Drums: Editing pt. 1

I have started editing the drum tracks to complete songs. There are different ways of recording drums, some try to nail the song in one perfect take, some play with click (or even without) from the start to the point of the first mistake and continue then after fixing the mistake and so on. I prefer the way where I record two or preferably three freely played versions of the songs, and then later cut and paste the best parts of each take to whole song. This allows me to focus on playing loosely and doing some improvisations during the takes as I do not have to worry all the time that a slightest mistake will ruin the take. On the other hand, it also gives me a feeling of playing actual song instead of trying to nail down a song piece by piece.

The next thing that I have to figure out is whether I want to record and mix the rest of the album in one big project or do it song by song basis. Both methods have their advantages and drawbacks. In one big project all the changes made in the mix affect all the songs which is both a good and a bad thing. Let's say I change the EQ of the snare a bit. Fine, I change it an all the songs sound the same and I do not have to do the same change manually to every song. On the other hand, one of the songs might need a slight tuning in the snare EQ part, while the others are fine just as they are now. This means that I have to start using automation curves in the DAW, and if there are lots of this kind of adjustments it will escalate pretty quickly into a total mess.  So far I'm leaning towards one big project, but we will see.