Your tricks for recording alone

[TheGreatGreen]

The best "trick" I can give is to setup a decent, easy-to-press set of custom keybinds so when you mess up, you can do the old "stop, reset back to your mark, record again" flow without thinking about it. Hell, attach a foot pedal to your recording setup and use that if you can so you don't have to use a keyboard to do it, which requires resetting the positions of your hands with each take.

The goal is efficiency.

I can eventually print pretty much what's in my head to the track, but I'm definitely a 2-dozen take wonder most of the time, lol. Anything I can do to make the re-recording and overdubbing process as smooth and fast as possible ends up saving me a ton of time.

No tricks really. I’ll write a riff, figure out the bpm, lay down some drums to that bpm, record the guitars and bass and that’s really it. I have everything mic’d and set up where I don’t have to do anything but hit record.

This hits on something really important too. If you can, try to setup your space so that there is as little activity between "idea" and "recorded track" as possible. Always have mics on your cabs. If you use IR's into FRFR speakers, instead of plugging it straight into speakers, route it so your IR loader is always plugged into your interface, and your interface is plugged into your FRFR speakers, so all it takes to save an idea is launching your DAW and hitting record.

 

[skoora]

Lay down a basic beat in the tempo I need. record guitar ideas over it. Flesh out an arrangement of guitar parts. Redo live electronic drums playing to it, feeling out different beats, halftime, double time as I go and then do bass. Doing the live drums can be a lot of fun as it’s very creative, even with all the retakes involve.

 

[RaceU4her]

This hits on something really important too. If you can, try to setup your space so that there is as little activity between "idea" and "recorded track" as possible. Always have mics on your cabs. If you use IR's into FRFR speakers, instead of plugging it straight into speakers, route it so your IR loader is always plugged into your interface, and your interface is plugged into your FRFR speakers, so all it takes to save an idea is launching your DAW and hitting record.

smooth work flow helps, i dont have time to be dicking around with shit and once i get going i work pretty quick. most of my clips are done in the couple hours i have in the morning, then ill listen in my truck throughout the day and take notes on the mix and im usually able to make a pit stop home and do some tweaks, if i think it still sounds somewhat decent the next day ill post it up.

 

[Metalhex]

I find alot of times of I have an idea in my head, that by the time and grab my guitar to figure it out, it's partially gone....If I hit the wrong notes before finding the right ones, (thus throwing the original intended key of the song away)t hen the idea is even more so gone.

If the idea is a long one, I usually have to do it one small section at a time. By the time I nail down the first section then the rest of my original idea is 100% absolutely gone. For example, for shitd and giggles i'm trying to take a stab at writing a "tech-death" song, which consists of many notes, and not necessarily in any one key; by the time I got the first 5 or 6 notes down, then the rest of the idea that was in my head is gone forever. Part of this is because I want to nail down one section before I move on, which leads me to playing and repeating that one part dozens of times. In doing that, I have forgotten the rest of the idea, so then that piece that I have figured out, becomes the whole riff. Therefore it's impossible for me to write any tech death songs. If there is a plus side to this is that I came up with a pretty cool riff.....sometimes.

Ive come to the conclusion that i'm just a repeating-riff kinda guy!

 

[Spaceboy]

I use Logic and have a template setup that automatically has some of my favorite plugin tones loaded and ready, along with a track for bass scratches, and then a track for Logic's stock drummer, as well as two additional drum tracks for Kontakt and EZ Drummer. I often will use the stock drummer for jotting down ideas quickly, then come back later and get exactly what I want with either EZ Drummer or Kontakt. It kind of depends on what I'm going for that day honestly, but the stock Logic drummer is actually decent for general purpose and it beats playing to a metronome. It lacks when it comes to metal but you can usually cobble together something fast with it, then come back with EZD. I can fire up logic from that template and get working with a couple clicks.

 

[midnightlaundry]

Where are all these badass clips??

