What is your workflow process? Start to finish!

[setyouranchor]

I've been pickling my head over this for the past few weeks. I've got a band coming in in a couple of weeks and I want it to work out smoothly. I'm in Logic 9 by the way.

My current workflow is... ONE BIG MESS.

Its getting kind of tiring.

The band I'm working with have agreed to just program the drums. The drummer is pretty cool and doesn't mind too much and they want their EP done asap.

So, usually when I'm just programming drums I will create the multi output function, and mix/process them there. Send all the drums to one master drum bus, and also parallel comp if needed.

Once drums are all done, I stay in the same session, track guitars, edit as I go, do some standard EQing, HP/LP etc, send all guitars to master guitar bus for further processing and control.

Next is bass. Still in the same session. Same method as guitars. Maybe do a quick mix at this point.

Vocals. Same session. Same sort of techniques.

Once the band have finished a song, I then usually go back and tweak everything to shit, in my own time. Everything is tracked, edited, mixed and mastered in the same session. However, this can get messy, tiring and time consuming.

I've been speaking to Tim (timislegend) for hours tonight about improving my workflow and I'm still in a shambles.

I spoke to him about possibly printing my drums as a scratch track. Saving that session, then importing the drum stems into a new session and tracking everything in there. Or could I track guitars to scratch drums, export guitars as stems, bring back into drum session, mix there.

ARGH. I'm so tired but I'm just seeing if you guys had a smooth workflow which works for you. I dont expect a golden, one way workflow to help me, I know its a personal thing but I just want to try some more techniques out.

Thanks in advance

Seb

/rant

 

[Fragle]

i don't quite see the problem....printing scratch tracks seems like a waste of time with no real benefit imho...at least unless there's some cpu issue, but that shouldn't be the case at the tracking stage.

but anyways...let's say i'm doing a project with programmed drums

- get the midi files a few days before tracking starts, and work your way through it, roughly editing velocities, choosing the basic samples etc
- track guitars to that.....i'm always tracking DIs with amp sims, and when the guitar player comes in i try to dial in a tone that approximates what they are shooting for soundwise.
- track bass DI with pod farm sansamp bddi sim
- track vocals on top...still the same session, still largely unmixed. i set up delays, reverbs, as well as the usual tracking compression to make the vocalist comfortable and to get an idea how it will sound in a mix

i do a lot of editing while tracking. cleaning up the tracks, editing out noises, editing guitars etc. drumediting is always done before they start tracking but we're assuming programmed drums here.

after that i'll reamp the guitars and bass, work on the mix, chose new/additional drum samples etc, you know, actually mixing the thing.

the reason why i don't do real tracking mixes is that i'm constantly pushing the faders so i can hear better what's being tracked, but i'll frequently lower the volume to approximate mix volumes to see how things are sitting. i'll do a rough rough mix before vocal tracking starts though. nothing fancy though, just approximate levels, some compression on bass, basic EQ etc.


edit: also, i always set up the basic track template for the project before tracking...that includes subgroups, like guitar bus, drum bus etc. i add a few spare tracks in too just in case we're adding more ideas on the fly, so i don't have to mess with setting up new tracks while tracking stuff.

last but least, i always track and mix in the same session, but consolidate everything before the mixing starts. one giant session for all tracks btw, makes for a more consistent sounding album imho. cpu load isn't really an issue anyways.

 

[setyouranchor]

i don't quite see the problem....printing scratch tracks seems like a waste of time with no real benefit imho...at least unless there's some cpu issue, but that shouldn't be the case at the tracking stage.

but anyways...let's say i'm doing a project with programmed drums

- get the midi files a few days before tracking starts, and work your way through it, roughly editing velocities, choosing the basic samples etc
- track guitars to that.....i'm always tracking DIs with amp sims, and when the guitar player comes in i try to dial in a tone that approximates what they are shooting for soundwise.
- track bass DI with pod farm sansamp bddi sim
- track vocals on top...still the same session, still largely unmixed. i set up delays, reverbs, as well as the usual tracking compression to make the vocalist comfortable and to get an idea how it will sound in a mix

i do a lot of editing while tracking. cleaning up the tracks, editing out noises, editing guitars etc. drumediting is always done before they start tracking but we're assuming programmed drums here.

