# Deceived!



## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Have you ever recorded yourself thinking, this sounds pretty good?! Only to be sadly mistaken that what your playing sounds like a 5 year old playing your guitar.

We have started to record every rehearsal which is a good thing. I can hear
mistakes that I never even knew existed. Depressing. Recording reveals my mistakes and more!

I thought Rebel rebel was in the pocket but my timing is not what I thought it to be! It's really helps you to correct the mistakes that make your song sound like shit on a stick!


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Keep recording, even you might feel like kicking yourself or your guitar in the ass. You are,... learning.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

I think the guy needs a new tape recorder. Keep'a'go'n.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Yup. That happened a lot when I started playing and recording, but I was young and thought much more of myself than I do now. I let nerves get the better of me, tended to rush instead of counting, and was also blowing my wad with every take instead of playing more reservedly. 

Paying your dues with recording takes a lot of patience with yourself. Don't allow yourself to get rattled. Often what shows up on recordings is the player's tendency to practice mistakes by practicing inattentively, too fast, and without listening either as it goes or to recordings of themselves. Eventually you get it down to what works for you. 

Funny, just this morning I was recording a piece my father wrote in the '60s. I had an arrangement of it (my own) and the classical guitar and mandolin parts went down in one take each. The bass, which was a dead simple read, took me several takes. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

It also helps to learn the song correctly! I was up stroking while I should be down stroking which makes a big difference! I found the upstrokes were hard to execute cleanly! Imagine my surprise when what I was playing should be a down stroke?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Lola said:


> Have you ever recorded yourself thinking, this sounds pretty good?! Only to be sadly mistaken that what your playing sounds like a 5 year old playing your guitar.
> 
> We have started to record every rehearsal which is a good thing. I can hear
> mistakes than I never even knew existed. Depressing. Recording reveals my mistakes and more!
> ...


Very common Lola. Recording is always a good way to, shall we say, evaluate things.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Yes, that is much closer to what the audience will hear than what you are hearing while playing. 

Years ago, my singing teacher told me to also record my singing practice and listen afterwards. What an eye......err, ear-opener. He explained that while someone is singing, they are hearing in their head more what they are intending to sing and not what is actually coming out of them. Initially, it was excruciating but it was also a fast track to improvement.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Yeah, it's a crazy sad eye-opener


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

I am trying to rectify these mistakes now! I am using my phone to record myself playing to backing tracks!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

You're taking the right steps to improving your playing. Keep at it!


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Budda said:


> You're taking the right steps to improving your playing. Keep at it!


Absolutely. Self scrutiny is paramount to improvement. It's like videotaping yourself driving vs just driving assuming you're a good driver. 

Id say that recording all jams / rehearsals takes the guesswork out of improvement.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

sambonee said:


> Id say that recording all jams / rehearsals takes the guesswork out of improvement.


It does! I know exactly where I have to tweak my songs!


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

I have been practicing one friggin' song since 7 tonight and I am ready to scream! I know it by heart but my fingers are so uncooperative! Need to take a break but the obsession is getting the better of me! I need to get this song and the timing perfect! Yikes! It's kicking my ass! I am very aware now of how it will sound when recorded! Like shit!


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

But you also know that those things can suddenly be better tomorrow. It's not a destination, it's a Journey (at least that's what Neil Schon said.....).



sambonee said:


> Absolutely. Self scrutiny is paramount to improvement. *It's like videotaping yourself driving vs just driving assuming you're a good driver. *


I don't have to do that. These nice people keep sending me still pics of my driving. Usually with a big 3 digit number printed on the bottom in red. I assume they're trying to sell them? I've never bought any of them though - they want like $348 for them. Jeebuz!!!


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Lola said:


> I have been practicing one friggin' song since 7 tonight and I am ready to scream! I know it by heart but my fingers are so uncooperative! Need to take a break but the obsession is getting the better of me! I need to get this song and the timing perfect! Yikes! It's kicking my ass! I am very aware now of how it will sound when recorded! Like shit!


