Are there any other 'one man band' artists here?

I tend to record a rhythm guitar track, add bass, add drums.
I will listen to this and write/practice the lead/melody,

The next step is using these scratch tracks to record the 'real' drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar in that order.

Every time I am in the write/practice phase for the melody line, I think about some sort of performance using backing tracks. I occasionally stream on twitch to a small selection of friends. I find that builds the confidence and I get a feel for what 'works' with the tunes.

Yes, I do all my own recording except for the drums. I guess that makes me a two-man band, but I don't have a drummer. I just hire them or get friends to help.

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Project: MAYHEM -and- Moonbase Surficalus by Hypersonic Secret now available!

DannySnyder wrote:

I can understand the urge to do it all yourself, but when you do, you are missing out on one of (if not) the best thing about playing music - spending time with other people. A large chunk of my entire social life is built around the friendships I made and continue to make playing music (and I'm almost 60) No amount of online feedback can top IRL support of fellow musicians and if you get far enough - an audience.

Unfortunately in my experience that’s extremely difficult to find fellow musicians in our genre so we have what we have. Some are more lucky and some don’t.. In 4 million Kiev it was tough and in rural German area it’s twice as tough)

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Last edited: Mar 06, 2025 14:51:38

SolarIdolater wrote:

Are there any other 'one man band' artists here?

I tend to record a rhythm guitar track, add bass, add drums.
I will listen to this and write/practice the lead/melody,

The next step is using these scratch tracks to record the 'real' drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar in that order.

I asked a question like this earlier this year.
You and I are working with a similar process.

Sometimes I just sit down at the kit and play a bit, then listen back for anything that stands out and start the process there.
Copy/paste and turn on a loop in the DAW and then add in a few guitar tracks. If I copy/paste that section multiple times over, I could have a really lengthy drum groove to play along to and see if anything that I put down jumps out.

Funny thing about that, I've got like 45 minutes of recorded material that hasn't been filtered through to create a 2 min tune yet haha.

No worries though, it's a good time!

Last edited: Mar 06, 2025 15:56:02

For sure playing with other musicians is great and far superior to being a solo band. But if its a case of solo or nothing, I will take the solo route

DannySnyder wrote:

I can understand the urge to do it all yourself, but when you do, you are missing out on one of (if not) the best thing about playing music - spending time with other people.

I don't disagree, and I played in bands for most of my life (and still do). But these days, when it comes to MY music, I don't want input. I want it to sound the way I want it to. If I'm interested in collaboration, I'll ask somebody for it. (Which I did for one song on my upcoming EP, and it worked out quite well.)

The flip side is I find myself more willing to play somebody else's music without the urge to inject too much of myself into it - at least too much of my ideas and suggestions, at any rate. I'm better able to take their vision at face value and do what I can to bring it to life, rather than trying to put my stamp on it. Of course, that only works with music I really like.

I'm able to do this now because I have my own music to focus on when I need to. I'm beyond the days when I felt I needed to be part of a creative collective working together - I no longer have the patience willingness to manage the personalities and quirks inherent in that kind of situation.

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Project: MAYHEM -and- Moonbase Surficalus by Hypersonic Secret now available!

I’ve done some one man band recording, but I find it hard to feed off of my own energy, playing against myself on other tracks. Music is an emotional process and the energy of a group of musicians can be palpable. One of the things which I feel hinders music, these days, is that DAWs have made it feasible to collaborate with people you’ll never meet, not to mention work with in the same studio, in real time.

A few years back, I did some recordings with very limited gear; a four track interface. We recorded with two mic’s on the drums, and the guitar and bass directly into the interface, to get a basic track. I actually sang, off mic’, which helped me and the bassist. After the basic rhythm track, we could add more tracks, but we were able to record the foundation of the track, essentially, live.

But there’s an upside to Chiba’s approach. For one thing, you have more control and you don’t have to worry about one person taking over the song. You don’t have to convey the parts to various players, and if you know the song inside and out, you can probably avoid botched takes.

The most recent thing I recorded was a Surf tune I wrote, mostly for the purpose of having something I could use, royalty free. I used the canned drums on my recorder, which is adequate for this purpose, and started laying down tracks, guitar, Bass VI, Bass.

The bass laid down a very basic track, roots and fives, in the lowest register possible, and striving to stay out of the way. The VI mostly played a simple counterpoint to the melody, except for the second 32 bar go around, where it took the lead. The guitar led off the melody, played a sharp rhythm part during the Bass VI’s time in the sun. Played an improvised solo on the third 32, then brought it home on the final 32.

Other than a poor job on the last mix, it came out sounding better than I had any right to expect. Somehow, the energy was OK. So I guess that in my personal experience, it can be made to work either way, but I sure like it when I can record live with other players.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Cool method! The scratch track approach lets you build up ideas methodically. keeps things moving when motivation is low. Rock on!