Today I want to make the case that you shouldn’t need more than 24 tracks to record your songs.
In this digital world of “unlimited track counts” we are set up for failure.
More tracks doesn’t mean better sound. Usually, it’s the opposite. And today I’m going to give you 3 reasons why 24 tracks is the number to shoot for.
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My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000 readers each month. 
Regardless of whether it is electronic music? in these genres we see that many layers are handled.
Love it!
At 64, I fear of dying with my music still in me…time is so precious…I have at least a dozen or more albums I wish to record and get out there…this advice addresses my fear…a much faster way to get songs recorded and mixed with great results! No more 45 track songs for me! Thanks Graham!
I have a song which has over 100 tracks but it is a multi layered composition with many different parts recorded at various parts played
specifically at different times. because I like to keep these parts seperate the track count has extended but at one time in the project there is less than 24 tracks played at the same time
Completely awesome advise! Absolutely correct and totally needed for all the unlimited digital clutter we deal with today.
Sgt.Pepper by the Beatles was done on two four track tape machines!
Which was derived from multiple reduction mixes. Some of the reconstructed ‘Pepper’ songs are actually over 100 tracks.
Great Rule! I’ll create an XL sheet for planning the 24 tracks for my next project.
The “artists’ canvas size” analogy is an incredible eye-opener for me. I already have tended to see arrangements with the fewest elements possible to make the song work well. It started with a comment I read or heard somewhere about making a Great Song with just a voice/lyric/melody and only 1 or 2 backing instruments. But that still leaves that Canvas Size wide open. Very important info & a wonderful insight.
Experience has taught me this as a recording can quickly become “crowded” and mask some of the good stuff going on. Also,coincidentally,I only have 24 tracks to work with and have never seen a need for more. Thanks for this and your many videos.
Great stuff, Graham, I think you’ve hit a deeper problem, too. People can’t/won’t commit to sounds and make decisions in their art for loads of reasons. The biggest would be that they may not know what they want – yet – just that they want something. The answer to that would be, in my opinion, go with your gut, and commit. If you commit to the wrong thing, then, that’s all part of the process. It will better inform your next choice, and with every decision, and its success or failure, you will travel a bit closer to knowing what you want. It’s tough though when you have what you think is a great hook or riff, the best you’ve ever come up with, and you think you can’t afford to jeopardise its success by making wrong decisions elsewhere in the songwriting and arranging process. Any thoughts on that? I suppose the answer might be – limit yourself to 12 tracks on that song, or reduce the amount of decisions you have to make. Focus on the riff/hook at all times, and always make the decision that serves it. Just thinking out loud 🙂
My favorite quote from Stravinsky’s lectures on poetics –
“The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution.”
I’ve lived by this for decades at this point…
Definitely one of my challenges in getting things done has been having too many tracks. Or even when I start recording I get overwhelmed with all the potential ways I could record an instrument or vocal (involving multiple tracks). I will definitely apply this rule to my next song arrangement. I also totally agree that limitations produce greater creativity. Thanks for the tip and the motivation!
Hey Graham,
The Beatles early records were all recorded on 4 yrack weren’t they? Enuff Said….
Oh yes! They rule is:
They recorded 2 tracks from ’62,
4 tracks from ’64
8 tracks from ’68.
However they used to bounce and overdub a lot, but still 🙂
I was just thinking that! I’m a total beginner, but I find that limitations can subsequently spark my creativity. The “artist canvas” analogy is perfect. We need a boundary. If The Beatles and John Denver could do it, so can we. You all rock!
As far as the Beatles reference, it goes along with my original comment. For the latter half of the Beatles career they would have had many many mics and tracks but they would bounce them down and do a sub mix. So then for example, they would record a vocal pass and then record that vocal track with a previous one onto a new track. Now there is one track with two separately recorded parts and a free track to record more. Rinse and repeat. This is how you get albums like sergeant pepper with only four tracks. The trick is balancing and processing along the way. Which is very limiting but also forces you to be creative and commit.
I seldom use more than 6 tracks for one song.
Often, tracks are used instead of automation.
Thus of course you arrive soon to 24 or more.