Practicing at 30% less speed is a test of one's patience and will only improve the understanding of the nuances of any intricate timing. Also watching videos of others playng that part can often give a second perspective.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

That is primarily the reason why in every band I formed, I record every practice we do. My studio is all setup to record anytime the band comes in. I have a recording template that I just use every time. It keeps everyone on their toes. There was a time years ago when I was playing in another band and everyone was so pumped up about being tight, yada, yada. So the next practice I decided to record us and when I sent out the recordings, it was an eye opener for everyone specially the band leader who thought we were doing great. There was a huge improvement the following week when we rehearsed again.

Like everyone has already said, it is good for improving not just your playing but also the playing rest of the band.

Keep at it Lola and don't get frustrated. You'll eventually figure it out.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

To me, the time spent listening to songs that you recorded is time wasted that could be used for more practice. Wouldn't that turn a 3 hour practice into 6 hours if you were having to go over all the practice material.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Guitar101 said:


> To me, the time spent listening to songs that you recorded is time wasted that could be used for more practice. Wouldn't that turn a 3 hour practice into 6 hours if you were having to go over all the practice material.


No, one doesn't need to listen to more than a couple of minutes here and there to understand what needs work. It ultimately save the band/player loads of time.

Peace, Mooh.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

How do you know where to focus your practice without listening? Sure there will be things you know you need to work on, but, as many have stated, there will be "eye openers".


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

sambonee said:


> Practicing at 30% less speed is a test of one's patience and will only improve the understanding of the nuances of any intricate timing. Also watching videos of others playng that part can often give a second perspective.


I always slow it down and play with a metronome. This song is just consuming my mind! I finally realized though where to perfectly place the palm muting. It has to be razor sharp muting though and then it sounds right on the money! This song is an easy song but the rhythm and muting is what makes it sound "just like the original recording" of it! It took me about 3 hours of practice to find this out!


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

I took me all of 5 minutes to hear where this song needs some perfecting. After that it was putting all the techniques together along with the rhythm.

You could do any old strumming pattern that would fit but it doesn't sound quite as good as with the original strumming. Trying to get everything to gel together is the hard part.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2016)

Now you have my curiosity piqued.
What song are you working on?


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Lola. I wouldn't mind hearing the song also. The part about palm muting has piqued my interest as there's a song I'm working on that uses palm muting. It's called Girl Crush by Little Big Town and I've been trying to figure out the muted guitar. Maybe what your doing is similar.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

laristotle said:


> Now you have my curiosity piqued.
> What song are you working on?


It's Domino by Jessie J! It's not really hard it's just getting the techniques perfected for this! The palm muting can either break or make this song!


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

It's probably the little muted scrapes etc. in this that are giving you trouble. If you're referring to the intro guitar bit. The guitar kinda gets lost later on. Having the delay set just right will help. The echo in the wrong place could mess with your timing too.

I'm in the habit of muting chords like that quite frequently when I'm playing, so this one doesn't seem that tricky to me. Once you get used to that particular technique enough that you no longer really concentrate on it, it won't ever present a problem again. It's a great technique used in a ton of songs.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2016)

It's looks like the pick attack is sharp. At least judging by this vid.
I don't know how much it'll help.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Look at the percussive way he picks and mutes! This is what I mean!


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I've said for years: We all concentrate on our left hand while our right hand learns how to play guitar.


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## Rski (Dec 28, 2013)

It's so easy to get disappointed when recording and hearing your results. To me, recording requires a different tact in order to get appreciating results, especially with our digital audio work stations. Practising with the metronome will help you lock on to a solid tempo, learning to swing around that takes lots of practice and patience. Of course quantising will turn your efforts into a robotic beat, finding the right approach will eventually work its way about.

When I record, building a solid foundation takes some effort, sometimes a guitar lick sounds okay, but once other instruments are layered, than things just don't dance at all, so a re-approach is necessary to record your tune. I rehearse my other parts over and over, until I get a familiarity of that addition. Sometimes solo are best done when your foundations are rocking and your pumped, lay it down and soon a keeper happens.


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## Guest (Apr 3, 2016)

What does one practice to record better?


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

Player99 said:


> What does one practice to record better?


What you're about to record.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

If you listen to yourself very carefully you can hear where you are going wrong. Recording yourself is exactly what you sound like! Reality check!


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2016)

I always sound wonderful.


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