Chris Stamey's "A.I.R.: Always In Record" Mantra

[MoreSpaceEcho]

And wishes that his creative output was greater and moved along at a quicker pace.

in that case i dunno if 'always recording' is the solution, cause the more random stuff you record, the more time it takes to go through everything. and all that time gets spent just on SORTING, you still haven't actually finished anything.

and the more stuff you have, the harder it is to keep your perspective. it's no problem to comp a vocal from 3 takes, but doing it from 12 (even though you might be really glad you have those 12 in the end) is exponentially harder and more time-consuming.

my old band used to improvise a lot and we kept a dat rolling at rehearsal and gigs a lot of the time. i had some downtime a couple months ago and went through all the tapes. a lot of it was not really all that great. but there were about a record's worth of really, really good jams, and i suppose that's what makes it worth taking the trouble to record in the first place, and then sitting down and sifting through everything for hours.

hhmm, this isn't a very helpful post, is it? sorry. i think i need more coffee.

[touched1]

hhmm, this isn't a very helpful post, is it? sorry. i think i need more coffee.

Heheh...
I'm due for a 2nd cup myself.

Actually this is a good thread. I just needed to chat with some people about this topic, and I appreciate the responses.

I am really stuck on the idea of slapping a handheld 2 track recorder on the digi out of my soundcard and leaving it rolling. I think that is a great idea. But what I've learned in the last 24 hours is that I have a larger issue to address (personally) in my fear of hitting record. So I am deciding to start recording as much as possible. As many takes and mixes as I can possibly do.

Keep in mind, I am one man (not a band!!) and fairly neurotic, so the chances of this getting out of hand are slim to none. But by just recording, A LOT, I think it will help me get out of a funk I'm in.

I spend forever chasing the perfect sound, and usually don't hit record until I get it. So how often do I record? I sit in front of this computer 10 hours a day everyday. I am too embarrassed to admit how much of that time is actually spent committing sounds to disk. I've hung out with more experienced friends, Scotty Hard comes to mind, who can whip out a remix in an afternoon with reckless abandon. People like that have great skill and experience on their side, but that sort of fearlessness, when it comes to recording, can also be found in beginners. I was not this tentative about recording until I began to realize all of the things that I had been doing wrong.

That all said, I managed to record 3 mixes last night. Then I did a composite of the 3. This was done in rapid fire (for me) fashion and the song is better for it. You can check it here if you want:

http://web.me.com/jason.wolford/TBD_Dub ... Remix.html

May not be your cup of tea, but you'll have some background on the making of it. It's a comp of a straight mix, a dub mix and an ambient mix.

[Nick Sevilla]

Yep.

I always start recording as soon as I get a signal, even if the signal is not good yet, nor al the mics.

You can always throw it out afterwards.

In one case, i would review all the bad bits at the end of the day, and keep the best three takes of each musical idea, to work on the next day.

This went on for six months. and it was a 24 track tape, then dumped onto ProTools for editing.

As long as I kept notes, I did not get too messed up in the organization of it, nor did I lose anything.

Also, a DAT running all the time, fed by the 2-mix off the main board is always a great idea. just have 4 or 5 DATs, and recycle andy ones that did not get anything worthwhile.

Cheers

[dynomike]

(as a songwriter)

I think its almost dangerous to record too much. Having the ability to listen to half-formed ideas back over and over again isn't healthy; it resists progress. You'll get accustomed to the half-done version and will have trouble fully realizing the idea. I'm a firm believer that all the best songwriting work I've done has been within my mind, not played on an instrument or even sung aloud.


(as an engineer)

Keep it rolling all the fucking time. Use good judgment (don't keep shit just to be thorough, don't throw away gold just because the compressor was on the wrong ratio). Even while you're tweaking sounds, always be listening to the performances, because if something really great is happening, sometimes I just stop adjusting and let them go with it. TRUST YOUR EARS, and make decisions fast. Its much easier to decide on a take, or comp a take right after the tracking. Don't procrastinate.

[vvv]

I write the song, and arrange it.

When I have it roughed in, I do drums (loops and samples), to maybe 90% complete.

After that, I record every take of every instrument. And if it sucks, I record over it, until it doesn't.

I seldom comp, unless the part is just too complex or the process too frustrating not to.

I do have some "finished" works that are dogs, and may never be heard, but I don't have anything incomplete. If it ain't worth trying to do right, I dump it.

Finally, I might have 2-3 songs going at once (typically from different collaborations), but almost always only 1 solo thing.

I acknowledge my weirdness.