You know I started on a tascam 4 track cassette. ok I know you were not even alive in those days ..then 8 tracks were talking tape..I hear you but I dreamed of the science fiction of having unlimited tracks. I don’t have time limits right now.. and I’m enjoying being able to create the way I improve a solo. I have thought that some of the songs I’m doing I need to go ahead and write out an arrangement. And yes I record tracks and delete them there not needed.. and I’m I’m thinking I need to bounce some tracks together like my guitar solos. I can’t record the way you guys record now and do several solos and then mix and pick the best parts I have to do it the way I used to do it the other way just doesn’t work for me it’s a nightmare. But I’m also living my dream of recording orchestra. And having no limits to how many instruments I can have. But I hear you if you’re just recording a rock song I can’t even see how you could use more than 24 tracks I have to bounce some of those.. and I know bounce mean something different now. When I say bounce because we had a limit of let’s say 8tracks we had to record the drums on 6 tracks and then bounce them down to two on tracks 7and 8 that left you was six tracks to do the rest so rhythm had to be bounced down to one track. And bass. That left you with four tracks. My first time in a 24 track Studio was heaven. Could bounce everything down to two tracks so every instrument could be stereo.. I agree with you from your point of view as an engineer..the disagree with you from my point of view as a musician creating my own music.. I have tracks that just have one quater note on them lol. Because trying to punch in and out that one note doesn’t work as good as putting it on another track.
Playing a live song will keep you in the 24 tracks, this is what we use to do in 16 tracks. The 24 track concept is the base to understanding what we are trying to achieve. Move on from there we have no limit just listen to the film scores and there you are. Graham Thank you for sharing this video it does refresh our mind where to focus.
All the best
Well, hmmm . . .
OK, first off, other than instruments I play (guitar, bass, bouzouki, some percussion) I use virtual instruments. I don’t know players who can play the parts I need and I am not in position to shell out $$ for live players.
Next, somewhat uncommon (as my music is often somewhat uncommon) I am not shy about using a full virtual orchestra. That’s going to come in around 20 tracks without any soloists. Think about it. You want a triangle to ding at just one point in the entire piece, that will consume a track all by itself for that one ding just at the right moment.
Now, put in guitars, probably bass guitar even though there’s a string bass section, drum kit, keys, vocals . . . Now you’re up to 35 tracks minimum. And that’s in a very well arranged, carefully thought out piece of music.
I’m not saying that’s every tune I write, but it holds for some tunes I’ve written and others where I’ve just got the basic skeleton so far (guitar and voice). Tell me how to squeeze that into 24 tracks . . .
There are times when the goal is to make a sound that is powerfull, and most commonly we try to layer things to give body to the song. But this 24 track mindset, for me, is all about thinking what really is significant to the flow and feel of the song. And producing is not like each element should be in its own track, but making smart use of the track system by combining same elements in the same track after recording is done. If it is possible to sit in a single track, than go for it. Many people seem to prefer splitting things to have control over them later on, but it would be more streamlined and commited if they just created submixes of them. Violin parts, choirs, pads, percussion, many things don’t need to have a dedicated space for all of its components in the mixing session, if you have already balanced them.
A lot of good common sense here that harks back to the 24-track multitrack recorders when decisions had to be made.
The paint analogy is good as well: when too many colours are mixed together the result is mud – pretty much the same with too many audio tracks all fighting for space. This is where 5.1 or 7.1 comes in!! 😉
Hi Graham,
Always enjoy your videos but am responding for the first time…Very powerful stuff. Along the lines of the theory of constraints.
As an amateur recording musician who has a lot things to learn, I have a question for you…Do you merge multiple MIDI tracks into a smaller number of audio tracks? Say, you have two different ambient pads playing in your song’s different parts, never at the same time would you think about merging these 2 tracks into one, taking into account that you can use panning automation? Do you see any drawbacks for recording/mixing/mastering?
thanks a lot,
Len, New York
One of the best and most valuable pieces of advice ever.
Might I add that sometimes using 12 mics on a drum set or 4 mics on a guitar cab in a room yields the results your looking for. The key is to then commit those tracks down to stereo tracks or simply delete them if the “experiment” didn’t work out. Mixing is so much better with 24 or less tracks.
