The plan for guitar was to record in the studio, but the studio seems permanently unavailable with the live room next door being booked for the foreseeable future, and the noise bleeds through the vents and walls, meaning I cannot get a good recording, nor hear myself while playing. Instead, I will be recording at home doing multiple DI track recordings to layer and make the track sound fuller. I may try to include an amp recording from home but my room is prone to echo and my set-up will be questionable because I don’t have a floor mic stand.
This is what it will likely look like when it comes to recording tonight, but panned after recorded as to add depth. I’ll have a lot more control choosing the tone and fine-tuning it if I DI.
4/05/24
After even more problems, I finally have something to show for this page. I spent two weeks stuck in thinking that I wasn’t going to be able to record this up to the quality that I want, then I got sick, lost hearing from being sick and gained brain fog, then decided that it was a smart idea to burn my fingers. So here’s some videos of recording takes or recording practice from when I was experiencing major brain fog.
This run-through was pretty poor. I had just picked up my guitar, no prior rehearsal that day and it shows, because I make a lot of structural and silly little mistakes with hitting wrong notes and missing bends.
What I did to improve this was listen to the structure again before recording, then do a brief practice beforehand and then record right after. Additionally, in this run-through I noticed that the main riff was being cut short in the sense that the notes should ring out and I wasn’t allowing them to. I tried to incorporate this into the next rehearsal, and I think I sometimes did with some failure to recognise the mistake in the moment.
Some positives that come to mind when listening back to this is that I look a lot less stiff and feel more comfortable with recording, but this is still something I need to work on. In the moment I felt like I was putting appropriate energy into different parts which in hand played into the dynamic changes that happen in the original.
PART 1
Positives:
I was spot on with timing for coming in, which is something that I had previously hesitated with. How I transition between chord shapes was consistently accurate, which again is positive progress. Something else I can say is that my cover is mostly accurate to the original with the strumming patterns. I made some changes with the chords prior to looping back into the main riff because it made more sense with how I was going to record the amp mic, as I decided to do panned tracks and then an amp mic track centred.
Areas of improvement:
I have issues with not consistent bending, and unintentionally playing a G while hitting that bent note. I have practiced playing this riff over and over so I’m starting to come to the conclusion that playing while recording is the problem, which means I need to work on recording a lot more often.
Closer to the end I made some structural mistakes, like after the middle chorus where it changes key, since I evidently forgot when that section began and how many repetitions of it I should do. From there, the panic set in as going into the last chorus I made further structural mistakes, which then developed into rushed playing and more missed or incorrect chords. I ended on the wrong chord, too.
From this I need to acknowledge that this is a recording and not a live performance. It does not matter if I mess up between sections. I can re-record when I need to, nothing is permanent and I could even just re-record only the parts that I messed up if there is silence between a nearby bar.
PART 2
This run-through had improved significantly from the first in the video at the top of the page. I think this is because I’m much more accurate and confident with a plectrum, so I’m not strumming strings accidentally as much anymore, I’m playing with more confidence and seeing the fun in recording now and I’m worrying less, and finally I am more aware of the structure after quickly re-learning it after a long break.
While yes, I do have brain fog here, I need to make sure that I don’t jump to parts that aren’t there yet and I know where I am. This shouldn’t be a problem ordinarily but the area of improvement still needs to be noted. I’m still strumming other strings accidentally so I could use some practice generally playing with a pick. Otherwise, I need to look out for the moments I’m jumping from one side of the fretboard to the other because sometimes I have landed too close the fret line, in particular with that last chord, which needs to be cleaner.
To improve my recording, I need to focus on my right hand with the strings that I am hitting by practicing parts that I struggle to isolate particular strings with, which means repetitive rehearsal. Additionally, as a general note, I should watch my left hand when jumping to the start of the main riff to ensure I don’t go to 9th fret accidentally out of habit.
Here’s the cover at the moment with the last take I did (in the video above), for the sake of providing evidence of progress and a general update to how it sounds with every other track.
And a screenshot of Logic to show what I have done at this point.
I’ve been using backing tracks and isolated tracks to record each bit and choose an appropriate tone for each thing, and I’ll do the same for mixing, but for the time being I only have vocals and the guitar and keys track since the vocals help with following structure and the guitar track will help with tone.
5/5/24
Interestingly, YouTube recognised both videos as 1979 in a copyright warning, even though none of the original tracks are left. Considering I’ve never had that before, I think I’m doing something right.
Positives:
My timing in this is spot on, even without the vocal track, which I was using previously to follow both the structure and the tempo alongside using the metronome. Considering the emphasised strums in this song are off-beat, I’m proud that my timing is good. Even though it doesn’t sound like it here, I changed my tone on my guitar to be softer so that mixing on Logic isn’t going to be a pain. Listening back to this, it definitely has helped, so my tone awareness is good.
