recording remorse

[zuzu]

Probably familiar to all of us. Yesterday, I took my first listen in months and months to the last project I completed with my former band in 2022. Ouch!

9 songs, 6 belonged on the album, 5 of which were ready for release, 2 needed more development, 1 was a leftover from our previous album and didn't fit this one at all, musically or sound wise.

But, our biggest gig with the best exposure of the year was coming up, which we decided to make our release party, giving me 8 weeks to final mix, get it mastered, get it streamed, and get CDs printed and packaged. Which I did.

The morning I did my final tweaks on the mix I downloaded it to a stick and a half hour later hand delivered it to our mastering engineer...a mistake I will never make again. And I knew deep down it was a mistake, but I convinced myself I had the "when do I say when" syndrome going and was just fretting over it too much. 2 years later, the truth is obvious; it ain't bad, but could have been very good indeed!

What is your recording remorse?

[Charlie Bernstein]

Getting propane heat.

I used to record in the basement. A problem was that when our oil furnace kicked on, the noise forced me to stop recording. Sometimes it happened in the middle of recording a track.

When the furnace died about five years ago, we called our fuel company to replace it. The guy talked us into propane. He said it was silent. I thought, Yay, I can record without interuption.

So we went with propane. What he didn't tell us was that although the furance itself is silent, one of the peripheral controls makes a steady hum that comes through clearly in microphones.

So I haven't been able record for five years. Phooey.

[H165]

2 years later, the truth is obvious; it ain't bad, but could have been very good indeed!

I sincerely hope you still have the original tracks....sounds like you are convinced the "bones" are there for a great remix.

[Chipotle]

Almost 40 years later, I can *still* hear that spot where I didn't bring the fader down quickly enough during mixdown (no automation in that studio then.. mixdown was an "all hands on faders" job). Still bugs me.

There's also that spot on a different recording where I loused up the very end of a really good solo. Tried to duck it the best I could later, but I should have gone back and punched in during tracking.

[b1j]

Nearly everything I recorded before I made my absorption panels, including vocals.

[KevWind]

Remorse well no remorse really. But it has been a long and sometimes steep learning curve ..

[Rudy4]

Wasting my time on technology when I should have spent it on developing my talent?

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Wasting my time on technology when I should have spent it on developing my talent?

The best advice I got in this recording section was when someone made an off the cuff comment - "#1 - you have to have something worth recording."

Struck a nerve. Only the truth hurts so now I try to put up best efforts, but sometimes the urge to tinker with my mics, recording gear and DAW overrides my common sense

I think though I should have listened a bit better to what people were saying when I first started recording and people kept mentioning the "room." An inexpensive pair of mics with a good recording space is miles ahead of a "good" set of mics and a bad room. My space isn't perfect, but it's so much better than it used to be.

[FrankHudson]

You know the old schoolchild threat: This will go on your permanent record that will follow you for the rest of your life?

I feel like that sometimes with recordings. I've "released" over 700 tracks with my Parlando Project. Some of them honestly embarrass me -- and I've got a rather loose aesthetic as to what is acceptable. Not just recordings that have technical issues, but performances that make me say "ouch!"

It would be easy to delete them, just a mouse click, but for some reason I've resisted doing that. I'm not sure why, but I just try to do better with the next one and the one after that.

Not recommending that for others, I might even change my own mind.

[dnf777]

Not doing it sooner?

But I dont beat myself up over that, as technology didnt allow for home studios in the way it does now. Or if it did, I sure couldnt afford it anyway!

[dilver]

Totally get it. Working on an album right now and trying to determine which tracks are worthy of the cut and which ones are done, performed and recorded well, but may not be great songs. Definitely have issues with songs not fitting with each other. I chalk it up to lack of a producer and also… it’s just how it’s done.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by dilver

Totally get it. Working on an album right now and trying to determine which tracks are worthy of the cut and which ones are done, performed and recorded well, but may not be great songs. Definitely have issues with songs not fitting with each other. I chalk it up to lack of a producer and also… it’s just how it’s done.

Julian Lage talks about the production of his new album in a new podcast / interview by Jason Verlinde at Fretboard Journal podcasts. He relates that the material is wildly different from song to song. I just started listening, so hopefully he discusses how he and Joe Henry handled song order and mix to get the entire project to blend together coherently.

Julian Lage Fretboard Journal interview

[ghostnote]

My recording remorse doesn’t necessarily involve clams or recording issues per se. Like many folks, I get a lot of ideas when I’m playing. If I can put those ideas into song format, I do, right then and there, and record it so it doesn’t get forgotten. I have a lot of songs as a result, in wildly different styles - but few of them are complete as far as instrumentation and mixing. Most of them have 4 or 5 tracks done - enough that I won’t forget what it’s supposed to be, but lacking the refinement of a finished version. I need to convince myself that I won’t run out of material and that it’s ok to work on one song until it’s done.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by dilver

Totally get it. Working on an album right now and trying to determine which tracks are worthy of the cut and which ones are done, performed and recorded well, but may not be great songs. Definitely have issues with songs not fitting with each other. I chalk it up to lack of a producer and also… it’s just how it’s done.

So as an observation the phrase "songs not fitting well with each other" can have several meanings with causes and solutions

First can mean (if you are talking about songs with lyrics) that the lyrical concepts are quite diverse. Now to my mind that does not necessarily mean "a bad thing" My view is if it is not a concept album with a specific main theme then the diversity can be used as a contrast and compliment (the trick is as you note, deciding on song order to have that happen in a pleasing or interesting way -- i.e. putting on the producer hat.

Second it can also mean the sonics are very different which can be either good or bad or both If the difference in sonics is subtle and it serves the prosody of song it may not be a big issue However if the difference is jarring then IMO a remix is likely the only solution and perhaps consider doing things like first making sure the mean level (RMS) is close between the tracks. And also making/creating and using your own presets on effects as starting points on the tracks, to get more consistency in the sonics between the tracks--i.e. putting on the mix engineer hat

[j3ffr0]

A band I was with in the 90s did a CD and I engineered it myself and co-produced it with other senior members of the band. We had enough equipment to track and mix it some kinda way. The bass player always wanted to be "turned up" in the mix. In retrospect, what he really needed was some higher frequencies emphasized so he could be heard and cut through the mic.... even in the bass soloed.

But alas it was before the internet. He didn't know what what he really needed well enough to communicate it. I wasn't experienced enough to understand what he really needed, so I decided to keep him lower in the mix along with other senior members of the band. And indeed, given the two loosing alternatives of a mix that is too bassy or mix where it's harder to distinguish the base player, the later was the better choice of the two evils since we were not able to arrive at a more correct choice with bass eq. We weren't the only hair brained bad that had a mix where it was difficult to distinguish the bass player back then, but I still wish I could remix that.