How do YOU record scratch tracks?

[Assailant]

Im going to be working with a band this weekend who cannot play to a click for the life of them, or so im told. That will be my first option, and if they cant, i' just planning on setting up the drums first along with guitar and bass scratch tracks. I can hook up the bass to my U5 no problem, but how would you guys go about setting up the guitar?

I've set the guitar up direct with a radial DI box and used amplitude and more recently guitar rig for dialing in the sound.

Would it be possible to go from guitar --> stomp boxes --> Di box --> 003r without a problem? or is this not possible?

Also, how do you guys usually deal with scratch tracks?


-Robert

[travisbrown]

"guitar --> stomp boxes --> Di box" <-- no. You need something pretending to be an amp between there.

POD, H&K Red Box, SansAmp, run-of-the-mill buffer, etc.

Or just set up an amp somewhere and mic it.

[travisbrown]

The other question worth asking is, do they need a click? They might not be great at forced tempo, but still can be a tight band.

Try them without a click first and see what happens. You'll know in about 12 bars into the first song.

If I work with a band that really needs a click and the drummer isn't used to playing with one, I ask the drummer to start practicing with a click weeks in advance. They usually never actually practice, but I still ask.

[rackdude]

You can do that. The sound wont be good because of no amp, but thats alright if you are to use amplitude.

[Assailant]

Well, i sorta knew from the start that these guys didn't know how to play with a click, they sorta sound like Mars Volta ish, Sugar Ros' ish. They have 12 minutes songs that i knew they weren't keeping time in their head. The only way of knowing when to change is by the feel of the music or the "Nods" they give each other. So a click probably isn't going to work. The reason i don't want to use guitar rig, is because they have ubbers of pedals that are constantly getting switched on and off. So i think im going to check out the RedBox. That seems like what im looking for. Thanx

[travisbrown]

Ah, I didn't mean that they have great tempo and didn't need a click, but maybe they sound good with a wandering tempo. Not everything has to be locked to a click.

I tend to think you only really need to use a click when you need to use a click.

Pedals into a redbox and you'll be fine.

[Sqye]

.

how do i record scratch tracks?

usually, like this:
.

[JimmyM]

Don't try to force a band that can't play to a click to a click. Music lives and breathes. Click tracks are ruining music.

Redbox is cool. Not my first choice over micing an amp, but for basics it'll work fine.

[Kiwiburger]

A lot depends on how much editing you expect to have to do. If the drum overheads are likely to require fixing/ moving, you probably don't want any spill from guitars. Would these guys consider tracking with headphones?

An idea I haven't needed to try yet, but I think could be preferable to headphones for eliminating spill, is to have two small monitor speakers mounted at ear height (cheap PC speakers should work). Fed with the same mono signal, the fact that they are facing each other should mean they cancel out pretty good - except to the player's head in between.
A Sansamp or something could give the player a reasonable tone to play with, while tracking just the dry guitar for later reamping.

The original suggestion of tracking guitar > stompbox > DI is not out of the question. The only problem is that you are committing to the stompbox settings. If reamping at a later time, that's a huge committment to make that you might later regret. If you just use it in the monitoring chain (with an amp sim or eq to take the fizz off) then the player can do what they like and it doesn't matter later on.

[Assailant]

Hi guys, thanx for the responses.

I don't think i was clear enough. I don't plan on keeping the scratch guitar tracks at all. I just need him to play along in order for the drummer to play in time. The bass player can play in my control room and monitor through my speakers, so can the guitarist. I will delete these tracks and record them again with more attention to detail. I was just looking for a quick and easy way to record a TEMPORARY guitar track without having to take out the amp and mics and still get the effects from his pedal board.

[NandoOg7]

Originally Posted by Assailant

Hi guys, thanx for the responses.

I don't think i was clear enough. I don't plan on keeping the scratch guitar tracks at all. I just need him to play along in order for the drummer to play in time. The bass player can play in my control room and monitor through my speakers, so can the guitarist. I will delete these tracks and record them again with more attention to detail. I was just looking for a quick and easy way to record a TEMPORARY guitar track without having to take out the amp and mics and still get the effects from his pedal board.

POD or line out from his head (crappy sound, but works)