How many tracks?

[YannFer]

His engineer says he mist often don't even separate his drums when he sends them.

I have watched his Masterclass from the Masterclass website. I remember things being kept pretty simple. But he and the 2 co-producers Angel and Fede that he works with, they bounce stuff along the way, so they get an instrumental loop and Timbo mostly applies his drums to. That loop is made up of many layers of sounds and layers of fx... I am not sure if they keep all original tracks to send them for mixing. Given the setup they have, I doubt it will work. But they have a mixing engineer present for the session at all time... And he mixes things as they add up.
I would bet they don't use so many tracks, but a few tracks made of many elements mangled into them. And the mixing process makes plenty with tons of parallel processing and fx busses, sub-busses and what not.

Oh, and if you're wondering, they use ableton live.

I recommend watching that Masterclass if you have the chance. It's an interesting approach to beatmaking. It's really an office job at this level.

 

[2GooD Productions]

I always start with 7 melodies and keep adding things.
I alway make beats with 12 melodies max.
But when included layering synths it can be around 20 tracks.

why 7? seems like a lot. I usually start with 1 melody which I might pan one side and a counter melody which I would pan to the opposite side. Then I would build from there, changing instruments along the way, maybe having some alternate melodies based off the originals, or even a complete changeup for a bridge, but having 7 melodies going on would quickly become a mess for me personally

 

[Fade]

I would love to hear stories from years ago about some of these producers and how they tracked out their stuff. I remember the infamous Large Pro cassette which somehow had a few versions and wasn't anywhere near mixed or mastered. I had one version that was so gutter it was barely listenable. When the album finally came out years later it was a proper album, so different than the bootleg shit that was circulating.

I bet some of those guys just made beats and worried about the quality of the sound later on when mixing.

 

[YannFer]

I would love to hear stories from years ago about some of these producers and how they tracked out their stuff. I remember the infamous Large Pro cassette which somehow had a few versions and wasn't anywhere near mixed or mastered. I had one version that was so gutter it was barely listenable. When the album finally came out years later it was a proper album, so different than the bootleg shit that was circulating.

I bet some of those guys just made beats and worried about the quality of the sound later on when mixing.

Yep. It'd be great... We have gotten used to having all the knowledge at our fingertips. Back in the days, you had to know the guy if you wanted him to share some info. Remember?

 

[Iron Keys]

@YannFer yeah I've watched it. But i wouldn't really class what they worked on as a typical Timbaland beat.

Especially if you compare the track to his example hits... Dirt Off, Gossip Folks, Pony, Somebody etc

And even if you compare it to his current stuff.

The stuff he makes with Angel and Fede is more EDM + Timbaland drums.

Yeah Timbaland and Angel using Ableton, Fede using Logic and Chris engineering in Pro Tools.

 

[2GooD Productions]

I would love to hear stories from years ago about some of these producers and how they tracked out their stuff. I remember the infamous Large Pro cassette which somehow had a few versions and wasn't anywhere near mixed or mastered. I had one version that was so gutter it was barely listenable. When the album finally came out years later it was a proper album, so different than the bootleg shit that was circulating.

I bet some of those guys just made beats and worried about the quality of the sound later on when mixing.

when I listen to a lot of the old stuff now, I dont think mixing was a huge factor, hahahahaha

 

[thedreampolice]

I took his master class never saw him using three tracks ever. I’m all for minimalism for sure, but commercial hip hop requires quite a bit. That being said I have done whole records with four. Hell sargent pepper is one of the greatest records ever made and it was four tracks.

 

[Iron Keys]

That's because his masterclass was just the one song. Where they had to demonstrate a busy production for the sake of having stuff to talk about.

Go rewatch the parts when he talks about actual hit records of his... he actually says himself "this track is just three instruments". It's probably more like 4. But still.

 

[Fade]

This really shows though the over-producing we hear everywhere today. It's important to have a great mix but some of the stuff today is over the top and in your face. I'm not a fan of that. My ears need a rest.

 

[thedreampolice]

That's because his masterclass was just the one song. Where they had to demonstrate a busy production for the sake of having stuff to talk about.

Go rewatch the parts when he talks about actual hit records of his... he actually says himself "this track is just three instruments". It's probably more like 4. But still.

The amount of tracks in a song and the amount of instruments can vary greatly. Are we talking about the same thing here? For example a kick drum could take up 5 or more tracks but still be one instrument.

 

[YannFer]

The amount of tracks in a song and the amount of instruments can vary greatly. Are we talking about the same thing here? For example a kick drum could take up 5 or more tracks but still be one instrument.

Well. My initial question was about "instruments", or better say "sources" of sound... Because yes, then the mixing process makes things hard to count depending on the method used.

Also, the question was "apart from drums and basses".

 

[Iron Keys]

The amount of tracks in a song and the amount of instruments can vary greatly. Are we talking about the same thing here? For example a kick drum could take up 5 or more tracks but still be one instrument.

We're talking minimalist hiphop records. Excluding vocals.

If you're recording a rock band/live drum kit then yeah... but I've been in studios with top engineers using less tracks than some of you are suggesting.

Some of you talking 100 channels 20 melodies wtf? You recording a full orchestra or something?

♡

 

[2GooD Productions]

The amount of tracks in a song and the amount of instruments can vary greatly. Are we talking about the same thing here? For example a kick drum could take up 5 or more tracks but still be one instrument.

yep, for me one kick goes though 3 as standard, snare has 5 if you include 2 sends too.

 

[2GooD Productions]

2 kicks

We're talking minimalist hiphop records. Excluding vocals.

If you're recording a rock band/live drum kit then yeah... but I've been in studios with top engineers using less tracks than some of you are suggesting.

Some of you talking 100 channels 20 melodies wtf? You recording a full orchestra or something?

♡

2 kicks, 3 or 4 snares, one closed hat an open hat and a shaker, maybe a couple toms. It adds up, and thats just the drums

 

[thedreampolice]

Yes, if I am using 100+ tracks its full orchestration. For the average hip-hop song including vocals I am usually 20-30 tracks personally and that's considered pretty minimal.

 

[Iron Keys]

2 kicks

2 kicks, 3 or 4 snares, one closed hat an open hat and a shaker, maybe a couple toms. It adds up, and thats just the drums

4 snares ? Wtf¿

 

[Iron Keys]

Sends* and busses aren't tracks.

*Unless you're all working on analogue consoles.

 

[2GooD Productions]

Sends and busses aren't tracks.

Unless you're all working on analogue consoles.

they are on FL studio

 

[Iron Keys]

they are on FL studio

In realistic terms they're not tho. (Except for analogue send returns.. i believe)

 

[2GooD Productions]

In realistic terms they're not tho. (Except for analogue send returns.. i believe)

hahahaha, are we going to get pedantic?