Recording

[Nard]

I often sit and wonder what kind of guitarist am I if I can’t even play my own songs properly when I’m recording. It’s frustrating to say the least.

 

[John]

I often sit and wonder what kind of guitarist am I if I can’t even play my own songs properly when I’m recording. It’s frustrating to say the least.

Relatable, though I find those sentiments add fuel and motivation for trying to get to that next level of being able to nail whatever guitar parts you have on hand for recording.
I've heard some stuff I wrote way back in high school or college, for example. I had quite a few ideas I still like, but I've grown to really loathe how I pulled them off at the time. But at the same time, that brutal honesty of hearing how well or how poorly you tracked something (or even mixed if you're also going DIY every step of the way, too) is both a good way to keep tabs on improvement, as well as that aforementioned motivation to step it up on the next take, song, etc.

 

[Nard]

Relatable, though I find those sentiments add fuel and motivation for trying to get to that next level of being able to nail whatever guitar parts you have on hand for recording.
I've heard some stuff I wrote way back in high school or college, for example. I had quite a few ideas I still like, but I've grown to really loathe how I pulled them off at the time. But at the same time, that brutal honesty of hearing how well or how poorly you tracked something (or even mixed if you're also going DIY every step of the way, too) is both a good way to keep tabs on improvement, as well as that aforementioned motivation to step it up on the next take, song, etc.

I couldn’t agree more. I get there in the end but on occasions I’ve come close to saying it wasn’t worth the time and effort. Looking back I’d say it definitely was. There’s a lot I’ve learned from getting that end result wether it was good or not. On some things I feel I’ve cheated by doing a cut and paste from the best parts to get the finished article but mainly because I’m new to most things and didn’t know how to punch in etc. These days I’m more patient. It’s not like I’m paying for studio time or releasing music to the public.

 

[lancpudn]

Switch a video camera on to record you at the same time and as soon as you see that red recording light it feels like you're wearing boxing gloves.

 

[Dick Banks]

I could've posted this in the recording sub forum, but it's not really a nuts and bolts question.

When you folks record, how do you fight the tendency to "tighten up"?

I swear, when I go to record something, I takes me like 20 takes to get it right. Even things I've played perfectly 1000 times.

I've played on stage dozens of times and never had a problem with stage fright. I don't think it's that, though it could be a form of it I guess.

What say you?

In a production studio, with a real producer, engineer, and A&R guy hanging around, you would get off easy at 20 takes.

To ease the "OK, the tape is running, so I gotta get it right" syndrome, just roll tape and play, and pick out the best one later.

 

[SteveC]

Ironically, most of my "keepers" are Take-1 or Take 2 attempts. After that, I think I try too hard and end up fucking up. I always go into it thinking that I'll use the first couple takes as throw-aways, to warm up... so, no pressure. It's when I try to get it better, that things go sideways.

 

[defcrew]

I think we all struggle w the same thing, LP121. Recording all the time prob helps. It's like anything else...like hitting a baseball. Some days it looks as big as a water melon and other days the size of a pea. I think much of the fascination with playing an instrument or sports is figuring out how to get in that zone. I read an interview w Robben Ford once where he said one of the hardest or best things he ever did was figuring out "how to relax and play as well as I know I can." I suspect of all the hundreds of hours I've played live or recorded the phenom of playing at my best is under 5%. Recording is really quite often your classic sex with a rubber/raincoat in the shower experience....headphones and trying to get a good mix, no visual cues from other players, etc. I guess I'm speaking of overdubbing here. Like anything else, the only way to get better is to practice. I spend a lot of time calling myself out by name, "Come on, Bruce, how fucking hard is it you moron?"