Recording Troubles

[shingo]

Hi,
     I decided that I would record some of my pieces and put them on CD for Grandparents as a kind of christmas gift, but also just as I know they are genuinely interested in having something of that nature.
     I have the recording facilities neccessary for this, but I just cannot for the life of me play any of the pieces (whilst recording) correctly, or at the standard I know I can. It is incredibly frustrating as they are not paticularly hard pieces but mistakes which have never happened before keep cropping up and I just can't seem to get any of them down.
     I started this venture at the beggining of the month so as to allow myself excess time. However it is now th 19th and I have only recorded 2 short pieces. I have tried leaving the record on for the whole session so as to alleviate some of the pressure but this has only worked to some degree.
    I have also managed to rid of my 'perfectionist' attitude and settle for a couple of mistakes as they are more interested in the gesture and listening to what I can play rather than scrutenising, but still there is a limit and at the moment I just can't play anything deacently.
     I tried bringing in a 5 time limit, where a piece could only be attempted for recording a maximum of 5 times, maybe not in one session but say attempted once aa night, but in the end this didn't work either. I know that I want to send something off instead of scrapping the idea as, again, they won't think of maybe not even really notice some of the errors etc but at the moment it is hard.
     This has really ground my motivation right down with regards to practice as know I just see this big task ahead of me which I must overcome, it's not longer the 'free' practice sessions I had before.
     What do you guys do to help psychologically when recording?
     Thanks for any feedback, I just thought I would try and vent some of my frustration out on here so I can return to the piano later tonight in a more placid mood. It's a good job I have no aspirations to become a concert Pianist  .

[quantum]

This can easily happen to many of us, including myself.  You seldom record a take when what you have in your head is exactly what was put into sound. 

Have you tried splicing takes?  careful not to splice into so small sections that the piece becomes too sterile and without life.

[shingo]

Thank you for your response Quantum.
     I am glad to hear that it can happen quite commonly, not wishing others to suffer from similar problems but it is reasuring.
    Splicing takes I have indeed tried before, it was a bit of a pain but it did work. I may resort to this again, especially in the longer pieces where it is more sustained pressure. I must admit I felt a little dirty about it though, seemed like cheating but to be honest at this stage I will be scrambling anything, so thanks for the re-ignition of that particular route.

[Bob]

Recording things yourself adds another level of challenge to the performance.  I would keep it as simple as possible.  Set the levels, record it all, then go back and edit it.  If that's possible.

Keep the music simple.  That never hurts to make things go smoothly.  If it's not going perfectly, simplify the music so it's playable.

At this point, I would just get something in the can.  Even one piece.  Just get something done to give as a gift.

You have to start somewhere though.  If you get one piece recorded, that's a start.  Just keep making improvements from there.  Even if you do a superfabulous job straight off, there will always be things you can improve later on.  So it's not a matter of getting it all perfect from the start, but just getting started and working from there.

Psychologically?  It's sounds like you're not quite prepared.  If you've got two recorded already, I would just use though and wrap things up, project-wise and gift-wise. 

Knowing I'm recording myself can freak me out sometimes.  The nice part is that you can go back and redo it, but the negative is that you can ALWAYS go back and redo it.  Giving yourself a limit is good.  I use three myself.  And then if I make a mistake during the first one, I just keep ploughing ahead in case that turns out to the be the best one.  The more you do it, the easier it is.  Sometimes, I am completely comfortable with the recording.  I am alone.  No one is listening.  I can play as freely as I want.  If it records and it was free  playing, great.  If I mess up, so what? 

I find a lot of those mistakes I hear during recording are either things I didn't practice well enough, or things I wasn't aware of and the stress of performance gives me super ears.  Sometimes that can be bad if I start focusing in on minutiae I won't be able to control or fix though.  Then I have to pull myself back out of that focus.


I would say pick easier pieces or practice them better.  It should just be a matter of hitting record on the machine then.  If the idea of your being recorded freaks you out, that's another matter.  I can usually put myself into a mental state where I don't care, whether that's good or not.  Occasionally I get so nervous I can't control the shakes, but that's rare.  My strategy is have it all planned out.  The performance is barely a step beyond the practicing.  That way I go in confident because I already know pretty much exactly what will happen.  That can be a little boring, but it does give a pretty good guarantee on what will happen.  And it allows me to improve things in the future.

Take a deep breath.  Relax.  Do something fun.  Get some good sleep.  If you can.  A month doesn't sound like very long to do a recording project though.  If I wanted it out for Christmas, I think I would be recording just after Thanksgiving at the latest.  It's hard to plan too far in advance, although things generally tend to take up as much time as you give them. 

I would accept that it's not going to be perfect.  You're probably expecting a level of playing that's beyond your reality right now.  If you flip that around, you're probably playing better now than you have in the past, so that's something to feel good about isn't it?  If you expected less, you might think you were doing pretty well now, wouldn't you?  It freaks me out a little to think like that, that how you feel about a project is just your expectations and in reality your very best work might really be garbage in another context.  But if you're doing something, whether you work hard or not, if you put some effort in, you're bound to make some progress and learn something, which I think is always a positive. 

