Say a band like Imagine Dragons, is there music actually performed and recorded because they have a person for each instrument. Or is it all made electronically because most of there songs have un natural sounds in them

guitars, bass and drums are likely recorded, as well as most natural instruments. Choirs and strings might be electronically produced, but it could be recorded aswell, hard to tell these days with vsts getting really good.

imagine dragons would be a combination of recorded instruments and electronic elements i would imagine (as with the vast majority of music these days)

Yes

Each member plays an instrument, then it's recorded edited and so on.thats how bands work.

Just guessing from hearing their music. I’d say it’s near 50/50 but the electronics are the main focus of the songs I’ve heard

So what you do a lot nowadays is play the drums and then let every sound be replaced by a sample (which just sounds nicer and beefier) and have that play instead of the original drums; and/or blend both. For other instruments you can also blend, but many instruments probably just get played for real. The interesting thing isnt the recording process though, but how they write songs and whos involved. Like, do they do rehearsals just with their instruments, no production done; which sound totally different than the album? Would love to hear!

Your answer is somewhere in the middle, with acts like Imagine Dragons.

In any given song, there are probably recordings of the band members playing all their respective instruments. But those recordings are likely augmented, or put alongside additional sounds and instruments, with electronic production. So, you might layer additional drum sounds over the original acoustic drums. Or modify the timing of the guitar playing, to be more perfect. Maybe they'll add electronic "instruments" and sounds that enhance the music. These things are usually done by the producer. Sometimes a band member IS the producer, or acts as an additional producer for this stuff.

A lot of people who like really traditional rock & metal are buying into the idea that they're primarily hearing their favorite musicians perform on real instruments, and not an elaborately enhanced track. This is fair enough, but its worth noting that some amount of "production magic" is applied to MOST studio albums. Even holy grail rock albums of the 70s. Sometimes, things that sound "more real" are still very "enhanced", but its done in a way that evokes the sound of more natural "authentic" music. This is done because a studio recording is supposed to sound like an "ideal" version of a song, and not like a live recording.

Music production is quite a complex and fascinating art, but it can be a bit of a... dark art... and it can get confusing & frustrating for listeners who just want to know exactly what they're hearing. The forbidden knowledge is that if a song doesn't sound like a live recording, it's been enhanced by the music production process. There are just different levels of enhancement, and different sonic goals.

Imagine Dragons isn't trying very hard to "sound" entirely real... so they don't. But you are probably hearing some amount of the band members playing instruments on their records. I like songs where the main sounds I hear evoke the sound of the band members playing their instruments, probably because that is most of what I'm hearing. But I've learned to not drive myself crazy. There is no "100% real" or "100% fake" in recorded music. Some songs just put more emphasis on the "real" sounds & performances, whereas other songs are trying to craft a desired sound by whatever means necessary. Both have merits and drawbacks, both require serious skill.

Your answer is somewhere in the middle, with acts like Imagine Dragons.

In any given song, there are probably recordings of the band members playing all their respective instruments. But those recordings are likely augmented, or put alongside additional sounds and instruments, with electronic production. So, you might layer additional drum sounds over the original acoustic drums. Or modify the timing of the guitar playing, to be more perfect. Maybe they'll add electronic "instruments" and sounds that enhance the music. These things are usually done by the producer. Sometimes a band member IS the producer, or acts as an additional producer for this stuff.

A lot of people who like really traditional rock & metal are buying into the idea that they're primarily hearing their favorite musicians perform on real instruments, and not an elaborately enhanced track. This is fair enough, but its worth noting that some amount of "production magic" is applied to MOST studio albums. Even holy grail rock albums of the 70s. Sometimes, things that sound "more real" are still very "enhanced", but its done in a way that evokes the sound of more natural "authentic" music. This is done because a studio recording is supposed to sound like an "ideal" version of a song, and not like a live recording.

Music production is quite a complex and fascinating art, but it can be a bit of a... dark art... and it can get confusing & frustrating for listeners who just want to know exactly what they're hearing. The forbidden knowledge is that if a song doesn't sound like a live recording, it's been enhanced by the music production process. There are just different levels of enhancement, and different sonic goals.

Imagine Dragons isn't trying very hard to "sound" entirely real... so they don't. But you are probably hearing some amount of the band members playing instruments on their records. I like songs where the main sounds I hear evoke the sound of the band members playing their instruments, probably because that is most of what I'm hearing. But I've learned to not drive myself crazy. There is no "100% real" or "100% fake" in recorded music. Some songs just put more emphasis on the "real" sounds & performances, whereas other songs are trying to craft a desired sound by whatever means necessary. Both have merits and drawbacks, both require serious skill.