How do you guys get the discipline to record?

O

oh_the_blood

New member
Lately ive kinds ditched the whole band thing thinking that its too much of a pain to coordinate everyone to play and record, so i just have been kinda recording by myself.

Thing is, i have a bunch of parts to songs i like and have made up...

i just dont ever finish a song.

And when i rarely do finish a song i record the guitar and then im like...

soo i need drums now, then i try it on my keyboard and i give up.

any suggestions on how to stay disciplined to write a song then record it?

thanks!
 
It snowballed me.

I built a room to play acoustic guitar in, then decided it would be nice to record the ideas. Then I thought it would be nice to have a drum track to play along to so I bought a drum machine. Drum machines don't cut it for rock drums so I had to buy a drum set to record my songs. The acoustic thing got boring so I bought an electric guitar, then another, then another.

The Adats got old so I bought a computer and an interface, that one got old so I upgraded the soundcard and computer, then another....

When you have this much money invested you start feeling guilty if you don't use it. :D

I look at it less like a chore and more like something I love to do. When you love to do something it doesn't require discipline.

Stay focused on one song until it's finished.
 
I have done the same thing several times. I got tired of playing in bands when no one else contributed much of anything, but it's hard to stay motivated to finish your own songs because you have all of the burden on yourself. I get excited about recording my own songs now because of the new software I've got. (DFHS drums). I know I can get good sounding results and it won't just be a fair representation that will suffice "until a real band plays it". Of course it helps alot if you have some skill on every instrument that will be involved in your songs. Including vocals.
Question. When you do your own songs are they approached as finished products or are they just demonstrations of what they will sound like when you get in a band again? Does that have an impact on you?
 
ez_willis nailed it. Though sometimes I feel your pain. Lately I've been in more of an "idea" phase where I've just playing and recording stuff so I don't forget it. Discipline isn't the right word to describe it, "love of our craft" is more accurate, for me atleast. My love for music is what makes me strive to be the best that I can be, and that love for music drives me to record my makings in the best possible way that I can.
 
yeah, i record because i have a song to record and produce. So the question for me isn't how do i keep the discipline to record, but when the F*CK is my next good song gonna come?
 
hey you're 17. I have yet to come across a “disciplined” 17 year old. What you need is a father that will beat your brains out if you don’t produce an album worthy of world recognition. Other than that if it’s not your passion, it’s not your future. It’s just a hobby that will lead you know where.
 
well;

it sounds like you are getting to the recording part of the process too early. my process is to get the song sounding good on guitar and vocals before recording any other instruments. once the guitar and vocals (i.e., the words, melody, and chords) are set; I throw out all that crap and record drums with no scratch tracks at all.
 
It also helps to have some time set aside - I need at least a couple of hours freed up just to be able to feel relaxed enough to be creative.

I agree with EZ about doing one song at a time. That approach helps me maintain focus. Although I know there are some who have bits and pieces of a zillion projects going at once - to each his own, I guess.
 
I've never really associated discipline with recording - to me it seems more like an ongoing creative experiment than anything needing discipline.

As far as being organized enough to see a project through to completion, I'd say it's good to frequently:
1. Be thinking what your next step in the process will be
2. Be thinking what the final recording will be like, what you'll use it for (selling CDs, radio airplay, sending to friend to impress them, etc) and what it'll do for you (money, publicity, girls, etc)

Tim
 
For me, it doesn't take any discipline to keep working on recording. What DOES take discipline however, is making myself stop and go to bed at some point ;) And making myself get up and go to work in the morning :( And all that other BS that just sucks...
 
JeffLancaster said:
For me, it doesn't take any discipline to keep working on recording. What DOES take discipline however, is making myself stop and go to bed at some point ;) And making myself get up and go to work in the morning :( And all that other BS that just sucks...
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I'll second that!
 
By the way, my last post probably really wasn't a lot of help in answering your question, however, here's an idea that may help: When you start to feel stagnant, try reading some articles about recording/mixing methods, etc. Alternately, read some of the posts about technique in this forum. Then try to apply one or more of the ideas you discover to your work. Before you know it, you'll will have discovered things that work (or don't work) for you, and regardless, you'll hopefully be over your hump and back into the process at that point - fully engrossed in experimenting and trying new things.
 
oh_the_blood said:
Lately ive kinds ditched the whole band thing thinking that its too much of a pain

so i just have been kinda recording by myself.

Thing is, ... i give up.
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First you gave up on the band because it was too much work and now you give up on the solo recordings because it's too much work. Do you see the begining of a pattern there?

I'm not intending to be harsh here, just trying to drive you to ask yourself the question of why you're giving up. Is it indeed a lack of discipline like you're implying? Or is it a fear of failure? ADHD? Or is it something else? (Just kidding on the ADHD...Ritalin is most likely NOT the answer ;) )

Many of the posts here are on the right track when they say in one way or another that "lack of discipline" or it being "too much work" is not an issue when you enjoy and believe in what you're doing; indeed the discipline is in knowing when to take a break or when to stop.

So I'd suggest that there's something conscious or subconscious that's keeping you from either enjoying or believing in what you're doing. Meditate on that for a while; once you can ID that block, I believe you'll have your answer :).

G.
 
Does the stuff you do record sound good to you? If you're not excited about the results of the effort you put in, then getting motivated to continue working on it is hard. If it's not exciting to you, figure out why. Is it the songwriting, the playing, the recording quality? Are you trying to record half baked ideas and parts you're not ready to play, let alone record? Is your recording equipment or recording skills up to the job?
There's a positive feedback loop that happens where, the better it sounds, the more inspired you are, and the more you put into it, making it sound even better, making you even more inspired, etc......
Then theres the negative feedback loop. If you're stuck in that, figure out why and fix it.

Lastly, doing everything on a project is hard work. Just writing and playing all the parts is hard, and then there's the work of doing the producing and engineering. I FIND IT ESSENTIAL to make it very easy to walk in, throw a few switches, grab an instrument, and hit record. If your recording setup is too cumbersome it will suck your creativity dry very quickly. If each take requires a half hour of stringing cables around and reconfiguring everything, then you'll lose your motivation.

Speaking of motivation - if you're finding it in the shrubbery, there's a fine line between motivated and impaired. :D

Good luck!
 
Robert D said:
I FIND IT ESSENTIAL to make it very easy to walk in, throw a few switches, grab an instrument, and hit record. If your recording setup is too cumbersome it will suck your creativity dry very quickly. If each take requires a half hour of stringing cables around and reconfiguring everything, then you'll lose your motivation.
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Excellent point!
Robert D said:
Speaking of motivation - if you're finding it in the shrubbery, there's a fine line between motivated and impaired. :D
Click to expand...
Even BETTER point! :D

G.
 
Lots of good points on this thread already. But of course, I approach this differently.

At any one time there are too many riffs, melodies, and rythms in my head to count or keep track of. I suspect many people are the same way. For me, recording isn't about discipline as much as it is about clearing my head so I can concentrate on what I am doing. My mind builds up pressure in the form of music. Recording bleeds that pressure by taking the music out of my head and putting onto whatever media I'm using. Cd's, hard drives, whatever. Once I get the the most completly formed riffs or whatever out of my head and onto my computer, I can then focus on how to make them into complete songs. Drums, basslines, vocals, ect. I can't do that one song at a time stuff. I'll get a dozen songs together and work on peices of each one untill they are all done. Once I have them done, I walk away for a while and the pressure builds up again. So I go to the studio and record some more. Eventually I have a shitload of really good songs. Of course "really good" is my opinion, but I find that only the music that I really like develops enough to be played and recorded. If it's not cool, it just fades away. Now, I do get tired of doing this sometimes. I turn my attention to TV, or books, or whatever else seems more attractive (mind numbing) at the moment. But I ALWAYS go back to recording because if I don't, I end up being constantly distracted by my own thoughts. Then work suffers, the wife gets angry 'cause I don't "pay enough attention" to her, and life begins to suck. So off to the studio I go untill the pressure drains again.

How does this relate to discipline? It doesn't. Recording shouldn't take discipline. It's like Altiris said: if it's not your passion it's not your future. And passion takes many didferent forms.
 
For years I remained very motivated. I also ditched band life for the less fashionable homerecording gig.

Then, something started changing as other interests took me outdoors more and more (where the studio is not). Now I don't feel motivated at all to record and have actually gone the exact opposite route, recently selling my Martin acoustic, Roland electronic drums, and Ibanez bass. I still have an Ibanez electric (with pedal board) and Alvarez acoustic for my own noodling. Officially I'm 'retired' from homerecording and music altogether. Other things are pulling my time away and I feel I accomplished everything musically I would ever want to.

It's part obsession and part drive. Here's the lyrics to one of my favorite motivational songs, "Mission" by Rush (lyrics by Neil Peart). It about says it all...

Hold your fire,
Keep it burning bright
Hold the flame 'til the dream ignites
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

I hear their passionate music
Read the words that touch my heart
I gaze at their feverish pictures
The secrets that set them apart

When I feel the powerful visions
Their fire has made alive
I wish I had that instinct
I wish I had that drive

Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions
Consumed in a single desire

In the grip of a nameless possession
A slave to the drive of obsession
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission.

I watch their images flicker
Bringing light to a lifeless screen
I walk through their beautiful buildings
And I wish I had their dreams
But dreams don't need to have motion
To keep their spark alive
Obsession has to have action
Pride turns on the drive

It's cold comfort
To the ones without it
To know how they struggled
How they suffered about it
If their lives were exotic and strange
They would likely have gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane

We each pay a fabulous price
For our visions of paradise
But a spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission.
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