after that i'll reamp the guitars and bass, work on the mix, chose new/additional drum samples etc, you know, actually mixing the thing.

the reason why i don't do real tracking mixes is that i'm constantly pushing the faders so i can hear better what's being tracked, but i'll frequently lower the volume to approximate mix volumes to see how things are sitting. i'll do a rough rough mix before vocal tracking starts though. nothing fancy though, just approximate levels, some compression on bass, basic EQ etc.


edit: also, i always set up the basic track template for the project before tracking...that includes subgroups, like guitar bus, drum bus etc. i add a few spare tracks in too just in case we're adding more ideas on the fly, so i don't have to mess with setting up new tracks while tracking stuff.

last but least, i always track and mix in the same session, but consolidate everything before the mixing starts. one giant session for all tracks btw, makes for a more consistent sounding album imho. cpu load isn't really an issue anyways.

Thanks a lot mate! Nice to hear someone elses techniques. Also, good idea about the one giant session for all songs! I never really though bout doing that.

Yeah, I also create templates before tracking, i have a few basic ones but sometimes find myself setting up new ones per band.

 

[setyouranchor]

Bumpppppp

 

[B36arin]

I messed up a bit last time I recorded a band which ended up in me having too much editing work to do, but here's my workflow in the future as I see it right now:

1. Drum tracking

2. Drum editing... VERY important that this happens now, if the other musicians record to untight drums your life will become hell when editing starts. If you have programmed drums you can obviously ignore these first two points.

3. I track bass, guitar, synths etc... I like to edit stuff on the fly so that when I'm finished tracking I have an edited song that's ready mix.

4. Vocal recording, also edit on the fly.

5. This is a quite important step for me personally... When all tracking is done I usually consolidate all tracks with the edits. This can be a bitch in Logic, because as soon as you start fading flex regions your fades start clicking. The only workaround for this that I've found is consolidating the edited regions one by one using the bounce in place function and then add all fades afterwards. It can be a bit time consuming, which is why I'll probably try editing my next project in Pro Tools LE or Reaper. Anyways, when all the tracks are consolidated I move them to a new, completely blank project. I like to have two templates, one for tracking and one for mixing. When the tracking is done and all files are consolidated I know exactly which tracks I'm going to need, I set up a new preset with all the required channels and patching. It takes an hour or two to consolidate everything, make a new preset and get everything to work, but when it's done I can really sit back and fully concentrate on the sonics of the mix and nothing else.

6. Reamping. I do this in the mix template, where I usually have a track called "guitar DI" and a track called "guitar processed".

7. Drum replacing. I like to consolidate all replaced drums, so I'll go through the drums track by track, consolidate and make sure that all triggers are correct and in phase.

8. I consolidate other software instruments like synths etc. which have been recorded with MIDI. I do the same things as with guitars here, I usually have one track called "synth MIDI" and one track called "synth processed".

8. Mixing time

9. Automation

10. Bounce

That's about it. I was once thinking about mixing several songs in one project, but Logic 9 has a great function where you can copy mixer settings to another project. As long as you have a project template that's the same for all the songs you're mixing can copy all your mixer settings from the song that you've finished to the next song you want to work on.

 

[setyouranchor]

Thanks a lot bro ill look over it in more detail tonight but the copy mixer settings will be a massive help! Do you have to set up all the tracks exactly the same way then just open the settings?

 

[B36arin]

The copy mixer settings feature is AWESOME! You just go into the mixer, and in the edit tab you'll find "copy audio configuration". I'm not sure what it does if the two projects don't have the same channel and bus layout, I'll have to check in a while. I usually just use the same template so I don't have to worry about different project layouts.

