home recording and finding time

stoneman · Post by **stoneman** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:20 pm

home recorder/hobbyist , whatever, for 20 years but lately am suffering situational life attacks of my precious recording time. like a lot of tapeop'ers i am married with kids and a good dad, i think, but i am still trying to come up with more time. so far my most succesful strategies have been

1. the "straight up trade" with my wife for time
2. "play hooky" from my self employed real job
3. record my 5 yr old daughter singing ...but lately she has become self conscious and not into it.

just wondering if there are other frustrated dads out there buying microphones on the sly and trying to create time to use em?

chorga1 · Post by **chorga1** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:00 pm

Skip sleep

Hire cheap labor to do housework

Other than that I'm clueless!

Beardaby Jones · Post by **Beardaby Jones** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:55 pm

Give the kids instruments for xmas and start a band, you'll be rolling tape on your demo's by St. Patty's day, then by the time its all done and mixed, voila, EASTER PRESENT CDS!!

I've been fortunate enough to snag a girlfriend that's intrigued by the magical process of recording, so when i say im going to work, she pulls up a chair instead of throwing one at me.

timh · Post by **timh** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 5:39 pm

Beardaby Jones wrote:Give the kids instruments for xmas and start a band, you'll be rolling tape on your demo's by St. Patty's day, then by the time its all done and mixed, voila, EASTER PRESENT CDS!!

I've been fortunate enough to snag a girlfriend that's intrigued by the magical process of recording, so when i say im going to work, she pulls up a chair instead of throwing one at me.

damn you got lucky. automatic keeper right there.

stoneman · Post by **stoneman** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:08 pm

yeah, "skip sleep" has been my mantra for a while but at 36 its getting to be a bitch to wake up and get the kid ready for kindergarden after recording and mixing until 2 or 3.

maybe i just need to buy a craigslist computer and put at my shop with a 57 or two ... record and mix as needed during the morning with a cup of joe and then get back to "real" work for the mortgage . worth a try across the tightwire balance between family and sanity.

damionj · Post by **damionj** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:21 am

I'm in my late 30s, with a 2-year-old daughter who (like most toddlers) loves to get up at the crack of dawn. Throw in a full-time job and requisite housework, and there's not much time for making music. The only solution that's worked for me is to get really organized. This can be a tough ticket, as creativity is rarely planned. But I try to give myself a full 3-4 hours of lockdown one evening per week (for me, it's Tuesday) to really dig in and record. It's like being in a band -- if you have rehearsal once a week, you make sure your calendar is clear that night. I also find that if I give myself 30 minutes here and there to work on songwriting, 30 minutes here or there to record some basic tracks, and then save the more combative tasks for the Tuesday night lockdown, it all goes well. And, yeah, I stay up until 3am at least one night per week.

It's good that you're including your daughter in the process. Keep it fun and light; she'll thank you for it one day. My dad was a jazz pianist, with a real gift for playing... and a real gift for making it seem like an unfathomably difficult, out-of-reach, frustration-laced curse. It's amazing that I or any of my siblings ever managed to pick up an instrument. My daughter has access to guitars, drums, keyboards, and the understanding that these things are FUN above all else. She'll never be forced to take lessons for an instrument that doesn't call to her, and she'll never feel like daddy's music time is some kind of perverted hobby to be hidden from the family.

CurtZHP · Post by **CurtZHP** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 1:14 pm

I guess I'm kinda fortunate too. My wife has long understood my interests and never made me apologize for them. We knew each other for 8 years before we got married so I often joke that I have no sympathy for her. She knew what she was getting.

I've got a full time job and my wife is a stay-at-home mom of two (#3 on the way).

As long as nothing in the house is broken and grass gets cut, she lets me spend as much time in the studio as I want (within reason).