Some of the best produced records ever have like 20 drum mics and multiple mic setups for guitars etc.but then they are sub mixed down to very manageable numbers. It’s time to commit people.
Yes indeed. My I usually use about 8 tracks. Add ons like sound effects and things may expand it a bit. If the song doesn’t work on (2 tracks) a piano/guitar and vocal melody, it ain’t much use.
Yea Cakewalk! I Still have Cakewalk 3.0 on floppy just for keeps sake.
I record acoustic Bass programed Drumsand vocals. my limit is usably 5 to 6 tracks . when I add more The song seems to get totally lost. but thats just me.
Great Advice
I come from a different standpoint. I started out with mono and made the leap to 2TR. Right now I work with just 16 tracks total. Force of habit…I collapse tracks or stack them with parts premixed. Free and random stuff I like, don’t get me wrong…but walking in with a plan is were my thought is when I take a seat at the console. My pride and joy is a 2×2 Focusrite pre these days…so I’m back to 2TR !
As always Graham you have given us a great advise. We always create a framework. 8 tracks is the most what we have on our recordings.
Is that 24 audio tracks, do busses count🤔
Busses would not count.
It works unless you are stacking vocals. I think 48 would be a better number!
Hey Graham, this is all very thought out advice that makes so much sense on a theoretical level, and limiting the number of tracks to 24 simplifies many things in the process. Even Chris Lord-Alge limits mix sessions to 44 tracks because that’s how many working channels he has on his SSL, so he commits to a lot of sub mixes in his workflow.
However, I want to point out that every mix session I have worked on in your Dueling Mixes academy has well over 24 tracks. “Light Upon the Shore” has 21 vocal tracks alone. When you are working with an artist, how would you recommend handling their desire to record more than 24 tracks? When you are mixing a song for an artist and they have 40 tracks, for instance, do you decide what you feel is absolutely necessary and mute the other 16 tracks? How do you put the 24 track limit into practice in the real world? Are you recommending this practice for your own personal music production?
Good question Scott. My thought on this would be to comp ( consolidate ) your tacks into a smaller number of tracks. Referring to your Dueling Mixes song with 21 vocal tracks: Are you really using all of them or are they different takes? You can comp these tracks meaning consolidating the good parts of those 21 tracks into a few separate tracks. If I have a 3 minute song with a track that has 15 seconds of a vocal accompaniment, I comp the 15 second into another track and make it deactivate / hide the track with the 15 seconds of vocal. I have also made a new “comp” track, in the beginning of my session review, and dump all those shorter tracks into the comp track.
Larger track counts can be bused too. I’ll do this and generally mix from the buses themselves. Drums are a great example where I use groups for the toms, overhead / rooms, snare / kick, and bus those into an overall drum bus. This gives me three buses to balance the drums. Specific eq’ing can be done in each individual track as well as automation where necessary.
Another welcome with this 24 Track Rule is Imagination. I’m growing to be a mixing engineer. When I listen to ‘a song’, an instrumental … anything. I want to
‘bridge’ what I have in mind with what I actually hear. With some ‘proper’ speakers. My mind has no problems with 24 tracks. .. Just wait, take a short breath… And … Imagine your attack! Jump on you’r EQ … say yes we can!
I’ve also noticed it harder to master more tracks to specific loudness level without getting audible distortion. On the last EP i recorded, i had one song with something like 33 tracks (a few were fx busses, and several could have been consolidated together if i wanted. Stuff like chorus vox and verse vox being seperate), and another with 6 (two of which were busses), and trying to get the 33 track song to a reasonable loudness level was an absolute pain, while the 6 track song had the same perceived loudness with WAY more room before distorting. Admittedly, the arrangement could have been more interesting on the 6 track song…
Kiss method always works…
Hey Graham – I signed up for the course to learn the geeky-stuff, like how to EQ, but this was one of my favorite lessons. I’m working on my fourth album as an artist and moving into working more as a producer. My engineering is mainly limited to podcasts though I do record musicians for these…Anyway, really like the painting analogy and how, in several classes, you’ve stressed the importance of arranging. Having unlimited tracks does allow you to throw all kinds of things at the “canvas,” but I think the biggest challenge is alway what to pull away…Thanks, George
Recording 24 is very doable, IMO – although a lot depends on how many elements are being recorded and how many takes you need. Not every recording session is for all the elements at once these days. I might get a couple sessions for acoustics and DIs and then a separate session for vocals once the Headphone mix is available. Most of my projects typically have Drums, Percs, Bass, Guitars, Keys, Vocals, and Pads. There might be multiple elements to record in each of those, or only one. Once comping and editing are completed I almost always start mixes with 24 or less tracks, but with adding for stereo, doubles, buses, FX and references, that will often grow closer to 50.
