home recording - music lessons learned

[billkilpatrick]

i've been recording some duo numbers with a 1/2 guitar (GL-1 "guitalele" from yamaha) and mandolin using the "garage band" application on my ancient mac. low-tech stuff ... just my speed.

three things i've become aware of by doing this are my timing and the clarity and consistency of the notes i make.

coming in at the wrong time - even slightly - or beginning at one tempo and ending with another is a problem - as is trying to maintain a consistent volume and tone throughout, without making one note or flourish or whatever ... sound out of whack with another.

jams are not available where i live but by playing something and listening to it over and over again - really listening - it should make me a better musician and - hopefully, if the opportunity arises - a more consistent member of the "team."

[Rob Gerety]

Timing is everything. Its all about the groove. By the way, from your videos I have seen, I think you have very good timing and groove. I do think it is very very helpful to play with other people on a regular basis.

[farmerjones]

Makes you really respect the older generation of session players, when there were no click tracks and pitch correction.

Another thing i've found it's tough to get that mid-range optimization. Car stereos have improved but with the roads around here, well, most are gravel. All the highs are lost, and all you here is the boom of the guitar. I think i'm going to try to master with a walky-talky speaker, instead of studio monitors.

[Barbara Shultz]

Hi Bill! We miss you over at the Song A Week Social Group!!!!!

I have found just the same thing while working on my multi tracking with Garage Band. It's a great practice tool. You can hear the little 'mistakes' much better, thus able to work on those areas!

[Earl Gamage]

So true about coming in at the wrong time. It happens to me a lot more than I like at jams. I use band in a box and that helps.

[Bertram Henze]

Yes, GarageBand can put you under pressure, kinda "mirror mirror on the wall"; but you, Bill, have no reason to kill Snowhite ;) You're at the upper end of the Dunning-Kruger spectrum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect).

I think it's much easier than in the old days when you had to hire a studio, paid by the hour, running out of time and money on your jillionth take...

[dj coffey]

The thing I have to watch out for is ensuring I only mess with the technology enough to accomplish the intended purpose: a recording that allows me to assess my progress and find areas of improvement. It too easily becomes more about the technology than the mandolin.

Saying that, it is very cool that we can relatively cheaply get great self recordings.

[billkilpatrick]

dunning-kruger spectrum ... stupidity leading to doubt - yep' - sounds familiar.

[Andy Fielding]

Timing is everything. Its all about the groove.
He's absolutely right. In other words, it's about learning to trust the easy, basic rhythm in your body, and let your playing float on it like a boat floats on the water—no effort, just easy, natural playing.

You can't possibly become a better, more natural player by thinking about it. It's exactly the opposite. When you think about details of technique, your dominant, logical mind takes over—and unfortunately, that's the part of your mind that's associated with things like survival, not creating beauty (which is what music is about).

Once you've learned basic technique, you know what you want to do—so you have to get out of the way and let yourself do it. That's what the best players "practice": the skill of trusting themselves, feeling the beat, letting go of "control" (which is an illusion anyway), and just staying out of their own way so the music can happen.

It's impossible to explain this in a way that makes logical sense. The only way to understand its value is to learn to relax, feel the beat, and stop trying to play. Once you do that, it all becomes clear. It's like magic. Probably one of the reasons it's so magical is that you can't explain it. :?)