losing the motivation to record
 

Hi guys,

I pretty much have zero motivation to record anymore. I took a long break and I'm trying to get back into it without much success. I should note that I'm generally happy with the sound of my recordings. The Zoom is easy and quick and the recordings sound "good enough" for my purposes. It's not like I'm recording an album for sale here. I'm just dissatisfied with my performances. Right now I'm focusing on recording tunes I've been playing for years but I feel the performances are substandard. I find I'm stressed out and I pretty much kill myself trying to get one good take. But when I listen to it I find that "one good take" pretty much stinks.

Is anybody else feel demotivated by the quality of your performances when recording? Maybe it's just time to accept things as they are and throw in the towel. It's not like this is the first time I've arrived at this conclusion, that's for sure.

Well, I just listened to Pig Meat Strut and thought you did some terrific playing! The recording sounded real fine. I'd be proud if that was my track.

I think you're being too hard on yourself. Many of us are our own worst critics, so you're not alone, but don't let that inner critic stop you from being creative and making music.

Recorded a bunch a few years ago and compiling compositions for a few CDs.
Was fun learning how to record, buying gear, and distributing music (mainly CDBaby). Have not recorded much the last few years.

With digital streaming taking over physical CDs are mostly passè. I'm pretty particular about my recording sound (which can be aggravating) and compositional quality and those are time consuming. It's a niche market with minimum feedback.

Doug, I've recorded tunes that I composed and the day I recorded them they sounded great. Two weeks later I'll listen to them again and say to myself "this is terrible."

So, I'm going to keep playing in the hope of getting better and keep listening critically to my recordings and try to get the sound I want.

Stopping doesn't change anything for the better.

Btw, your Pigmeat Strut was the best imo that I've heard you post. Maybe with quicker tunes you forget that you're recording and get your head into the tune more.

I'm sorry but I don't listen to the recordings on AGF. I don't doubt there are many here that play so well I'd want to quit trying to play guitar. I backed away from recording some years ago. Because of the time involved it kept me from enjoying just playing the guitar. I missed that. Once I focused on playing what I enjoyed playing the material I wanted to play changed. Now I'm not a technical player. I like to improvise at will at times. I have to wonder if the goal for some is to make music or recreate music that someone else has made. The best music is about the performance. That seems really difficult to do if the focus leans in the technical direction and not so much on the performance. I'm suggesting that the focus of recording yourself be more about capturing the music you make and not about anything else.

No need to apologize. I'm pretty sure nobody else listens to more than the first fifteen seconds of anything. To test this theory I posted a song where, about a minute in, I edited in a dirty joke from a Flip Wilson "party record" and nobody noticed.

It's pretty hard not to be a little hyper-critical of our own performances in home recordings. There are almost too many things conspiring to keep it from turning out well, not the least of which is the mentioned/alluded to distraction of having a bunch of "hats" on (producer, recording engineer/mixer, maybe videographer) when you should really be thinking about just the performance, if that's what you really want to capture.

For me, it comes and goes, and it's usually when I'm trying to learn something, either a song, or the qualities of a specific mic, a camera feature, whatever, so the "performance" is somewhere down the list. If you really want to focus entirely on the performance, it might be worth trying to find someone else that can do the recording - maybe you record them, they record you, or something like that.

I suspect our attention spans are being diminished by the information overloaded, digital, instant-gratification kind of world we live in, but there's a reason that top-40 radio was focused on under 3min songs, too, even back then. I know when I post videos, whether it's me, or anyone, good or bad, classical, country, r&r, whatever, 2, 5, 10 minutes - the average *viewing* time is just bumping up against 2 minutes. Post an audio track, you're lucky if anyone will even click on it anymore. (Thank you MTV!)

Anyway, my usual book - you have to have a *reason* for recording I think, and then focus on that one thing to evaluate the result. If you can't think of a reason, then don't push the red button.

Same story here, it comes and goes. at the end of the day, I think most of the time, I'd rather just "play"....

Recording is a great tool for self improvement if you are not too hypercritical on yourself. If you look at it that way and your first priority is not recording for others, it should be relatively stress free.

