Ok, so I'm planning on recording my first full band very soon. (I have only done solo and rap group productions in the past). I need some suggestions on how the flow of a session should go, and in what succession I should record parts. Should I record drums first, or guitars w/ a metronome on them? What do I do?!?! I was thinking of recording a full song quickly for them to play their individual parts to, as a sort of guide, but that raises concern whether or not they can play it perfectly in time live, so as to not record a crappy individual take when listening back to their full performance. I'm just throwing ideas around. How does everyone else do it? I know I'll get some replies saying, "Do it and figure out what works for you", but I just want a template of sorts to go off of.

Make life easy for yourself. Get the band setup in the space, isolate the amps and get good drum sounds. Record everything right off the bat, drums, bass, guitars, keys, and scratch vocals. A great cue mix is very important, make sure you can hear what you're sending the band so you can dial in exactly what they want. Force the band to give you good takes, don't settle for any half-assed attempts that they'll ask you to fix later. If the first playback doesn't move you, then no amount of overdubbing will help. Manipulate them, motivate them, mock them, whatever it takes. Just make sure you're always recording..

Z

That's good advice.

I'd give the drummer a click (IF he can play to one) and perhaps a TINY bit of click to the rest, but mostly have them play with the drums, not the click.

and I'd say listen for the take that moves you, excites you, feels great... not the one that's "perfectly in time", which is meaningless without the rest.

once you have a track that feels great... you can go back and repair any little bits that are clear mistakes.

but a lot of this has to do with the capabilities of the band.
you really DO need to figure out what works with them in particular, and not try to shoehorn them into some preconceived template.
(That rarely works.)

I love tracking with the whole band in one room. The bass and guitar players can usually work with cans , And the amp heads can be in the room, but their speaker cabs can be elsewhere out of the main room via long speaker cables to keep the drum mics clean. Have the singer sing a pilot vocal from a booth. Use a real mic in case they are brilliant.

The eye contact of the musicians a mere few feet apart playing like a band is a tremendous help.

Even if you replace half of it later. You might not have to!

Thanks very much for the help guys. But the band is a large one (7 piece) and I can't fit them all at once. Should I just lay down the lead guitar, bass, and drums? The live room IS my vocal booth, so I can't accomodate any singers in there with the band. It sucks not having tons of money to build a larger studio!

Fair enough.
Drums, bass, and some sort of melody. You can squeeze that into the booth.
Maybe another guitar player in the control room getting his sustain off the control room speakers. Singer in a closet with a blanket inside. Everywhere is your studio.

Hi, i'm about to go an operate on a patient yet i know know nothing about surgery, please tell me what to do. Whoops, wrong forum, sorry......

Excuse me? I've done MANY previous recording sessions in the past, but none with a full band. We all have our firsts. Please inform me on how I was wrong to come on here and ask for some pre-session advice. How would you feel if some asshole came up to you on your first day of tracking, and hassled you, telling you that you know nothing about recording? I've gained my fair share of experiences to ALLOW myself to step into the realm of live band recording. I've humbly stepped away from the opportunity many times before, due to the fact that I KNEW I didn't have the experience yet. I'm not some kid with a computer, who decided to buy a daw, and automatically become a producer. I work at perfecting my craft just as much as anyone else. So, in regards to your half-witted statement, fuuck

Sincerely,
David Kishbaugh

nevermind the troll Dave, William Wittman chimed in, you're getting world-class advice, that's worth a little ribbing huh?
Micing up the kit the first time is hella-exciting, learn from it and enjoy it. and most of all get them to make it sound like they want it to sound BEFORE you record them. Great sounding drum recordings come from great sounding drums (or a whole lot of sound replacer ) you get a drummer to tweak his kit and getting sounding great in your room then you're halfway there.

good luck

Thanks alot. I'm extremely fortunate that the drummer I'll be working with is very talented, in the aspect of both playing and tuning. He is by far, the best drummer in my town, and one of the best in the area. I stole a pair of his sticks after a show, and I play with them now, hoping to someday amount to him. I just have to hide them when he comes in to record! HAHA!