While I have been working on several other recording projects – some of them on 80s-style 4-track cassette tapes – most of my music project time for the past month or so has been taken up by another 2-song single DISFUNCTION is recording. This time it is different in several ways, however. We are working with an engineer outside of the band, we are using Pro Tools, we are using a metronome (finally!), and this metronome allowed us to record guitar first.
We took a whole day’s session to set up microphones before the drum and bass recording sessions. We took several hours preparing microphones for the guitar sessions.
While I regularly use metronomes and perfectly-timed drum loops when I record most projects, DISFUNCTION has never used metronomes when recording. While occasionally (rarely) an outside person will be involved in part of the recording project, this time every recording session is being handled by our Engineer, Gus.
Recording guitar first without having to worry about the controls freed me from a lot of unnecessary stress during the recording sessions. After setting microphones and determining the exact guitar tone (no presets this time – we just mic’d it well), I recorded two rhythm tracks for each song, and overdubbed a solo. The actual guitar recording was completed fairly quickly for these two songs. I enjoyed being able to hear the finished guitar tracks, knowing they are good and in time, before drums or anything else was added. There was no question of trying to match inconsistencies in previously-recorded drums, and we had already determined the BPM of each song in an earlier session. With a strong guitar-driven sound, I also believe the drum and bass tracks benefit from having an established rhythm and melody… These are similar to benefits one could achieve with a “live studio recording” of drums+bass or drums+guitar, but in perfect time. I hope to continue this workflow for more DISFUNCTION recordings, as well as other future recording projects.
Drums, Bass, and vocals each took one day per song after a day of setting microphones. Every member of the band did some backing vocals. We have been taking a quick break before going into the mixing process. I hope to work with Gus as an Engineer on more future projects. I worked with him to coordinate and plan the recording workflow in a sort of advisory role of explaining what we are aiming for, while Gus ensures he captures the sound we create in a way that can be put together so that it will faithfully match the vision – He is a believer in the Steve Albini school of recording, which is a great type of partner to have when working on recording projects.
We should have something to play for you fairly soon, so stay tuned until then…