 

[cobrahead1030]

I try to record myself in some capacity, at least a few times a month. I've found that it's a bit of a diminishing skill, even if I'm playing & practicing regularly.

Ideally I like to switch it up a bit; acoustic, chuggy or thrashy metal stuff, clean guitars, lead parts, some mid gain pieces. They all require a different technique & if I let myself get too rusty in one area, it's hard to jump back in when I need to.

Practice with a metronome as often as I can stand. Everyone knows this helps with playing better, but I also find it's really important when it comes to locking in a temp on something I've written. I tend to sit with my guitar and write/play based on feel, and when I try to commit to a tempo at the last minute, I'm usually a few beats too fast or slow. Playing with a click more frequently gives me ample time to make that decision.

This was already mentioned in the thread, but have a setup that allows you to start recording and working, as quickly & smoothly as possible. I failed to do this for way too long, and anytime I wanted to record seemed like it needed to be a half day ordeal.

 

[DrewJD82]

Where are all these badass clips??

Badass is subjective, but this is the the last half of the one I'm working on right now and a good example of why I don't just lay out a whole song to a click anymore. Each section gets set up by either the drums or guitar. I can't really display how I heard it as I was writing it, but I wouldn't have written half the riffs if I weren't writing the drums at the same time because they're intertwined for a lot of this. Or the caveman riff at 1:24, I just dug the way the bass sounded playing that so I made it a riff in the song and now it'll be the solo section. That said, I don't have the chance to play a kit currently and this is how I have to get off as a drummer, so I might be more enthusiastic with that stuff than others.



This might sound smashed, I can't listen loud enough to tell, I just threw a limiter on it to bring the volume up. I track with an SSLComp on the master bus for some glue.

 

[Monkey Man]

Brutal Brother Drew.

 

[Crunchity]

Just repeating what a lot of others have mentioned, being comfortable with your work space/flow is super helpful. It's nice to walk into your room, sit down and hit record and not have to fight things or figure shit out, etc, just letting the creative mojo roll. I use Cubase (ver 11 Pro), EZDrummer 2 and a handful of useful plugins (tracking and mastering aids), make a few key eq tweaks (for drums, bass, etc), save that as my template and I'm good to go for project after project. I would say an important habit for "alone" recordists is having a bud that's music savvy so you can bounce mixes/ideas off them and being open to their views, good or bad.

Hardly "badass" but this is a current little thing I'm working on (original guitar nonsense)...

 

[RaceU4her]

anyone who posts original music to me is a badass regardless if the music is "bad ass" or not. why so many here still arent recording anything in now almost 2024 is confusing to me but thats for a different thread

 

[Greazygeo]

Most times I just use a click. It isn’t that hard just takes practice. Learning note value subdivisions are helpful. Rather use a click so when I hand off my stuff to other players they have a reference to go from.

Sometimes the Drummer in Logic is nice to work with.

 

[Smash]

So I probably spent a good 10 hours this weekend getting my drums set up, guitars, mic/preamps ready to go and making sure everything was at my fingertips for tracking. I had one simple plan..ONE good scratch track so I can then cut drums and bass. You'd think that should be easy but playing guitar to a metronome is a whole diff ball game! First you have to find the tempo then stick to it. I was all over the place. Then trying to drum to my own guitar playing.. yikes. Then it dawned on me, I have sd3, why not just use a kick snare to grid? Then I stumbled upon metronome bpm vids on YouTube using kick and snare or a drum groove. WAY easier to lock in when you have more than a beep. Having that kick and snare just feels so much better and you never get lost.

So there's my gift to you guys if ever you struggle with this. Drums are much easier to track now because the guitar isn't going all over the place.

What tips or tricks do you guys use for recording yourself? Probably take me months to finish and then mix one tune but ya gotta have goals!

Never wear pants. If your ass sticks to the chair when you get up, you did a good job

 

[midnightlaundry]

Throwin it out here.. Maybe most don't care bout no 1973 ZZ Top tune, but whateve's.
Maybe everyone does a 8 bar lead. I tried to do jams before, but it always drowns.. 8 bars you fucks.. Count them..

