Having an Objective View of Your Abilities

i find this very difficult to do. i sing, and what's worse is i impossibly demand perfection in one take...and if i don't attain it, which i rarely do, i beat myself up over it. hence why my singing is a hidden talent that those close to me are even unaware of. i place too much pressure on myself.

this may sound funny, and it is, but the only way i have ever truly listened to myself objectively (besides listening to myself sing when i was a child, when i recorded myself on hundreds of cassette tapes) is if i hear myself with garageband's "deeper vocal" effect. because it suddenly sounds nothing like me, i can listen objectively. i still notice the mistakes, but unusually, i can also impress myself, which was a huge moment for me!
 
I've worked pretty hard trying to build up my skills as a recordist over the past few years, but this weekend I decided it was time to blame some of my deficiencies on my gear.

I've reached a point where I still wouldn't say I'm all that great, but I can hear well enough now to know what's wrong and understand that I can't fix some of my problems without an upgrade. That meant new mics and monitors over the weekend, and a new computer in the near future.
 
"Objective view" is a relative concept, especially when bearing in mind that we're all (young and new) writing on a Home Recording forum.

I dare to assume from the start that 90% of the local population are not professional musicians and/or production professionals. It would be fair to assess that, if they are, this would not be the primary habitat. Having that in mind, the whole tone of "you spend too much money, you're not a good musician, you'll never be a professional producer" seems a bit over the top - while, at the same time, hitting a note with most of the users. Everyone can relate to not playing to an acceptable rate or technique (with the due variations and relativety of what "acceptable" means) and, most likely, our end-product does not sound like the radio-friendly records most people enjoy. I would dare to state, though, that this is not a target for most of us.

If most of you are like me - searching for a way to optimize time and effort into having decent sounding recordings whilst balancing the 8/10 hours a day spent on our day jobs - I would dare to say that the one piece of sound advice here is: work on the songs, not the recording. Good songs will find a way to bleed through the recording, trust me on that.

As a piece of decent, tried and true advice the most I can say is: Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Get a kick out of listening to your recordings. A multitrack recorder instance (computer or multitracking device), a decent cardioid microphone and passion are all you'll need... And I do look forward to hearing the mid-range, half produced, half-finished recordings you guys are doing.
 
To be honest, coming over from Gearslutz because I hopefully won't get killed for this :D I've been doing this 14 years now and I never thought mixing was difficult, ever, but recording hmmm! That's where it all becomes interesting, micing drums is a nightmare. Especially doing metal with guys who have a 100 piece drums kit and 5000 cymbals, trying to get all them to sound in phase and not like a thin weedy piece of rubbish is hard. Same with recording vocals on a professional level, it's just not easy getting the singer to be at the right distance at right time to be able to get the sound needed.

What I would say is don't jump into recording songs.. Spend a month of doing nothing but moving mic's about on guitar cabs, swishing mic's past your mouth making funny sounds and get really used to how things sound, then record a couple of rough tracks in context with each other, create a mix with no effect's on top... If the recording is spot on and I mean spot on (Dry) you hardly have to do anything, it will mix itself.
 
On this one as well, getting professional sound vocals is a real artform. It may not be your skill as much as mic technique, it takes literally for you to move half an inch in the wrong direction and you can get a very different tonal value. But still there is also alot they do to vocals for professional releases and I mean ALOT! It never really sounds like *Them* singing in a room to someone.
 
Jump into recording songs & experiment with mic placement etc whilst doing so. It has to be FUN!
You can rerecord bits you didn't do well. You can revise a song. You can do anything you want to do. Recording a sons as a project to get you around & into your gear & developing skills is like riding a bike. You get on, you have a go, you fall off, you work out what went wrong & most digital recording is non destructive editing, (to some degree) so you can fix things better than a banged knee.
Did you spend 3 months practising to balance on a balcony before your 1st ride? Did you spend 6 months balancing on a log before getting on the balcony?
Did you spend 1 year balancing on 1 foot on the bath mat before the log?
Have a go, don't expect miracles and learn fomr what you do.
Oh & watch out for the wet spot!
 
ah said oops upside yo' haid !

wkrbee said:
It's not the notes you play-it's the notes you don't play...
Click to expand...
I've heard so many repeat this over the years. What do you actually mean by it ? I personally think it's a daft saying.
How, when listening to any song can you deduce which one of the 11 notes is being left out at any given point ? By the time you work it out on any three minute song, it's the weekend ! :D
 
grimtraveller said:
I've heard so many repeat this over the years. What do you actually mean by it ? I personally think it's a daft saying.
How, when listening to any song can you deduce which one of the 11 notes is being left out at any given point ? By the time you work it out on any three minute song, it's the weekend ! :D
Click to expand...

yeah, it's a dumb saying. I suppose it means don't overplay but that's in the ear of the beholder.
 
I think it means , the "notes you don't play" as in hitting the wrong notes..

its those f-ups that really jump out. thats my take on that? IDK..

I somehow had a listen to an old 60's demo, Come and Get It, McCartney did this in less than an hour and it was..

Piano/Vocal
Vocal/Maraccas
Bass
Drums

and it sounded really good. it was refreshing to imagine 4 tracks, less than one hour time, making a great Demo. His chops were peaked by then..

Maybe he ran through it 5000 times before recording it, idk?

Badfinger did a version with a lot more going on, but the demo was pretty good too. It was better in some ways.

I realized how much I suck with even 100 more tracks and unlimited editing abilities.. my home version doesnt sound as good.

My best version was with all the tracks muted.
 
One aspect of recording yourself is, it's very difficult to get enough distance from the performance to be objective about it. To be a recording engineer requires critical ears, leading you to notice every imperfection, even when they are not noticable to others.

On the other hand, you may think everything is okay until mixdown (or later) when you realize how awful the project turned out.

The key is to determine which imperfections are acceptable and which are not. For example, if a drummer is unable to keep a steady beat, it is unacceptable. Always. Why? Because not only does it ruin the experience of the listener (who expects a smooth tempo), it also makes it near impossible to properly lay down the other tracks after it.

On the other hand, a stray note on a guitar or a slight crack in one's voice while singing could be okay. It's possible something like this is not even noticed by the listener, even though to you it may seem like a grievous error.

Sometimes you can get a bit of objectivity by stepping away from the material for a day or two.
 
I have no talent but my 16 year old has tons. Having been here before since I am already a member I know how it how it goes here sometimes soooo I have been hesitant to have her register on her own. She plays around with Audacity but her equiptment stinks. For instance her Mother took the good headset because hers was broken and gave her a pair that truely look like the dog chewed them up. Supposedly they still work but really? Here in is the challenge. I buy she puts it together a piece at a time until she gets a decent studio. I came back because of todays newsletter about youtube.

Whoa Lt. Bob is still around.. And the world goes round.
 
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