 

[JayB]

I also use one session for all songs , if your computer can handle it , it helps me out a lot. I use Pro Tools though

 

[JamesNorman]

Drum Tracking,
Drum edit,
Sample replace (single sample)
Bounce tracks in place.

Then dependent on how many tracks i do:
Bass Tracking, to scratch guitars. EDIT
Guitar Tracking (guitar rig). EDIT
Vocals. EDIT
*i alternate these between song giving time to tune, rest, restring, etc*
ReAmp (bands studio days off)
Mixing
Mastering (all done in one session, stereo mixdown of songs)
listen for changes.
Done!

 

[AdamWathan]

1. Setup drums, notice cracked cymbal and old head, get a bit annoyed

2. Track scratch guitars and setup tempos, cry a little inside when watching guitarist's technique

3. Record drums, wonder how drummer is going to react when I tell him to not play 75% of his kick drum parts

4. Edit drums, plan suicide when I realize I was so lazy with performance quality because drummer sucked so bad and I couldn't stand to listen to another take

5. Setup guitars, smash head against proverbial wall when telling guitarists need to restring every couple songs and they reply with "no way dude my strings sound better after about a week, if we restring it'll sound like crap."

6. Record guitars. Only about 10% of the people who didn't kill themselves while drum editing will make it through this stage as well. This is where you weed out the weak. Punching in every other note, retuning every take (and remember each take is only 2 notes long), trying to teach the guitar player how to fret a note without bending it out of tune, or how to pick the string so it doesn't sound like a complete disaster, etc. And that is only if you are recording guitarists who are willing to admit that it sounds better, otherwise you are stuck with the, "no I'm not punching in 2 notes, just let me try it again I'll get it this time," guitarists. And I say guitarists loosely.

7. Record bass. This is usually a bit more pleasant. The recording gods are rewarding you for making it through the guitar tracking stage. It is still going to be awful, but compared to tracking guitars, it is like having sex with Natalie Portman.

8. Record vocals. This is hit or miss. Very often it's the most fun part of the process because you don't need to worry about transitions between punches and stuff since there's usually a lot of good gaps to work with. Other times, the vocalist is just so awful that you are struggling to decide if it's even worth tracking. It is very disheartening when you've spent 15 hours of tracking per song on the instrumentals only to have a vocalist come in that is so bad that it will complete overshadow whatever decent sounding recording you had going in the first place.

9. Edit vocals, this is annoying sometimes, but it's better than editing drums.

10. Go through songs and print drum samples. This sucks. Usually the drummer is really bad, so he hits like an inconsistent girl which means no triggering plugin on the planet can figure out what he's doing with phase accuracy, so you have to go through and slide around a bunch of hits and get everything sounding ok.

11. Mix. Mix it until it blows you away. Never send anything to a band half mixed. They should never receive an mp3 with the attached text, "Hey, just started working on this last night, it's not all the way there yet but it's coming along." It should always be done. Because even when it's done the band is going to bitch. They are going to complain about things they have never noticed on any of their favorite records, even though those things are all there. The amount of automation it would take to achieve these requests is unfathomable. "Can you raise the volume of the 3rd note in the hammer on in my second solo in track 5?"

12. Delete the session and drink until you forget you ever recorded them.

 

[Vinny]

1. Setup drums, notice cracked cymbal and old head, get a bit annoyed

2. Track scratch guitars and setup tempos, cry a little inside when watching guitarist's technique

3. Record drums, wonder how drummer is going to react when I tell him to not play 75% of his kick drum parts

4. Edit drums, plan suicide when I realize I was so lazy with performance quality because drummer sucked so bad and I couldn't stand to listen to another take

5. Setup guitars, smash head against proverbial wall when telling guitarists need to restring every couple songs and they reply with "no way dude my strings sound better after about a week, if we restring it'll sound like crap."

