I record much less than I'd like to ;)

Back when my day job wasn't consuming my life I also recorded local garage bands looking for an affordable demo, but with the explosion of DAWs and the loss of much of my time in the last few years I don't do nearly as many gigs as I used to. My detailed laments are in the patchbay wiring thread over in Kev's forum.

Right now tho, while the kiddies get used to school season and get back into the groove of doing something other than jamming every week, I'm trying to hone my bass skills. I picked one up last winter as something to play around with, but haven't had much time to do much more than noodle, so I still suck. That doesn't stop me from taping it occasionally. ;)

Anyone know a good bass teacher in the Chicagoland area?

-dave

Dave,
Thanks for the reply....now lets hear form the rest of you. BTW, the Sonic Hedgehog avitar is really cool......I don't know why,it just seem lately I have been noticing these things. I like the ones that are animated. :tu: Fats

Well, I don't have an automated avatar, but the DNA doublehelix molecule is still pretty imho!!!

I record a lot of my own stuff, and demo stuff for local bands around that I have a relationship with. I haven't charged anybody for any of my work, as it more a labor of love than anything else, and besides, I am "independantly wealthy"!!! (Yeah...right!!!)

There are a pair of sisters that have a pretty decent collection or originals that I have been recording off and on for the last couple of years.

Lately, I have been working on an album project for a band out of Texas. The 2 song writers took a road trip up my way last summer to lay down their vocal and rhythm guitar tracks, and now I am completing the rest of the album...all the rest of the instruments (sampled drums) and vocals, plus producing it!!! Tons of work, and it will still probably end up as a demo for when they go into a "real" studio...

DH,
I dig your avatar too! Thanks for the reply, a word of caution just in case you don't already know. Copyright the mixes from the tracks you create for your clients when you finish them. You are entitled to this because you are contributing. Unless you do, if something were to happen with the recordings or even if they re record them but use your musical ideas, you can be paid for your intellectual property........Fats

Interesting thread here.

I pull double duty, working in an audio/video production/duplication house full time, and then moonlight recording music in garages and living rooms and the like when the opportunities arise. Of all things, the first full blown project I did with that was a polka band in the twilight of their glory years. I heard countless stories of their being the biggest polka band in this part of the country back in the late 60's/early 70's. And they had the pictures to prove it. Lots of beer, hot afternoons in the garage, and free food. Plus I made a little extra cash doing it. 2 accordions, saxes and a bone, casio keyboard, and a very poorly tuned tuned drum kit. There were actually a handful of songs that I'm not ashamed to pull out and play for people. Actually got a call from the band leader the other night regarding a new project he's got in mind. Don't know whether to be excited or not. I'm presently working on a demo for an incredible bassist friend of mine. Some really cool Victor Wooten inspired two hand tapping stuff, with some occasional udu thrown in. That's a labor of love type of project. No money, just occasional beer and food. Also just started a month-of-sundays project with a Celtic Irish trio up in the mountains this past weekend. Not the fun stuff you hear in the local Irish pub, but really traditional stuff. Guitar/mandolin, concertina, hammer dulcimer, and voice. That one's paying a little bit. Really talented bunch.

When I'm multi-tracking, I'm running my 01V into digi001, which has worked out extremely well. I know some would ridicule me for this, but 001 is running on a PC (W98, PIII 450mHz, 320mB RAM, 60g internal IDE hard drive). Believe it or not, I've tweaked everything to be rock solid. When running Pro Tools, it never crashes on me. Ever. Sure, I'd love to have a G4, but this PC was given to me by a former employer. Free = GREAT. Of course now I'm trying to figure out how I can afford to upgrade to 002 and run it on a laptop (Titanium PowerBook G4, preferably) so I can use it mobile-ly. For straight to stereo, I run the 01V into a Sony PCM-2700A DAT machine. Has anyone else ever used Sony PCM series DAT decks? How the hell did 3700/3800's, DA-30's and the like become industry standard DAT decks? Issues always seem to arise with those regarding playing back DAT's recorded on other decks and DAT's recorded in them playing back on others. My 2700 (and all other 2700's I've seen, which seem to be rare) is absolutely bombproof. Plays back every single DAT I throw at it and spits out DAT's that play back on every other deck I've thrown them in. I've never understood the industry standards in DAT decks. Alhtough I guess that's ok, as they're all slowly making their way to the curb.

