went to a studio for the first time...

[shawlie]

and it was a lot of fun, very tiring... and I made a lot of mistakes.

I really have no business going to a studio yet (or maybe ever, actually), but a lady who plays/sings with me wanted to try it out once and it was not expensive (more a "semi-pro" home studio) so I don't feel too bad if the song doesn't turn out.

But it was quite an experience. I had no idea what to expect, so I didn't even try to think about it (and make myself even more nervous). I just practiced as good as I could and felt good about being able to play the song. It's not a hard song, but kind of long (3:45), so I was a bit worried about that.

I am used to a metronome/clicktrack, so that was fine. I never heard the guitar and metronome together through headphones, so that was a little different (I just usually have one earphone in to listen to the metronome, and hear the guitar live). But the sound was very nice, and it was nice to hear everything like that together.

As soon as he hit record, I fell to pieces and could hardly move my picking hand. I made about five or so false starts, but managed to get going somehow - very shaky, though. Then the metronome started acting strange - he had a 30 second loop or something, and it didn't loop right. So it'd miss a beat and come in at a wrong place - and it threw me off even more.

So he fixed the beat and I did it again. Not sure how, but I was suddenly a lot calmer, and tried to listen to and enjoy what I was playing. But missed a few notes, and tried again. And played with a little too much "emotion", maybe - there's some parts I like to snap the treble strings, but it was a little too much I was told.

Third time started ok, but again started getting more nervous as it went on. Near the end, miss fretted a bass note - not the wrong one, just not clear. And the last 20 seconds, I had no idea what I was doing anymore - so worried about not messing up more, I forgot which chords/where I was. Somehow managed to end it, with only a slight heitation in the rhythm (but it's pretty clear to listen to...).

We decided it'd have to do - didn't have a lot of time, and she still needed to play and sing two voices. And that did take a while, but she could re-do parts without doing the whole song over and over again. We got it done in about two hours.

Not sure how it will turn out - I imagine my mistakes will still be there, but he seemed like he could fix it a little bit, at least (not the rhythm thing, but the one note). But I can live with a few mistakes for the first time.

It was quite an experience, and wasn't sure how I'd feel afterwards. But I feel ok about it - I know I make mistakes, and need to quit making them, but it gives me more hope than I thought - I thought I'd come back and just want to give up. Going to a studio is something I've always wanted to try, but would never have done it on my own - so it's kind of nice she pushes a little into doing things.

Sorry for the long post, but it was pretty exciting to try. I have no idea how people stay calm in those situations - you all have my greatest respect!

[alohachris]

Aloha,

Pakalolo always gives new meaning to the concept of "session player."

It sure saved lots of money, time and my aZZ many times in recording sessions. Just a pinch does the trick.

Oh and breathing helps too (like yoga?).

But seriously, what really helped me get ready for recording studio time was a long ocean swim. Gets you into the breath, into movement and your body, and into calmness - the three elements you need to relax and yet focus when the "tape" is running. Try exercise or a little meditation if you can before your record in a studio next time.

I'm doing my own recording now at home. But I still find that I do my best work at night, after a long ocean swim.

A Hui Hou!

alohachris

[shawlie]

Thanks for the reply (and I will look up Pakalolo...)

I've done yoga, not for a while though (mostly for stiff legs). Meditation, too - true, when I was doing it (maybe six months, twice a day for twenty minutes at the top point) it was pretty calming. Not sure why I didn't keep it up.

Funny you mention swimming - I'm no swimmer, but love running. Of all the things I've ever tried, it seems to calm me down the most. I like to do about an hour a day, six days a week for relaxation. Had to miss it today (a couple days earlier than usual) because we had to wake up so early and travel there for two and a half hours on the train. It was wonderful warm, spring weather, and the entire way there all I'd see outside were people enjoying a run in the sunshine. Kept wishing I was out there, too. And just come home and play for fun.

It's just in certain situations, I get the nerves. Don't want to let my friend down and waste time, that kind of thing. Thanks for the comment, an ocean swim does sounds refreshing.

