How to make a song in one day and do it the right way?

I'll keep my fingers crossed that this helps those of the people who don't want to go for low quality recordings.
I don't think of myself as being a professional in that field but I reckon some of the members would definitely
have some experience to share about one-day productions. Please contribute and correct me if i'm wrong

Let's start with the simpliest setup:

You + the guitar + a mic (obviously) + a computer + software

1. As for the guitar, you should try and tune it first (some of the members seem to forget about it). If you have old strings on your guitar, either change them or, if you can't afford to do it, take them off and put them in boiling water for a couple of minutes - they should sound fresh when you put them on again. I also clean them with a small brush and little soap to get all the dirt off first before boiling (well, I don't anymore, I just buy new strings). New strings will get your instrument sound much better. If you still can't tune it, u can try and use a capo on the first or second fret, it sometimes helps. sometimes. Well, before you record - play the song through, try and play it a couple of times - it will be more fluent and have a better flow, I reckon. If you decide to have two giutar track in yr song, why not try and pan it? I pan it at 40-60 left and right each rack respectively, and try and play the chords in different positions to make it more interesting.

2. As for the software, you have plenty of options. I use Adobe Audition (Cool Edit Pro) and Samplitude. If you want to make it right, use a multitrack program to record the tracks separately.

3. That was kinda my main point - RECORD the TRACKS SEPARATELY - track 1 - the guitar, track 2 - bass, track 3 - vocals, track 4 - second guitar, etc. That way you can do a much better recording than the one in which there is only one track with you playing the instrument and singing at the same time.

If you do tracks separately, only then have you a chance to process them the way you want. You can compress the guitar, add effects to the vocals, etc.
You can controll each track's loudness level and either put it up or turn it down, depending on what is too quiet or too loud.

4. Effects - As DaveUK wrote:

"Common effects/processors for vocals would be (not necessarily all)

EQ
De-Esser (High-frequency limiter to remove percussive vocal sounds)
Compression
Harmonic Exciter (be careful with this one, but can sound really good)
Reverb"

He forgot about the pitch shifter - if you sang out of tune at any point you can get this part back in tune. You can also use volume maximiser if you need to, but the compression should do the job just fine - I use -20dB threshold, 2:1 ratio, with outpu compenstaion at 0. One of my friends, when doing vocals, compresses it once, then normalises the track to 100%, then compresses it once more, and again normalises it to 100%. Then he adds reverb.

5. And one more thing - when recording, make sure the signal that goes to the computer is not too loud or it will be distorted, overdriven. Make sure you set the volume in a way that the wave representation u see on the screen does not go beyond the vertical scales (on yr right handside). if it's too loud, just turn it down.

well, i hope that my first simplistic thread triggers some replys and advice for other members.
See ya
Jim

OH MY GOD! That's filarious! (that word is my own made up of f-ing and hilarious, feel free to use it in the right sense, of course)
No, seriously, that's brilliant. Hopefully someone will take the time to read this before they post.

Glad you liked it. I didn't mean to be funny, though, just went for the basic stuff first.

I forgot to mention the noise issue. In order not to get too much noise in the mix I set up the microphone in another room (I keep my desktop in the kichen and walk all the way to the living room to either sing or record acc guitar. If I did it sitting at my computer desk, I'd get all the procesor noise in the mic.

Well, I also hope this will help. It's nothing brilliant, just pure essentials some of us seem to be forgetting about. I think that doing the recording in the way it should be done shows your respect for the listener. Isn't this what it's about in a sense? To please the listener?

im not sure that the pitch shifter is a good thing to use... if you can't sing the song in key, find someone who can, or apolagize for it in the file description. however that is just my personal opinion- pitch shifters really annoy me, the listener 

I set my computer up in a diffrent room . I record in a diffrent room.  So far, the way I have had to do it is set the click track for 8 to 10 measures, so I have enough time to get in the other room, and get set, but I still feel rushed.
How do you start your recording track.  I'm thinking of getting a wireless mouse but I would still have the problem of not seeing the crt monitor.  I don't want the monitor to near the mic as it will give noise to the recording.

  What do you think is the best way to start the recording track?

 In the studio we compress as we record usually about the same settings as you use. I'm doing that here at home but not getting the same results.  Any suggestions?

 Another  question  do you normalize every track?  If I record a compressed guitar signal that's  level, and set the input to just a hair under 0 db, the track signal is really good. Would you still want to normalize this track?

how can I rate this???

it's just perfect, you'll get with this thread a special place in the ampers heaven, in the bandamp church, and a honorific name in the Noodle Kingdom.

Is very useful JBP

I'll follow this step by step and upload the song.

 

Sir Axealot

aka Dodo

Well, for the most simplistic setup (wich I use, not only for my one-day songs but for everything) I'd say:

You+ (free) software.

but I guess some acoustic minds here won't agree... haha

 

I must say I have the same problem of having to rush to another room to record -as i use a simplistic software by Adobe (Audition)  the way I deal with it is move all tracks forward 10-20 seconds away from the 0:00:00 point, so that I have enough time to get into the other room (those 20 secs), and only then do the metronome start clicking away. Works for me.

Another thing you can do sounds silly but is very simple and its the best - have someone to do the buttons for you;    

Thirdly, you can get a second screen at the other room and mouse. I may be mistaken, but I don't think those lcd monitors produce a lot of noise.

 
Are you using the same software or hardware? I don't know really, maybe there is a significant difference between your studio and home. Another thing that comes to my mind is that maybe you are using different speakers/headphones that sound different and get you to think the results r actually far apart? hm... i don't know ... what do you mean the results are different? in what way?

 Of course not! Normalisation is in fact amplifying noise, so i try and use it only when i have a low signal.

Thanks. I thought I was the only one doing the running  into the other room .

   Ther is a big diffrence in room and gear, from studio to my home recording. I still think there has got to be away to get a good home recording with brilliance, without using exciters or software preamp eq fixes. I could be wrong though.

  Normalisation: good I thought maybe I had been doing my recordings wrong all this time. I am new to pc recording and still have alot to learn. Thanks for the help.

Get a  TFT (flat) monitor.  They do not emit any interference you need to worry about. Prices are now very low for a 15" model, and you can always check eBay if you have a tight budget.

 
I agree with you.  I like it simple too. When I record a song, I export the tracks from my 8 track digital to the PC just raw, with no effects whatsoever.  I use a software called TractionII from Mackie for the track arrangement and the only thing I ever add to vocals is compression and a bit of decent reverb. I'll add EQ only if necessary.  Then again, my music is simple.   Compression for vocals is really a must, wheather during the recording using a standalone/built in compressor or digitally after the track is done. The perfect vocal independance of volume from pitch and intensity  is mastered by no one I know - that's why there are compressors.
Good luck!

I laughed reading this thread last night, because no your not the only one running to the other room to record.
I'm PC in living room Mic in hall other side of house.
So it got me thinking as I'm now in the middle of recording some vocals, I record in WaveLab4 had a free one for years, love it. Well you got me thinking about it and well wave lab can start recording on hearing an input!
It works for my situation, I let the music/backing track loop and clap or whatever to start when it's coming around and then do my bit!

Kings wrote...
It works for my situation, I let the music/backing track loop and clap or whatever to start when it's coming around and then do my bit!

 Thats a good idea. The cool thing is now that I've moved, and getting the new recording stuff up and going. I no longer have that problem (just trains going by the house and my chair squeaks lol..(.sudden sunset). I changed some things in my pc . I posted a link to the place I ordered the fans heat sinks and insulated cases + changed my monitor.  my mac is not here yet but it's supposed to be real quite. I still say this is a good thread