How many takes does it normally take you before you're happy with a recording?
Any tips for dealing with the red light syndrome?
I've had pieces in the past where it's taken me up to 40 takes to get something that i'm happy with... Curious to see what experience others have!
The answer is: It takes me more than it should... 😆 I think most of us have that problem, at least as an emerging artist. For some it lasts forever, for others it's a matter of time and experience.
but it depends on the piece. if i'm recording a piece that i've been working on for a while or an old idea, i'm more comfortable compared to a new idea that i came up with recently and decided to finish. But just to give a number, it can take me between 5-10 takes. I can see a big difference between now and 2 years ago when i started though!
I am currently using VSTs, which is stupid knowing i work as a piano salesman for Yamaha Canada and i'm surrounded by upright/grand pianos 24/7. But as you said, it has to do with the confidence one has.
As a self-taught pianist i'm not comfortable yet with the way i play, my technique, etc. So recording using VSTs gives me some peace of mind knowing that if i make any mistakes, i can fix them afterwards. I usually try to come up with a take where there's as few mistakes/things to fix as possible though.
That being said, i'm a huge over thinker and perfectionist, i have a lot of OCD and sometimes i can drive myself crazy listening to a recording over and over again trying to find things that could/should be better. To the point where i can end up hating the piece and to be honest, very often i end up making it sound worse. (you know the struggle 😆)
Nothing beats the feel and sound of recording a real piano. I've only released 10 pieces so far, and i don't think there's ONE that i'm satisfied of how it sounds. I think that the way i play my music on an acoustic piano and the way it actually sounds in my recordings is completely different and i can't say i like it.
But yeah, it's part of the learning process. every release i learn something new and i know it's a matter of time before i start getting more comfortable & experiences, and eventually move to recording on an acoustic. Can't wait!
I waited too long in my life for the perfect moment, to know that i'm ready, to FEEL ready, and truth is, that moment never came. I had to jump in and learn along the way. and i'm glad i did.
I know it’s not the technique for everyone, and I’m sure if I had the technical abilities I would prefer to do it all in one recording, but this had proved to being really useful for me to be able to release my music in a way that I’m happy with whilst still recording on a real piano instead of vst.
This has been quite a big issue for me in my music. I wouldn’t consider myself a very technically gifted piano player, often making lots of mistakes whilst recording which can be frustrating. I would say my strength lies more in composing then it does actually playing the piano(even though I’m getting much better over time).
When I first started releasing I used VSTs for this very reason, because I wasn’t confident enough to play my pieces in one recording, that would sound how I wanted them to sound. Using VSTs allowed me to slightly change velocity of notes, timing and also cover up any of theses mistakes.
However, I decided to start recording on actual piano because I believe it just sounds a lot nicer and more authentic. Since then, I’ve actually been combining a number of my recordings into one seemless piece. I’m thinking of making a full post about the technique soon. So usually I would take about 10-20 recordings of one piece, listen to each one and try and use the parts I like best for each section.
I know this is quite an unorthodox technique but it has really helped for me to get my best sound and what I want to achieve. Especially in the neoclassical genre, it’s actually quite easy to cover up jumps between pieces by using volume automation and matching wave lengths rather than doing a straight change. As long as nobody notices, I don’t think it really matters. If you listen to my music closely you can sometimes hear the jump when by the volume is changing slightly when it wasn’t meant to. This happens if I haven’t used the technique very well, but usually I would say 95% of the time it’s seamless. In any given piece I would say I might have 20-30 jumps. I’d be interested to know your thoughts on this, or if anyone else uses this technique.