RE: [Harp-L] Practice makes better : part 5 record yourself

[burket@xxxxxxx]

Hi Steve:
I always enjoy your Harmonica world recordings!  Keep them coming.  Regarding recording with a microphone, I agree it can sometimes be more challenging.  When in the recording studio, often a band or instrumentalist will ask to play along with a song to get to know the track, but ask "not to record this one".  Then often play the best solo of their lives when just relaxing and messing around. But as soon as the red record light would come on, the player(s) would freeze up and play very safe and conservative and end up with a track that was just OK.
So I got in the habit whenever anyone said, "you don't have to record this, its just for practice", to smile, say ok, and hit the record button when they weren't looking as fast I could.  Then they would play something brilliant and comment, "man, too bad we didn't record that".  Cue playback- "well, it looks like we did!" :)
Another thing that I've seen happen at a regular Irish session I play at, is we have started putting up a single location mic hanging over the one table all the musicos sit around to catch the overall sound and pipe it through the pub and out to the street.  Some musicians will not sit anywhere near the table as long as the mic is there and turned on.
Finding a way to make your recording setup as simple, non intrusive and relaxed as possible, can help take any pressure off.
Burke T.
Open Door Productions
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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2012 10:48:07 +0100
From: Steve Shaw <moorcot@xxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Practice makes better : part 5 record yourself
To: harp-l harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <SNT145-W755A583C5AC20DFB84EF31A2870@xxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


I agree with you, but would also point out that many people freeze in front of a 
microphone, even when alone at home. I'm one of 'em. I try to record on my Zoom 
H4 some of the Irish tunes I provide with my Harmonica World articles, for the 
NHL website, and I hardly ever end up even remotely happy with what I've done. I 
think there's something going on in the head that's hard to defeat: you know 
you're going to listen back, and you know that you are going to be your own most 
strident critic. That is excellent, of course, but it can also stop you from 
playing at your best. I always feel really happy to be playing my jigs and reels 
in my natural habitat, i.e. sitting round a table down the pub! I think it's 
important to record yourself in the setting in which you play as well as in the 
clinical environment of your home, in front of that deadly recording machine. 
You don't want to be constantly hearing only stuff that makes you feel that 
you're next to useless.
Having said that, I've found that two areas in particular always flag themselves 
up when I listen back to my recordings: does my sense of internal rhythm/timing 
need working on? Is my playing "flat" and can I do something to give my music 
more "lift?"