Introduction: My struggle with home recording

IHateHomeRecording said:
It's MY THREAD!
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No it's not. You started the thread, but it is now in the public arena of HR, and it will follow the meandering and hazardous path that other threads follow. Sometimes responses will be relevant. Other times they won't. You have no control over that.

However I do understand that someone may post, not to get advice, not to have something fixed, not to be criticised or supported, not even to be responded to, but simply because they want to get something off their chest
 
OP dude...I sympathise. I've recorded a stack of stuff with great gear that sounds pedestrian. Mostly, stuff doesn't work out for me because the song just isn't good enough. Or the execution of the performance is poor. I'm currently trying to be less ambitious. I'm trying to get as simple as I can and still make an ok song. I feel like sometimes as home hobby recording dudes, our eyes can be too big for our belly and our imagination, which tends to run rampant and swing for the rafters, makes what we actually put down disappointing in comparison. I've thought about totally giving up many times...selling everything, concentrating on gardening. Some home recording dudes nail it easy, some of us struggle. Keep at it...when you reach max frustration try to simplify. Shoot for a 2 minute song, keeping things real simple. I dunno what else to say. It's a hell of a long way to the top if you wanna rock and or roll, like I do...from the spare bedroom in your home, with crap room treatment, never truly knowing what your ears are telling you.

My struggles with home recording:

a) Mixing. Getting mixes to translate.
b) Lacklustre performance
c) Bad tone selection
d) Bad room
e) Poor arrangement
f) Lame writing

I could go on and complete the alphabet, but that would be boring.
 
Monkey Allen said:
I feel like sometimes as home hobby recording dudes, our eyes can be too big for our belly and our imagination, which tends to run rampant and swing for the rafters, makes what we actually put down disappointing in comparison. I've thought about totally giving up many times..
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There is a core group here that genuinely are about making better recordings. For most of us that's the goal, get better.

To hear what others are accomplishing is a privilege. Something special is happening. Learning at an evolutionary level.
 
The things I've written thus far are not necessarily "bad". They're just not what I want. I can't seem to NOT write this way. There's a certain sound/vibe I'm going for that I'm not getting.
 

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I hate the way the bass always sounds. It has that "growl" that just sounds disgusting to my ears. Cant' stand it. It might work with other forms of music, but my particular style is supposed to sound more "cool" and less "heavy" or "sinister".
 
IHateHomeRecording said:
The things I've written thus far are not necessarily "bad". They're just not what I want. I can't seem to NOT write this way. There's a certain sound/vibe I'm going for that I'm not getting.
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Well yeah, that is what we are all trying to tell you. They are not bad!

From that track you just posted above, I can tell you that there are some issues that I would work on myself in the mix. It's kinda what I do...
But it aint bad at all man! Just not finished yet.

Sorry, I had to just jump in. I am exporting tracks for singer auditions while mixing a track for a client. Oh, and someone is shooting a video out of my fish tank as well. I typical day around here.

I hope that you find a way to get inspired again brother. I know it can be hard sometimes. Whether or not you want to hear it, your recordings I have heard so far are not bad at all. Are they perfect and ready for the big time? Well, no, but it aint shitty.

So whatever you do, just try to enjoy the experience. It makes more sense and becomes productive once you find what works... :)
 
Ok, they are late arrivals.

So I am not sure I would all the bass tone 'disgusting' to my ears yet. Sounds like a guitar player playing a bass line.

What is more the issue on how any of that mix works is that the kick drum is absofuckinglutely hideous! Nobody could possibly plase a bass tone in it's place with that bullshit going on.

So what I am saying is that every part of a mix works together with other instruments in how it is placed. You ain't gotted all that together yet in any way man. That is the goal you need to direct to. No single tone you find is going to be good, unless it works in a mix. Unles you have a great mix, you can't add a new tone. I hope that makes sense man.
 
gecko zzed said:
However I do understand that someone may post, not to get advice, not to have something fixed, not to be criticised or supported, not even to be responded to, but simply because they want to get something off their chest
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Hey IHHR.
Even the world's most patient moderator has his limit.
I don't think you want to find it, but if you do, you're probably gonna be sorry. 8-)
 
IHateHomeRecording said:
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That's you? That's good, and that's a lot of speakers. Who are you gigging for?
Don't worry about the home recording. Somebody here will probably work that out for you.
Talk to Crows of Fritz. Where are you located?
Let's see your pedal board.
What's your DAW?
 
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Here's me on a pretty good day. The record line out of my amp had a ground loop, so the Overdrive was rather shrill.
I couldn't get it right no matter what I did.
A Strymon Iridium corrects that problem for me now.

 
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Musical talent once beyond the mechanical and technical becomes an exploration and journey. The ability to perform that which only exists in your head requires taking this long exploratory path. Something like listening to a young prodigy whose technical mastery can nail a difficult piece but yet is missing something. Keep exploring and the journey will take you there. It'd be great if you could enjoy the path taken.

I used to work in classical venues. World class artists. Surprising how many cannot improvise. This is an old friend and classically trained cellist. His work is very much outside the norms, achieved through an exploration of his instrument, body and soul. It is all cello.
 
Folkcafe said:
but yet is missing something
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It seems like formal music training tends to do that, where the goal is technical mastery and playing a piece to a perfect standard of some sort.
I can appreciate someone's ability to do that.
On the otherhand if I want to hear it played "perfect", why would I listen to any of the covers?
Hendrix could cover a song and make it better.
 
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