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how did you overcome red light fever?
- Thread starter danbones
- Start date
It's all a matter of developing confidence in your playing, and rather than thinking of it like, oh no, the red light came on and now it's time to tense up and get this right the first time, I prefer to think of it like, if I screw up I can just restart it and try it again, and I can't do that live.
It doesn't sound like you're recording for hire, so realize this: it really doesn't matter. Take one, or take 1,000 - it's just time.
It's natural to be a at least somewhat apprehensive when approaching a recording session - recorded music potentially lasts forever and therefore any mistakes you make last that long to. So, we want to be perfect. But perfect is not really obtainable - have you ever played a part that your picky self can't find something you could have done better? I don't think I have.
I'll reinforce a lot of good things I've seen in this thread so far:
- Be prepared. Knowing your part inside out helps with confidence.
- As with any thing that gives you mental heebie-jeebies: Do it as much as possible so that it doesn't feel like a special event anymore. In the digital recording world, there's no reason to not record your self every time you play.
- Learn from stuff you hear on your recordings. Treat it like a tool rather than a test.
And one gem that hasn't been presented: Imagine your phone/microphone in it's underwear!
It's natural to be a at least somewhat apprehensive when approaching a recording session - recorded music potentially lasts forever and therefore any mistakes you make last that long to. So, we want to be perfect. But perfect is not really obtainable - have you ever played a part that your picky self can't find something you could have done better? I don't think I have.
I'll reinforce a lot of good things I've seen in this thread so far:
- Be prepared. Knowing your part inside out helps with confidence.
- As with any thing that gives you mental heebie-jeebies: Do it as much as possible so that it doesn't feel like a special event anymore. In the digital recording world, there's no reason to not record your self every time you play.
- Learn from stuff you hear on your recordings. Treat it like a tool rather than a test.
And one gem that hasn't been presented: Imagine your phone/microphone in it's underwear!
Never had that problem recording in the studio, but at home by myself... YES. Often, I do multiple takes because I flub the intro or other line. My DAW lets me splice all the good sections together - though I do try to make it in one take.
What helps with this at recording is to make several dry runs before hitting the button.
What helps with this at recording is to make several dry runs before hitting the button.
“Familiarity breeds contempt” as the saying goes. Just record enough until it’s no longer a novelty.
Look at it this way: you can re-record as often as it’s necessary to get a good performance. You don’t have that luxury when you play live. Live is a single take - and deal with it. So from a technical viewpoint recording is forgiving whereas live performance isn’t.
So why fear the red record light? It’s there to remind you it isn’t done until you say it is.
Repeat after me: Mr. Red Light is your friend.
Look at it this way: you can re-record as often as it’s necessary to get a good performance. You don’t have that luxury when you play live. Live is a single take - and deal with it. So from a technical viewpoint recording is forgiving whereas live performance isn’t.
So why fear the red record light? It’s there to remind you it isn’t done until you say it is.
Repeat after me: Mr. Red Light is your friend.
Ya have to. Click record before, then when you came up with something good it’s already down for you to learn later.
finding it again among hours of recording can be tough...
But if you’re sitting down doing a take I think a medium-long count in helps. Turn it up til you find yourself feeling impatient to begin
Hummergeist
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- Jul 21, 2020
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There's a thing in the software I work with, where it's always listening to the MIDI input. If you play a cool sequence on a keyboard, then wish you'd recorded it, you click a button and there it is! I guess eventually we'll get an audio version of that, so a lot of the 'red light' stress will go away.
I don't have exactly this problem, bu I really hate recording in general and so I write my parts out so as to attempt (not always succeed) to get the thing in one take so I don't have to do it multiple times.
Notwithstanding the prudent advice that any recording engineer or studio assistant should Always Be Recording anyhow (and with random-access recording and the current affordability of hard drive space, there's never an excuse not to be recording) ... there are looping delays that operate in an "always listening" or "look-ahead" [sic] mode so those effectively already provide an audio version of what you describe.
Although it's all really just a semantic distinction: It's not literally "you wish you recorded it" which implies you didn't; you did, it's just that you didn't have to press the red Record button because it self-engages as soon as you power up the software.
Practice your booty off and record your practice sessions. When you're sick of practicing, do it some more. Forget the flourishes and nail the groove. When it comes time to do takes, loop it and just keep playing till you nail it. Throw in half as many fills and runs as you would live. Don't let mistakes stop you. Just keep playing. You can punch in fixes or do a composite of takes if you can't get through a whole take without mistakes.
