Same project but different sessions...how do you do?

::XeS::

::XeS::

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Mar 30, 2005
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Sometimes it could happens that you have to record an album, but for example, 4 tracks now and 4 tracks the next month...with other works between the 2 sessions.
It could be a problem because mic positions should be different, expecially the drums, with the result that the 2 sessions will sound different for shure.
How do you face a problem like this?
 
There may be a better answer...but to me the most obvious solution would be. Take notes and take Pictures.

If I have my amp set at vol, 5 master 5, treb..... etc. etc. This guitar, that cab, those pedals with these settings... and a picture of where the mic is placed,
I would assume you could reproduce the sound well enough that no one would notice the difference.
 
I did that for a demo 2 songs 1 week and in the next week another 2 songs, it was in a rented studio, so I took a fuck load of pictures of every single angle you could have, then just place everything accordingly and it turned out great, impossible to tell the difference. Also all the levels etc, take note of that as well
 
Methodology. Some people double and probably quadruple the guitar tracks for example all at the same time. What I mean is they do Riff A then do Riff A again, and 2 times more if quadrupled. However if you know you will be short on time then you must plan. At least do the whole song in one session one time and double it the other time.

For drums : drumagog.

For bass, I would say use your imagination with the plug-ins after.

Otherwise take pics but that is never 100% perfect.
 
Sometimes they're not that accurate, you can often hear in albums that the drums and guitars sound completely different characteristics-wise (same sound, but different micing spot). Usually between songs, but I have a few albums where even the mastering sounds noticeably different in a couple of songs.
 
This Doesnt work as well for metal, Coz most albums sound exactly the same.

But alot of the time in Rock Produtions, I aim for a few different sounds throughout the Album or EP, Esp with different snares and such.

then I track everything in Groups, ie Song 1 Song 6 Song5 all are going for super tight sounding drums, Song 2, song 4 are going for a big roomy boomy sound.

But its irrellivant in this case really.....

We've managed to get rid of the way we had to mix and process a whole song at a time in analog land, now with DAW we can reopen a mix in a few secs. If only we could do it with tracking......
 
Thank you for the answers.
For example, a band wanna record 2 song now (as a promo) and the rest of the album the next month. A solution could be to re-record the 2 song when I record the whole album...but I think that aproximating the same sound could be ok.
 
For two songs I'd just be sure to use the same samples/kit, and reamp guitars all at once. As long as the vocal chain is the same it'll be fine, and the bass should just be a DI track. Guitars can be reamped so you're not pinned down there... drums is all it comes down to!
 
I would go with the "first session all x and y tracks, second session all w and z tracks" approach, but in your case XES you should probably re-record the songs for the full album, cause if they want to release those songs before the rest of the album you couldn't use that approach. Plus for a promo you'd have to mix/master and all for those two tracks, maybe you could even learn from mistakes and make them sound better in a month when you re-do them along with the rest of the album
 
I'm in this situation too, band recorded a 3 song demo with me and wants to do another 6 tracks later but include those 3 on the release. I think I'm going to end up retracking those 3 songs while we do the other 6 and just not charge them for it, I wasn't happy with those 3 tracks anyways and I'd really like it to turn out solid so it's no skin off my back to record a few extra tunes while we're at it.
 
AdamWathan said:
I'm in this situation too, band recorded a 3 song demo with me and wants to do another 6 tracks later but include those 3 on the release. I think I'm going to end up retracking those 3 songs while we do the other 6 and just not charge them for it, I wasn't happy with those 3 tracks anyways and I'd really like it to turn out solid so it's no skin off my back to record a few extra tunes while we're at it.
Click to expand...

yeah that's definitely the best idea, and what you say is a good example of my point that if you make a hurried demo/promo you will most surely want to fix it later, and re-doing the whole thing will be a perfect chance to learn from your mistakes.

Why the name change man?
 
It's impossible to have the same sound as Erm said, so this maybe seems stupid to you but I do this:
For drums I lower the OH's (volume wise) in the mix so you won't hear a tons of difference, yeah you're killing the sound of the OH, but recreating the same position even if you take a photo is impossible.
I almost sample replace everything (kick snare toms), trying to recreate dynamics with aptrigga and samples.
Bass and Guitars: it's easy, I just reamplify, so no big troubles.
Vocals I just take note of all settings on the preamp
 
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