6. Record guitars. Only about 10% of the people who didn't kill themselves while drum editing will make it through this stage as well. This is where you weed out the weak. Punching in every other note, retuning every take (and remember each take is only 2 notes long), trying to teach the guitar player how to fret a note without bending it out of tune, or how to pick the string so it doesn't sound like a complete disaster, etc. And that is only if you are recording guitarists who are willing to admit that it sounds better, otherwise you are stuck with the, "no I'm not punching in 2 notes, just let me try it again I'll get it this time," guitarists. And I say guitarists loosely.

7. Record bass. This is usually a bit more pleasant. The recording gods are rewarding you for making it through the guitar tracking stage. It is still going to be awful, but compared to tracking guitars, it is like having sex with Natalie Portman.

8. Record vocals. This is hit or miss. Very often it's the most fun part of the process because you don't need to worry about transitions between punches and stuff since there's usually a lot of good gaps to work with. Other times, the vocalist is just so awful that you are struggling to decide if it's even worth tracking. It is very disheartening when you've spent 15 hours of tracking per song on the instrumentals only to have a vocalist come in that is so bad that it will complete overshadow whatever decent sounding recording you had going in the first place.

9. Edit vocals, this is annoying sometimes, but it's better than editing drums.

10. Go through songs and print drum samples. This sucks. Usually the drummer is really bad, so he hits like an inconsistent girl which means no triggering plugin on the planet can figure out what he's doing with phase accuracy, so you have to go through and slide around a bunch of hits and get everything sounding ok.

11. Mix. Mix it until it blows you away. Never send anything to a band half mixed. They should never receive an mp3 with the attached text, "Hey, just started working on this last night, it's not all the way there yet but it's coming along." It should always be done. Because even when it's done the band is going to bitch. They are going to complain about things they have never noticed on any of their favorite records, even though those things are all there. The amount of automation it would take to achieve these requests is unfathomable. "Can you raise the volume of the 3rd note in the hammer on in my second solo in track 5?"

12. Delete the session and drink until you forget you ever recorded them.

+1

 

[BrettT]

1. Setup drums, notice cracked cymbal and old head, get a bit annoyed

2. Track scratch guitars and setup tempos, cry a little inside when watching guitarist's technique

3. Record drums, wonder how drummer is going to react when I tell him to not play 75% of his kick drum parts

4. Edit drums, plan suicide when I realize I was so lazy with performance quality because drummer sucked so bad and I couldn't stand to listen to another take

5. Setup guitars, smash head against proverbial wall when telling guitarists need to restring every couple songs and they reply with "no way dude my strings sound better after about a week, if we restring it'll sound like crap."

6. Record guitars. Only about 10% of the people who didn't kill themselves while drum editing will make it through this stage as well. This is where you weed out the weak. Punching in every other note, retuning every take (and remember each take is only 2 notes long), trying to teach the guitar player how to fret a note without bending it out of tune, or how to pick the string so it doesn't sound like a complete disaster, etc. And that is only if you are recording guitarists who are willing to admit that it sounds better, otherwise you are stuck with the, "no I'm not punching in 2 notes, just let me try it again I'll get it this time," guitarists. And I say guitarists loosely.

7. Record bass. This is usually a bit more pleasant. The recording gods are rewarding you for making it through the guitar tracking stage. It is still going to be awful, but compared to tracking guitars, it is like having sex with Natalie Portman.

8. Record vocals. This is hit or miss. Very often it's the most fun part of the process because you don't need to worry about transitions between punches and stuff since there's usually a lot of good gaps to work with. Other times, the vocalist is just so awful that you are struggling to decide if it's even worth tracking. It is very disheartening when you've spent 15 hours of tracking per song on the instrumentals only to have a vocalist come in that is so bad that it will complete overshadow whatever decent sounding recording you had going in the first place.

9. Edit vocals, this is annoying sometimes, but it's better than editing drums.

10. Go through songs and print drum samples. This sucks. Usually the drummer is really bad, so he hits like an inconsistent girl which means no triggering plugin on the planet can figure out what he's doing with phase accuracy, so you have to go through and slide around a bunch of hits and get everything sounding ok.

