Setting time limits when completing a track

[Beat Poet]

It depends. If a song's easy, I can rehearse a song and then record it straight away afterwards. Other times I set aside a few hours to rehearse, work out the gremlins and then come back the next day after sleeping on it. I try and limit the number of takes though, things shouldn't be too perfect, unless it's pop/punk or something!

[kennybro]

Usually, my client sets this limit with the amount of money in his or her pocket.

But yeah. If it's a personal track, serious time limits get set. Usually, the first 3 to 4 hours mixing gets it done, or so in the ballpark that only minor tweaking is needed. If that doesn't happen, I usually trash the track, as it's an indication of deeper and more serious problems.