Studio

I went into the studio today. In our public library there is a free music studio, which is nice. I find it interesting to analyze the mistakes I made.

*I was too eager to record and should have practiced a song at least five times there in the studio before I even started to record.

*I should have deleted more bad takes and saved myself time later on.

*I should have just recorded three songs and done them perfectly rather than six or seven badly. I needed to have rehearsed those songs for a week at home, playing nothing else. Things I play perfectly every time at home seemed difficult to play with the tape rolling (well, no actual tape was involved.)

*Not hiring an engineer was smart (not a mistake) because it allowed me to make a fool of myself with no observers. I know that when I hire an engineer for the final project, I will by then know a little better what I am dong.

*It wasn't a mistake to go into the studio before I was ready, because I needed to see what it is like first. If I had gone in thinking I could get final takes I would have been more disappointed.

*Hearing my songs played back at me, I realize that they are better than my playing of them is. That is good, in a way.

*I thought I'd use a metronome to keep my time steady. That was brilliant. (Except for the fact that I hadn't practiced with the metronome, so having to do this for the first time while recording produced a cognitive overload. I lasted less than one take with a click in my ear.)

Still, these mistakes mean that the next time I will come up with better results. I'm glad I didn't try to record anything more than piano for the first time I tried this. The vocals and drums will have to come later. I realize that practicing on a keyboard that has no dynamics is not great, because it took me a while to get so I could play phrases with musical-sounding dynamics. My playing is missing a whole dimension. I also learned, though, that I know what the dynamics are supposed to be even if I can't execute them well. By the end of the three hours, I was playing how I wanted to be, within my modest limits.

I have been playing for less than a year (after the usual childhood lessons I mean) so I shouldn't be hard on myself.

I will send you my cd, if you want to pay for the postage. It is an amateur effort so it might not even be worth the postage and price of a blank cd, but I will be willing to share.