That's the interior view of yourself.  There is also the outer world view to take into account.  A wrong note is a wrong note and people who know nothing about music can still tell if a performance is generally good or bad.  So make the recording sound good, even if it means picking easier music next time or leaving out notes.  Most people don't notice missing notes.  They notice the technical things if they listen for that but they get a nice subjective impression of the performance.  If you play with confidence, that comes across on the recording.  If you confidently hit a wrong note, then it may even sound right on the recording.  Of course, you'll still know, but it may not matter depending on the context.

I mean it's your grandparents.  They will be thrilled with whatever you give them, even if it's just one piece, even if notes are missed.  They will be proud of you and honored to get that type of gift from you.  If they know nothing of music, they will think it's awesome.  If they know music well, chances are they already know you're playing level so it's not going to shock them or anything.  They will be happy just that you are thinking of them.

And as far as recordings go, no one will be aware of all the time and effort you put into it.  You pick the piece, practice it up, record and all that, and then the listener might only listen to it once and halfway listen to it at that.  That's another reason I wouldn't be hung up about little mistakes or making it perfect.  If it's for yourself, that's one thing, but if it's for a quick breezy listen for someone else, don't knock yourself out too much.

[shingo]

     Thanks Bob for your great insight. I am feeling increasingly settled about the matter now. I think you are right about expectations in regards to the final product as it were. As although I can play the pieces well without recording, suddenly to expect some polished professional version is silly, but hard to come to terms with  .
     

Knowing I'm recording myself can freak me out sometimes.  The nice part is that you can go back and redo it, but the negative is that you can ALWAYS go back and redo it.

     That sums up my problems completely also, I am ALWAYS tempted to go back and do stuff instead of moving on. Tomorrow with a fresh approach I will bear all of this in mind and just get them done! I think most of it is being realistic and getting in the 'zone'. I believe I had the correct mind frame when I did the other 2 as I just played and didn't even think about "What if...." or going back to re-do stuff.

I mean it's your grandparents.  They will be thrilled with whatever you give them, even if it's just one piece, even if notes are missed.  They will be proud of you and honored to get that type of gift from you.  If they know nothing of music, they will think it's awesome.  If they know music well, chances are they already know you're playing level so it's not going to shock them or anything.  They will be happy just that you are thinking of them.

And as far as recordings go, no one will be aware of all the time and effort you put into it.  You pick the piece, practice it up, record and all that, and then the listener might only listen to it once and halfway listen to it at that.  That's another reason I wouldn't be hung up about little mistakes or making it perfect.  If it's for yourself, that's one thing, but if it's for a quick breezy listen for someone else, don't knock yourself out too much.

That is also great advice and helps me actualise the drifting thoughts in my own conscience about the severity of the task. Afterall it is not a serious work to be distributed and sold around the world, and it seems silly to become frustrated about it when it is only a small gesture. So again I will try and bear this in mind, hopefully reducing any frustration or 'chore' like element to the procedure.
     Thanks again

[dan101]

You've probably gotten all the advice that you need. If, after all of this, you are still having trouble, then you might consider a midi keyboard that is weighted and linked to some recording software (Cubase...). Mistakes can be corrected easier in midi than in an audio recording from an acoustic piano. Of course, acoustic is more desirable, but knowing that you can easily correct mistakes might give you a psychological edge. Good luck.

[Bob]

When I've done it I give myself three tries.  If it's not happening during that time, it's probably not going to happen and I'm mentally worn out by then anyway.

I also expect to get the same level as I practiced up to.  If I do that, I consider it "succesful" at that step.  Once a in a very great while it goes higher, and it can always get worse if you stop trying.

The tricky part I've found is that when you truly don't care how it turns out, the Zen thing of just doing and not focusing on the outcome, then sometimes I've been situations where I really start thinking "Aaa... why not?  I could walk off stage right now.  I've already gotten everything I will get out of this."  Thikning that during a performance and knowing that in my mind I really could just leave or purposely throw in a wrong note just to see if I could do it. 

But yes it is hard to accept your level of playing, esp when you get a peak at the next level once ni awhile and then your mind assumes you're now always on that level.  That's a plus for recordings and performances when you become aware of your situation.

Sometimes I've practiced so much that I'm actually bored by the time of playing and I don't think that's good.  A little stress of the performance is good.  I suppose focusing the mind on something like bring out the melody line or doing a nice crescendo helps.  Boredom and not caring during the moment of performance is probably just as bad as being unprepared or nerves though.  It's always a balance.

And it's never ever done.  It's just that the performance gives you a deadline.  You wish for another week, but really if you had it, you'd be wishing for another week after that.  Otherwise, I think I'd spend forever trying to perfect a piece and there's a point where it's more productive to just move on.

Good luck again.

Bob