I've been motivated to get down into the recording studio, lately. Due to factors ranging from general stress & chronic tiredness to my pursuit of theatre, it's been nearly a year since I've spent any meaningful time down there. In the past week, however, I've gotten drums and some guitars laid down on a new song.
Last night, I was down there again, and making some great headway. I got a bass track laid down, which I was really excited about. And for those lacking experience working in a multi-track studio, let me just say that (particularly as a musician that is more of a craftsman than a technical virtuoso) making it through a song mistake-free, beginning to end, with nearly any intsrument is an exercise in concentration and stress management. But I did it, and was rarin' for more. I then hit upon a great guitar sound and was able to add an extra guitar layer through the whole song. Really pumped, I gave a shot at the most touchy, visible instrumental part of any song-the guitar solo. Success!!!
I then decided to try some scratch backup vocals; "scratch" referring to something that is laid down as a guide and/or experiment, but not intended for a final mix. I just wanted to see if something worked. I was about 20 minutes into singing a series of "aaaaa"'s when I was shocked to see Sharon at the bottom of the stairs. She informed me that, with our new duct system, my vocals were coming out, clear as day, two floors up in the bedroom. And keeping her awake. Beyond my initial embarassment (when you're experimenting with "aaaaa" and have your headphones on, it undoubtedly sounds pretty fruity), I was kind of bummed....what is the implication for my late-night recording sessions (the only time when I am free to record)? It is possible I will be able to close off the vent enough to get around the problem in the future, but I decided to give the vocals a rest for the night and move on to other things.
I moved over to the Korg (the recording unit) and started switching into some effects to see how everything so far sounded, and the entire unit seized up. Not a button worked. Having run into this before, I knew there could be but one outcome. Nevertheless, I tried everything from slapping the side of the machine to randomly hitting button after button in hopes of getting a response. Nothing, of course. With my brain reeling, and my heart just plain fagged, I did a hard shut down. Everything I did for the night is lost.
An experience like that can drive an emotionally fragile recording artist like myself out of the studio for months, in some instances. As it is, I stayed up late with a cartoon balloon containing grumbly scribbles over my head, and this morning was involved in a funk-induced punt.
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7 comments:
The worst kind of problem - one completely beyond your control, and one for which you will never receive an explanation and so can never learn to avoid.
Not sure if there's something like auto-save on the Korg, but it certainly seems like a worthwhile concept.
Working in Autocad at various times in the past, I've been so into what I was doing that I forgot to save and for whatever reason auto-save was set wrong or off or whatever. Of course there is an inevitable catastrophic failure resulting in the loss of hours of work, which can be redone, and usually faster than before, but blech.
They may not be entirely analogous as the creative process is filled with more mystery.
Another classic example - my brother and I (Tom) had been working our way through Bard's Tale on C64 for months, sometimes playing together, sometimes playing separately, but always using the same characters and working toward the same goal. Near the end, while playing alone he managed to defeat the main bad guy and was on his way out to glory when the game crashed. We never finished the game again.
I suppose it's a little different in the creative process-yeah, because there's so many little nuances to an individual performance that you love that can never be truly replicated.
But certainly any computer crash results in a tremendous, burning feeling.
Weird-the only way to save what you're working on in the Korg is to move to the next song. Not hard at all, and no real excuse for not doing it after any successful track. Just one of those things where you get into a groove and don't want to take the minimal amount of time and trouble.
I am sad for you and your loss of musical success. How is it that you can hear the music now and couldn't before? There was ductwork all over your house before. I have always been amazed at how you could go into your basement and be as loud as you wanted and no one could really be disturbed by what you were doing. As you know from your own experiences, you can't do anything in my house without everyone else hearing about it.
Can you make a studio in your basement? You could buy some plywood and some sound proofing material and make a small one?
There was only a hot air supply (which is now the return) going up into the room before. And I think it was tiny and had a circuitous route up there. Very little heat came through. Big bright new shiny supply, now.
I think you have a family of light sleepers.
It would be cool to have an actual "studio" studio, though Gibbs & I generally poo-poo the idea that there's a HUGE difference between quality of recording that comes from recording in an official closed studio and just doing it in our basements in the midst of concrete block walls and junk. When it comes down to it, 99% of the sound comes straight from your instrument (or voice) straight into the mic, which is inches away. Hard to mess that up.
But soundproof the ceiling? Perhaps in my future, if this becomes a recurring issue, and if closing off the vent doesn't work. An expense and project I'd rather not take on, however.
Seems like everything costs money. What kind of project are you working on? I would like to talk to you about the Vikings sometime when you are free.
I feel your pain. Having done the exact same thing a time or two myself. It burns. As far as the vent...you will find away around it.
You always have a way around the no-win situation.
try code 16309
T-Clog: Working on an alternative pop solo album called "The Secret of HIM"
Mighty: The KORG seizing up is an unwinnable situation.
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