[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

My studio dreams are more about the ability to utilize what I have then getting gear. I do have some nice mics, converters, preamps and now have a decent sounding room.

What I want to achieve is a good representation of my original music.
I have become more adapt at grooving to a click track but still, the live singer songwriter performances (Me my guitar and the mics and just let it roll) sound more natural. I want to achieve that natural feeling while playing to a click. This way I can record and overdub with ease.

But the journey has been been a blast.

Particularly with looser song structures and what serious composers call "through composed" songs, what helps me is to sing a scratch vocal while laying down the guitar track. I make no effort to make the scratch vocal even presentable.

That guitar track can be to a beat or click.

Then when I go to lay down other tracks or a final vocal, I can run that scratch vocal at a very low level mixed off to the side in the monitor mix to serve as guide where I am in the song structure, I'll even sometimes say in the scratch vocal cues like one might say off-mic on stage like "going to the bridge section" or "solo here".

One advantage of this is playing and/or singing in ways that don't lock right to the beat/grid is part of what makes a lot of styles sound "natural." It's still good to have the click or the beat/grid to arbitrate what the "ruler" of the beat is (pun indented). Part of what you may like about your playing when you are just "letting it roll" is that your voice and guitar are interacting. Scratch vocals let you do that, while still allowing a final pass for a "perfect vocal" later.