Full Band Recording

There is the debate of full band recording or recording musicians separately. There are definitely pros and cons to both scenarios but my personal preference is full band tracking when possible.

Full Band Recording

A feeling / vibe is created and preserved when a group of musicians is playing together performing their musical creation. They have the ability to feed off one another in the “moment” to add vibrance and dynamics to their song. Thus capturing a performance. Some of the cons to full band recording are moments of not paying attention to the detail of every instrument. Are mistakes in a recording bad? By all means no! Mistakes or imperfections in a recording is showcasing real human elements as no human is perfect. Once a group of musicians has completed a take they like they can always individually go back and punch in sections they feel they could do better.

Individual Recording

Then there is the route of tracking the instruments separately. For example usually start by tracking a scratch guitar and sometimes vocal to a click, then one at a time. With this method there is a large focus on every detail of the single instrument that is being recorded, allowing for more perfection and attention to single parts. At times this process can become tedious and overwhelming for a musician, creating more of a “work” atmosphere then a creative one. Often this creates less feeling / vibe in the song but more of a focused very produced sound. Which is ok, some artists very much want to spend the time to deliver an extremely produced song or some artists really want to try and capture the moment and emotions at one time.

At the end of the day there is not a right or wrong answer to full band recording or individual musician recording. It is always what the artist feels most comfortable with doing.

Full Band Recording