When the red light comes on ....

[TBman]

I was just cruising on FB and saw a post by someone who said that every time they go to record they constantly mess up.

I've been there and I found that when that happens, the piece I'm trying to record just isn't ready to be recorded. Also I found that putting my recorder in front of me, pressing record and then just playing random stuff has taught me to relax a bit when I do go to record something.

We practice playing guitar, so practicing recording our playing makes sense too.

Sometimes I also cut/paste after I record. If I make a glaring mistake that ruins the flow, I will sometimes just restart right before the mistake at a break point without stopping the recording and then just cut out the bad section in my wav editor later. The editor that I use, Rx 7 Standard, allows me to super zoom up a wav to do precise trimming.

Other times, when what I want to record is more than 2 pages long I will setup break points and record in sections. My ability to memorize needs a lot of work so I do what I can to get a complete recording.

[FrankHudson]

Yes. Recording is like playing live, or even just playing a piece to its upmost for one's own enjoyment -- there's no substitute for practice.

One wonderful thing about modern, low cost, and self-owned recording is that you can tell yourself to relax, you're not on the clock, no one else has to hear the bad takes or clams, "one more take" doesn't mean changing reels, and minor fixes are much easier to work.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by TBman

Other times, when what I want to record is more than 2 pages long I will setup break points and record in sections. My ability to memorize needs a lot of work so I do what I can to get a complete recording.

Being mainly a bass player, I need to be playing on every downbeat, so sometimes turning pages is almost impossible. I've got a way (thought up by someone else) for dealing with three-page charts. I have a slim 3-ring binder. I'll print all the pages, punch Page 1 on the right, punch Page 2 on the left, and slice off as much as possible of the blank margins of Pages 2 and 3. Then scotch tape Pages 2 and 3 together so, when you open the binder, you're looking at all three pages and nothing flops down so you can't see it. If the chart gets up to 4 pages I put a yardstick behind the folder. I have the weirdest collection of junk in my car.

[rllink]

I've tried recording and I would like to be better at it. I would like to post them online. But I find it difficult to play a song and sing to a recorder, especially a video recorder. I really like playing for other people and I feel like I need some feedback to do my best. When I set it all up and try to record in my basement it comes out lifeless. I would just accept that I am a lifeless player except that my wife has recorded me out playing at street festivals and busking and they come out a bit more like what I think I should sound like.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by TBman

…We practice playing guitar, so practicing recording our playing makes sense too.

Hi Barry
I operated a small acoustic digital studio for 8 years, and most players/singers (clients) who had never recorded in a studio were afraid of the process and nervous because of the illusion of single perfect takes.

They had often tried recording at home and made 'so many flubs' that they were discouraged by the process. If they had classical training, they were deathly afraid of mistakes.

I'd just have them pick a simple piece and start playing it and showed them how to count in a second/third/fourth etc take if they messed up (without stopping the recording) and MADE them record for a solid 10-15 minutes.

Then I'd have them record a piece they were recording start to finish with a guitar/keys and if they made a mistake playing, I asked them to NOT STOP but keep the rhythm intact while 'la-la-la-ing' and playing to the finish.

Then I'd stop the recording, cue it up and showed them how we could instantly edit over bad sections, and record a 'patch' in an adjacent track and overlay it into place after the fact (while eliminating the mistakes).

Once they understood they were not ruining the recordings as long as they kept the tempo intact, they usually adapted quickly to the rhythm of a session and the nervous-ness turned into productivity.

As the work-load of having a successful little studio grew, I taught (and paid) a musician-friend to engineer and capture tracks, and I did the editing and mixing later (and sometimes we'd swap the process).

I must say, it's really nice to have someone other than one's self to engineer my personal recordings (they keep the creative flow going without so much interruption).

The guy I taught was my good friend and gigging partner, and we often ended up having some on-the-fly course corrections, short suggestions and subsequent takes which ended up making recordings better.

[Bob Womack]

They call it "red light fever." As a producer/engineer and session player, I've dealt with it on both sides of the glass.

