So, my current band wants to cut a demo - but our resources are kinda limited; a small rehearsal studio (not a recording studio), a laptop with Acid on it, and some generic mics.  

The guitarist wants to try recording each instrument individually so that he can play with cutting and pasting, overlaying different guitar tracks, etc..  Not a bad idea for creative purposes, but what order to do it in?  None of us are, shall we say, session-quality musicians.

My thinking is this:  the songwriter/guitarist will create 'reference only' recordings of the songs, with the 'official' structure, at home, consisting of just him playing along with one of the built-in drumsets or whatever as a click.

Then, in the studio I will use that reference recording as my click (as opposed to just a click where I have to remember measure counts and all that ), which should(?) give us a relatively tight 'final' drum track.  Then, the bassist and guitarist, singer, etc, would play over that drum track when recording their parts.

So tell me, is this an incredibly bad idea?  Or are we on the right track?  All of this click-trackery is intended to produce tracks that will sync up so we can play with ideas - in all likelihood I think the demo itself will end up being recorded live so it has a good feel.

I can see the logic there certainly, but I couldn't say whether or not this would be an accurate way of recording.  Certainly I would prefer to use a "reference track" of the type mentioned above when recording, as I feel that a click can kill the feel of a song for me in the studio - although if I was a better drummer then I could probably compensate for this.  Having said that you would be relying on your guitarist keeping perfect time with his click or drum track, which could be risky...  Truth be told I haven't enough studio experience to say one way or the other but it seems like an interesting idea to say the least.  You could always try a prototype track and see how it turns out.

Well, the story with the demo is that it was thought that we should all record individually, then build a demo from those pieces.  I would prefer, and reality will probably dictate, that we record it live, all at once, with just a regular 'click click' in my ear to help keep us somewhat in time.  As I said, we're probably not skilled enough to produce individual parts that don't sound like they were recorded as such.

So, I think the general idea of creating the individual tracks is that they would be close enough in time to be able to swap in and out (i.e. let's try THIS beat, or THIS riff here) using ACID or whatnot.

Step ONE for any recording session (unless you're a nig name band ond money is no object):

Have the songs learned and well rehearsed.  Period.

That way when you record your drum tracks, and then the bass comes to do his stuff, he isn't freaking out about some fill you threw in that he has never heard before.

Otherwise then he plays a cool new riff to go with it, then guitar player feels HE needs to compensate for this "surprise". Likewise, if you are well rehearsed, YOU will feel CONFIDENT in what you are playing--leading to a more "natural" sounding drum part.

I could go on, but you see whare I'm going.

Not necessarily.   Click -> reference track -> whatever ...

If you want to go next, and kill the reference track, and have the band play to you, go for it.   I was just suggesting that instead of choosing between click and reference, cut the reference to a click.

You play live as a band, right?  If so, then why not record as a band.  Obviously, you'd need enough inputs to play at the same time, but if you do, and if you know the songs well enough, you'll probably create a much better recording (i.e. a tighter performance).  I still suggest that, if you have the resources, you use a click for everyone or at least you use the click.  Playing live creates a vibe that makes the final take much better.  Plus, if it's all on a click, that'll make it easier to edit if you have to splice two or more tracks together.  Good luck, recording is a great experience to learn anything you can.

I would personally do the following:-

•   Make a Midi click track with a midi cowbell sample (100 normal, 127 accents)

•   Record a guide guitar track (direct inject, amp sim etc…)

•   Record the drums to the Midi Click & the Guide Guitar Track as reference.

•   Record the bass to the Drums & Guide Guitar Tracks as reference. (Click brought up as needed)

•   Record the Real Guitars to the Drums & Bass Tracks (Click brought up as needed)

•   Record the Vox to Guitars, Bass, & Drum Tracks as reference. (Click brought up as needed)

Cheers

 

Nick

This is close to how I figured we'd do it.   I'm sure the first time around it will be a disaster but eventually we should have something clean  

Experience will be your best partner.  Choose any one of these great ways and just do it.  Then try another way.  Whichever turns out to be the best sounding should be how your future endeavors should take you.  In recording my own music, a click and guitar suffice for the best reference track.  The click tells you where your timing needs to be, and the guitar or lead melody instrument tells you where you are in the song so you can place the appropriate fills, where to bridge, or provide space in the music, and where to end.