11. Mix. Mix it until it blows you away. Never send anything to a band half mixed. They should never receive an mp3 with the attached text, "Hey, just started working on this last night, it's not all the way there yet but it's coming along." It should always be done. Because even when it's done the band is going to bitch. They are going to complain about things they have never noticed on any of their favorite records, even though those things are all there. The amount of automation it would take to achieve these requests is unfathomable. "Can you raise the volume of the 3rd note in the hammer on in my second solo in track 5?"

12. Delete the session and drink until you forget you ever recorded them.

Thanks for reminding me why I only do this as a hobby.

 

[setyouranchor]

Drum Tracking,
Drum edit,
Sample replace (single sample)
Bounce tracks in place.

Then dependent on how many tracks i do:
Bass Tracking, to scratch guitars. EDIT
Guitar Tracking (guitar rig). EDIT
Vocals. EDIT
*i alternate these between song giving time to tune, rest, restring, etc*
ReAmp (bands studio days off)
Mixing
Mastering (all done in one session, stereo mixdown of songs)
listen for changes.
Done!

1. Setup drums, notice cracked cymbal and old head, get a bit annoyed

2. Track scratch guitars and setup tempos, cry a little inside when watching guitarist's technique

3. Record drums, wonder how drummer is going to react when I tell him to not play 75% of his kick drum parts

4. Edit drums, plan suicide when I realize I was so lazy with performance quality because drummer sucked so bad and I couldn't stand to listen to another take

5. Setup guitars, smash head against proverbial wall when telling guitarists need to restring every couple songs and they reply with "no way dude my strings sound better after about a week, if we restring it'll sound like crap."

6. Record guitars. Only about 10% of the people who didn't kill themselves while drum editing will make it through this stage as well. This is where you weed out the weak. Punching in every other note, retuning every take (and remember each take is only 2 notes long), trying to teach the guitar player how to fret a note without bending it out of tune, or how to pick the string so it doesn't sound like a complete disaster, etc. And that is only if you are recording guitarists who are willing to admit that it sounds better, otherwise you are stuck with the, "no I'm not punching in 2 notes, just let me try it again I'll get it this time," guitarists. And I say guitarists loosely.

7. Record bass. This is usually a bit more pleasant. The recording gods are rewarding you for making it through the guitar tracking stage. It is still going to be awful, but compared to tracking guitars, it is like having sex with Natalie Portman.

8. Record vocals. This is hit or miss. Very often it's the most fun part of the process because you don't need to worry about transitions between punches and stuff since there's usually a lot of good gaps to work with. Other times, the vocalist is just so awful that you are struggling to decide if it's even worth tracking. It is very disheartening when you've spent 15 hours of tracking per song on the instrumentals only to have a vocalist come in that is so bad that it will complete overshadow whatever decent sounding recording you had going in the first place.

9. Edit vocals, this is annoying sometimes, but it's better than editing drums.

10. Go through songs and print drum samples. This sucks. Usually the drummer is really bad, so he hits like an inconsistent girl which means no triggering plugin on the planet can figure out what he's doing with phase accuracy, so you have to go through and slide around a bunch of hits and get everything sounding ok.

11. Mix. Mix it until it blows you away. Never send anything to a band half mixed. They should never receive an mp3 with the attached text, "Hey, just started working on this last night, it's not all the way there yet but it's coming along." It should always be done. Because even when it's done the band is going to bitch. They are going to complain about things they have never noticed on any of their favorite records, even though those things are all there. The amount of automation it would take to achieve these requests is unfathomable. "Can you raise the volume of the 3rd note in the hammer on in my second solo in track 5?"

12. Delete the session and drink until you forget you ever recorded them.

Thanks a lot guys! Its interesting to see everyones way about things.

Think I'm going to try as usual with a few changes: Set up screensets in Logic, learn my Alphatrack inside out.

1) Choose samples with drummer, program, mix, parallel comp

2) Track guitars and edit parts on the fly

3) Track bass and edit parts on the fly.