[jarfly]

lol @ alohachris.

[Bob1131]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience, Shawlie! I think the more you do anything, the calmer you will become while doing it! I think recording is that way...the more you do it, the more relaxed you will become during the sessions! I hope you will be able to share the recording, I'd love to hear it!

[makikogi]

Total normal experience!!! studio recording is definitely a completely different beast than playing live. Don't give up!!! It gets easier the more you do it. It helps when you have a little recording interface to practice with at home.

[NoPicks]

Hang in there OP. It sounds like you did just fine for a first-ever experience

Originally Posted by shawlie

played with a little too much "emotion", maybe - there's some parts I like to snap the treble strings, but it was a little too much I was told

There is a reason you often hear the cliché "under the microscope" in connection with studio work: because it's true. Everything seems much larger than life, both good and bad. Little things you never notice when playing live - finger squeaks, timing issues, even taking a breath before singing a phrase - are often Very apparent on the playback

As you noticed, certain habits and/or techniques like your string-snapping need to be toned down or possibly even eliminated on a recording. A good general guideline is that Restraint in all things is usually the best approach. You can probably still throw in your string-snap here and there if it's appropriate, just not so vigorously as you would do live. My guess is that you pegged the meter on the recording console, which wouldn't have sounded good in the final mix

Originally Posted by makikogi

It helps when you have a little recording interface to practice with at home

This is good advice IMHO. The microphone doesn't hear quite the same things that your ears do. Some things are accentuated, others are minimized, compared to what you hear "live" in the room. The best way to get used to the difference is (if possible) to practice playing to a mic and monitering the result in real-time through headphones. Doesn't necessarily have to be Big$ gear, although that's nice if you have the option. Just a simple dynamic mic > preamp/amp of some sort > headphones will give you a pretty good sense of just how you will need to modify your performance technique for a recording situation. Being able to lay down a track and then give it 100% of your attention during playback is even better.....

Recording is a very different world, but one worth exploring

[shawlie]

Thanks for the thoughts and replies, Bob, Mark and NoPicks.

I agree, Bob - doing it more should make it easier. But even at home for fun, still get nervous. Less than at first, that's true. So I did expect them there, just not as much as I had (but didn't expect to feel so calm the second time and most of the third time through). Kind of mixed feelings about it, but it was fun, I admit and I'd love to do it again sometime - I'd like to practice even more, and choose a shorter song. If the song turns out ok, I might post it (should get it sometime next week or so).

Mark, thanks for the encouraging words. Playing live fingerpicking has made me really nervous in the past (but not so much playing electric rhythm), but that has gotten a little better each time I do it, too. I always get through it, just may not feel too great while I'm playing. So maybe recording more will help - seemed to help live playing.

Thanks for the advice, NoPicks. I didn't notice how annoying the snaps could sound, but they are really loud compared to everything else, so I'm glad I took them out after hearing it there. He said I could play it any way I wanted, of course, but always offered what seemed good advice (to both of us). Funny you mention the breathing - the singer heard it back and couldn't stand when she'd take a loud breath, so she did seem to change that during the other takes.

I have a Zoom, but never listen while I'm recording on the earphones. Think I will start doing this more - like yesterday, seemed like I could hear it better when everything was coming through the headphones and not just coming out of the guitar.

Does seem like every time you do something that you're unsure of and get through it without being too critical, it makes the next time easier.

[Fran Guidry]

Shawlie, I was surprised that you didn't mention punching in or other corrective techqniques. For instance, when you had an issue with the ending of your recording, I would have expected the engineer to back things up a few bars and restart the recording, then edit the two together.

This is so easy with digital recording that it's standard procedure.

Fran

[shawlie]

To tell you the truth, I thought he would suggest doing that, too. I even spent a bit of time thinking, "if I mess up here, I can take it from this part and then keep going" if I'd make a mistake when practicing.

