Basic Question: Recording In Parts

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Hey all. This is my first post on the forum and it's quite basic so bare with me..

I want to record in takes.. Using an acoustic guitar for example, I want to sit down record the verse and stop. I want to then separately record a chorus, bridge, etc, and then just copy/paste and match them up so they flow and fit perfectly. I'm having a bit of trouble doing this. I record with a click track but still don't know the best way to go about doing this in the most efficient way possible. Is there a special name for this type of recording and can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Darryl Ramm]

You will likely want to get familiar with "loop recording" and "playlists". Look those up in the manual.

See this video for a teaser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEIl92gutlM

Darryl

[WombatStudio.Org]

I'd make a separate track for each part.

[Mr.Scagnattie]

To be more specific, I want to do this all on the same track. So for acoustic guitar rhythm.. I want to eventually get the entire song down (of just the acoustic guitar) on that one track, intro, verse, chorus, etc. But I want to do it one at a time to get the best take for each part. How do I match them up after they are separately recorded in the same track? I want to be able to easily just drag the parts together and have them fit the tempo and click so its a seamless transition even though the parts were recorded separately.

[zedhed]

I usually create a set of required tracks then name & use markers to map out the timeline (I usually use beats/bars measure). Set the markers at start and end points of intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro etc.

Now it's easy to record/playback (using selector tool drag from one marker to the next) and edit within markers using desired tracks depending on which part of the song you're working on.

By creating 'Groups' you can move/edit parts around easily (as if they were one track) if necessary to fit into anywhere within the markers/timeline.

[BohoProAudio]

I usually(for vocal and guitar only projects) record scratch guitar and vocal together to a click track. Then, go in and mark your intro, verse, chorus, etc.
Then set up new tracks for your main instrument, give yourself reasonable lead time with the pre-roll(I usually do 4 seconds), and select the entire region that you want to record(verse/chorus/etc). Then, once each section is recorded, just drag your transitions to keep things smooth going into and out of each region, slap on some cross-fades, and you're good to go. I don't think tracking onto different tracks for each take is necessary with the clip gain feature, especially when multi-tracking one instrument.
I normally use three mics for acoustic guitar, and sometimes a fourth track for DI, and ending up with nine or twelve tracks just for three sections is crazy.
I have overdubbed vocals this way, and even if their microphone technique is not the best, you should be able to automate the levels, crossfade, and then bounce it down to a seamless region.

[Darryl Ramm]

Lots of good advice here. And there is always more than one way to skin a cat.

If you are brand new you've got lot of Pro Tools things to learn. It will take a while, but stick with it. Laying a good foundation by setting a session tempo, adding a click track (and using it in your headphones when tracking), using markers to block out the song, etc. will make you life much easier as you start recording. Some folks will also find it useful to include a virtual instrument scratch track, a piano or similar to help map out the chord structure etc. or just give you something to play over. Same for dumb VIs, they may give you something more interesting than a click track, even if you want to replace them later (maybe with a refined drum VI track). Remember you have a midi band inside the box (and much more with add-on VIs)...

Don't be shy about adding additional tracks, you have a very capable mixer here, if you are laying down vocals, or a lead guitar etc. and micing them separably you will want to put them on their own tracks.

Once you have the basics down, go back and look at the earlier stuff I mentioned on playlists. It can be an incredible workflow benefit when used properly. There is nothing more frustrating than to see folks struggling trying to do punch-ins or manually making retakes when this could all be handled by just ripping though with loop record (especially when you are doing all this solo).

Darryl

[flommer]

Originally Posted by Mr.Scagnattie

I want to eventually get the entire song down (of just the acoustic guitar) on that one track, intro, verse, chorus, etc.

2 things:

1st thing the keyword is eventually. What you need to learn is about the different workflows that will get you there. Using playlists/loop record is one way. Using multiple initial tracks and cutting/swapping/slipping sections is another.

2nd thing is that you are applying an artificial limitation (goal of 1 track for a particular instrument) to the process of creating a mix in ProTools that will likely waste your time. That goal is pretty much antithetical to the entire "philosophy" of using a DAW in the first place. The only good reasons to limit the number of tracks that I can think of are due to a lack of overall computer power, limitations due to the fact that you may already have a huge mix (sounds unlikely in this case), limitations due to the particular version of ProTools that you might be using, or maybe some sort of personal artistic/organizational boundaries you are setting for yourself for some reason that is somehow important to you.

Keep an open mind, learn the software, and don't scoff at any advice you are given because it is not what you expected.

[tombrewer]

Loop recording and playlist will be your best bet in the end. You basically set an in and an out, on the section that you want to work on, and it just keeps recording take after take of that section. Afterward, all your takes will be "nested" in time, and you can "promote" any of the takes, or even parts of takes to the top level (essentially your one track). Easily keeping the ability to change a take (or part of a take) after the fact for better performance matching from section to section. It all stay in time!

If you want to go the down and dirty route... throw the thing in grid mode, make sure the grid is set to bars and beats so that it matches your click, and set the grid value to something like a quarter note, and then just do your takes. As long as you are playing in time to the click, they should line up what you edit... you might have to do a little nudge editing and fading if your timing isn't exact, but, it should be pretty simple stuff.

Again, it is so worth it to take a little time to learn the looping/playlists so that you can spend more of your time performing and less of your time editing. Lends to a more creative process.