Advice wanted for future studio sessions

[davewinter85]

Hi all,
First proper post, besides the new member post. Need a bit of advice from anyone who may experience/has experienced, or not felt brave enough to ask.

I'm due to hit the studio in October for an EP with my band. I have a concern with regards to my efforts and input. I am worried that when it comes to recording, I'm going to make a complete muck up of it. It comes down to being in the proverbial spotlight for tracking my guitars. I have no qualms in saying the other guitarist is light years ahead of me, technique wise, something I can live with. During practises, I don't have very many problems (the odd bum note now & then) but I've only had 1 real experience of studio time previously in another band. Maybe it was the conditions we were in, but we had 5 tracks to go through in 1 day, but I lost my bottle, with 5 other people's eyes on me in the booth and had to resort to the other guitarist doing certain parts of some tracks.

Has anyone else had this before? Or any advice for keeping a cool head in a studio environment.

Thanks in advance. :-D

 

[MikeH]

Practice. A lot.

/thread

 

[Mwoit]

Practice a lot, know the song structures inside out.

A good idea is to record yourself, and listen to yourself play. Be really harsh on your own playing. Also, record yourself and double / quadruple track yourself and see how tight you can lock all your takes.

 

[davewinter85]

Believe me, practice is all ok, just the confidence is the thing that wanes. Shouldn't have an effect on me as I've done a good few live shows in front of people. Different environment I guess...

 

[The Uncreator]

Practice I think is something a little too obvious, maybe he was asking for something other than that?

If thats the case, I would say find a way that you can record in solitude if thats what you prefer. Every guitarist messes up in the studio, and when you nail something perfect, chances are you will still do another couplet takes just in case. Just be relaxed, you have several months until then so sit down and make every song complete and total muscle memory.

 

[Floppystrings]

If the other guitarist is able to record the parts in less takes, that is how things go.

Lots of bands are like that. Do you think James ever let kirk record rhythm parts? Hell nah.

 

[Demiurge]

Practice a lot, know the song structures inside out.

A good idea is to record yourself, and listen to yourself play. Be really harsh on your own playing. Also, record yourself and double / quadruple track yourself and see how tight you can lock all your takes.

This... if just for preparing yourself for being recorded. For myself, I might think I have something down, but when "record" light goes on... let's just say that it takes a few more runs to nail it than expected. Build your comfort level for putting yourself on the spot.

 

[Augminished]

Do what the others have said practice.

Speaking from a studio standpoint don't act cocky. Know your parts so well that you can play them without a guitar. Know what tone you want. With people staring at you the easiest way I learned (if they won't look away) is stare at there forehead or hair. It just seems to work for me.

 

[Floppystrings]

Do what the others have said practice.

Speaking from a studio standpoint don't act cocky. Know your parts so well that you can play them without a guitar. Know what tone you want. With people staring at you the easiest way I learned (if they won't look away) is stare at there forehead or hair. It just seems to work for me.

Ask to be alone when you do your parts.

Staring is annoying.

 

[Slamp]

Always takes me a little while to get in to the groove of tracking, so i try not to be too hard on myself until i atleast get warm enough to start delivering.
I hate recording by myself though, i work better with someone punching me in, and giving me feedback as we go. In my current band the other guitarist and I really try to leave our ego's out of it, we know that we have different strengths in our playing, so if one of us struggles with a particular passage we just let the other try.
The best possible end result in the least possible amount of time would be my goal going into the studio.

 

[Augminished]

Ask to be alone when you do your parts.

Staring is annoying.

That will work but if you are speaking up just say "Can you guys not stare at me?" or "Why are you guys staring am I that good looking?" Make a joke out of it (not that one it sucked ).

I never stare at anyone who comes into my studio. I leave guitar magazines out, TV, Xbox whatever for any of the other band members to do while they are waiting.

This is a method I use when I use to compete with my bagpipes. It also works if you have stage fright. Just my

 

[guitareben]

Recording is a bitch, your not alone

But the best way (I think) to deal with this is to practice recording! If you have any stuff at home you can use to record with then record yourself

Also, if you have any form of backing track (Guitar pro or some superior drummer drums or something?) you might wanna try looping each section and playing each one non stop for some extended period of time (half an hour), just so you get completely comfortable with them. And really, really listen hard to your playing. Recording is unforgiving, it will pick up oddly picked notes, wrong notes, all the slightest mistakes etc.

You just have to "own" the songs - Be super duper comfortable playing them (Moreso than when you play in band practices).

 

[ChrisRushing]

Start with songs that will be the easiest. This will help get your initial confidence going. Once you get some momentum going tackle the harder passages. Also, don't feel bad about asking other members to leave. I have been in professional situations where even seasoned players wanted to track with no one in the room but the engineer.
Also, try to record a practice and really listen for mistakes. Honest feedback will help you have the most productive day when you do make it into the real studio. If you are struggling with something don't be afraid to admit it. It WON'T get covered up in the mix. If your other guitarist is that much better, have him work with you. It will benefit both of you in the long run and most importantly your music and your band.

 

[oddcam]

Practicing and recording require vastly different levels of mastery. If you can't produce the sound you want in a studio in a few takes, then you simply can't produce that sound reliably in any situation. Practicing with your band is not a good gauge of your individual performance by any means (there are 4 other instruments to cover up your mistakes).
You need to record these parts yourself first, multiple times, until you can lay out perfect tracks the majority of the time. Once you've mastered your parts at a recording level, your "confidence issue" will resolve itself.
Hint: Let another, better guitarist critique your efforts. If he's honest, it will make you angry and him uncomfortable. But it will help a lot.