I also have a "rule" of sorts that I do no yard work or stuff around the house on Sundays (emergency repairs being the exception). For us, Sunday is "goof-off" day. Once we get home from church, everybody can do whatever they feel like doing, so I have all day in the studio if I want it.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:18 am

I'll tell ya's my solution, but I don't reco it, but it worked:

d-e-e-v-o-r-c-e

To be sure, there were many other issues there in 2000, but besides the custody of my children and getting her gone, the next best benefit was/is time to record.

And now, girlfriends are chosen (or not) with that in mind, also.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:08 am

CurtZHP's situation sounds really similar to mine. My wife is incredibly cool and understanding. When we met I was playing in three bands, working and going to school so she totally knew what she was getting into, but she is also a huge music fan so that helps immensely.

My daughter is 9 months old now and I pretty much mix when she goes to sleep and also one night a week I either rehearse with my band or record my band or another. Then we switch off on weekends, like this Saturday I will record all day and she will have our daughter and next saturday we will do a family thing or I will take care of our daughter and let her get some stuff done that she needs to do.

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:29 am

CurtZHP wrote:I also have a "rule" of sorts that I do no yard work or stuff around the house on Sundays (emergency repairs being the exception). For us, Sunday is "goof-off" day. Once we get home from church, everybody can do whatever they feel like doing, so I have all day in the studio if I want it.

That's a really sane rule.

stoneman · Post by **stoneman** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:33 am

good advice damien. my wife's not an evil troll, she likes when i am happy and a good night recording or creating anything makes me a better human to live with...but i don't think she'd mind if i spent more evenings folding towels and watching greys anatomy reruns. ha!

oh yeah, we are about to have another kid in march so i'll be staying up late a lot again. might as well get acclimated now. sleep when i'm dead

...late for kindergarden

CurtZHP · Post by **CurtZHP** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:35 am

Dakota wrote:
CurtZHP wrote:I also have a "rule" of sorts that I do no yard work or stuff around the house on Sundays (emergency repairs being the exception). For us, Sunday is "goof-off" day. Once we get home from church, everybody can do whatever they feel like doing, so I have all day in the studio if I want it.
That's a really sane rule.

Yeah, I read it in a book somewhere.

Corey Y · Post by **Corey Y** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:14 pm

Sounds more like "people skills" than "recording techniques", heh. I'd go for the "trading time" approach, personally. Work out some time to yourself to work on your recording and give her back some time for things she wants to do, or be available to watch your kids so she can have her own solitary time.

I don't really have this problem very often, but my wife and I don't have kids. We're also both pretty solitary people and she doesn't really get separation anxiety that often. I just make sure to get in some face time on tv nights, do things around the house without being asked and give her a veto on my schedule once in a while.

Justin Foley · Post by **Justin Foley** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:09 pm

+1 on skipping sleep.

Learn how to function on fewer hours of sleep at night and stop drinking. This got me a record in the past year. Best one yet that we've done.

= Justin

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 11:50 am

Interview with Kelley Stoltz:
What elements go into the songwriting process?
"Having the day free to play around on an instrument until a cool melody or rhythm comes along."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z12HeZYrkN

"home recording and finding time in household with children and working full time"
bwaahahaahahahaahaha (recovers from nearly laughing self into coma..)

Six years into this situation, some probably obvious things I try to keep in mind:

Simplify* your setup and keep it as turnkey as possible.

Keep a notebook bedside. Write stuff down so when you've got time you've got something to kick start your creativity. A little voice recorder thing is good too.

If your kids show interest and are "of age", hand them a shaker, or have them play a simple keyboard line. Give them the Linda McCartney parts.
No, I haven't had much success with this, but we did record some silly fun jam sessions. She also loves delays and looping, so create some fun loops. Eventually you may grow yourself a rhythm section, co writer, tape operator...musically inclined child.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Simplify, two methods:

1. Sell off stuff you don't use. There's plenty of time for remorse later.

2...Can't do that? Stuff stuff you've researched, coveted and sought for ages pack it away under the bed and rotate it out like the Smithsonian and the Louvre.

ymwill definitelyv

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