Putting together guitar parts

[Nazgul666]

Nea to Logic and working through the book, but I decided to start a project too!

 

So, I'm a guitarist so am constructing a song starting with the guitar. When you guys record a guitarist do you piece together the rhythm track or do you have the guitarist play the whole song through? What's working for me is piecing together the verse, chorus, solo rhythm etc. and then just copying, pasting etc..

 

Is that right?

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[marcel72]

There is no 'right'. You should do whatever works best for you.

 

Best, Marcel

[SteveO]

I usually start with a guide/scratch track with either an acoustic or a clean electric, just basically strumming through the changes of the song. From there, I'll typically add the drum track next, and then a bass track. Once those are done, I'll finally get to the "keeper" guitar and keyboard parts.

[David Nahmani]

Like Steve I often record a guide track that typically contains vocals and acoustic guitar. Then as the song takes shape and as I add other instruments I'll manipulate the arrangement, cutting, adding, repeating sections etc... and usually re-record a proper guitar track later in the process.

 

But that's just ONE way I do things, and for other songs I may use a completely different approach. There really are no rules, you just have to figure out what works for you, and for the task at hand: another producer would have done it differently, that doesn't mean your approach wasn't right for you. And another day, you may choose another approach. There are no limits.

[CarlosUnderground]

For me, it all starts with the cigarette. After that, nothing is sacred.

Diferent strokes......

[rickenbacker360]

I start with a pre-production arrangement which is essentially 95% complete in terms of structure and lyric. I then find my groove for guitar using a loop from Superior Drummer. If there's significant need, I may even compose the entire MIDI drum track, complete with fills.

 

For me, it's critical to get the tempo just right, so I may spend a week just playing and singing along with the drums, but not recording.

 

When ready, I usually try to record the rhythm guitar part all the way through. I want that feel of continuity, complete with the increasing energy of performance. Keep in mind that I've probably spent a month or more in pre-production deciding what my approach will be, so I'm pretty "practiced-up".

 

Bass is almost always next, and I save vocals (even scratch) till way late. So when I lay down the vox, I have all the groove and a certain amount of fills, etc.—but I digress from the topic.

 

If you're a good guitarist, I'd encourage you to play all the way through. You can later tweak timing if you want with flex or Melodyne. If you're not a Jimi, Eric, or Eddie—or if you want to compose in Logic, you can make great recordings piecemeal. As has been stated, no one way is right or wrong.The object is the final track being right, and in my book, energy usually trumps perfection.

[Gravity Jim]

it depends on what you want to guitar to do, musically. If I want it to sound like a performance by a band, I'll play the part all the way through and avoid adjusting the timing. On the other end of the scale, if I want it to sound like a sample, i'll grab the phrases that fit the groove best and then cut-n-paste endlessly. There are lots of variations on the theme in between one extreme and the other.

 

There is no "best practice." There's only Joe Meek's advice: "If it sounds right, it is right."

 

Which is to say, I agree with Marcel: the best way to put together guitar parts is the way that sounds right for the piece you're creating.