4) Quick mix at this point

5) Vocals and edit on the fly

6) Editing/flexing guitars, bass and vox

7) Process all tracks till happy

8) Mix then Master


I think I'm going to leave my programmed drums running live rather than freezing, printing then having to go back, tweak and re print. I always find myself going back and tweaking drums constantly throughout the whole tracking process... hmm, actually, is it a good idea to print scratch drums for tracking then save the "tweaking" to the mixing process? Guess it saves CPU but I'm not too hard up on that right now.

Once I've finished the first track, save template, save mixer settings, new session, open template, open mixer settings!

 

[setyouranchor]

Anybody else wanna chime in? Any Logic users have any cool tricks?

 

[gabriel g.]

One important thing:

Try to understand the different characters of each band member.
Some people are very shy.
You have to speak them strong, be like a good friend.

If a take is total shit, just say :"I know you can do better, just relax a bit, do you need something"

Some people are lazy.
You have to push them, you have to show them what the songs are capable of.

Some people have such big EGOs they think they are the best.
If they are as good as they think, its all fine.
If they suck, you sometimes have to be harsh and break them.
Then you have to rebuild them

And be aware of like 1000 people hanging around while tracking, and no matter what the band say or YOU say, there will always be a lot of people.

There is a dude here, and he is chillin out on every session I did since August.
Yesterday I asked him if he lives in my small studio?!?!

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Haha, Adam is starting to sound like Slipperman.

 

[Laneismusic]

1. Setup drums, notice cracked cymbal and old head, get a bit annoyed

2. Track scratch guitars and setup tempos, cry a little inside when watching guitarist's technique

3. Record drums, wonder how drummer is going to react when I tell him to not play 75% of his kick drum parts

4. Edit drums, plan suicide when I realize I was so lazy with performance quality because drummer sucked so bad and I couldn't stand to listen to another take

5. Setup guitars, smash head against proverbial wall when telling guitarists need to restring every couple songs and they reply with "no way dude my strings sound better after about a week, if we restring it'll sound like crap."

6. Record guitars. Only about 10% of the people who didn't kill themselves while drum editing will make it through this stage as well. This is where you weed out the weak. Punching in every other note, retuning every take (and remember each take is only 2 notes long), trying to teach the guitar player how to fret a note without bending it out of tune, or how to pick the string so it doesn't sound like a complete disaster, etc. And that is only if you are recording guitarists who are willing to admit that it sounds better, otherwise you are stuck with the, "no I'm not punching in 2 notes, just let me try it again I'll get it this time," guitarists. And I say guitarists loosely.

7. Record bass. This is usually a bit more pleasant. The recording gods are rewarding you for making it through the guitar tracking stage. It is still going to be awful, but compared to tracking guitars, it is like having sex with Natalie Portman.

8. Record vocals. This is hit or miss. Very often it's the most fun part of the process because you don't need to worry about transitions between punches and stuff since there's usually a lot of good gaps to work with. Other times, the vocalist is just so awful that you are struggling to decide if it's even worth tracking. It is very disheartening when you've spent 15 hours of tracking per song on the instrumentals only to have a vocalist come in that is so bad that it will complete overshadow whatever decent sounding recording you had going in the first place.

9. Edit vocals, this is annoying sometimes, but it's better than editing drums.

10. Go through songs and print drum samples. This sucks. Usually the drummer is really bad, so he hits like an inconsistent girl which means no triggering plugin on the planet can figure out what he's doing with phase accuracy, so you have to go through and slide around a bunch of hits and get everything sounding ok.

11. Mix. Mix it until it blows you away. Never send anything to a band half mixed. They should never receive an mp3 with the attached text, "Hey, just started working on this last night, it's not all the way there yet but it's coming along." It should always be done. Because even when it's done the band is going to bitch. They are going to complain about things they have never noticed on any of their favorite records, even though those things are all there. The amount of automation it would take to achieve these requests is unfathomable. "Can you raise the volume of the 3rd note in the hammer on in my second solo in track 5?"