Since a lot of my experience has involved recording some unconventional instruments (accordion, concertina, hammer dulcimer, udu, etc.), I've really been experimenting with mic techniques. I've got a Blue Baby Bottle, a Groove Tubes GT66, a pair of Octava MC 012's, a pair of Superlux CM-H8B's (a budget large diaphragm seemingly modeled after an 87; they're great sounding, actually), a Beta 52, and a handful of 57's. Has anyone else mic'd any weird instruments, and if so, out of those mic's and those instruments, or hell, even if not, what combinations of mic's and instruments and placement jump out at you? Lemme tell you, a soulful accordion sound is a never ending quest. :D

Also, being that my moonlighting work is mostly mobile stuff, I hate hauling my monitors around (Event 20/20's). What recommendations does anyone have for a smaller monitor? My amp is in my rack, so passive would be great. I love my 20/20's sound. Very smooth, very tight low end, smooth crossover. I'd like a similar sounding monitor to haul around, just smaller and lighter. And maybe supplement the low end a bit with a small powered sub, which could also be used here at home with the 20/20's. While they do sound great, they are a little light on the low end (although tight with what they do have), and I usually wind up having to pull a little low end out of my mixes after referencing them elsewhere.

Cycle 60,
I love it! Polka Bands rule! I recorded a guy and his wife once with accordions, "Lady of Spain", you know.....very kitchey-cool. He had a MIDI accordion. Quite a concept. I really enjoy recording unconventional types of things. It's challenging and refreshing to record something different from the normal pop band thing. Re; your computer, there is nothing wrong with free and it never crashes. No ridicule from this here neck of the woods. Sounds to me like you're ahead of the game. As far as monitors go I think everyone here knows my preference for NS 10's. There is a monster thread going on that subject @ Producers, Engineers, Hardware, check it out. So, let's pause to summarize for a moment....
We have 1 for recording his little sister / friends so the can be experienced when they get to a "real" studio, 1 for his own songs / demos and a little commercial activity on the side and 1 that is "recording music in garages and living rooms and the like when the opportunities arise. " for a little money and beer. This is beginning to shape up pretty good, so keep 'em coming...
Fats..........

Ok, here's some grain for the grist mill. I want to know what kind of stuff are y'all recording out there.

I'll record any style/genre. It's all a learning experience.
I'm a composer too, mainly for theatre/ film, so my taste is fairly ecclectic . . . if not iconoclastic.
I record demos of songs - mediaeval, rap, folk, disco, whatever.
In my p o v there's only two kinds of music; good and bad.

One of the other cool projects I have done, and one of the neat things about having my own studio at home is the ability to record some of my kid's school projects in a semi-pro way!

3 years ago, my second son, who was 8 years old at the time, had to to a "country project" that included about 20,000 different items (a report, 3 items from the country, a recipe, etc...). One of the things on the list was to record a commercial for the country, either audio or video. Most kids had their parents hold the family video cam, and speak from a short script...shaky hands...dogs barking...real amateur stuff...for 8 YO's it was fine, I'm sure. But not for *my* son!!! :) The country he chose was France, and he wrote his own rap song (gag!) as a commercial:

(Rap it down now...)

"Come to France if you wanna dance...
And have some fun in the Riviera sun...
The Eifel Tower has all the power..."

etc...etc...etc... Haha...(he was *only* eight!!!).

I got out some pretty cool drum loops, laid down a really tight bass line, and added some synth lines as fills and a melody line between verses...it turned out pretty cool, and he was so proud of his work. We ripped off a CD, and he went into his 3rd grade class as a big time star...it was amazing all the response he got from that "commercial"...and of course...dad was proud!

Here's to the next big up and coming artist!

:c:

Last year, my next son had the same project (he chose Italy), but since he is not as outgoing as his older brother, we did more of a standard commercial with a dialog and backround music. I mixed some traditional italian songs in the background while he read from his script, I transitioned from an upbeat "Tarantella" to a romantic "Santa Lucia" at the appropriate times...hehe...it also turned out pretty cool, and we had a great time doing it together!

Let that be a lesson to all you moms and dads out there...what a great lesson you can teach your kids about recording, and have a great time of bonding with your kids! They had no idea about different takes, and punching parts in and out to fix mistakes, etc. It was a great lesson for them. I think they just assumed that records were recorded "live" in one take, just like daddy's band does when they play out...(and of course when *we* did it, it was always perfect!

Xis wrote,

I'll record any style/genre. It's all a learning experience.
I'm a composer too, mainly for theatre/ film, so my taste is fairly eclectic . . . if not iconoclastic. I record demos of songs - mediaeval, rap, and folk, disco, whatever.
In my p o v there's only two kinds of music; good and bad.