I need to spend serious time thinking about why I am recording and what my goals are. I feel it boils down to asking myself "who am I making these recordings for, me or others?"

Thanks for your input and kind words guys.

Hi Doug,

I have not felt much like recording lately either. I'm not worried about it, the public hasn't noticed :) As long as I still feel like playing it's all good!

My guess is that you've been making them for others.

Because there's very little to no financial gain these days and probably, most importantly, that most others don't pay the kind of attention we, who compose and record, put into it, unless we're doing it only for the joy it brings us, the result will be "what's the use".

After watching the voice ive decided.never to sing again... And i was already unhappy with my recordings, so the voice was icing on the cake,

Hey Doug!!
I think this aspect of acoustic guitar "ebbs & flows" and what you have to do is realize which part of the tidal flow you're riding here! I don't feel any need to record during some parts of the year......the equipment is literally stored away.
But, as I gather material I tend (at least these days) to begin to focus on "getting that one down".......and then another. It could be the concept of an entire project (CD or other), or a single tune........but often with the idea of sharing with friends/family (or AGF!), or simply for "posterity".......realizing none of us will be here forever and it would be good to have that song in the portfolio of work/accomplishments that came calling at one time or another in your musical journey.
My guess is that taking a break will yield some thoughts and energy to do some recording in future months/years. I think it takes time to build to that place where you WANT to put out the energy when the tide is really incoming and things are flowing. It can't be that way all the time.......but it's bound to shift and change with time and reflection.
Best,
Fred

It really depends on your purpose for recording. Is it just for you, to capture the moment? Is it something you are going to share? How widely?

Finally, does it have to be done in one take?

I was recently collaborating on a project and just. couldn't. nail. the. part. I was frustrated. There was always something I didn't like. But finally, I realized, I can do it over as many times as I need. In as small a chunk as I need. Digital recording is great that way. So, I went back and pieced it together. Sometimes I would punch in to fix just one or two notes at a time. Other times, I would grab a good section of take, and just fly it in (copy/paste) to wherever else it needed to go that wasn't quite as good. Comping it together in the end took some work, but I had a "perfect take" when I was finished. Something I could share and be satisfied with. No one but me needed to know it was pieced together.

Recently here there was a thread noting that even in the old tape days, with amazing artists and recordings we have all heard, they did it that way. So no need for me to feel bad, if that's what the pros do.

You might feel differently (and if it's for video, you have fewer options and maybe have to learn to settle with certain mistakes), but it works for me.

I piece things together too almost always. I'll do the intro a few times, then break the tune down into sections, sometimes small parts, sometimes long. Whatever it is I'm recording I will always shut the inside front door so that our mini schnauzer can't look through the screen door and warn us that a squirrel is trying to tip-toe across our front lawn, :D

****must resist listening to everything Brent has posted here to find the dirty joke****

I have listened to your soundcloud stuff.

It was quite a while ago, and it was a link to Soundcloud (since AGF won't let you upload directly.) I only left it that way for a couple weeks.

Well recording is the only way to hear a lot of things I want to hear and stuff that I've written, because they're based on multiple parts not all played at the same time. The outside audience for some of the resulting pieces is smallish, but I like that audience.

I'll have to agree with those up-thread who say that some of us never get to like hearing our own voice, and with my own voice there are objective issues with it (or rather my control and use of it). On the other hand, I actually like some of the ideas I'm able to express with my instruments, and I sometimes listen to an older piece and marvel that I was able to come up with and play that.

One of the odd things I find with recording, is that that takes I think are good while I'm playing aren't always the best or most interesting, and sometimes that ones I think are so-so show ideas on playback that some part of my mind was creating while another part was thinking "I don't know if I'm dealing with this well."

In the past month or so I've had to remind myself the opposite: sometimes it's good to "just play." That's a different mind set, and I realize how someone could fall into love with the "live" approach to music and care less for the creation of "frozen" objects. We do both with instruments and our musical selves, but they are different experiences.

Have you heard about the shoemaker's children? They have no shoes.

Motivation is a funny thing. I spend my life recording. I'm "passionate" about it. I love to record music. I'm a professional. I work in a state-of-the-art recording studio. But after a week of recording for other people I do find it hard to get around to working on my own projects. This has stretched on into years and decades at this point.

