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.