tips...022.
A REAL RECORDING SESSION WITH POWERTRACKS.(cont.).
ok....so traks 17 onwards will be used to now build on our song skeleton.
thus leaveing some free traks before tr 17..in case we need to go back and
add to the bed skeleton traks.
now we are going to enter a new phase of produceing the song..
the lead up front tracks and the song icings.
all thru this process its important that YOU the engineer think all the time,
how can i improve this song ?? and politely make suggestions.
to draw an analogy with a house. weve built the skeletal foundation ,
now its time to build up the final parts of the house.
(make sure youve done any final track cleanups/consolidations/and song back ups.
before starting this phase...that i term the overdubs/leads phase. )
the lead guitarist is itching to do his lead guitar parts.
so lets set up our traks in ptw (just one way of many.)
as follows.
tr 17..named..lead guitar punch ins.
tr 18.........lead guitar 1 final dry.
tr 19.........lead guitar 1 final fx.
tr 20.........lead guitar 2 final dry.
tr 21.........lead guitar 2 final fx.
(i will cover auxes etc later on once the basics are described.)
as before, what we are going to do is use tr 17 for basic tracking ,
for transfer to final traks and also use tr17 for any added punch ins.
and then transfer. two finals are being used to see what synergies can be created.
the idea being a different guitar sound possibly for each final.
then lastly we experiment with various ptw fx.
both real time and non real time. mebe even try third party
real time fx plug ins also.
so..lets start. enable tr 17 for recording after haveing set up a mic or two...
(mebe one close in on the cone, and one further out to capture room
sound , depending what your going for,,,and...in the mixer feeding the sound card..
mix faders of close in and room mic.)
try a test record on ptw tr 17. how does it sound. ???
how does it fit in with the rest of the song ??
how does the tone sound ?? too much distortion.
with pro lead guitarists or session players youll prolly find they have their tone/sound
already dialed in. which makes things easier for you.
(remember once again to check the level coming in by looking at ptw input led meters.)
while other less experience players u might have to politely make suggestions.
ideally a great sound coming in is the best. rather than trying to
retool the sound after recording.
typical problems u might encounter are an attempt to play too many notes or show off guitar prowess.
for example mebe the tune calls for a tender measured lead break thats tasty,
rather than a balls to the wall total maxed out distortion approach.
note that for some recording gigs, some guitarists get frustrated.
sometimes what they are used to live.. playing wise, might not work
in the studio. in the end all u can do is make polite suggestions.
mebe the guitar amp sounds awfull. so mebe a different amp is needed.
or mebe trying a new mic position might help things.
or a different recording area. these type of decisions can make or break a song.
and there ARE lots of variables.
luckily the CEFE lead guitarist is very approacheable, and a good guitarist.
he also understands rok songs normally need a good hooky intro , a nice lead break ,
and possibly a nice tasty lead on the outtro of the song.
he lays down on tr 17 a good track. and it sounds good on playback dry.
he also lays down some nice supprtive liks while the vocal verses are playing.
except for 20 seconds its not too great.
say 2min30secs to 2min50secs.
so....after recording is finished on tr 17.
cut out this section on tr17 (with keep gap.) then copy tr 17
to our first final trak. tr 18.
now we need to address that bad 20 seconds of playing.
bring up the audio edit window for tr 17.
and we will do a retake/punch in of that 20 secs.
on tr 17 in the audio edit window...allow the guitarist some song preroll...
so place the cursor with the mouse for example at 2min20secs....
and record the new 20 seconds section.
(it might take several takes for example.).
once u have a good take its just a question...as before of
transferring the 20 seconds from tr 17 to tr 18.
(you should know how to do this by now.
ie..hiliting the 20 secs in tr 17 audio edit window with the mouse...
cut...then paste on tr 18 at the same time slot of 20 seconds.
a tip..if tr 18 is pretty densely packed with recording either side of
the 20 secs time slot...make sure u use the merge with existing data.
in tightly packed tracks u must be very precise.
rather than overwrite in the 1 trak paste into tr18.
its basically a judgement call...depending on the track.
experienced audio editors normally dont have a problem.)
alternatively if your beginning and nervous.
this will multiply your trak count, but you could ..for example use different tracks for
lead guitar intro, main lead guitar break , and lead guitar outtro..
ie..on 3 seperate tracks then do a comp (composite via editing.)
to one final lead guitar trak . (ie...useing cut n paste.).
so now we have our first final good lead guitar trak on tr 18.
thus we can wipe tr 17. (TRACK>>>erase data only.)
WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT.
REALLY BE CAREFULL BEFORE ERASEING AUDIO ON A TRACK
THAT U HAVE THE RIGHT TRACK SELECTED. for example...MAKE REALLY SURE U HAVE tr 17 selected
and NOT some other track u might have cliked on.
(when starting out till u get experience it might just be best..
if a trak u are no longer interested in as to use in a song...
u just mute it. ie..in the main tracks window.
clik green tik n it turns to a red cross.
just clik the red cross to unmute.
OR...in classics view...notice the "P" column.
clik on it in a track and it turns to a "m"..for mute.)
now the next step...if u have a powerfull pc....
mebe the lead guitar player would like a bit of effect on the first
final lead guitar trak...tr 18. but lets not commit anything right now.
clik the FX button for tr 18 in the ptw mixer, and try inserting a ptw
real time effect like reverb or echo/chorus. setting the dry vs wet to suit.
and see how it sounds on playback.
as an aside i'll get further into some of the ptw real time fx later on.
youll notice there are several settings on each.
(so spend some time in your own time experimenting with the real time fx settings as well as the settings in the other real time plug ins.).
(more to come.)