- when i said 'without click' i didn't mean 'sloppy' ?. i just prefer a simple drum track to a click track. it will be a four-beat hi-hat, first beat kick, third beat snare-type thing, bang on the beat so that everything is as tight as it can be
- splendid idea to do bass second (after 'real' drums). unfortunately i'll need to do the bass using a vsti, unless i can get my hands on a bass before i get into this project, 100% the preferred option, and what i had when i did the original recording
- i'm thinking of dropping piano for this option, will see what works
- all guitar parts
- vocals - gonna need about 17 weeks, i reckon. not factoring in time for working on the lyrics...
- definitely needs harmonies, there weren't any in the original recording
- editing, mixing, mastering, that's the easy part. (insert maniacal never-ending laughter right here...)
- submit for feedback on gfsa
- start from scratch
I agree with you on the simple drum track as opposed to a click, although I use the flashing dots...? Don't ask.
My style, system and recording is very basic, brutal and calculated. I have EXACTLY the sound in mind before I start recording, beginning to end. I'll even record a "sub-standard" track and practice with it, to improve on feel and get the timing spot on and instinctive. Once I've done that I go to record, get it down in one track and live with whatever mistakes I've made. There's always room to improve, so this can be done over and over. Totally different from your approach (let alone style), so not much help, sorry.
Oddly enough I've found that recording is soooo much harder than performing, you would think it would be less pressure, but hell no! So if you want to go easier on yourself, just go perform ?
You're doing the work of a band, and the processes the other guys suggested are what a band does, but the way I understand it, is that recording is your creative process, building the song yourself as you record. Since you play guitar it's understandable that you'd want to start with that, and build from there.
The only suggestion I can make, is that before you go to the mixing and mastering stage, you use a combination of both your individual approach and the tried and tested one. Get a very good idea of the song by playing around, getting the whole structure to make sense to you. Practice it plenty of times, and then go the building blocks of recording it for real, starting from the rhythm up.
My personal opinion is that live recordings are much better than building a song up track by track. The instruments feed off each other, and people generally play better. "Warning personal philosophy coming"...Music is more about people than music.
