How do you guys approach tracking solos?

[Harry Hughes]

I know there is the divide between guys that like to track the rhythm guitar of a song all in one take, and then the people that do it in chunks.

Wondering about solos now though.
Anyone of you guys say, record phrase by phrase rather than whole solos at once, especially if it's a particularly tricky and technical solo or/and the player is not having a good playing day so he/she has to break it down into each phrase/separate chunks?

 

[Nebulous]

For me it's the same with rhythms and leads: do what works on the day. Generally it's the initial takes, trying to go through as far as possible. If upon listening back things need to be fixed or "just can't" be done properly unless it's done on it's own, then so be it. Go back and do those sections.
That's for me personally. Recording others means doing what they're comfortable with. As long as the end result is as tight as required.

 

[Fragle]

+1 to what he said.

i'll usually play (or have the guitarist play) the whole lead a few times through, go and listen back which parts were nailed, decent, and not so good etc, and then try to comp a full take from those.
if there are still some sloppy sections, i'll punch in as many times as needed.
if the guitar player is REALLY struggling (read: doesn't have his shit together and tries to be über-technical) i've gone as far as recording a phrase (few notes) a time.
a friend of mine actually went even further once and recorded everything note for note....not something i'd do though. guess i'd rather change the lick (if it's my own lead) or try to work out something easier that keeps the overall vibe together with the guitar player.

 

[ParsonsMatt]

Do the whole solo at once. I can understand chopping rhythms up, but a solo is far more expressive and IMO it ruins it to chop it up and dice it into little phrases. Plus, I hate hearing when that happens on records.

 

[evolutions_end]

another for listening to the solo and working on a solo by solo basis. if one take has an awsome groove to it but is sloppy toward the end, its damn hard to edit it and kee that groove.

 

[Metaltastic]

Do the whole solo at once. I can understand chopping rhythms up, but a solo is far more expressive and IMO it ruins it to chop it up and dice it into little phrases. Plus, I hate hearing when that happens on records.

I used to feel this way, but since I prewrite my solos there's zero spontaneity in the performance (though there's stuff that sounds like spontaneity, I just play it exactly the same each time ), so I comp together the best take from the batch, and since I always track using ampsims and have the DI's to edit, IMO it's absolutely imperceptible! (e.g. this guest solo I did is FILLED with edits, but I guarantee even if you think you hear one, it's probably not, just the way I happened to attack the string or something )

 

[Harry Hughes]

Any other opinions?

 

[Sean in Silence]

I agree with Metaltastic all the way
If it is a prewritten solo it won't matter if you cut it up or not

P.S. I really like that solo Marcus
haha

 

[di0de]

nice solo Metaltastic, you can't tell its been chopped at all.

 

[Metaltastic]

Thanks dudes, that's the beauty of editing DI's! (and being pretty good at editing if I do say so myself :Smokedev: )

 

[TravisW]

Since I'm mostly only recording myself, I generally push myself pretty hard for a one-take nailed solo. When recording others, I'll do a few runs through and either pick the best one or comp it. I did record one solo phrase-by-phrase once. If I had to do it over, I'd have had him practice it more.

 

[006]

It all depends on the situation, but generally I'd prefer it to be a comp'ed take over going note-by-note. But, then again, if it's for real precise stuff I'd want to do it note-by-note so that it's as tight as everything else going on. Or if the guitarist can nail it close enough, comp the takes or do it phrase by phrase in those situations.

 

[di0de]

you could always fade it out if you can't mesh nicely and have another solo start on the opposite channel so it sounds like 2 guitarists having a solo competition.

probably better to get it right haha, but you know it doesn't hurt to experiment now and then.

 

[David Lee Hasselhoff]

I improvise most of my solos. What I do is to play several takes and then see if there was anything worthwhile within those. I'm aiming at one single take, but sometimes I end up sticking big chunks of those takes together. If you're working on something pre-written/complicated I feel it's not the best advice to split it up to baby steps either. You just lose too much of your personal sound doing so. Simplify or learn to be happy with some sloppiness. Then again I'm a fan of Janick Gers

 

[KirillM]

I guess it all comes down to want you want to do. But there can be some horrible results. For instance Dragonforce's technically praised "Through The Fire And Flames" solo was recorded in chunks. It's great (well, at least it's played great, even if you don't like this solo) on the record but anytime they play it live it sounds like someone is sawing a bag full of kittens in half.

 

[Aaron Smith]

I guess it all comes down to want you want to do. But there can be some horrible results. For instance Dragonforce's technically praised "Through The Fire And Flames" solo was recorded in chunks. It's great (well, at least it's played great, even if you don't like this solo) on the record but anytime they play it live it sounds like someone is sawing a bag full of kittens in half.

Haha, saying that any of the guitars from Dragonforce (post "Valley Of The Damned" era) were merely "recorded in chunks" I think is a gross understatement of involved studio trickery and a gross overstatement of musical ability. Seriously, I think a very high percentage of their stuff was recorded in tiny, tiny pieces and comped, or even played extremely slowly and chopped up note by note and quantized. I bet ALL of the DIs were quantized 100%, especially on "Inhuman Rampage" and "Ultra Beatdown".

Ultimately this approach brought them some cash and mainstream recognition, but their credibility as musicians has taken a mammoth nosedive. From what I've seen, I think Sam possibly is the biggest joke to ever hit the guitar, and it is literally difficult for me to think of guitar players who are definitely worse. I mean, I think Tom DeLonge, Marcos Curiel, Jerry Horton, and Head are easily better players than he is! How can this be the case if Dragonforce is supposedly the pinnacle of technical guitar playing?

 

[greyskull]

if someone else is playing it, normally chunks and comp, or several whole takes and comp.
If im playing it, kepp at it til i nail it.

 

[ze kink]

If I'm recording myself, I'll always just record until I get a take I'm completely satisfied with. It's good practice too! Especially since I always improvise my solos.

For others, it completely depends on the guitarist and how tight he is, and whether the solo is improvised or not. I always lean for as "organic" as possible though.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Elastic Audio
:danceboy:

Kiddin

I'd just play the whole thing through as accurately as possible, and then I'd go back and correct the mistakes.