The best order to record Drums, Bass,Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, and Vocals?

Question

I am a musician who has recently jumped in to recording. What is the best order to record Drums, Bass,Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, and Vocals.

Answer 1

I don't know that there is a "proper" order considering that everything can go on seperate tracks unless you plan on bouncing down tracks (like you would if you have a 4-track, but want to record 8 different instruments).
I think that most people do record the drums first since everything will need to match that rhythm.
My band usually records rhythm guitar "dump tracks" (usually the demos) for the drummer to listen to through headphones while recording the drum track. This is to avoid using "click tracks" which are annoying and in some cases totally impractical.
We will usually then record the bass guitar, still using the dump track as a guide for the changes. Then record new polished rhythm guitar parts, deleting or erasing the old ones (although this isn't really necessary).
Then vocals and leads are done last.
In the end I don't think the order matters since it's the final mixing that will balance the sound. I think most just find it alot easier to record drums early in the process to establish the beat that everything else will have to be built around. Trust me, it's a nightmare when the rhythms don't match.

Answer 2

I record my guitar first, then drums followe4d by bass and lastly vocals. I dont know if this is the proper order but ive found it works best for me. I only use one guitar track so i am unsure what order for 2 guitars, although it would seem common sense to me to record the rhythm guitar before the lead

Answer 3

i usually do drums and bass first, then rythm guitar, then lead guitar, then vocals- but it really just depends on what you're trying to do. if you want the piece to revolve around a guitar riff that you came up with and you really like- start with that, then build from there.
i have also recently found that recording bass first works quite well, since bass seems to be the bridge between the rythm of the song, and the melody-
i play all of the instruments myself, though- if you're working with a band, practice recording as much of it at once as you can (if you have multi-tracking capabilities- pro tools, and a Digi001or 002 interface are very good things to have for multi-tracking)

there's a very good book called "modern recording techniques" by David Miles Huber that you might want to check out- it was used as the text book for my recording class when i was in an audio engineering program.

good luck- have fun

Answer 4

bass-->rhythm giutar-->drums-->lead-->vocals
(It depends on your song that is based on riffs or bass-line.)