If you need a zillion tracks for vocals or instruments so you can comp your brains out…news for you…you’re no good! Bottom line…keep it simple so at the end of the session your head does not explode. You’ll have a smile on your face! Thanks Graham.
Cheers 🥂
I read every response above this one I am writing. Everyone is sounding like they listened and are tuned in to the keys that Graham explained. Mostly agree and some do have good reasons to go above 24 tracks. The main thing I got from this is ‘make the arrangement decisions’ before starting to lay down our tracks. That one I 100% agree with. Will save valuable time and be able to get the project finished and put out there.
I have not recorded a thing in over 20 years. (Analog) I joined Grahams tutorials to get into the swing of the digital age. It has removed all of my fears of the things I didn’t know and will help me get a faster move into my projects. Thank you Graham for the time you put into helping us. Thank you followers for boldly going where you go. I read the forums and follow many that I see are getting good results with Graham’s valuable information. Just waiting on a couple items to arrive and I too will begin my new journey. Wish me luck. As I will always wish everyone to have good luck in theirs.
Could not agree more with your video. It’s funny because I figured this out some time ago by watching your videos. Yep! not videos about this but observing how you were getting your sound. Nowadays with stereo-widening plugins you don’t need too many tracks. In fact, the less the better… because that gives us the chance to widen our tracks without them getting muddy…
I am so grateful for your channel, Graham.
God bless you and your family and give you 100% back for what you have been giving out.
Yes yes yes!
Arrangement
Arrangement
Arrangement 🙂
Soooo true… we all will improve
our work by weeding, cutting and
being more concise, more focussed.
Bless you GC
Many of us are songwriting & producing
AS we go. This method can have it benefits,
but at some point, we still must commit
to a mixable stem… stem mixing in a
clean new session is my only real
solution so far. Thanks!
So I’m working with an artist and his first song was a very “pour paint all over the floor” piece and I’ve explained headroom to him repeatedly. Aside from the obvious issues it’s taken us 3 years to get to a demo to record final vocals with. So in addition to just poor sound just think of the time I’ve spent and save yourself 35 months. 😜
So I’m working with an artist and his first song was a very “pour paint all over the floor” piece and we’re now well over 100 tracks. I’ve explained headroom to him repeatedly. Aside from the obvious issues it’s taken us 3 years to get to a demo to record final vocals with. So in addition to just poor sound just think of the time I’ve spent and save yourself 35 months. 😜
Set limits. Sounds like a very good idea. I rarely go past 24 tracks unless I’m doing experiments. I will make a 24 track template for my next project. Less is more. Less worries about masking, EQ, reverb & delay problems. Yep, sounds like very good advice.
That 24 Track rule is awesome rule, I will apply it. THANKS
I’m an old guy (58) and I started on a 4 track Tascam cassette recorder!
Wow!?
1st multitrack recorder I ever owned.
Bought one used years ago to mess around with and been hooked on producing ever since.
It didn’t sound bad at all either.
I guess I operate different than others.
In the 1st place I have always loved “hardware”, so I give my Zoom R24 recorder (24 tracks) a 4 out of 5 stars. Only 4 because I used to love syncing my old Fostex DMT-8vl to my MPC 2000xl and everything else that used smpte, midi time code, and midi clock, but the R24 has NOTHING for syncing and I’m often upset about it.