Areas of improvement:
There are some areas of hesitation where I appear lost, which is probably because I hadn’t picked up my guitar at all today prior to this recording and not listening through beforehand either. The end chord is another area where I messed up, with thinking that it looped around once more before that chord. Sometimes I rush going into another loop of the verse sequence, so I really do need to slow it down and not panic so much when I hit record.
How I can encourage improvement:
It would help if I did any kind of warm-up or prep work before recording, but as the deadline approaches my head is in a frenzy and I think I don’t have time for anything like that. I need to slow down, focus and believe I can get this finished.
Positives:
I sound warmed up more because what I’m playing is more accurate and comfortable. I have made no structural mistakes in this one and I think it is getting closer to what I want. The twangy-ness of my strings are putting me off and I don’t think it’s just how I’m playing, so I should look into making it so that it sounds right while I’m playing and not just through Logic. What I mean by this is that the Logic track sounds way better than what I’m playing, and actually playing discourages me halfway through.
Areas of improvement:
I can’t help but feel that playing with a bright tone naturally with the strings I have is putting me off, so I’ll try once more with headphones and hope that it helps. My posture is terrible again here, which is an awful habit. I hadn’t realised until I watched the video back and realised how squished my back and neck looked.
Other notes:
The video cut out because my phone decided that 5% was too low a battery level to record, and I had been ignorant to that.
12/05/24
As I am nearing the end of my project, I turned the cameras off and focused hard on getting this guitar part right. I recorded one take for DI guitar and another through my amp at home, and this is what it sounds like with minimal mixing.
While far from perfect and slightly dull sounding, this is what I have for the time being. I will be re-recording guitar Monday morning to try eliminate some accidental other string hits, and I’ll be mixing guitar tomorrow as well.
Additionally, I decided I was going to mime over the guitar recording as it didn’t really matter if I caught a good take on camera or not and being on camera seemed to make things worse for me. I will play two separate times, one displaying me in front of my mac and audio interface and the other with me sat beside my amp. This is because the panned DI parts are just panned and one is moved a few milliseconds after the first track. I may do the same for my bass video recording for the sake of keeping a theme
Positives:
The guitars together give a warm feeling which is what the aim was, due to the original having a warm tone. I added the amp mic recording to highlight some mid to high end parts but on my amp I put bass at a 5, mid at a 10 and treble at a 0 to really emphasise the low end frequencies. As well as this, I adjusted my guitar tone to be slightly more muffled. In a previous recording (included below) I hated the sound that a crisp tone created. The muffled sound is much closer to the original and I can use EQ to brighten it up if I really want.
Areas of improvement:
My consistency when switching from the end of a verse into the chorus could be smoother as I tend to simplify the strumming pattern. There are some issues with strumming additional strings unintentionally, and to be quite honest I haven’t got a full take yet, hence only uploading half the song at the moment. Everything else is done except for the full guitar take for amp mic, but I can do this in two separate takes so long as I keep the same tone and volume, which means I can keep the take I have already done.
For future improvement:
Practice strumming with a pick, as I feel being uncomfortable with using one has been my downfall this project. Practice a wide range of techniques, such as tremolo picking moving across strings and alternating picking patterns. A practice I enjoy is using all four fingers to gradually move up the fretboard and once all four notes on one string has been played, move down a string and up a fret. I have used this for alternating picking pattern practice before and to increase my movement speed across a fretboard, so I think this would be a good way to practice. As well as this, I should find similar songs where practice is necessary.
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This is the re-recording of the rhythm part through an amp mic alongside the panned DI guitars, which I think give it that extra little bit of warmth. I’m having some issues with the programmed drums and having them gradually fade in so please note that that is not permanent, nor am I finished mixing.
The chord that I end on sounds quite harsh at the moment, so I might add some reverb specifically to that part.
Overall, I’m really happy with how the guitar has turned out. I think that it is as close as I can get it without using the college studio, and I am proud about the fact that I was able to do both bass and guitar with one tiny Macbook and a little red recording box.
The things in particular that I like would have to be the ambience that the layers create and the warmth that my little bit of mixing on the DI guitars has created, my timing in this recording, since timing has proven to be an issue in both of my previous initial assessments, and my persistence to get it done and get it how I want it, rather than settling for a half decent take. I think I have improved in both my instrumental skills and my recording skills since this years’ initial assessment and I am incredibly happy that I can say that.
Some things I would change if I could would be the fluidity between some sections where I could add some muted strums to fill the space, as well as my scheduling for the recording, when I knew the studios were going to be crammed and the live room would be busy from how it was last year. In honesty, I could have rehearsed on camera more so that I could reflect on those videos more frequently in-between rehearsals.