Recording mentality?

[SimplyLuo]

I just wasted 1.5 hours trying to record an arrangement, and in that time I got past the intro maybe three times. Getting kind of frustrated here
I'm trying to figure out what's going on in my head while recording. Performing, it's kind of a one shot deal, just let it out in one go. But recording, I'm not sure if I'm being too much of a perfectionist or what.

What's your attitude going into a recording session? I'm curious

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by SimplyLuo

I just wasted 1.5 hours trying to record an arrangement, and in that time I got past the intro maybe three times. Getting kind of frustrated here
I'm trying to figure out what's going on in my head while recording. Performing, it's kind of a one shot deal, just let it out in one go. But recording, I'm not sure if I'm being too much of a perfectionist or what.

What's your attitude going into a recording session? I'm curious

Luo,
If you're just playing solo guitar and don't have to work to an audible click track, don't wear headphones.

Ignoring the red light takes a lot of practice.

You can't look at it as if you're putting it down for posterity, and you have to forget that you always get another chance to do it over and over again.

Have someone sit across from you and play for them. Make it count.

HE
http://www.howardemerson.com/

[rick-slo]

How hard of an arrangement was that?

You might try recording some simple stuff to begin with just to get used to the red light.
I tend to be an over perfectionist when recording also. Even a tiny error probably noticeable
to no one else bugs me. If monitoring while recording turn the headphone volume down to
avoid over analyzing your playing. I do often like headphones on as I get more into the piece and I
may even use a little monitoring reverb to spice it up some mone. You could play through the piece
several times in one session to get into the flow and also to have material to dub in over errors if
needed. Perfection other than in the simple pieces is a challenge for most of us.

[Bob Womack]

Get a pal or spouse to operate the gear for you for a while. Have them ask you to play the piece without telling you whether they are recording or not. As an engineer I've learned from long experience that two things kill a take the quickest, even in some professionals: the word "recording" and the glow of the red light. I typically say, "Go right ahead when you are ready," and avoid "the word." You can practice monitoring through headphones with the machine stopped or work without as suggest above. Whatever. Just like playing in front of an audience, red light fever is best overcome with experience.

The nice thing is that with hard disk recording, you aren't killing virgin multi-track tape at $125 per 30 minutes. All you are doing is laying down data sectors that don't care if they are reused on a second pass.

Bob

[Michael Watts]

I suspect you have been listening more critically to what you play when recording than you do when performing. This is perfectly natural. Are you doing the engineering at the same time? This is not easy as it requires 2 mindsets and really makes objective listening difficult.

It can be frustrating but you just have to power through it.

[Explorer]

It's unclear whether the OP's purpose is to just get used to recording, or to actually lay down a perfect track. Taking the opposite tack to what has been presented so far, I'll assume that the OP is trying to record something for release.

I've been in numerous situations where someone had to practice in the recording studio, burning tape and money on something which wasn't already polished. If one is trying to record a perfect take, one has to bring that perfectly polished piece to the table to begin with.

A well-done photograph takes little or no polishing to be impressive. The more one relies on Photoshop to get it presentable, the more work it takes to overcome the flaws built into it. Similarly, a well performed and polished piece requires only a little work in the studio to make it ready for release, while having to constantly punch in and fix problems takes a long time.

Perfect practice makes perfect. Practicing badly makes bad. Just leave a recorder on while practicing, and see where you're playing is getting off track from the metronome, assuming you still haven't mastered that aspect yet. Once you have good timing, you can abandon the metronome; however, I've never seen perfect timing emerge spontaneously from avoiding the metronome.

Metronome use allows you to see where you're slowing down because a section hasn't really been mastered.

Using a recorder as a practice tool allows one to not only review where things go wrong, but also accustoms one to having tape (or hard drive) constantly running.

[KevWind]

As with all endeavors it does get easier with practice and repetition. As long as one can let go of the myth and obsession of perfection

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by SimplyLuo

...What's your attitude going into a recording session? I'm curious

Hi SL…
Many of us have encountered what you did...

I overcame it by just finally letting the computer run (once I entered the recording mode) for up to 30-40 minutes at a shot, and then went back and ''harvested'' salvageable sections which I pasted into new ''song'' files.

Captured some really creative stuff that way.

The more I did this, the easier it got, and finally I settled into a routine where I could just sit down and record in real time without being nervous.

Even today, if I make a mistake, and am only a little ways in, I count it in aloud again and start without turning off the track or stopping the gear.

It's not like my hard drive space is limited…I think there's enough head room there to record over 100 hours of music…

There is the issue of perfection...and for me with recordings I listen with my ears, so it is key to eliminate obvious mistakes. If someone makes a mistake live I kind of forgive it and move on because I’m listening with my brain, but on recordings I hear the mistakes every time the track plays...so do others.

[zenpicker]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

I overcame it by just finally letting the computer run (once I entered the recording mode) for up to 30-40 minutes at a shot, and then went back and ''harvested'' salvageable sections which I pasted into new ''song'' files.

Ditto here.
I redo and redo and redo, typically, nonetheless...with the perfect clearly being the enemy of the good. One thing I can say for sure is that in any session there is a sweet spot in which I play the best - usually after I've warmed up with a few throwaway partial takes and before I start getting fatigued.

The fatigue is something you have to watch out for, because it creeps up on you subtly. You may finally get your well-executed take but when you listen to it later it lacks energy because you were just getting tired and losing your mojo.

That argues in favor of taking breaks! One of the virtues of a home studio is that you can do that without the money clock running.

[Howard Emerson]

When I was doing the sessions for my second CD, 'A Tale To Tell', I hired a producer to avoid certain pitfalls.

My producer, Mark Newman, is an accomplished guitarist, writer, singer, etc and no-nonsense kind of guy. I wanted someone who would kick my *** and not let me watch the clock, on top of paying him.

On one fingerstyle-bottleneck track in particular, 'The Piping Plover Waltz', I got through a completely clean take on the 3rd time through, and let it fade out.

"How was that, Mark?" He said "It was perfect............It sucked."

I went in to the control room and listened to the playback, and he was right. The timing was perfect 3/4, to a click............but so what? It just sat there.

Mark basically told me "Forget about the time. Just let it breathe".........and boy was he right. The next take ended up being exactly what the song required.

You can clearly hear my breathing, string rattles, clicks, etc, but the finished track overrides all the stuff.

I'm glad I hired him. He's the reason I played so much better on my second CD. He would not let me play it safe, or perfect.

Money well spent.

HE

[SimplyLuo]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! It's for a charity-music-project thing, a CD of students' music will be sold locally
I called a friend over to help me, and we got it in five takes! It's a lot easier with someone listening. I was too focused on getting every little bit perfect that it didn't go anywhere

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by SimplyLuo

Thanks for all the replies everyone! It's for a charity-music-project thing, a CD of students' music will be sold locally
I called a friend over to help me, and we got it in five takes! It's a lot easier with someone listening. I was too focused on getting every little bit perfect that it didn't go anywhere

Luo,
See that? If your mic had eyes and a mouth, it would be easier:-)

HE