I’ve looked around and nothing else matches the usefulness of the R24 for me, but they REALLY messed up with leaving out the sync stuff. I don’t care WHO they were trying to cater to. I would’ve gladly paid additional for that.
Honestly, leaving it out (or not having another version to buy) is so critical for me that I would deduct 3 stars because of this, but I love the fact that the R24 not only has 24 tracks, but (drum roll):
IT’S COMPLETELY BATTERY OPERATED AND PORTABLE!
(6 AA’s or the included power supply – usb only for file transfer and audio interface functions)
Man, when I have an idea, I grab this thing (off the shelf, out of my carrying bag, etc) and choose my inputs and hit record!
And it has left and right mics right on the unit just to get your ideas on deck.
Power it on, choose my track/s, hit record, bounce the tracks if I want, turn it off (auto-saved), DONE.
It’s got a crap load of effects and compression too. When I’m ready, I hook it to the pc for serious track by track or already mixed down editing.
And oh, did I mention that I got the option of just using it as an audio interface/controller for my DAW with fidty million tracks? (yes I did) 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thats how I do…
Oh, and great article.
Thanks!
I’ve always felt like I should use 50 – 60 tracks. I usually feel guilty if I don’t.
I usually sprawl with tracks when I am composing or outlining a new song, The whole thing is a mess until I get the song to work, melody, lyrics and chords. I try not to get too attached to the sounds I use at this point (attachment can be a problem later). Essentially nothing is tightened up until I’ve got what I’m looking for. Things can be cut, chopped, reversed, sections deleted, many more attempts at melody, extending sections etc. When I’ve got what I want I start to tidy up, do proper recording, work out the best arrangement and with any effects and add ons it rarely takes more than 10 tracks.
It’s a great “rule”. I have gotten caught up in the “more is better”, clipping, cutting, copy and pasting, layer after layer. Most of my early work, and arguably best work was done with 16 tracks on ADAT machines with the “just go for whatever sounds good” method. The computers can suck you in with unlimited tracks. But in the end, it is a real pain in the rear-end.
Hi Graham,
Great point on the 24 Track Rule. My last project recorded multiple pics on a single guitar pass. I thought that I would rather have too much than not enough but this bit me in the butt. I ended up throwing out all but one track per amp used. This made the mixing process SO MUCH SIMPLER and in the end made a much better sounding recording.
Commit in the beginning, and hold to it throughout the process.
I think a lot of folks are missing the point also…….the “24 track rule” is a SOLID rule, but if you need more in your songs, fine. Just keep it to the MINIMUM AMOUNT YOU ABSOLUTLY NEED FOR THE SONG!
Don,t add stereo acoustic guitars after the fact when your mixing because your “missing something”…commit to what your got AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!
For myself, my typical rock / symphonic rock / americana stuff rarely need more than 12 o 16 tracks because I commit to a sound, an old habit from the tape days……
Hello Graham,
Sound advice coupled with common sense.
Thanks for your input.
As always, appreciated.
Doc
Great Rule Of Thumb Graham much appreciated!
Almost any genre of music you like that was created before 1990 was done on a single 24 track tape machine or less–not all of it, but most of it.
So if youre a fan of 60’s, 70’s, or 80’s music, the music you love was recorded in an analog format to analog tape using no plugins.
Most people today over complicate their music because theres too many choices, and people tend to think more plugins will fix something.
The old rule is still the same rule, good in–good out.
Wow. I am late to the party 🙂
Synths and vocals almost always add tracks. Drums and percussion can be even worse. So, I have learned to commit to my layers and bounce them down. Trying to balance 70 or 80 tracks is painful. 24 tracks (or even 30 tracks) is a doable proposition.
So yeah, I agree. Keep it simple. Commit to a sound. Keep more hair on your head. Deliver on time. Graham, thanks for reminding us to focus on the challenges that actually produce.
I usually come in somewhere around 16 tracks on a project. I might have used more tracks than that for comps in the past, but with “takes” in Reaper I don’t anymore. More than 16 and things get cluttered pretty fast.
Thanks, Graham! Good and important advice that would cover most settings. Arrangement is all, and in most projects in ordinary rock or pop, even 24 tracks could really be more than plenty.
