Internet Recording Project

[Stifler's Mom]

I was asked by a former band mate of mine to participate in the writing and recording of some original music. Normally this is not such an unusual situation but here is where it gets interesting. Everyone participating in this project lives in different parts of the country. We all have some sort of computer based recording system and broadband internet connections. We were thinking of somehow transferring the project back and fourth and teleconferencing over the internet. This would seem simple enough if everyone had identical setups but this will not be the case. I have a Windows PC with Sonar and one of the guys has a Mac and I don’t yet know what software. Do most Mac users use ProTools? Has anyone here ever tried something like this?

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

I've collaborated on several musical projects over the internet, but they were tablature projects on a program that I use called TabIt, which is similar to Guitar Pro. However, I've never done anything as involved as recording separate instruments in separate locations and pasting them together at a later date.

If you have the sheet music / tablature all ready to go though, then it would make the most sense to me to record the drums first. If this isn't possible, then use MIDI drums, and have each instrumentalist record their contribution while listening to the drum track, but make sure the drum track isn't accidentally recorded again in the process. Layer the recorded instrument over the drum track, and also save a file of only the one instrument that was just recorded, just in case. Send the layered file to the next person in line who will repeat the process.

After each person has finished recorded their instruments, layer all of the original, single instrument WAVs together, rather than layering the final recording over the track that already has the other layers. This way, you can better control for the quality, volume, panning, etc... for each instrument, or rerecord small sections without having to worry about doing everything all over again.