 

[ZEN Amps]

Haven't read all the replies so might not be adding much new, but my basic steps are:

- Record guide riff to click or basic drum groove (Slate or EZ Drummer usually)
- Play in drums on MIDI controller or drum pad... quantise a bit to lose some of my sloppiness, but not enough to make it sound robotic
- Track bass, DI only is more than fine.
- Record DI guitars, with the Kemper recorded on separate tracks for monitoring. Left and right is usually enough to get started.
- Reamp said guitars through a suitable amp, or just stick with Kemper if it's a quick n' nasty demo.
- Decide if it will have some kinda of solo on it to finish it, or just shelve it like the last dozen.

I don't get much time to tinker with my own ideas these days but I do enjoy the process when I can. Usually it's just a 60-90 second riff to get an idea down, and it goes no further. Good clean fun.

Having my home studio setup efficiently is key. Pro Tools templates primed, cabs miked, guitars setup well etc - it makes things fast, painless and I don't lose inspiration.

This riff idea took about 30mins from inception to (semi) completion. Pretty boring with no lead guitar or vocal... but it's the beginnings of a song, sounds fine and will happily sit on a HDD unfinished for years to come.

 

[cobrahead1030]

The majority of what I record these days is intro/background music for hiking videos I make. I do need to get off my ass and make some play through videos or something that's more guitar centric.

 

[cobrahead1030]

Where are all these badass clips??

Here's a quick demo I threw together a while back.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Some great tips here guys thanks. The one on work flow is HUGE. I noticed I had to click here, disconnect and connect there to make sure I was routing through my converters. So I've organized everything off my console and patch bay so that I always have 8 mics in for recording drums ( left setup) but also a neve style preamp ready to go on the cab for the scratch track. I then just patch it in through the patch bay. I am however thinking of just wiring in another 8 channels as I have a total of 32 out and 16 in of conversion.

For the metronome, for me a simple youtube vid BPM tempo of a drum beat works best. I tried EZ drummer but it wasn't matching as quickly as the YT BPM track and it added too much at the end of the riff. I then am able to record a rythm guitar in time.

There was an observation made on the first page about sometimes finding that the drums don't match the rythm once you record them and I have found this true. When I start writing the drums around the rythm rather than just keeping time, it big time changes my choices where the kick drum and snare are concerned. Sometimes i can fall out of time unless I make sure the drumming part is in sync with the rythm. That for me has been most challenging part. Fun.. but challenging.

 

[Smash]

So I probably spent a good 10 hours this weekend getting my drums set up, guitars, mic/preamps ready to go and making sure everything was at my fingertips for tracking. I had one simple plan..ONE good scratch track so I can then cut drums and bass. You'd think that should be easy but playing guitar to a metronome is a whole diff ball game! First you have to find the tempo then stick to it. I was all over the place. Then trying to drum to my own guitar playing.. yikes. Then it dawned on me, I have sd3, why not just use a kick snare to grid? Then I stumbled upon metronome bpm vids on YouTube using kick and snare or a drum groove. WAY easier to lock in when you have more than a beep. Having that kick and snare just feels so much better and you never get lost.

So there's my gift to you guys if ever you struggle with this. Drums are much easier to track now because the guitar isn't going all over the place.

What tips or tricks do you guys use for recording yourself? Probably take me months to finish and then mix one tune but ya gotta have goals!

The easiest way i have found to do it is to find your beat per minute. It is easy to use an online metronome to get an idea if you want 60-180.

Then set up reaper to that bpm, so that the lines and everything matchup. This becomes more important when you do more instruments. But it is hard to explain how much this helps the recording process in general.

Then i get the drums to that beat so that i dont have to listen to a metronome.

It is a game changer. Always play to drums or metronome. It sounds less disjointed and will get your timing on point

 

[thegame]

A good wank before the session does wonders…