My soundcloud page and the fear of recording

[Jonska]

I bought a new recorder and noticed that when I push the REC-button my fingers immediately turn into sausages. Well I decided to give it a try anyway and put some of my recordings to soundcloud. You can hear them here:

The thing is to try to get rid of my fear of audiences and recording situations. I will start practicing and upgrade these and the same time I will follow and observe myself if I can evolve.

Sorry for breaking your ears {}

 

[george garside]

In many ways recording can be more stressful than playing in front of an audience . I think it is because you know if you make a mistake recording you are going to start all aver again whereas if playing 'live' you don't have that choice as you just have to carry on and across your fingers that the punters havn't noticed!

george

 

[Jonska]

That's true. It feels like I can play a song ten times in a row perfectly but when I put the recorder on, I must start it from the beginning ten times

But I see this also as a training tool. When playing you can become deaf to your own playing. When you record it you can notice the little things that matter in your playing and try to make them better.

 

[squeezeboy]

Recording can be a very good aid to improve your playing, and at the same time can hurt your confidence! But hey, it's just a small box that reproduces sound. Don't let it destroy your enthusiasm.

Many musicians were traumatized by recordings. The famous pianist Glenn Gould would drive himself nuts in practicing before doing studio work as he was obsessed with perfection and knew that if there was 1 wrong note in an entire piece made of hundreds or thousands of notes, someone would notice it when listening to the record!

So don't drive yourself nuts. Have fun recording and treat it as a tool for practicing and motivating.

 

[Glenn]

Recording space is so cheap these days I guess you could put the recorder on for practice sessions. At the end, if you did something you were proud of, cut it out and erase the rest ready for next time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jonska]

I added some new songs and made a better version of Love Me Tender. Does any of you use Soundcloud? It would be nice to hear others playing too!

 

[goldtopia]

I agree with everything that has been said. Nevertheless I have been considering buying a Zoom H4. I think thats what its called. Does anyone have any experience of this gadget ?.

 

[Glenn]

I have one George. It's great. Very easy to use as a straight forward recorder.
If you want to do fancy 4 voice recording then it is a bit more fiddly.
By the way, via usb it works fine as an audio interface for your computer as well.
I think you get a lot for your money.

 

[Jonska]

I'm using Tascam DR-40. I think it is too fancy for my playing but you can add two external microphones in it! Good for accordion if you use mics for bass and melody

 

[george garside]

recording oneself even on a crappy recorder is worth while as long as you keep it in perspective. It may provide a salutary experience in that you may get the wrong impression of your playing i.e. fell it is teriible - listen again more carefully and most people will find that yes, the mistakes are 'terrible'' - BUT _ 80 or 90 % of the tune is at least ok. So its not a question of going completely back to the drawing board but more one of applying a bit of attention to eradicating the particular cock ups that the recording has highlighted i.e. its a positive not a negative experience!

george

 

[Zevy]

<FONT font=Garamond><SIZE size=125>Recording is a very useful tool for self-critique. I just recorded a few tunes in a studio, and I would not use any of the material publicly. There were tempo and phrasing issues that I was not aware of before. However, it was a very useful (albeit expensive) experience, and I learned a lot about my playing. Think of it as spending money on a human teacher. But this time, the teacher is your own set of ears!

 

[squeezeboy]

(...) Nevertheless I have been considering buying a Zoom H4. I think thats what its called. Does anyone have any experience of this gadget ?.

I have its little brother the H1 which can be purchased for around $100 and does a great job for its price. Same microphone system.