But he didn't bring it up and I wasn't sure I should. Not sure if it matters that it was an alternating-thumb type song, where every note kind of overlaps. He did "punch in" a number her guitar parts and vocals, but they had places where there was a bit of a pause between notes.

Thanks for the advice. I will keep it in mind if we ever try again - it's maybe something I should have asked in the very begining, but it was all very new and I wasn't sure what to ask (didn't want to look like I thought I knew everything or say something stupid).

It is one thing I always wished I could figure out better to do at home. I'll be more or less happy with something, except a note or two. Then I spend a couple hours trying to cut and paste on computer, and still never get it right. So I just decide to try and record it again, because I never get it to work (volume/sound difference is the main problem it seems).

But maybe that's better anyway (at home, at least). I notice I learn songs a lot better by trying to record them - I may spend two or three days til I have something I like enough (20 - 40 tries at recording, maybe..?), but after that I know the song a whole lot better than during the weeks I'd just play it for fun.

[Fran Guidry]

I certainly agree that playing a song until you can get a good recording is excellent practice. The recording gives objective feedback, which can be hard to come by otherwise.

On the issue of editing, I can really relate to your frustration with the tradeoff between hours of editing versus 5 minutes for a retake --- which will then take hours of editing <grin>.

But what I discovered was that I was doing my editing all wrong!!!!!

I don't recall which editing software you're using, is it Audacity?

When I did my CD I did all my editing in Adobe Audition, using the Edit view. Then I learned about using the Multitrack view in AA - holy moly - it's so darned easy when you use the right tool.

Since then I've switched to Reaper for my first choice recording tool, and it makes editing even a little easier.

In a multi-track "sequencer" type program, you can cut the track into snippets but you can change the length of each snippet after you cut them because the changes are applied to a map rather than to the recording itself. This is very different from the way Audacity works, where it operates on the file itself rather than a map.

Once you've cut up the good parts and bad parts, you can put snippets on different tracks and overlap them, moving them in small increments until the timing is right. This is vastly easier than trying to find exactly the right spot to make your cuts, with issues of zero crossing, timing, and note tails to deal with. Actually you don't have to use separate tracks, but it can be an easier way to start, especially when we're just using a couple of tracks of recording.

Then a trick called crossfading lets you blend the sections together smoothly. This last ability is the key to easy editing - it removes the issues of zero crossing and and sustained notes and lets your editing serve the song rather than be restricted by it.

You can see a pretty fair collection of Reaper tutorials on YouTube. You can download and install a fully functional non-expiring demo copy of Reaper, and the cost is quite reasonable if you find that it makes your audio production easier and more fun.

Fran

[shawlie]

Hey, thanks for the information, Fran!

I use Magix Samplitude Music Studio 16 - not a very expensive program. I don't have it long, but it's a lot better than what I used to use (an older version of Magix Music Maker). In that older program, you could hardly do anything, there was no "fade" option of any kind.

So I only worked with the new one on a few songs, but what you say sounds like I can do it in this program, too.

I think there is an option to do the effects on both the actual WAV or a "virtual" (non-destructive) copy (found out the hard way, after I couldn't get rid of the effects I had on some tracks...).

And this can do "crossfading" I think - I've cut into bongo tracks and will get an " X " type thing between them - the one fades out, the other fades in. I now see how that could work like you describe - in the old program I did have to try to line things up with no overlapping (or else you'd hear two guitars all of the sudden), and you could almost always hear the "cuts". I noticed that you don't hear the cuts in the new one, so I think I'll see if I can get something like that to work.

I also noticed today you can adjust the volume anywhere in the tracks you want - couldn't do that on the old one, either. So that may help getting volume levels more even when fixing a mistake. Won't be long before I make a few mistakes to try it all out - thanks for the explanation! If I can get it to work, it will certainly help take a lot of stress out of everything.

[Ty Ford]

and when you get to Pro Tools LE, life gets even more fun.

Although I have been having fun with a new version of Audition lately.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

a
Although I have been having fun with a new version of Audition lately.

Newer than 3.0?