Guest Posted January 5, 2001 Share Posted January 5, 2001 I am a semi-pro guitarist who works regularly in a variety of styles. I love to play, but hate to record - for me the recording studio is about as much fun as the dentist's chair - a tedious, annoying, expensive process. How can I make it more fun - how do you make it more fun recording yourself or others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroslav Posted January 5, 2001 Share Posted January 5, 2001 Well, speaking for myself, I never HAD to make it more fun, it always was. If you hate it so much, then just focus on being a musician and let someone else do the "treaded recording" for you. Do you feel you "have to" become involved with recording yourself and others? If you want to simplify the process and use it to just capture basic demos of yourself, there are a lot of toys out there that will keep it fairly simple...check out some of the Roland stuff...everything in one box. But if you want to do more involved recording then...you might end up hating it even more. If it is just a technical hurdle that is making it feel like a "dentist's chair" to you, then keep plugging, it will become easier with practice and there is a lot of "how to " information in theses forums that will be helpful. Good Luck! Miroslav miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansouth Posted January 5, 2001 Share Posted January 5, 2001 Originally posted by miroslav: ...check out some of the Roland stuff...everything in one box. ...or the Korg D8 or D16, both going at great discount prices these days. I agree that the process can be tedious, especially when you have three manuals open and can seem to get things to work the way you want them to. Try to take a "less is more" approach and use no more equipment than necessary. This will eliminate a lot of issues. Also, try to structure your studio around the way you work, making every task AS EASY AS POSSIBLE. Set it up to work for you, rather than against you. Learn the equipment. Read the manuals an try the tutorials and trade ideas and tips with others. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Aikin Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Originally posted by fet767@minn.net: I am a semi-pro guitarist who works regularly in a variety of styles. I love to play, but hate to record - for me the recording studio is about as much fun as the dentist's chair - a tedious, annoying, expensive process. How can I make it more fun - how do you make it more fun recording yourself or others? It would be interesting to know what's the part that you find not-fun. For instance, (1) you're recording yourself at home and the technology is driving you crazy, (2) you freeze when the red light goes on because you're trying so hard to make it perfect, (3) you thrive on live interaction with a band, but you're being asked to overdub tracks while monitoring through headphones. Each of these is a different problem, and will have different solutions. A few general ideas for "recording yourself or others": Don't set a time limit for the session, but be on time. Be clear with others about your musical expectations. Make sure the monitoring setup lets everybody hear what they need to hear. Use an engineer who understands how you prefer to work. If you're engineering yourself, know your equipment inside out, and establish a way of working so you can concentrate on the playing. --Jim Aikin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Hughes Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 If I were Krusty the Klown, I'd probably make recording more fun by spelling it with a "K": Rekording. I agree with Miroslav: I've never had to make it fun, it always was for me, too. Okay, not always. There have been a few times where I was involved with projects that were not my style, or included people who couldn't play their instruments, but those instances account for about half of one percent of all the recording I've done. Maybe why it's always been fun is that I do most of it by myself and don't have to deal with other opions, egos, whatever. But recording with others has been great. Just make sure everyone's prepared, and that should cut down on the repetition. In instances when I'm just there to play my part, I usually bring something to read when I'm not needed, and if the engineer is cool, I talk to him -- they, like I, typically love talking about gear. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 >>For instance, (1) you're recording yourself at home and the technology is driving you crazy, (2) you freeze when the red light goes on because you're trying so hard to make it perfect, (3) you thrive on live interaction with a band, but you're being asked to overdub tracks while monitoring through headphones. Yes. Alloftheabove for me. For me, number two is probably the biggest problem. And, as for number three, I find vocals the worst. I really need the thump of a live band to get my vocal charge where it needs to be, and all that is missing when I try to belt it out with a pair of cans on. I mean, for you singers out there, walk into Best Buy, put on a pair of cans, and start belting it out like you were onstage. That's the feeling. Is isolation reeeeaally that necessary that one needs to sacrifice vibe and performance for the ability to play around with EQ on a track, etc.?? "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Ted, there are a LOT of people who just record vocals with an SM58 (very directional) and blast the track through the monitors. If that's what gets your best performance, go for it! A little leakage isn't worth not getting the best out of the performer. If you ARE using headphones, don't be afraid to turn your vocal DOWN in the phones and turn the band UP. That'll make you want to belt it out more. If the vocal's up real loud you feel like it's under a microscope, you hear every detail and you can clam up. And hey, if you really think everybody recording live together in a room would be the best thing - well, everybody USED to make records that way, it's a lost art. Might be time to revive it! You can rig up a makeshift iso booth and get reasonably good sounds with live vocals. I've worked in studios where everybody played live with the singer in an iso booth singing a guide vocal, and oftentimes we ended up keeping the guide vocal. Whatever it takes dude, just do it! Don't worry that you're breaking the rules. As for the "afraid of the red light" syndrome, there is no reason nowadays, if you are recording digitally and especially if you have a home studio, to NOT record EVERYTHING. If you make a habit of pressing the record button every single time you play, you'll get desensitized to it after awhile. It's just a machine, it can't laugh at you. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif And if you don't get it perfect there's always another take. Lots of really good people need a hundred takes to get to their best licks. --Lee This message has been edited by Lee Flier on 01-05-2001 at 08:01 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Thanks, Lee, I needed that... As for the red light jitters...it comes from my years in radio doing production. A long spot full of prices for a grocery store, and invariably I'd screw it up at the end, so I'd have to go back and redo it. Live radio...no problem, as if you screw it up, it's gone. I worked at a large public radio station in Florida for a bit. We had to do "pitching", y'know, free tote bags for a handout. They thought I did a good job, so they took me across the hall to the affiliated public TV station. I was terrified when the red light came on and that stupid camera was pointing at ME. So that could be part of it, too... Nothing a few valium won't cure... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphajerk Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 [[]] "It's just a machine, it can't laugh at you." i know we are only a few days into the new year but this one already gets my quote of the year. im putting it up in my studio where all can see it. ironically, it does laugh at you sometimes. alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Assuming that you are talking about the process of recording as a guitarist, and not fumbling around with wires and manuals... Dunno if this would help any, but I was in a band with a singer/guitarist who was an incendiary live performer, but "froze" in the studio. To record her properly, I borrowed a couple of wedge monitors, had her hold a 57, turned off the lights except for a couple of red light bulbs, and had a small audience sit in front of her. No headphones. No windscreen. Much better performance!!! I have no idea whether this is at all relevant to your situation or mindset, but I pass it along in case it jogs any ideas. Whatever makes playing guitar fun for you, try and incorporate in the recording process -- whatever that takes. Audience, changing guitars, changing the way things are miced (or whether to mic at all), etc. etc. Ken/Eleven Shadows/d i t h er/nectar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ music*travel photos*tibet*lots of stuff "Sangsara" "Irian Jaya" & d i t h er CDs available! http://www.elevenshadows.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earfatigue Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 >>"It's just a machine, it can't laugh at you."<< sounds like you've never had to work sonic solutions or configure OMS. i could hear hyenas inside the computer. judson snell www.slangmusicgroup.com judson snell slang music group chicago, il Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Hahaha...no Lee, it can't laugh at you. Worse...it's Rod Serling's own mirror from the Twilight Zone which can store a picture of you on a particularly bad hair day for others to laugh at to your embarrassment for years to come... You see the signpost up ahead... "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 LOL Ted! Well, at least there's an erase button! Alpha: you can use my quote in your studio, but I want a credit and full publishing rights. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif And for God's sake don't be passing it around on Napster! --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigstarletyahoo.com Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Well, to answer the original question... That's kinda hard to say. Some people live to tinker with faders and wires and mics. Others would DIE if they were shut in a room with such items for 5 minutes. I kind of fall in the middle. I've got a piddly-ass recording set up, much of which is software based (and shareware software at that). I've slowly been adding to it, and reviewing how others with a similar set up to my own are handling it. If their sound is similar to mine, I tend to ask what their secret is. Usually, it just comes down to a working knowledge of how the various paid and freebee eq and compressor and wave stuff works. But it takes time. Time most of us don't wish to, or can't afford to, take (I know I get REALLY impatient sometimes, esp. when my PC crashes, and half an day's work has gone down the tubes). I think to make recording fun depends on your mindset. Pretend you're painting pottery as you add that reverb post-production. You're carving wood coming up with that guitar solo. Or, to use another analogy, pretend you're on the set of 2001 while you are setting up your mics. Anything. This message has been edited by bigstarlet@yahoo.com on 01-06-2001 at 11:59 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Yeah, the set of 2001...but not the cool part where Dave goes through the wormhole. I set up my mics more like the beginning, with the ape people bashing that other ape dude's brains out with a bone. I can't paint pottery or carve wood, either... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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