However, one could ask: What is 1 track?
Well, the answer to that would depend on who you are and how much money is spent on the production. Let’s say if you want to reproduce the sound of a big choir or a string orchestra. In such cases, it is the sum of all the violins playing together that creates the really rich and warm tone. One violin isolated will not do the trick, and one cannot copy and paste the the same violin over and over again, as that would sound silly. Same with a choir.
So, my point is that if you can afford to hire 25 violinists to do a job for you, you would simply record them all simultanously with two mics. Same with 25 people in a choir. It would sound great, and it would just be two tracks. But for most of us, the reality of the matter is slightly different, so we would have to do it ourselves, maybe with a friend or two, and it would require many, many takes to obtain the feeling of a real choir, or a real orchestra.
Having said that, once the recording job is done, we could bounce the entire thing down to a stereo track, or even a mono track.
I mention this because I am currently in this situation. I have previously been hired to record full orchestras, and it doesn’t require that many tracks at all. 8 tracks goes a long way for that. Even one stereo pair can do a good job if the acoustics are good in the recording location. If I wanted to re-create such a sound in my home studio, It’s definately doable, but it would require one violinist to do 20 takes, and one cellist to do maybe 6-8 takes. When all tracks are combined, it really starts to sound like the real thing. So, it goes without saying that, you might need more than just violins and celloes, so the track count will add and add as violas, flutes, choirs and others enters.
I understand that these circumstances are really different than what we normally do, but I just wanted to point out that most of us are not the Beatles, and we can’t just hire 60 professionals to the intermezzo in “a day in the life”. Nor could we fit 60 musicians in our studios, probably. Hehe… I think I could at most fit 6-8 people in my recording room at the same time. Even that is crampy.
Anyways, after the recording is done, those 100 tracks could, and should be, bounced/comitted down to a lot fewer tracks, and we end up in a more “normal” mixing situation where the 24 tracks should be more than plenty.
Thanks Graham. I was a little shocked to hear that some folks use so many tracks. Just last week I unboxed my Tascam 40-4 (4 track), cleaned it up a bit and got out some old tapes for the late 70’s and 80’s. (We used to record Demo tapes for bands to hand out to agents, record company’s, and club’s like The Troubadour and The Roxy on the Sunset Strip). Most of the songs were a total of 8 to 10 tracks mixing down to stereo on a separate two track deck and then back to the 4 track. This forced us to plan how and what to record. We had one effect, a tape echo, other than the reverb and maybe tremolo from guitar amps. We used the bathroom for the lead vocal.
I pulled out one reel that I wanted to transfer to digital. I was actually amazed at how good it sounds. Of course it is raw without all the spit and polish that is possible now but that is what the song calls for. I trimmed some frequencies and added a little compression on the way into the DAW to smooth out the bumps. I will be experimenting with adding a few tracks to thicken it up a bit.
In conclusion, I agree with limiting track count. It will help if the band is well rehearsed. If they don’t know the song they are just wasting both your time and theirs. Ours were usually ready because it cost them money to record but just time to rehearse.
Absolutely! I started with tape recording jingles on a 4 track in college. Have a plan and commit! I apply the same logic to new plugins. It dawned on me I had plugins that I really didn’t know how to use well. Back to basics and learn a few of them and what they do well.
I hate having a whole bunch of tracks. I think the main thing to keep in mind is every sound needs a home and needs to add value. If it doesn’t have a home and/or doesn’t add value, it is probably hurting your other valuable tracks.
24 is just a number though but the idea is once you reach a certain point, ask yourself is the sound really needed.
The limit in my head was 48 tracks though. I never personally had a need for more than that.
Igor Stravinsky once said: “Art is a process of limitation.” Wise words which have been with me all of my creative life since I first read them.
When I saw what you typed I wondered “how?”
I googled and couldn’t find that exact quote, but it did lead me to find some other things on the thought.
Before I read anything that I found, it hit me:
“Ahh! when you have limited resources you can come up with some interesting results by being creative.”
Thanks for that.
I completely agree, often times limitations open up more possibilities than they prevent.