[John Wentzien]

I prefer doing the rythm section "live" if possible.
If I can't, I like doing the bass last (except for vocals) so I can fit the bass line in the song while hearing the other parts.

[ryco]

I've always recorded live with the drummer, rhythm guitar laying a scratch track.
Then everyone lays their parts down on the bass&drum bed.

I can count the times I've laid down a track by myself on one hand; not counting "fixes".

If I was to record everything separately it would be drums first.

[teleharmonium]

The order you wrote is pretty typical except that the vocals would typically be last, not the lead/solo guitar. Often there will be scratch vocals cut early on so everyone is clear exactly where they are in the tune at any given time, with the final vocals done later. Sometimes the scratch vocal will trump the one done later. It's usually preferable to start off with the drums and bass playing together, if both a good players that are likely to produce keeper tracks quickly with solid interplay between them. If you're using a click - which you almost certainly should, when building up songs one track at a time - the order doesn't matter so much.

Anecdotal info: one of my current recording projects is between myself and one other guy, we're using a 2 channel interface (Duet) since it sounds much better than the jive 4 and 8 channel interfaces we have. We almost always use a click, and new songs usually start out with a guitar track and maybe some fake drums. Then I add bass and we build it up with other stuff (chord organ, autoharp, balafon which is similar to a marimba, glockenspiel, Hammond M-101, more guitars, vocals, fake horns in Logic, real horns, viola; we're kind of weird). We don't have a drummer yet in that project, but we'll get friends to overdub drum set or percussion whenever possible. Some songs he started before we were working together, and have keyboard bass on them or him playing bass guitar, so they might not get a bass track from me until very late in the game relative to those songs. In most cases, we're writing the material as we record it, so the tracking order is dictated by what ideas we have for parts. We'll try different things and not use all of it, but then it's just our own leisure time we're burning, not studio time at an hourly rate. Naturally you can do it faster and in a consistent way if it's a band that has been playing the songs for a while and the arrangement is a known quantity and the instrumentation is consistent from song to song.

[HogieWan]

I record and play all of the instruments, so they definately have to be separate. I do the following order:

scratch guitar (2 if necessary), scratch drums, bass, drums, guitars, vocals, overdubs

I feel like you need to hear some drums to get a good bass track, but you also need bass to do a good drum track as well.

[gillento]

If the possibility of recording my bass together with the drummer is not given, I prefer to record my bass tracks AFTER all the guitars have been laid down.
So can better place fills or do alternative lines. So I immediately hear what is working and what is not.

[nebzero]

+1 to what everyone else has said.

Scratch track for the drummer to listen to while he records and then use his rhythm for the rest of the tracks. I've even seen where guitars go D.I. for the drummer to listen to if you are more used to practicing live. If you want more "live" inflection and such this can help.

We had the advantage of iso-booths so we could record basically live and then punch in edits. I really like the inflection and swing we get when we did it in that format.

Good luck!

[pbass2]

It can actually go any way, but it IS nice if the groove is established and the bass and drums and at least a scratch for a vocal and key or guitar part is down first.
That said, I do lots of remote bass sessions for various producers, and I also do lots of the drum programming (sometimes as a template for live drums to be added later, and sometimes as the final drums.)
I've had projects where I tracked the final bass and done drums as the very last thing. I've done 'em where I did my stuff first, or midway, or gone back and re-tracked because of a change to the song, you-name-it.
I've been given acoustic guitar and vocal with no click(always a challenge) and built my stuff up underneath it. Don't rule anything out---the traditional order of events is fine and will generally work, but don't hold back from working on things in a different way, even "upside-down". And by all means, if you can go in and refine a bass part after the vocals are down go for it!

[gonzilla]

I think the idea presented with having the bassist and drummer play together is good for timing and groove, but I'd lose the ability to have a seperate channel for each instrument. A lot to gain with that method and a lot to lose?

Has anyone messed with using Guitar Pro (or Power Tab) as a recording aid? Can't get more perfect that midi'd sheet music for timing, right?

[HogieWan]

like pbass2 said, it depends on the song and style sometimes.

What are you using to record?

[gonzilla]

My university has a decent recording room that's available to me. My bass amp also has "record out", which I'll probably use with Audacity. Don't know what I'll do about drums yet, though.

[pbass2]

Originally Posted by gonzilla

My university has a decent recording room that's available to me. My bass amp also has "record out", which I'll probably use with Audacity. Don't know what I'll do about drums yet, though.

You can always work up the track with drum loops(you can get live drum loops in just about any genre imaginable), drum machine, etc. and add the drums later. I love nothing more than playing with a drummer live in the room, and it's great if you can, but I wouldn't let it hold you back from getting started on the material.

[Jehos]

There are as many ways to do it as there are recording environments. From what I understand, big studios isolate everybody, the whole band plays, and the drums or drums + bass are actually recorded at that time. Everybody goes back and fills in on top of that as necessary.

[NineSpine]

I absolutely despise click tracks and refuse to use them under any circumstances.

I personally recommend recording a scratch track of the whole band together, even if it's just a couple of room mics. Use that track as your "click". With that, it won't matter quite as much what order you record in. You can do whatever is convenient or comfortable.

[pbass2]

Originally Posted by Jehos

There are as many ways to do it as there are recording environments. From what I understand, big studios isolate everybody, the whole band plays, and the drums or drums + bass are actually recorded at that time. Everybody goes back and fills in on top of that as necessary.

It just depends on many factors--budget being the primary one. In these economically challenging times it's just as common for a record to be pieced together from all kinds of angles---elements from an artist's or producer's project studio end up in the final mix all the time. Tracks are often built up from demos, rather than just referencing them.
Very often these days certain things are tracked in a big studio, like drums, but practically everything else is done in a smaller studio, very often the personal "project" studio of the producer(of course, these guys always have a killer front end, etc., just not the big rooms (and overhead$)---it's done all the time, from the majors to the indies. Even when a band is recorded all at once, parts are often changed or replaced later--arrangements too for that matter (hence the need for a click 99% of the time). It's budgetary again in many cases. You spend a lot less dough fiddling with guitar and keyboard sounds, or finessing vocals, in a small studio that doesn't have a big room sitting there unused.
It's great if you have the budget and time to rehearse a band properly and track it in the traditional way, but these days anything goes.

[RobertPaulson]

i've always done:

Scratch guitar/vox > drums > bass > guitar > vox > anything extra

[dave_p]

with a modern DAW its so much easier.

back in the four track days, i would track a scratch to track 1
drums to 3
then bass to 2
bounce drums and bass to track 4 while adding compression
at that point, get rid of the scratch, do both rythm guitar tracks on 1 and 2 respectively, and bounce those to 3
that would leave 2 tracks, one for lead giutar, and one for vox, because the lead and vocals have the most chance for having to do a few takes.

now, with a DAW, and almost unlimited tracks, you have a lot of leeway on how you want to do it.
scratch, then drums, then bass then guitars etc then vocals works well.

[ChrisG19]

Scratch guitar/vox > drums + bass > vox > guitars > extras. Just my preference.