Funny, huh?

If we have much discernment, we are our own worst critics. Forgive yourself for who you are and what level you are on and allow yourself to try. Do your best and be content in your efforts.

Bob

I am planning to get back into recording after years of down time. I have a different mindset then I had before. I know my purpose, my goal and the basic outline on how. I have enough material to last a lifetime. And that's before I start writing again. I'm in the middle of a project now so it'll be several months anyway. I'm in the middle of a deep dive into 1920s jazz song structures. Remember it's all fun and entertainment, right?

Yes, those are valid questions that everyone must ask themselves. As already stated, hardly anyone buys albums/CDs any longer. You can post your songs online, share the links and get some listens and "atta boys" from friends/family and after a while, you do question things.
For me, its that one comment form someone on a song like 'this is the best production I've ever heard from you' or 'I play this song every day' (yes, I've had those) that make it worthwhile for me to continue. If I can touch one heart/mind with a song, then I am motivated to continue.

"Why do I record ?" is certainly a legitimate question. And one I have asked myself occasionally, But so far the answer always comes back "Because It is something I like to do " so at the very least it is a personal hobby that I find rewarding, and that alone keeps my in the game .

So I would say if ? it is not something that you find interesting and rewarding to for its own sake ,,,, then it is very valid to question if it is something you should continue to do.

Or put another way, if you are recording to facilitate something other thing , than "just for enjoyment of doing it "... then I suppose one needs to sit down, and try calculate benefit vs time spent. Because like playing guitar is something that really only improves with "time spent" Lots of time.

Stick with it. I think it only SEEMS HORRIBLE to you, I bet. listening to yourself can be an ugly experience. I was ready to sell everything, but I kept at it. The more you record the more you get accustomed the hearing yourself. In awhile you get to the point that you will be able to listen to yourself and even begin to use your recording to improve even more. Soon you will begin to think that perhaps it does not sound as bad as you thought. Next thing you know you will listen to something you have done and be thinking it’s not really bad....then you will be looking for gigs and wanting to sell music that you made. Haha.
Sometimes you figure out that you can sound fine. I used to think everyone was lying to me. After a few gigs with many folks asking to turn up the vocals, and then telling you that now it sounds much better....you will be there. Making any music is special. And you are doing it. Keep on....

I agree; there doesn't have to be a reason if it's a hobby that you enjoy doing. The joy, fun, interest, fulfillment, whatever, is the justification. And if it's primarily a hobby, be careful not to set expectations too high; I find I don't want my hobby to have job-like objectives.

Really interesting notion. If you want to see a mix of various outlooks on that subject, drop in on an LA open mic.

For me I guess it depends on whether we are talking about expectations or goals.
And I don't think it matters hobby or pro.

I set my goals high, but try to keep my expectations realistic. Even 16 years into it (as a hobby and definitely part time) and even with some pretty decent pro level gear, I don't "expect" my recording to sound like a pro's recording done on pro gear with 20-30 years of full time experience (although that is the goal) but then again it is the "goal" that keeps me interested :guitar:

The innovations in software keeps me interested. I'm absolutely amazed at what we can do now inside a DAW and what some plugins are capable of doing.

I have nowhere near 16 years experience with my home recording studio but in the few years it's been up and running I've been aiming to not only match but surpass what "pro studios" produced for me. Time and time again in the past it seemed that the pro studio guys understood how to record electric guitars but not acoustic guitars and I'm a diehard (old school) acoustic guitar player. The process has been frustrating at times and I certainly am not yet where I want to be. Despite the set-backs I've come to really enjoy the learning curve and appreciate that the journey is its own reward. And, like KevWind, the goal keeps me motivated.

I couldn't agree more! Just recently, however; the Mies van der Rohe notion that less is more in architecture has been gaining ground for me with regard to audio recording. I'm back to experimenting with mic placement and performance adjustments to get takes that require less post recording processing. Nevertheless, like jim1960, I'm still amazed at what plugins can do.

I'm glad you said this. I've been questioning what I'm doing lately and my answer has always been to myself "its your hobby" which I guess is a good enough answer.