Feb 12, 2005 10:33 am It can be done. I would suggest checking it for "feel" after each section, to make sure it's coming out right. It's more difficult, but not impossible. Good luck.
Recording drums last??
Posted on Feb 12, 2005 09:36 am
Phantasm
Member Since: Feb 12, 2005
Alright, well I just recorded an original song of mine, and initially I was just going to have some hand drums for the percussion; however, now I want a drum set. How hard would it be to record the drums on top of everything else? Luckily, i did play along to a click track, but you know, it's not always completely perfect.. I'll try to record the drums PERFECTLY to the click track.. has anyone here heard of/tried to record drums last? or am I a pioneer (fool)?
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Feb 12, 2005 10:33 am It can be done. I would suggest checking it for "feel" after each section, to make sure it's coming out right. It's more difficult, but not impossible. Good luck.
Feb 12, 2005 12:20 pm yeah, i've done it before and it is a bit unnatural feeling but it can be done.
good luck
Feb 12, 2005 05:24 pm I'm a drummer and when i record drums tend to be one of the last things i record becuae i want to hear what i'm playing to. I just find it easier. As I've found out there is no set method of how to record and who comes first(drums,guitar ect) , there is what is called "the most used methods" and the most of the times but there is not set rule.
Feb 12, 2005 10:23 pm same here, as a drummer I find it easier too.
However I've been playing for 14 years... a number of young drummers arn't going to be able to do this without practice...and it needs to be practiced. when I was young and taking lessons (3 years) probably 70% of my instruction was playing along to records with just a kick, snare, ride, and high hat.
This also leads to good stand in skill, for example in church I can usually have my part figurd out with just a pickup note. I've also filled in for a band whos drummer quit at a show and I had 5 minutes (while they were setting up) to learn their 40min set.
Drumming is easy you just have to learn aural and visual cues... and be good at anticipating where the song is going.
Feb 13, 2005 12:10 am you are very right about that mr dead cow ! I started play by listening to bands i liked and trying to emulate what they played. I soon found a metronome was a good tool to work on timing . Personally i find it more difficult to record drums first , i like to have all the guitar ,and bass tracks down or at least have the guitar down .
Feb 13, 2005 01:03 am I usually do the drums last or close too, as well. I'll have a click track with usually just a kick and snare while I lay out the song, then whether I'm programming them or trying to play my kit it's the last thing I do. I'm just learning to play drums so it has to be a pretty simple song and one under a certain bpm before I try playing them live to the track, but I'm gettin there.
Dan
Feb 13, 2005 01:10 am I did a whole a bunch of stuff with drums recorded last about eight years ago with an awesome drummer, and most of the parts are spot on, there were two tunes he had some trouble with though, the first was a sort of 'freak out' section at the end of a tune where the complexity and energy of what he was playing meant he slipped out a little, but it had a great feel so we kept the first take. The one he struggled most with though was actually the slowest tune where he found it hard to keep such a slow groove to the click, that took quite a few takes.
I've engineered the same friend doing his own songs where he played all the instruments and on some of that stuff the drums were rec'd last and without a click, he had little trouble as he was playing to his own timing, which i've also found easier when doing my own drum tracks last.
It's pretty much down to the drummer's abilities and comfort levels i guess. I think it can be a slightly daunting task for less experienced drummers to have to play to pre-recorded material, especially as in a lot of younger groups the drummer sets the pace and often holds it all together, so if you're used to that being on the other end can be a little tricky.
Jul 05, 2006 01:18 pm I do a scratch guitar to a click track, that way I can dumb down the picking to make sure I'm 100% on time with the metronome. I then lay drums using the click & scratch guitar, although the whole song is not there, it does at least add a guitar which adds feeling to my drumming. After that I just lay the guitars and bass tracks in whatever order feels good that day. Vocals always come last for me.
Jul 08, 2006 05:23 am this is an intersting one... when recording the amperzahn album we are currently doing, we did drums to a click and guide track first. Our drummer was new and just learning the songs, so a couple of months later, we decided to redo the drums on some of the tracks, and everything was already recorded by then. I found he played much better, and I don't think it was just the fact that he knew the songs better... he really played with feel. From this experience, I've decided to do this more often with drummers... and leave it up to them instead of my normal drums first thing, which seemed to be an unwritten rule, but from now on I think I'm gonna try and break it more often!
Jul 08, 2006 10:59 am For me it's all about the folks you are working with. Who needs what to do well. I've worked with a couple of bands where layering was almost impossible per their spontanious approach. The trick is finding that person in the group that knows the song well enough to play it well with queues from the rest of the band. As a bassist, I often put my track in first ontop a click if I am using one. This will usually provide enough tempo, groove, and chord structure to start the building process. Drums are always the most difficult to fix in the mix for sure. With all of the bleading between mics one poor hit has to be delt with on multiple tracks, without destroying the other tracks.
Jul 09, 2006 12:19 am I'm the rule breaker and have been for a long time. BAck in the day it was the drums and bass that led the way. I never liked that at all as michelle stated above. Many drummers play with much more feel when playing to the actual tracks, I know I do. When working alone as usual my method is lay out a scratch drum and bass part. Then work in a guitar or key track. Then go back and fill in the drum and redo a bass part as the feel will change. Then it is a back and forth movement as I find more and more feel for each instrument untill I am happy with each. I will usually save mutliple takes of each play through and go back and use the best of each, or parts from many tracks.
But when working with bands I will try my best to make the set up work were they can all at least play live with each other in differant rooms to get the best takes of each bit. With bigger bands it gets tough, but the 4 and 5 piece it is a snap. Things are close enough here the guitars and bass can sit right here with me and cable to the next room with the amps running live, and the drummer is out somewhere being recorded in another part of the house. It really adds to the feel as michelle stated above beig able to drum to the real rythem section.
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