Can anyone point me to a good youtube tutorial that shows me how to organise recording a song?
The last time I recorded a song was about 1995 and I was using a Tascam 4 track (which gave surprisingly good results at the time) so I'm pretty familiar with all of the concepts and jargon of multitrack recording.
The bit I'm unsure about is the best workflow for recording. I'd like to enter the cover version challenge that is on here as a bit of personal challenge, but how would I go about it.
For example, in the olden days I would record about 3 minutes of a drum machine onto track one as a starter, but I think there might be a better way.
I've got a lot of computer gear and have got Logic Pro (and garageband)
Problems in my mind are things like:
Do I need to count the bars of intro/verse/chorus and then put them in first? (seems a bit long winded)
How can I use those AI drummers to put fills in the right place?
In the olden days it used to take several hours to do one song to a pretty basic standard, is it much faster now?
etc.
Anyhow, there are hundreds of logic/garageband videos on youtube so I'm trying to find one that focusses on workflow for a song, not really how to use the software (which I also need, but will fix that as I go along).
Advice welcome!
Comments
set the right tempo(s) with a click track or a basic drum pattern
Play a guide guitar part all the way through. No real tone changes or clean or dirty etc as this track will be binned.
Then a guide vocal that will be binned later too.
Create the drum part using EZDrummer 2. Usually by trying out a bunch of preset song sections (not necessarily in the right place - IE use a "chorus" pattern for a verse if I like that more)
Record the bass part properly.
Record the clean guitars
Record the dirty guitars
Double track the dirty guitars (never a cut and paste as that is shit)
Do the solos if any.
Then main vocal
then backing vocal
Mix and processing
Mastering and processing.
All the proper parts are recorded wet but also with a dry signal for later reamping too.
I do it all in Reaper with a hardware Helix, some plugins from Neural, and Waves etc.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
You still have to do that bit though!
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
I'm less precise: just start recording...to a beat/loop/click*...get going and it's easy to change your mind about the arrangement later. Also, it needn't be as linear, e.g. record...mix...record...mix. Have fun with it
* I tend to decide on a tempo, then fire-up SSD5, choose a kit, and audition a bunch of Groove Monkee beats...I then stretch that out to give me something to record over...once the song takes shape, I'll go back to the beats and start tailoring it; fills, transitions, etc.
Saying that though - I really like writing for a power trio / 3 instruments + singer arrangements so I do try to keep it performable for that band make up.
I still double track heavy guitars to get them sounding right, but I also usually have the rhythm guitar drop out behind solos and that sort of thing. If a harmony is needed then the bass has to manage it somewhere.
I like the variation when something is dropping out. Wall of Noise for an entire song / set can get quite tiring.
Emptiness is not a bad thing, it's just a different thing. But I do build from the bottom upwards. Get the drums and bass sounding just right first. Should be able to carry the song with just them. Then the guitars and vox on top. Then it never really sounds like something is missing during a solo.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
https://www.instagram.com/insta.guitarstuff/
Then I mark out the arrangement (I include custom section types like Silence or Solo) and generate a Drummer track, I can then sketch out a bass line using a virtual instrument and record the rest of the instruments. This means there's never a fixed tempo, and it sounds more alive, somehow.
For this month's challenge I knew I'd do Lionel Richie in the style of Green Day and had several tracks in mind to put in a mash up. That idea came to me because Hello starts Am G and so does Brain Stew. In the end I used different songs because I tracked too many verses because I can't count properly!
Last challenge I was watching Stranger Things and they were dressed as Ghostbusters so I thought I'd do it. I know it's B major with B A E as the chords and was strunning a few ideas when I realised B minor A E was Wicked Game by Chris Isaak and "I.... Don't want to fall in love" could be "I.... Ain't afraid of no ghost"
First thing I do is make sure I can sing it "okay" in whatever key. Usually that's down to the highest notes as my natural singing voice is bass baritone and I usually end up singing right at the top of my range.
I then tend to input drums using existing tabs and tweaking as needed. I might record a rough guitar track if I'm sketching ideas but I tend to track guitars and bass then vocals for the full track most of the time.
I will mix as I go so levels should be about right at this point, but there may be automation that needs to be done for vocals or guitar solos and any FX work.
https://www.instagram.com/insta.guitarstuff/
All you have to do is download the file, create an empty Logic project and then drag n drop the file. Logic (or even GarageBand) will then create the tracks and assign software instruments.
My band, Red For Dissent
I've got a few new songs that I want to make demos of. I've already got a structure (tempo, bar count for verse, chorus, etc.) in my head and I can play it on an acoustic and sing the vocal line - in fact, I have been at a local open mic.
So... I've decided to record the acoustic and vocals onto two tracks as a guide, which is often how I'll start, but use a feature I've not worked with before called Adaptive Tempo. The idea (if I can make it work) is to play the music and let the tempo ebb and flow as the music requires. Logic seems to make sense of that and creates a tempo track that follows the playing. which should then make it easier to chop the project up into sections and add software instruments and drums that will also follow the (slightly varying) tempo and even let me quantise them accurately.
I don't like music that sticks to a fixed tempo. I prefer variation.
So far, all I've done is import someone else's audio file into a new project and tell Logic to use adaptive tempo against it to create a tempo track - but it seems to work.
But if I wrote it on an acoustic, I'll start with a guide that ultimately doesn't get used in the final mix and then fill in the parts in that are in my head.
and yes tempo changes make a big improvement in guitar music.