Most of us start out hating the tyranny of the metronome, but I am here to say that becoming friends with your metronome is one of the most important things you can do to make your time in the recording studio more efficient and productive.
Just about everyone I know who’s been in the studio says they had no idea how far off their timing was; our friendly metronome shows how far off we really are. Most of us hate the metronome at first, because playing along with it is challenging, restrictive, and hard (not to mention the fact that it shows us how inconsistent we are). But, like any good friend, the metronome tells us the truth for our own good, even though it may be painful.
When tracking in the studio, there are really only two ways to make sure all the musicians and vocalists are together. One is to record the whole group at one time, the other is to record separate tracks, using the metronome to ensure everyone’s timing is tight.
Recording the entire group at once is a challenging task. It requires sufficient space and a lot of time fine-tuning mic placement and level setting. It also poses challenges for mixing because it is very difficult to keep bleed-over out of the tracks. It also limits the options during mix-down, not to mention additional challenges for punching in fixes.
So most of the time we record each track separately, one at a time. This means that something has to tie it all together rhythmically (say hello to my leetle friend).
So what you can do is practice with the metronome. Each band member should practice her part using the metronome, getting used to playing with it. Establish the tempo for each of the songs you are to record (your recording engineer will thank you). If you spend the time to do this you will become a better musician, a better performer, and you will find your studio time more productive (meaning you’ll either spend less money tracking, or you’ll get to do more stuff for the same money).