Xis, When your cutting demos are these paid jobs? How about the theater and film work, are you doing that as an income producing thing or is it a "labor of love"?......Fats

DH
That is too cool... it is undoubtably the best use for a home studio I have ever heard of. Those kids are going to carry the memory of that to their old age...So cool.
:D I'm speechless...I love it......Fats

What I am trying to get at here is "why" are we recording the stuff we're recording. What is the driving factor that compels us to record?......Fats

I would definitely say that I'm recording music for the love of the game. While I do try to get paid for doing it, I would do it regardless. I always give ridiculously low prices for the recording that I do, and more often than not everyone involved usually has such a great time and the results are such that they usually throw in a little extra, which is always nice. The free beer and food are just icing on the cake.

I am hoping to eventually grow this into a business. I'm seeing a niche here for doing the type of work that I do. Music would just be a small part of that picture, however. I've raised the point on another thread that I feel that too many of us put on music blinders when it comes to recording, without taking into account all the stuff that really pays the bills, and would allow us to enjoy the music a little more. Corporate work, pro and college sports broadcasting and in-game entertainment work (for those of us in big cities), duplication, etc. While I realize this site is mainly devoted to music, we must all realize that there's a ton of work to be had out there in other areas of audio/video.

Sorry to have rambled.

I gotta come up with some little clever signature here.

Originally posted by Cedar Flat Fats:
Xis wrote,

I'll record any style/genre. It's all a learning experience.

Xis, When your cutting demos are these paid jobs? How about the theater and film work, are you doing that as an income producing thing or is it a "labor of love"?......Fats
It's all paid. I do this for a living. Hmmm . . . but of course, some work is just my own scribbles/sketches.
But those sketches/ideas get used in projects.

But of course, there are those sessions with my kids (girl 17, boy 14) she sings, writes lyrics "dad can't you write some music/put some grooves down for me . . . "

my son plays drums with a band (sort of a blink 182/puddle of mud sound) "dad, can't we please cut another demo in your studio . . .?"

Basically I do all this because I choose to, I love music/sound, it's a passion (I come from a long line of musicians/composers: dad was director of music at the royal dramatic theatre here in stockholm/my mum is a concert singer/my granpa played first violin/one granma played piano for silent movies in london/another played cello). I love putting my music to film/lyrics/, to hear/see it on the stage. I love mixing and getting it "right". I love seeing the smile on my clients face when they suddenly "get it!".

I've been a pro since 1976 when I signed my first contract (pianist). Been in the studio since then too; played/recorded with all sorts of singers/bands/radio shows.

I got my own studio when my daughter was born, decided that touring was a no-no if I wanted to be a dad.

I just love solving problems. And if it involves music/sound/ I'm in heaven.

But I'm man enough to admit that I do hate cables. I really do. Next time I move my studio I'm paying somebody to to the wiring. :)

Howdy

I have my own songwriting projects and other folk's songwriting projects. This is what I have on the record drive right now:

- a kind of Michael Ruff influenced Euro R&B group

- a German '80s hard rock band

- my own jazzy AC project. NOT SMOOTH JAZZ!

- an adult electronicerotica thing (I'm one of the writers)

- a Garbage / Goldfrapp / Portishead thing (I'm one of the writers here too)

- '60s organ jazz thing. All players contribute with the rule being no tunes can be written any more than 24 hours before the session. (in addition to writing, I am the organ player)

The stuff that's not mine, I do 'cos of the money and I played in the band before they started. All of these are dragging on far too long because no one can spend more than 2 or 3 days at a time on them.

I like it, I like tracking more than anything else. Some clients tell me they like mixing, I say, if its tracked correctly, there is no mixing. I like to simultaneously track as much of the band as I can. To me, that's where everything comes alive.

NateTschetter posted,

"I say, if its tracked correctly, there is no mixing.."

I couldn't agree more. I attended a NARS seminar on mixing once. Bob Clearmountian, Roger Nichols, Fred Catero (sp?) John Storek and John Mayer set up a control room in a banquet hall at the Hilton San Francisco. I remember one of the things that Mr. Nichols pointed out, (to paraphrase) " If I see a mix set up on the console and all the faders are relatively even across the desk, I know it was tracked well and the gain structures are correct". His point was that a well tracked project will mix it self. I have heard countless times how the best engineers are mixing while they are recording. That is to say they are tweaking the playback to make sure that what is going down is going to work later @ mix. Bruce Swedien says he prints / saves automation while tracking to give himself a starting point when he goes to mix.

"I like to simultaneously track as much of the band as I can. To me, that's where everything comes alive."

