As some of you may know I have just started out in this confusing world of DAWS. I am loving sonar, I haven't completed any tracks yet but I know how to get things working and haven't come across any issues. What I'm interested in is how you guys work. Do you start with the drums and build up or do start with your preferred instrument ( in my case the guitar )? How do you record? Do you record a whole track instrument by instrument or do you work in sections for example do a verse guitar, drums and bass for example and the a chorus ( this is what I have been doing ). If so how do you get it sounding smooth? I'm using the 5:1 surround so my sound gets split between the speakers and doesn't sound so messy ( something I have noticed when listening to my i-pod and walk-man's years ago) I have had a listen to some of the stuff on here and there is a lot that needs to be heard that is of a high standard. keep up the good work guys Stuart

You'll get as many answers as there are posters.

There is no set way, and there certainly is no right way - just do what you're comfortable doing.

I tend to work in sections because I can never fully envisage what a song will be like from beginning to end (one of the many drawbacks of working in Prog Rock)

I sometimes start with a guitar riff, sometimes just a chord sequence is enough to get the creative juices flowing, but more often than not, I'll record a Midi mockup of what I want and then start replacing the Midi with real instruments.

Vocal are nearly always last, so I've developed the ability to leave space for them in my arranging

I'm just interested to see how people work at the moment I'm doing the guitar stuff first, always leave the vox to last I agree. I like working in sections as if a come up with something i prefer to something i did earlier its an easy fix. I have a bit of a mixed style think of 80's hair metal,90's indie and them throw in 50's rock n roll with some Brian Setzer influence for good measure! The only problem I am having is getting the bass level correct in the mix, is there any general rules on this?

I am write on guitar and play along with just guitar to get the groove, riff etc.

When I want to start recording to get ideas down I ALWAYS start by programming a basic drum loop that compliments the "groove" of the guitar part

I will then record the guitar part over this drum loop

I will then build the song from there - working in sections if that is all I have at that point or the whole song if it is complete in my head

When mixing I was given the following tip which I now use as my starting point when approaching a mix - I hope helps you as much as it did me...

To start with I get the BASS set-up - e.g. compression to remove spikes and levelled so it does not go above -6db

I then add the DRUMS - starting with the KICK to ensure it is in time with the BASS and EQ'd to fit together – and then adding the other drum elements

Then comes the LEAD VOCAL – I mix this to fit with the BASS and DRUMS both from an EQ perspective but most crucially the volume/level

With these 3 elements in place it is possible to get a feel for the mix and if it sounds full with just these 3 elements I know I am well on the way to a solid mix

All that is left is to carefully add the other elements without upsetting the solidity I have established using the usual suspects – EQ, levels, panning, effects etc.

It may be necessary to go back to the BASS, DRUMS and LEAD VOX to tweak slightly but this approach should help everything sit together


I am not stating any of this as “rules” but this is a workflow that has worked well for me and may be worth a try if you are looking for a "starting point"

I like to build my mix up from the loudest section first.

This way there will always be enough headroom for the rest of the song.

There is nothing more annoying than crafting a mix from the beginning only to have to lower all your faders once you encounter a loud section.

As mentioned, there's no "right" workflow.

One thing I think is worth mentioning: Monitoring through a 5:1 system is not at all a good idea in my opinion.
I think you should stick to stereo. Otherwise you'll face BIG surprises when you listen to your projects in different sound systems, and may end up remixing everything from scratch.

Hi Dangars re the Bass,you need to find space for it in the mix. You might want to start by using High Pass Filters (this can be found in pro channel eq labelled hpf) initially on all instruments apart from bass and kick to hear how cutting frequencies in other instruments give others more room to breathe which makes it easier to find the correct level. You will be surprised how much you can roll off sometimes without it being noticeable within the mix. Then, you may want to apply HPF to the bass too, depending on the style of music. You either want the kik drum lower than the bass in terms of frequencies or vice versa. You should possibly even roll off everything below 40khz on these instruments anyway.
Bear in mind that A) i am by no means an expert and B) there are no hard and fast answers and recording/mixing is a lifelong pursuit of perfection.


I also echo what was said above in that you are better off setting your mix levels with the loudest part of the song and also i think you should be mixing in stereo and even checking mono as it shows up potential phase/balance problems.

Google is your friend.

Also because its hard to comment on a mix that noone has heard, when its done, its worth posting on the songs forum for mixing advice, lots to be learnt there.

Best of luck

Bibs

Good info here once i have finished a mix i will put one up, this is the first time doing it myself, usually when with the band my guitar sidekick will take care of the recording duties but he knows nowt about sonar he's a fan of pro tools now. He has shown me some bits but living 30 miles apart puts restrictions on us for time as rehearsal time and writing time is important for us. With the bass I can keep in time just finding that sometimes it's either to quite or far to loud and I have to keep going back to correct it. This seems like it's going to be a huge learning curve for me I will persevere though.

You're in the right place my friend.

There is a wealth of knowledge among the posters on this forum, with none (or very little ) of the attitude you can experience on other forums - Gearslutz being a classic example!


Remember - there's no such thing as a dumb question - all of us were new to this at one point or another.


One suggestion - impressive though it may be, your signature needs to reflect your computer, software & outboard rather than just your guitars. You'll be asked time & time again about your Operating System, system RAM, hard drive configuration and so on.

Yeah I will try and get the specs up at some point not what you call computer savvy. Cheers for the advice.