12. Delete the session and drink until you forget you ever recorded them.

I couldn't have said this any better... +1

 

[setyouranchor]

One important thing:

Try to understand the different characters of each band member.
Some people are very shy.
You have to speak them strong, be like a good friend.

If a take is total shit, just say :"I know you can do better, just relax a bit, do you need something"

Some people are lazy.
You have to push them, you have to show them what the songs are capable of.

Some people have such big EGOs they think they are the best.
If they are as good as they think, its all fine.
If they suck, you sometimes have to be harsh and break them.
Then you have to rebuild them

And be aware of like 1000 people hanging around while tracking, and no matter what the band say or YOU say, there will always be a lot of people.

There is a dude here, and he is chillin out on every session I did since August.
Yesterday I asked him if he lives in my small studio?!?!

Thanks a lot for that mate! The band I'm working with right now are pretty shy, apart from the bassist. Just need to push um a bit more ... and make my little brother make shit tons of coffees

 

[Josh M.]

Haha, Adam is starting to sound like Slipperman.

Indeed!

I've recently found out the hard way that editing drums after tracking is the most horrible and creativity/vibe killing thing you can do to your workflow.

From now on I will only edit on the fly.

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

1. Setup drums, notice cracked cymbal and old head, get a bit annoyed

2. Track scratch guitars and setup tempos, cry a little inside when watching guitarist's technique

3. Record drums, wonder how drummer is going to react when I tell him to not play 75% of his kick drum parts

4. Edit drums, plan suicide when I realize I was so lazy with performance quality because drummer sucked so bad and I couldn't stand to listen to another take

5. Setup guitars, smash head against proverbial wall when telling guitarists need to restring every couple songs and they reply with "no way dude my strings sound better after about a week, if we restring it'll sound like crap."

6. Record guitars. Only about 10% of the people who didn't kill themselves while drum editing will make it through this stage as well. This is where you weed out the weak. Punching in every other note, retuning every take (and remember each take is only 2 notes long), trying to teach the guitar player how to fret a note without bending it out of tune, or how to pick the string so it doesn't sound like a complete disaster, etc. And that is only if you are recording guitarists who are willing to admit that it sounds better, otherwise you are stuck with the, "no I'm not punching in 2 notes, just let me try it again I'll get it this time," guitarists. And I say guitarists loosely.

7. Record bass. This is usually a bit more pleasant. The recording gods are rewarding you for making it through the guitar tracking stage. It is still going to be awful, but compared to tracking guitars, it is like having sex with Natalie Portman.

8. Record vocals. This is hit or miss. Very often it's the most fun part of the process because you don't need to worry about transitions between punches and stuff since there's usually a lot of good gaps to work with. Other times, the vocalist is just so awful that you are struggling to decide if it's even worth tracking. It is very disheartening when you've spent 15 hours of tracking per song on the instrumentals only to have a vocalist come in that is so bad that it will complete overshadow whatever decent sounding recording you had going in the first place.

9. Edit vocals, this is annoying sometimes, but it's better than editing drums.

10. Go through songs and print drum samples. This sucks. Usually the drummer is really bad, so he hits like an inconsistent girl which means no triggering plugin on the planet can figure out what he's doing with phase accuracy, so you have to go through and slide around a bunch of hits and get everything sounding ok.

11. Mix. Mix it until it blows you away. Never send anything to a band half mixed. They should never receive an mp3 with the attached text, "Hey, just started working on this last night, it's not all the way there yet but it's coming along." It should always be done. Because even when it's done the band is going to bitch. They are going to complain about things they have never noticed on any of their favorite records, even though those things are all there. The amount of automation it would take to achieve these requests is unfathomable. "Can you raise the volume of the 3rd note in the hammer on in my second solo in track 5?"

12. Delete the session and drink until you forget you ever recorded them.

this is so retardedly fucking true!!! this made me laugh so hard hahaha