There is something magical about getting several players in the same room and recording. If you look at it front a physics side it is amazing that we can play together in time being milliseconds apart in space. Yet we can all get the notes in the same places (if we're talented) and the best of players can even pull back behind or push ahead of the beat. That's magic! Point well taken Nate.....Fats

Folks
Here's another really cool idea (at least it worked for me).

My wife is a teacher. I volunteered to do a recording, on location in the classrooms, of each of the classes singing two songs. I got a couple of takes of each, edited them together & made a CD for the school PTA to sell as a fund raiser.

The parents ate-'em-up. & because the singing was generic, the CD could be repressed & sold again.

This could probably be worked into some kind of ongoing business....

Yeah, sort of like the class picture...it occured to me that DH's son could probably rake it in if they burned a bunch of copies of the "rap" and sold them tho his classmates for a buck or two......Fats :D

Well, let's keep this thread current. "Need input." There is a reason to all this, I am trying to get enough stories to make a point... let's hear it! Fats :w:

Originally posted by Cedar Flat Fats:
Well, let's keep this thread current. "Need input." There is a reason to all this, I am trying to get enough stories to make a point... let's hear it! Fats :w:

OK, I'll bite.

I'm recording stuff that that a good friend of mine writes (he's an awesome drummer and also pretty good on guitar & keys) because I think it's good and I want to get it archived before he drops dead from working construction 7 days a week. Plus I like playing with gear and don't play out much anymore (I play guitar & bass) due to family & "dive bar burnout". I still love to play though so recording is a good outlet for me.

It's tough when you have more than one expensive hobby (motorcycles would be the other) but I just do the best I can with what I've got. Would be cool to go pro but I think I'm too old and too poor to pull that off.

M Brain,
Thanks for your post. I must say, I think your reason for recording is a great one (perhaps the best).

"I'm recording stuff that that a good friend of mine writes (he's an awesome drummer and also pretty good on guitar & keys) because I think it's good"

You can't beat good songs and talent as a reason to record. I don't even need to know what kind of recording gear your using, I'll bet that the recordings are coming out really good! Sometimes it doesn't matter what tools you use. Some of the best recordings I have ever done were done guerilla style with lousy mics and crappy front end, narrow gauge analog, hell even cassette 4 track. But the content was there. It doesn't matter if you have a Neve console, UREI limiters and comps, Neumann 47's and AKG C12's, the best monitors and monster cable if you're recording crap talent and crap material! That's why all the digital fix 'em up stuff is a load of flop! I'll take talent any day. When I was a kid, before I knew anything about recording, the thing that fascinated me was "How do they get those perfect performances?" If I were growing up today I wouldn't get to ask that question because I know the machines do it all for you. Oh well, I guess I just lucky to have been born when I was…..Fats

i record blues..a genre of music that I dearly love. I do originals mostly. The reason I record is because I don't want to be a ghost musician (a musician that never cut any studio tracks)...someone that you heard was good but you don't really know cause the music died with them.

when im dead and gone my recordings will be my musical legacy for my kids, my friends, or anyone that cares to give it a listen.

who knows, maybe the recordings of my songs will give someone just a hint of the enjoyment that i have experienced from the music of Jimi Hendrix, Freddie King, Duane Allman, Albert King, Freddie Mercury..(the list goes on) who are now dead but still come to life through my stereo.

if i can make some money thats cool, cause i love recording...but...getting my material layed down in a respectible sounding recording is the most important thing to me.

jimistone,
Leaving behind something for your kids is something I am sure we all would like to do. I happen to love Blues also, and my biggest success's have been in that genre. I would like very much to hear some of your stuff and I left a private message for you. Please contact me....Fats

Recording for me is a hobby.
Last week I got a call, would I record drums by kids with learning disabilities? Sure I said. When I arrived the kids were unloading the drums from a large van - I counted 17 drums of varying sizes and styles. Then came 2 guitars, 2 xylophones, cowbells, maraccas, bongos, bells and more.
They all piled into this tiny room - the SPL was unbelievable! Closedback cans on made no difference at all. It was just far too loud to hear the mix at full vol even by holding the cans tight to my ears!
I booked a large space with good acoustics (a friend at no charge)and we did a real recording session yesterday. Gee those kids may have disabilities but playing isn't one of them! They have rhythm and power. One very young guy came up to me as I was pulling the curtains closed & asked me if that was for the acoustics. Now that ain't dumb. Man, it was a fun time.

