#41

Live to stereo, usually just one take unless there are technical issues.

#42

I have only really ever recorded modular straight to a single stereo track. I hope to eventually get to where @emenel is, because sometimes—not always—I like a track well enough to want to be able to go in and polish it up a bit. That’s my thinking, anyways. I remain super apprehensive that if I start down this path, I’ll start spending way too much time in my DAW, which is definitely not what I want. I don’t want to keep being drawn into @Foxhood’s labyrinth.

The approach I’ve been contemplating is to always record everything multitrack—just in case—but continue to try to get it all right the first time. I already use a WMD Performance Mixer, so that should easy (if expensive) to set up. But how do I resist the temptation to monkey around with the individual tracks when it’s not worth it? If it seems worth it, is it better to jump in there immediately, or wait a while until you’re able to be more “objective” about the track?

#43

I’d argue that you should always give some distance before you immediately start arranging or mixing single elements.

Also, I personally can’t edit and mix a project without a preconceived concept I need to achieve or else I fell like I’m just chopping and mixing stuff for no apparent reason and get lost in the sounds instead of the idea.

2 Likes
#44

I always separate my music making from my music mixing/editing/production. The mindset and activities are so different, and I definitely need space from the music to think about mixing it… I always usually want to mix in the context of where the music is going (album, project etc).

I tend to record all the pieces that I want for a project, then mix the whole thing at once… more like working with a band in the studio, something I’ve done for years and is probably where this habit comes from. Composing, practicing, tracking, mixing, and mastering are all separate activities for me and require different mindsets, approaches, and techniques.

Treat this as a habit. Sometimes people think of their behaviours and habits as inevitable, that if you start down that path you will have no choice. That’s not true… if you want to find a balance then treat it as a practice, practice self awareness and correction so that you develop habits that support your creativity.

4 Likes
#45

Definitely separate tracks for me, but I’m definitely still experimenting and searching.
I did experiment with several things over the years, from creating everything as MIDI tracks first, and then recording one thing at a time (I didn’t have a multi-channel interface) to just recording the stereo out.

Two things seem to somehow work for me, depending on the type of track I’m making:

  • Either treat everything as if it was a field recording (I have to thank Matthias Puech for opening my eyes on this!) or
  • play the whole thing as if it was a liveset (after rehearsing it for a bit) and then do a multi-track recording (thankfully I now have an interface with enough inputs)

The first one seems to work better for my normal practice, because I think that I tend to compose in the DAW by cut, pasting and mangling audio. I do use a lot of field recordings, so I guess I tend to apply the same logic to synthesized sound as well. I often come up with a patch consisting of just one voice, record that and store it on my HD. Later I’ll maybe combine that with some other sounds to make a track.

The downside of this approach is that for me it does not work well for more structured composition. That’s where the multi-track approach is a lot better.

Now, the challenge is probably to find a way to combine the two somehow. That’s where I’m kinda stuck right now.

7 Likes
#46

Usually when I try to record with overdubs I end up preferring and releasing the individual tracks separately :smiley:

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#47

“treat everything as a field recording” is a nice Oblique Strategic approach. Did that come out of another forum discussion?

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#48

I liked this notion a lot too, so I looked it up. Seems to maybe be from this interview.

I realized I had to treat it like a natural space and adopt the same position as an ecological field recordist seeking to capture a cascade or birdsong. I accepted that I am only a spectator of my own experiments; that my only grasp on the process was to know when to press ‘record’ and how to assemble the snapshots, these fragments of life, to construct a story.

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#49

Of course I have it from this interview here:

http://www.horizontalpitch.com/2018/06/matthias-puech-explicit-intentions/

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#50

I think you can have it both ways, in that the way I often work means the ‘live’ single take becomes the layered track. I often spend a session or two finding some sounds I like and not doing any ‘live’ take or any idea of an arrangement. Later I just jam these sounds and hit record, so its a single take at this point. I might leave in for two weeks before listening back.
But then I’ll go back and expand and layer / arrange from this point…
A lot of tracks I made this way might be a 20 minute single take and arranged into a 5 minute track. Typically with me there is always bars and bars or nothing really happening or minial developent in a live take which you can just cut straight out. Of course I never delete anything and its always there in case you later change your mind.

1 Like
#51

Live single take to stereo for me. I delved into eurorack due to it’s “in the moment” nature.
Multitracking is too complicated for me i guess :smiley: