How do you guys get the discipline to record?

[ez_willis]

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.

Agreed.

I've found that just getting the riff/melody down and not tweaking on the particular sounds of the amp or vocal works. Get the thought down to clear your head then get back to business.

 

[Dogman]

Agreed.

I've found that just getting the riff/melody down and not tweaking on the particular sounds of the amp or vocal works. Get the thought down to clear your head then get back to business.

I really agree with this. If you are doing something, and a riff comes....lay it down so you don't forget it. Maybe do it a few times...then hopefully, you can get back to doing what you started. Once it's on tape...or whatever media....you will feel a bit more relaxed about it.

Also, get a good demo of one thing done, before moving on to the next, if possible. It doesn't have to be polished, as you might have ideas later, but face it....no matter how hard you work on something, and no matter how long...you will want to fix it more. And most important of all....keep it fun. If it sucks to do....you better be making some bucks at it.

 

[Dani Pace]

All I can say is, "INSPIRE YOURSELF." When I get in a rut I try to do something that impresses me, if I can do this it inspires me to do something even better. The tricky part is tieing all those parts together so they sound like a song. The challenge of doing something today that I couldn't do yesterday keeps driving me. Sometimes all my stuff gets to sounding the same (this gets really boring) and when it does I know it's time to try something different. The possibilities for "how to" are endless and the use of imagination is your best tool to overcome stagnation.

 

[JoshO]

Hey Josh O here from Fatelly Yours (a small band no-one knows) www.myspace.com/fatellyyoursrock
Iv been so discouraged too many times. You just need to get a whole band and get everything down perfect before you pick up a mic. You cant record everything by yourself and you cant record if you dont know your material perfectly. You get so discouraged and uninspired from recording cuz you never get what you want specially if you dont have quality equiptment, but just press through.

~Josh O.

 

[Robert D]

You cant record everything by yourself ................
~Josh O.

Shouldn't is arguable, can't is simply and obviously not factual.

 

[ez_willis]

You just need to get a whole band and get everything down perfect before you pick up a mic. You cant record everything by yourself and you cant record if you dont know your material perfectly.

Hey JoshO, this is incorrect on so many levels.

Maybe JoshO cant record everything by himself and he cant record himself if he doesn't know his material perfectly, but there's a slew of people on this board that do just that, including myself.

Further, I never know how the song is going to end up when I start writing it. I come up with a riff or melody, arrange some parts around that riff/melody, write the drum part, bass part, etc...

Don't discourage the young man. If he ain't into playing in bands, there is no reason he can't still enjoy playing music on his own.

 

[JeffLancaster]

What ez said

Thing is, there's as many approaches to all this as there are people approaching it. I'll often go into my studio with no idea what I'm going to do. Like sometimes I'll just start playing a guitar - perhaps jamming to an endless drum loop. Then all of a sudden I'll do something that I think bears remembering. So I flip on the computer, open a new project and record the riff, then maybe I'll develop it more and maybe I won't. Other times, I'll be following a very structured approach towards trying to complete a specific song. And yet other times, I'll be experimenting with sounds, mic placements, mixing techniques, etc. I play guitar, bass, keyboards, sing, record, and soon I plan to try my hand at playing e-drums. But regardless of what I'm doing, when I'm in there, it's always fun. And that's the whole point.

 

[travelin travis]

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...

Hey, I knew there was someone else out there like me. Work just seems like a big inconvenience that disturbs the whole obsession does'nt it?

 

[JeffLancaster]

Hey, I knew there was someone else out there like me. Work just seems like a big inconvenience that disturbs the whole obsession does'nt it?

Well, the only good thing about work is it gives me time to sit here and read this bbs And in turn, the typing and mouse clicking make it look like I'm busy...

 

[travelin travis]

Hi. My name is Travis and I'm addicted to homerecording.com.

 

[e unum pluribus]

excommunicate yourself from all that is not music...

I hadnt recorded anything really or wrote anything until i got away from the states and my friends/family (obviously this isnt an approach that is for everone) so really its ME time when im not at work and i m not dealing with everyone.

Then when i started communicating(via homerecording.com) with more songwriters and actually networking things just started skyrocketing and ive been writing/recording those ideas, like a mad man...

 

[Dogman]

I would bet Homerecording is largely comprised of one man...er...person...bands. I can think of many, right here....

 

[brendandwyer]

Shouldn't is arguable, can't is simply and obviously not factual.

i agree wholeheartedly.

 

[LeeRosario]

I was born with a disorder called, "Obsessive Engineering Disorder". The only medication for this is beer and joint hits.

 

[brendandwyer]

Cheers! I'll drink and do bong rips to that.

 

[Dani Pace]

wow, I'm impressed, you guys can afford beer and other party supplies.

 

[brendandwyer]

well, you sell a kidney on the black market and....

 

[IronFlippy]

well, you sell a kidney on the black market and....

I sold both. And my liver. I only later found out that booze and no liver is a bad idea. Not that I drink or anything.

Now I still don't have any money, or certain vital organs, and somehow none of it went to music. Damn school.

Wait, I lie. I bought myself a brand-new Keilwerth SR-90R Alto sax last semester. That's where my money went. $3500. Well worth it, IMO.

 

[brendandwyer]

i'm just a torso and a head, no neck though. I can afford to drink myself to pieces

 

[tc4b]

I am lazy and undisciplined, not to mention disorganized, in my daily life. I was one of the ritalin pioneers back in the 80's, ADD to the core. However, it doesn't take anymore discipline for me to record and produce than it would for me to eat an entire chocolate fudge cake. It's... so... delicious... to me!