Question about people you record with.....

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liv_rong

liv_rong

Knows very little
So, I wanted to do a cover tune. I re-wrote the guitar parts to be finger picking instead of strumming chords and added different notes here and there. I have been wanting to record it for a while, and I had one of my friends who I work with who was going to record the vocals and he has been flaky lately, so I wanted someone else. I called one guy i have known for years, not a close friend but a really ncie dude. He is one of those guys who knows theory very well, knows chords and notes, and is a damn tallented musician. He does a lot of jazz stuff and really knows his shit. He plays bass and can sing very well also.

He came by the other day and we were going to record bass and vocals, but ran out of time and only did the bass. We took a lot of time to get good sounds going with his bass and he actually sat down and wrote out all of the notes/chords and the entire structure. I told him to do his thing, and didnt really ask for much. He did some quick run throughs of the tune and we discussed what I was looking for, basically i just let him do what he wanted. I only had a few parts that I wanted him to change, no problems. He is a super cool dude to work with and a really down to earth person.

Now, yesterday I was listening to what we did and I do not like it. There are parts that are perfect and other parts that are not all there. Im not sure if I should ask him to do it again or what. He is on a mini tour now and will be gone for a couple weeks, and when he returns we are doing the vocals. I feel bad to ask him to do it again, and would feel even worse to get another person to do the bass parts.

Anyone have any pointers on how I should approuch this? The dude is super cool, I mean i can sit and drink with him and talk, he's not just some guy I know who is a musician. And its not like im going to do anything with the song or we are in a band or anything. Anyone have any simular experience?
 
I think you should just ask nicely if he'd mind doing those parts again. If he asks why just be honest. He sounds like he might be fairly professional about it anyway, and will probably respect your honesty and attention to detail.
 
Just explain that in the cold light of day when you listened back to what had been recorded, it wasn't working the way you had in mind. It shouldn't piss him off. It happens to me all the time.
 
If the guy is as cool and talented as you say he is there shouldn't be any problem with asking him to redo the bass line. Explain to him that after listening to the line you found some parts that could have been better. Sit down with him and listen to the track together, lavish on the praise for the good parts and point out the parts that could have been better. He may even hear some parts that you overlooked and really want to redo the track. I know for me sometimes I will record a track that just isn't quite right but I can't pin down exactly what the problem is, I'll let it sit a couple of weeks then listen again and hear what needs to be done right away. The bass player may be the same way, when he listens with "fresh ears" he may want to redo the track.
 
Thanks for the replies. I pretty much figured everything you said. I just wanted to get some feedback since ive never had to deal with this before. And yeah i know its not a big deal, I just wanted to make sure my etiquete(sp?) was correct.
 
Not sure but it sounds like you weren't paying him, but being straight forward and respectful about it and depending on your relationship, it is certainly reasonable to ask. At worst you may run into his level of willingness to put in the effort and his judgment as to the value of what may or may not be gained.
 
mixsit said:
Not sure but it sounds like you weren't paying him, but being straight forward and respectful about it and depending on your relationship, it is certainly reasonable to ask. At worst you may run into his level of willingness to put in the effort and his judgment as to the value of what may or may not be gained.
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Track Rat said:
Just explain that in the cold light of day when you listened back to what had been recorded, it wasn't working the way you had in mind. It shouldn't piss him off. It happens to me all the time.
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Yep, I agree with these two.

Just tell him after listening to it for a bit, you would like to change a few parts, and would he mind doing that. It happens all the time.
 
You could also add another route. Let him know that you think some of your ideas just didn't work like you thought they would. And would he mind taking a listen and giving some suggestions. Gives you the chance to be honest and to also avoid making it sound like you think it's his fault (which to me it sounds like you don't think that at all.)
 
On of the trickiest part of recording is the honest feedback...
Musician after a mediocre take: "that was pretty good. Let's go to the bridge now."
Engineer: "hmm... let's hear it once more to make sure your timing was right"

Customer service for a recording engineer is tough, and you have to be very careful to understand the limitations of the musician that you're recording so that you can try to get the best performance out of him without demanding a performance that is impossible to his abilities. Regardless of if you're being paid or not for recording, I guess that the bottom line should always be to do the best you can, not only recording-mixing-wise (0dB gain, good mic techniques, good preamps etc) but also try to get the best takes you can get from the performer/s.

just my 2 centavos.
 
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