Over prepare and under play is my recording philosophy in a nutshell.
Over prepare and under play is my recording philosophy in a nutshell.
Do 20 jumping jacks before you record.
Its proven that getting the heart pumping before stressful task helps maintain focus and peak performance.
Also, it helps to get your feet wet if you're subconsciously afraid of looking like an idiot while you are actually recording.
Its proven that getting the heart pumping before stressful task helps maintain focus and peak performance.
Also, it helps to get your feet wet if you're subconsciously afraid of looking like an idiot while you are actually recording.
Preparation. Know your parts inside an out.
Record all the time. It does get easier.
I did my first demo on a Tascam 4track. We ping ponged some tracks but the drummer and myself had to record our parts at the same time. It took for ever because if I had a great take the drummer didn't and vice versa. A couple of the songs were not that easy for a 19 year old. My Generation and I'm the Man.
I hate to say it but we record in a digital environment and it's much easier to get a decent take. Would I rather have one really good take that a bunch of punch ins? Yes but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and just record the sections individually.
Record all the time. It does get easier.
I did my first demo on a Tascam 4track. We ping ponged some tracks but the drummer and myself had to record our parts at the same time. It took for ever because if I had a great take the drummer didn't and vice versa. A couple of the songs were not that easy for a 19 year old. My Generation and I'm the Man.
I hate to say it but we record in a digital environment and it's much easier to get a decent take. Would I rather have one really good take that a bunch of punch ins? Yes but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and just record the sections individually.
Personally, I'm not a believer in getting it done in one take. I think musicians that do that are robbing themselves of possibly getting "magic moments". This could be due to my lack of ability or limited studio experience, but I've found that just by virtue of knowing that you're doing multiple takes allows you to play more loosely and experiment and sometimes leads to "Eureka" moments. It also removes a lot of the stress knowing that it's not necessarily all or nothing on the one take.
"Roxaaaaaaanneeeeeeeeeeee you don't have to put on a-" OH not that type of red light. Uh well this is embarrassing... 
Having a highly respected engineer/producer watch you through the glass while you play always messed me up. my mind always went to "he could be playing my parts way better than I am right now". We were doing drums . bass . . guitar . .vocals separately. I hated it. When we recorded live I had no problems. It's just tough for me if I feel like I'm being over analyzed. Now that we can record in our own living rooms ourselves my anxiety vanished and I didn't get overly messed up in the head every time I messed up a line - which I do frequently no matter how long I've played a song.
Get engineer to have you do several practice takes over and over, and the recording is only to set levels and experiment.... nothing is getting saved.
But of course, it gets saved, and he is keeping the good takes.
It's amazing how being told that this isn't anything to be nervous about because you're just practicing, even if you know better, really helps.
When I am my own engineer (often, over past couple decades), I don't have the same issues, and am free to get as angry at myself when needed and have swearing fits before I cheer up and make a solid take. I do TRY to nail it first time... but there are those songs that surprise you when you listen back.
But of course, it gets saved, and he is keeping the good takes.
It's amazing how being told that this isn't anything to be nervous about because you're just practicing, even if you know better, really helps.
When I am my own engineer (often, over past couple decades), I don't have the same issues, and am free to get as angry at myself when needed and have swearing fits before I cheer up and make a solid take. I do TRY to nail it first time... but there are those songs that surprise you when you listen back.
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It helps to try to get out of your head a bit. Close your eyes, listen, stand up, move your body as if you're playing on stage. Whatever you do, with repetition you'll start to notice a difference over time. Just keep at it.
The way I do it is to record the track, then repeat (on a new track so I still have the previous ones) until I get a good take. It could be 1 take, it could be 20. If I can't get a good take, I shut down and start again the next day. Often when this happens I'll ace it on the first try the next day.
The way I do it is to record the track, then repeat (on a new track so I still have the previous ones) until I get a good take. It could be 1 take, it could be 20. If I can't get a good take, I shut down and start again the next day. Often when this happens I'll ace it on the first try the next day.
This is awkward for bass if your playing along with other tracks, but works great if just noodling on bass or knuckling down on a specific bass part by yourself.
Writing on rhythm guitar it works great. Just hit record. Start playing and don't hit stop until whenever. Lots of stops and starts, but those can be removed later.
Get into the habit of recording yourself. On your phone, using a hone set up or whatever but the more you do it the more you switch off to it being a thing.
