Hey Friend,

Yesterday, I talked about layering guitar parts when recording to give depth to a song. It’s always cool to find little sonic gems in a midst of a song - like finding a $20 in the pocket of your jeans.

If you’ve got lots of ideas for individual guitar parts, multi-track recording gives you all the layers you need to flesh out your creation.

There’s a caveat, though.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should...

Applies to all sorts of things in life, heh?

Recording musicians can get so enamored with all their ideas that they throw everything they’ve got into a recording. They’ll record every idea and try to layer each one in until what they end up with sounds like a blob of mud.

Recording every idea isn’t the problem. The problem is trying to keep every idea. 

Ideas are precious, but not every idea is worthy of pursuing (can you say earwax flavored jelly beans?!).

You have to be willing to slash and cut anything that doesn’t support or add some dynamic to the song. Contrary to what shred guitarists might think, more notes are not the answer!

Music needs air, too. It has to have space to breathe. Each instrument has to cooperate and support the other instruments, not compete with them for attention.

You’ve got to cut out any guitar part that isn’t adding value or energy to the song.

Learning this takes practice and guidance from someone who already understands this concept. That’s why pro musicians hire producers to help them record songs that get attention.

That’s also why we practice - to learn what works and to get better at it.

The two tracked guitar parts on “You Better You Bet” work because they support each other without one getting in the way of the other. The effect is they sound like one guitar.

Pete Townshend has had lots of time to learn and experiment, and he clearly knows what he’s doing. I’d be willing to bet, though, that he had a skilled producer nearby helping him (in fact, he did - Bill Szymczyk).
 

Gotta roll… just felt that chain around my ankle getting pulled… Y’all have a good one!

Peace~

Dave