Why is that when you are practicing a song you can just about NAIL it perfectly. Then as SOON as you hit that damn record button you get palsy in your fingers!!!??? :( :( :? :? :?
I have been trying to do a re-reording or Wanted Dead or Alive just to see how I have improved. It sounds better while practicing and I am even playing the first verse and the repeat of the intro...not perfect but decent...
But as soon as I hit record.............nothing but noise!
It kind of feels like that old fish story...you know the one that got away! "Honest! It was 30 lbs!"
Mike. Sounds like you have a defective record button. :lol: :lol:
Actually it is just a slightly lower level of stage fright and I have found the more I do it the better I get at first or second takes.
Happens to me even when I go to lessons ..
(Actually, there is a something to learn from it: when you are in a performance situation, you are under pressure, and you have to get to the point that even if you screw up a little bit, it is still good..)
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Mike,
take your time. Press the button, pick up your pick, adjust your underwear, pour a cup of coffee.....and start playing.
I'm just the same - until I can get the recording bit out of my mind and just concentrate on playing, I'm more hopeless than when I'm not recording.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
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You know the thing is I am looking for perfection and I am nowhere near perfect. I must have just did 15 takes since I posted this thread and everyone of them crap (to me anyway)...I'll just about get through the intro perfectly then I hit a wrong string or fret the wrong chord and instead of just playing through it I start over and that frustrates me more....
I am walking away for a while I think...I need a breather... :cry: :cry: :cry:
Wow, I'm glad you posted this, Mike. I was noticing the EXACT same thing last night. It was discouraging. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.
Recording can be frustrating... and sometimes much higher stress than live performance. If I screw up on stage, oh well - it's behind me in seconds, and if the rest of the show is OK hardly anyone will remember it. Mess up in the studio, and you get to keep torturing yourself with the replay!
Back in the analog tape days things were even worse - try to assemble the good pieces into one unit and you'd have to either bounce the good parts (which added noise) or get out the razor blades and try to splice. The big trouble with splicing was you couldn't get take 12 of the bass and take 17 of the guitar together!
Digital recording makes things a lot easier. What I do now is just play... let the machine run. If you make a mistake, start again from a few bars back. It's pretty easy to move and compile things from multiple tracks, so getting a good overall result actually takes a lot less takes than it did with tape.
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I agree with you Tom just let it run.
I may record for a half hour to get 3 good minutes. Sometimes, and it's hard to admit, I may even cheat and if for example the verses are the same I get one good one and copy it. After all, my recording are just for fun anyway and to keep track of my progress. I get a good laugh when I listen to old recordings.
I probably make more mistakes playing when I am trying to remember the time location of the last good piece and lose track of where I am.
Happens to me, too. I finally end up taking the cut that sucks the least, when I know I've played it PERFECTLY a bunch of times with no recording.
Happens to me when I perform, too, as it's usually a one-shot solo by myself in front of a few hundred people at church. Have to sit and wait my turn, no warmup, and then hope to nail it perfectly. Usually it's halfway sucky, a few times I've crashed and burned horribly. Nailed it perfectly once and found to my joy that my guitar teacher had sneaked in and heard it. Hope I can do that again on the 11th, when I'm doing another of those solo "gigs."
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Stage fright, like using a urinal in a crowded restroom with people waiting in line behind you.
Have someone else in the house record you at random and not tell you you are being recorded.
Record ALL the time. (erase most of it of course) Once you are used to being recorded it will become second nature.
i remember an article that claimed that zappa used recordings from his live performances in the studio because he thought the flow was better or something. i can see how the pressure to "get it right" would stifle flow or creativity
#4491....
I am beginning to think that this has become one of those "I guess it's not just me" threads!
Thanks!
I am beginning to think that this has become one of those "I guess it's not just me" threads!
It's not just you!
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Red Light Fever. I got it too.
Sometimes though, it just feels like not a good day (or night) to record and I go watch TV or something. :)
Just record for several moments over and over then isolate the "good" parts.
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