Conference napalm::commusic_v1

2427.0. "The Psychology of Recording" by KEYS::MOELLER (Rage, with a megaphone) Tue Aug 28 1990 20:17

Despite the fancy title, this is just some observations on the recording 
process, both working by myself and working with others in 'real' studios
or at my home studio, Cottage Music.  

I've recently been working with a couple on some of their material, which
we're recording in a 24-track facility here in Tucson.  Some of the guest
musicians have lots of studio time, some are brand new to recording in any
form.  As one of the coordinators of the project, I've gotten to watch and
work with these people, having to vary my tactics in order to get good 
takes out of them.

a. recording others
   a1. first take freshness
One axiom that I work with is that early takes are the best.  Obviously when
working with an MCI 24-track, we have a lot more latitiude in terms of saving
early takes.  Some musicians claim they have to warm up quite a while before
playing at their best - I feel strongly that a) they should warm up BEFORE
the (expensive) tape is rolling, and that b) warmed-up muscles are NOT the
arbiter of what constitutes a good performance - it's freshness and enthusiasm
and good ideas.  Which segues nicely to:

   a2. the 'runthrough' take
Some people, good musicians, have a tendency to freeze up when the engineer 
announces "Tape is rolling,".  After making certain that the engineer
has a reasonable level and is ready to record, I tell the performer that
we need a "run-through for level" and that the person should NOT stop 
playing/singing, NO MATTER WHAT.  This very first take is tucked away.
Generally it will be superior in ideas and inflection than later, possibly
more precise, workmanlike takes.  

   a3. overdubs and punchin points
One guitarist I work with starts out just fine, then gets self-conscious as 
he goes - or he loses concentration.  That's fine, that's what punch-in is
for.  Unfortunately he thinks that he could do the entire take "better
this time", and then tells me to rewind the tape to the beginning.  I did
this twice before getting hip - each time he'd screw it up earlier in the
take, to the point that he couldn't get past the introduction.  Now when
I work with him I rewind the tape to just before where it went sour, and
punch in there.  Things go a LOT faster this way.

   a4. suggestions 
Sometimes a musician will have a clear idea of what to play, but it's 
obvious that it's too choppy/busy/fill in the adjective.  And/or, depending
on my relationship with the player, suggestions like "play long" or "breathe
with it" will clarify the approach.  Most musicians tend to overplay for
tape, forgetting that they're just one layer in a stack of overdubs. Including
me.  There's a tune on a Miles album in which Miles just told John McLaughlin
to play what he felt.  It's called "Go Ahead John".

b. recording myself
   b1. gifts from the Muse
If I have an urge to get into the studio, I'd better do it right away.  
It better not be a big complex deal starting up a recording session.  If 
I have to push too many buttons or load too many floppies I "forget" what 
pushed/pulled me into the studio in the first place.  No repatching or 
rewiring should be needed! Don't let technology push the Muse away - she's 
a fickle one...

   b2.  improvs vs. compositions
The advent of easy, high quality tape and digital/sequencer recording has
blurred the differences between improvisation and composition.  In my 
environment, I have the luxury of deciding what kind of production to do
around a given piece.  In some cases it's left alone as a solo, in others
it calls out for various levels of production.  The nice thing is that once
completed, no one but myself knows whether a piece was carefully planned or
a gift.  

   b3. nuggets during big projects
Tom Sawyer knew that "work is that which a body is obliged to do".  This
applies in the studio, too.  If I set myself to a big deal project, on
some level it becomes work.  And to the playful part of myself, even though
I'm arranging and playing and cutting and pasting and EQing and bouncing
parts to 8-track, it kind of becomes w-o-r-k.  So I cover myself in this
situation by always having a blank SA90 in the Nak cassette deck wired into
my setup.  So if I have an urge to indulge in unofficial improvisation, I
can at least capture the idea on cassette.  Two of my latest pieces came
off of a scratch cassette, transferred to 2 channels on the 8-track, and
then got additional overdubs, either straight to 8-track or on the MAC
using FSK sync.

So these are some of my thoughts on the psychology of recording.  What kinds
of things work for you ?

karl

Nice !!

I used to try to develope a song (sequenced drums/keyboard) by "jamming" 
with it on guitar and vocals. Sometimes some solid ideas would come out
that I could then build into the existing sequences. But most times some
great things would happen on the spot (like a vocal line, some chord progression
and so forth) ... very hard to  capture again !

I now keep a "work" tape loaded in my 2 track recording takes of most jamming
I do. I'd have preferred to go straight to the multitrack during jamming
(using a sync striped tape) but I've got 20 tracks less than you did in
the studio :-)


>  Two of my latest pieces came
>off of a scratch cassette, transferred to 2 channels on the 8-track, and
>then got additional overdubs, either straight to 8-track or on the MAC
>using FSK sync.

How did you get the FSK signal to sync to the  transferred 2 tracks ? 
Human sync or some similar device ?

Zayed

    Very interesting Karl, almost everything you said had a familiar
    ring to it.
    
    An example, some of you are familiar with: when I was recording the
    organ solo in my Commusic VII submission ("The Low Calorie Blues")
    I did a bunch of takes and really hated everyone.  It just wasn't,
    y'know, "happening".
    
    I was supposed to have a "complete if not final" version ready the
    next morning, so finally I just said "fuck it, I'm just gonna improvise
    something just so I can say I have something "complete" (I.E. with
    an organ solo, instead of blank space where the organ solo would
    go) and then replace it later, hopefully when the muse came back.
    
    Well, THAT take is what is on the final version.  I guess it was just
    with the pressure off, I was able to play freely and came up with
    something I really liked.
    
    	db

    db, what did you finally say?   :-D
    
    Mike_with_delusions_of_protocol_grandeur

              <<< Note 2427.1 by KADOR::HANNA "Get the Madman" >>>
>>  Two of my latest pieces came
>>off of a scratch cassette, transferred to 2 channels on the 8-track, and
>>then got additional overdubs, either straight to 8-track or on the MAC
>>using FSK sync.
>How did you get the FSK signal to sync to the  transferred 2 tracks ? 
>Human sync or some similar device ?

    .. the FSK track didn't 'sync' to the transferred 2 tracks the way
    you're thinking.  I just recorded a blank sequence of the correct 
    length at any tempo, and striped using that as the MIDI clock source.
    In this way I was using the MAC as a virtual tape recorder, paying no
    attention to its click output, always referring to the original 2
    channels of audio on the 8-track.  Hey, it's no worse than playing
    overdubs onto a multitrack - you can't quantize there either !
    
    I hoped that this topic would open some discussion of the human element
    in the recording process - what do you do to psych yourself or others
    up to get solid takes ?   I've noticed that I'm especially creative
    after a break from the keyboard, for example.  
    
    karl
    

    Well, since you mentioned psychology...
    
    The last studio project I worked on involved doing a Jerry Lee Lewis
    cover at about 160 bpm.  The track was OK except for the bass line
    constantly falling behind, dropping notes, etc. 
    
    The drummer (who was leading the session), the engineer and myself
    piled into the control room to do punch-ins.  I tried about seven or
    eight takes all of which were unsatisfactory.  I suggested changing the
    line from  eight notes to quarters, the drummer insisted it be eighths.
    Finally, he went off to the bathroom.  I told the engineer to run the
    tape, and whaddya know....the keeper!  Miller time......8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    BTW, playing in the contol room is a weird experience in itself,
    sitting in a plush chair cranking away while the rest of the track is
    blasting out of the monitors....live gigs never sound like that!!!
    
    							Brian