As an engineer I never say, "We're recording," over the headphones. I'll say, "You can go right ahead," or "Whenever you are ready." That word, "recording," locks some people up.

As a player I learned that it came down to doing it and surviving, and learning to engage in a positive inner dialog. I even wrote up a page about it, HERE. I hope you find something useful there.

Bob

[phydaux]

For me it was playing exercised for my guitar teacher. I'd practice all week to get apiece down, then go into the "classroom" and my brain would just switch off. I'd completely forget how to play the piece and stubble through.

[Rudy4]

The best way I've found to deal with red light fever is to simply keep everything rolling.

In most cases I can get a take without any major flubs within 3 or 4 false starts. I prefer to do a take requiring no edits since I also like to shoot video at the same time, which complicates matters.

If you're doing home recording there's no time or media cost, so it's easy to trim out the false starts so you end up with the take you're happy with.

[Chipotle]

Always be recording. Not only does that simply get you used to having the red light on, but if you are playing just to play, and not trying to get a perfect take, you might end up with some thing amazing anyway!

There's a story about a well-known rock guitar solo (I want to say the intro to Joe Walsh's Rocky Mountain Way, but for the life of me can't find the story right now) that the guitarist wasn't too sure of, so he wanted to do a few practice runs. The engineer was smart enough to roll tape anyway, without saying anything. The guitarist proceeded to absolutely nail it. At the end, he told the engineer, okay, I think I'm ready to record... and was told, nah, we got it, you're good!

I wish there were a way to record without letting yourself know you are recording when you're working by yourself.

[tbirdman]

Originally Posted by phydaux

For me it was playing exercised for my guitar teacher. I'd practice all week to get apiece down, then go into the "classroom" and my brain would just switch off. I'd completely forget how to play the piece and stubble through.

I know the feeling. I get something to play for the instructor that you practice all week, and then you flub it.

I also have lessons that are not real time. We just send videos back and forth. Trying to record the video with the iPad sometimes takes a lot of takes before I satisfied, although I've got a couple recorded on the first takes.

[j3ffr0]

My red light anxiety has been pretty high at times. These days I require myself to track something at least once per month. Most of the time, it's an original but if I don't have something ready, I will do a cover just to keep those recording skills going. There are many facets to it... both the engineering side, but also on the performance side.

Specifically on the performance side -- I'm getting better at relaxing into the pocket with the metronome for long stretches when recording fingerstyle pieces.
Better at controlling my breathing and other background noise. Needing less takes to make a good composite. I'm better at working the piece up to being recording ready before I try as I'm learning what it really takes. Spending more time up front working out the parts. Not really any takes burned due to red light anxiety the past six months (plenty of other reasons though!). Everything I play is getting better overall though because of continual recording practice.

[Dave Hicks]

I need a lot of takes to get something I want to keep, but I call it practicing. And sometimes the part changes in a way that (I think) is an improvement.

I try not to need a comp or punch-in, but sometimes I do.

D.H.

[Mr. Jelly]

For me it's the other stuff that causes the issues. Like being the engineer while trying to record. It's two different mind sets for me. I have the same issues on stage. Let to focus on performing would be great but all too often there's other business that has to be done. Like setting up on stage before performing etc.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

There's a story about a well-known rock guitar solo (I want to say the intro to Joe Walsh's Rocky Mountain Way, but for the life of me can't find the story right now) that the guitarist wasn't too sure of, so he wanted to do a few practice runs. The engineer was smart enough to roll tape anyway, without saying anything. The guitarist proceeded to absolutely nail it. At the end, he told the engineer, okay, I think I'm ready to record... and was told, nah, we got it, you're good!

You might have read it in my article, linked to above. I got the story from an interview of Bill Szymczyk, producer engineer, and brother-he-never-had to Joe.

Bob

[tbeltrans]

Another thing that can help is to not be so chained to a note for note arrangement that any deviation is a mistake. Being able to just continue playing something along the lines of what the arrangement is, goes a long way to covering for memory lapses and what would otherwise be just outright mistakes.

I agree with those here who say that recording yourself is similar to playing for others. It is a great way to acclimate oneself for eventually playing for others.

Tony