Recording Drums for a song in sections?

[analogboy]

I am running a digi 003 with a MBP and basically wanted to get some techniques on recording drums in sections, then putting them together for a final mix. I can play drums, but to play a song from start to finish to a click track would be nearly impossible. I am going to be playing the drums, as well as using the computer, so I guess you could say I am flying solo on this one. I'm going to be using 10 mics on my kit and thought that maybe if I made 2 groups of 10 tracks and recorded back and forth between them, I could then bounce all the separated tracks to make complete tracks with with no seams in them. I know this sounds a bit confusing, but is there an easy way to do this that I may not have thought of. Thanks

[EGS]

You could use the automated punch in/out feature. It's explained really well in the Pro-tools Reference Guide - better than I could explain it!!!

[dougied]

I hate to say this but I am a drummer as well and the last 2 records I put out I played the songs to the click from start to finish. Hell.... even the last record I did all the tracks on the first take with the click within 35 minutes.

Nothing is impossible.

Also, what kind of music are you recording?

[Tom Case]

What I do is just let the sond keep recording, playing each part of the song untill i feel i nailed them all. Then after I choose the best of each part, I grab all 10 track and drag, or copy and paste them together. The thing to remember is if you end one part with a crash cymbal, you have to start the next part with that same cymbal crash or it won't sound right. Like with everything else, practice along with trial and error are your friend.

Tom

[Holly73]

I think, the best solution would be to record the whole song some times to different playlists and then paste the best parts to another one. It is very comfortable to work like this, as you just can copy a part, switch to the "final playlist" and paste it at exactly the same position. But as the last poster said, be careful always to use the same cymbals etc, as it makes it way easier to copy & paste at any song position.

[Carl Kolchak]

The Beach Boys, Paul Simon's "Graceland", The Beatles among others, often used a modular approach to recording, with intro's / verses / choruses sometimes recorded at different times, even in different studios and out of sequence. Then edited the performance together on tape.

Obviously that's a different kettle of fish when your talking about something like The Beach Boys "Smiley Smile" or rather the originally intended "Smile", which segues through movements at different tempos, compared to a typical "pop format" song where you're trying to create an uninterrupted performance at a fixed tempo.

The previous few posts here suggest good techniques for comping a performance. In addition to those, you could also consider (depending on the circumstance and style) premixing the drum tracks and then editing the best verse, chorus etc sections together to create a "perfect" rhythm track to overdub the other instruments on, rather than trying to perform the entire drum track flawlessly bar by bar, section by section.

Just something to mull over.

[analogboy]

Yeah, the best way I could describe our music is modern rock, I dont really like to use labels, but lets just say the drums aren't really that simple. I can play them at jam and at shows good enough, but I think the click track, as well as my nerves would get the best of me trying to play them from start to finish.

[Naagzh]

Yeah, the best way I could describe our music is modern rock, I dont really like to use labels, but lets just say the drums aren't really that simple. I can play them at jam and at shows good enough, but I think the click track, as well as my nerves would get the best of me trying to play them from start to finish.

Sounds like WAY too much work.

The reason you can play them well with other musicians is probably because of the interaction with the other players, as well as a collective sense of timing within the group. And it sounds like you're intimidated by the click because it's, well, just you and click.

If you haven't thought about it already, why not record scratch takes of the guitar, bass, and whatever with the click, then overdub the drums to that. This way, you're getting more of a "live-band" feel while drumming, and instead of fighting the click, you'll treat it as another "band member". Having more music with which to drum along might take the edge off your nerves. Just beware the headphone bleed.

As for the piecemeal approach: what if you broke a snare head before you even got to the chorus? No doubt the snare would sound at least a bit different (even if you're darn good at tuning). There's a consistency to the drum sound to consider.

[analogboy]

Yeah, breaking a drum head would be really bad, and I would probably have to start the song over. But on the other side of it, if I do the song in sections, I can probably track the drums in about an hour. Also, I've already recorded the drums for these songs during pre-production, so I am somewhat familiar with the process. I did it in sections then, but it was with only 2 mics on my kit. The reason I want things to go smoothly is because I am renting a bunch of gear that I will only have for 3 days, which is why I am taking those days off work.

[Carl Kolchak]

Yeah, the best way I could describe our music is modern rock, I dont really like to use labels, but lets just say the drums aren't really that simple. I can play them at jam and at shows good enough, but I think the click track, as well as my nerves would get the best of me trying to play them from start to finish.

Have you considered just recording the song all the way through without a click track as many times as it takes to get a great performance?

It's a little old fashioned I know, but it used to work rather well.

If there is another band member available to play guitar or whatever into a headphone mix, that would be a great help unless you know the song inside out unaccompanied.

You can always map out the tempo if you need any midi tracks after the fact.

Playing to a click can help in tightening up the groove and vastly speeds up editing if you need to change the arrangement or comp different performances, but it's still perfectly workable without a click track.