typical rock mix/how many tracks?

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chuckebaby
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2011/04/15 12:11:20 (permalink)

typical rock mix/how many tracks?

wanting to know for a typical hard rock song...how many tracks do you normaly have..like i have-
drums(9 tracks)-bass guitar(1 track)-rythm guitar(3tracks)-lead guitar(2tracks)-vocals(4 tracks)
 
im even curious if you want to tell me some of your placement in the mix as well..e.g.-panning
thanks

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    digi2ns
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    Re:typical rock mix/how many tracks? 2011/04/15 13:16:02 (permalink)
    Well for me alot depends on the song itself, pretty much whatever it takes to get it to where you like it. 
    As for panning:
    Rythm Guitars one each side (dep on tune) at apprx 60% L&R
    Leads I like slightly centered
    Bass Slightly centered/right
    Drums I like the snare 30% Right with the HH
    Kick centered
    Roll the tom across upto apprx 80 but I never go 100
    Cymbals same
    Vox Lead centered and backups apprx. 30/30 L&R

    But this is just my pref.  I generally tweak the pans to fit the mix to what sounds good for the particular song


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    Guitarhacker
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    Re:typical rock mix/how many tracks? 2011/04/15 14:15:11 (permalink)
    I average about 10 tracks in any given song. The smallest project I've done in multitrack had 2 tracks in it.

    Sometimes I end up with more, often with less. I have a few projects with about 16 tracks if you want to count the midi source tracks.

    As I work on a project the track count increases as I try different things, then once I settle in on which bass part or drum part or guitars I will be "keeping" I will very often delete them from the project.

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    mikespitzer
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    Re:typical rock mix/how many tracks? 2011/04/17 16:20:27 (permalink)
    There is probably no "typical", but keep in mind the following ........

    In the 60s many rock record were recorded on 4 and 8 track tape machines with lots of "ping pong" track combining.

    Almost all classic rock albums of the 70s and 80s  and early 90s (before modern DAW technology) were recorded on 16 and 24 track tape machines and minimal internal bouncing.

    So your example sounds pretty "average".


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    Slugbaby
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    Re:typical rock mix/how many tracks? 2011/04/17 21:11:30 (permalink)
    Here's my basic standard:
    7 Drums: Kick, Snare, HiHat, Toms, Low Tom, Overhead (cymbals, bleed), Room
    1 or 2 for percussion (tambourine/ shakers)
    1 Bass
    If there's an acoustic rhythm guitar, it has 2 tracks (1 mic'd, 1 direct)
    1 Electric rhythm guitar (usually)
    2 or 3 lead guitars, playing various textures
    1 piano/keyboard
    verse vocals
    chorus vocals
    2 background vocals

    I guess i'm between 18 and 21 for most songs.  I don't think i've ever gone over 24...  My lowest was probably 7 or 8.
    For panning, i set the drums from a drummer's ear (hihat left, low toms right).  The percussion is mostly on the right, to balance the hihats.
    Acoustic guitars are usually separated around 30% to each side, rhythm electric down the middle.  The piano will be panned to whatever register it's mostly playing (high pitches mean panned right, low notes will place the track on the left), lead vocals down the middle, and backing vocals panned fairly hard (60ish%).
    Lead guitar, arpeggiated lines are interspersed wherever they fit.
    post edited by Slugbaby - 2011/04/17 21:15:03

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    chuckebaby
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    Re:typical rock mix/how many tracks? 2011/04/18 00:58:51 (permalink)
    very helpful guys.this was the kind of info i was looking for.as im using between 15-20 but recently did a 40 tracker.and thickened up the guitars in different frequencys.
    but to be honest i find with 15 tracks..theres less cludder.more definition.

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