MultitrackStudio User Forum

Hi all!

As a home recording novice, I was hoping to seek some advise from some experianced song writers.

Although I am a drummer, I was thinking of picking up a mixer (ie: small Behringer unit), pluggin my bass, keyboard and mic and laying down individual tracks myself on the MultitracStudio system. I figured I could shape the tracks after recording them (IE: chorus, echo.....). I will be asking a friend to fill in the guitar work later.

I was wondering which would be the most efficient order of instrument to build the framework of the song. IE: would it be best to record the drum part first, layer over it with bass guitar, fill with keyboards and then sing the lyrics last?

Perhaps it depends on what type of music? If so...I can advise further on what I am attempting. Perhaps we could learn from each other on this topic from different suggestions.

If you have no idea or advise....thanks for spending the time to read this post

Everyone hs their own idea as to what works best for them, as will you, we each have preferences that we like to do first, as for me, i prefer to do the drum track first, that gives me a solid beat to foloow, then i do the bass as it ties in to the drums, and then guitars and what ever next with vocals last.

Thanks for your thoughts on this Robomusic! Have a good one!

To make your life easier later in the process, start with a "click" track and allow at least an 8 count lead-in - before any else is recorded.

If you use midi for the click, render it to wav as soon as possible in the process - this will prevent any small timing issues that can occur when mixing midi with wav files.

Beyond that, "scratch" guitar, keys and vocal tracks are usually recorded to allow for easier recording of the rhythm section(drums and bass). Sometimes the scratch tracks are good enough to keep, sometimes not.

The best method is the one that works for you and can vary from song to song - you'll find it by doing.

Thanks Saz! Your comments along with Robomusic's comments really help to put things into perspective (or confirms my ideas). I am in the planning stage right now and very close to getting into it. I just picked up a mixer today and the next thing will be a keyboard (Yamaha?).

I am sure I will experiment for many months to come. I hope that I can finally produce something by this time next year that I can show you guys.

Take care!