I'll bet it was. My wife is a teacher at a public school program for D.D kids and she tells me she has noticed that music is a common denominator with many of them! It shows a great amount of heart to do that and I applauded you....Another great reason to record. Someday I would love to visit Scotland, ancestral home y'know and I would love to play a round at St. Andrews.....Thanks for your post.... Fats

My current project is a band that just moved from Milwaukee to Minneapolis. It's a (LOOOOOOW) paying gig but the music is good. They're in their mid-twenties, five piece with two guitars and sax. Two pretty good singers, all original material.

The strange thing about this project is that the band is punctual, and they haven't even brought a beer into the studio....wow. Productivity.

They've had a few recording experinces in Milwaukee, all bad. They are grateful that I actually listen to the instruments in the studio so I'll know how they sound, and that through proper mic selection and placement, the natural enormity of their sound is actually going to tape!!!

Compliments to the engineer, what a concept. We must still be in the honeymoon phase of this project. The band all wishes that I was their Dad.

The long lost Jeff Roberts

Yeah and in return, I'll bet they are getting that extra mile out of you too! It sounds like all of you actually have a clue. :tu:Fats

hey fats did you get my private message and e-mail?

jimi;
Got it! Hey what are you recording on? What format and what kind of front end? Thanks Fats

I record for the love of it for now. I hpe to make it a career. The minneapolis man, you may know the school, Hennipenn Tech, in Eden Prarie.

I record my poetry, and set them to music. I record my own music, also Demo/Indie for friends, and other local bands. I've found the poetry is much like scoring for a radio play/film.

I eventually want to open my own studio, with a full room, and few simple digital workstations in a where people can come in and lay down basic guitar and midi, bass, rough vocals, as demo's , for a bit more reasonable price.

But as for reasonable things right now, I really would like to get an engineering job, eventually would like to do at least one scoring project for an anime(japaneese cartoon) film, seeing as they're so libral with their sound.

But for now, I record for the pure love of it! It's just so amazing to take a few people, or simply yourself, and go from absolutly nothing, to something so very amazing and powerful.

2 in a row from Mini..Mini...Minnesota :tu:

i record becuase i got tired of paying 4 or 500 dollars a day for mediocre demos. i think you need to pay upwards of a thousand a day to get noticabe results.

at 4 of 5 hundred a day you usually get an engineer who knows about as much as you. you're just paying for their gear. that aside i figured if i got the gear myself i would get better results becaus in the end its the performance that counts.

most people even at 4 or 5 hun a day only have enough money to squeak through rough takes to get a project done.

if you have time on your hands you can learn how things are done, and learn about how to play better and record better than if you only have a week to do 12 songs.

i do demos for people on a project basis . mostly,a certain amount per song no matter how long it takes to get it right. i learn, they learn, we all get better together.

chris perra

:c:

What I am trying to get at here is "why" are we recording the stuff we're recording. What is the driving factor that compels us to record?......Fats

It's a great feeling to put things together and to focus on a song's image. Even better to accomplish, what we all are going for...finished product(ion).

But in the end it is about working each job with different people.

These days with so many ways to record available for so little money, people often record just for the sake of recording. The material and the talent are secondary to the desire to make a product. How do you all feel about this? Do you think good recordings can be created with this kind of motivation, or is this perhaps one of the reasons the music industry is suffering so much? ……Fats

yes...good recordings can be made without talent. *enter* protools. but some of my personal favorite recordings are old blues and early rock records...from the era when they got all the musicians in the studio and did it in one take. the engineers set the equipment and mics up to best capture the band as a whole...counted it off and pushed "play". if the performance was there it was a take...bumped spring reverbs, coughing in the background, flubs on solos, hi piched feedback loops created by certain frequencies, instrument slightly out of tune...THEY LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY! We all know of some recordings that are flawed from a tech standpoint but are magic moments on tape.
I firmaly believe that if you could go back in time, take the same musicians, and cut the songs one instrument at a time like most people do now....you would suck every bit of the life out of those classic performances.

a half ass recording of a great performance is better than a great recording of a half ass performance...in my opinion.

i think thats the problem with records today there are too many tools to "alter" the performance making it perfect in everyway :quantisized for perfect timing, pitch correction on the vocals, copy the best snare hit and paste that fucker all the way through the song, and just eliminate the dynamics with compression...THEY HAVE SUCKED THE SOUL OUT OF MUSIC....PERIOD.

i hear comments like "if george martin had of had access to modern digital tecnology...if jimi hendrix could have had access to modern guitars and effects...so on and so on.
THANK GOD THEY DIDN'T!!
can you imagine what "whole lotta shakin' goin' on" (arguably the greatest rock track ever cut) would have sounded like if it was recorded one track at a time in 24 bit digital.
There is a new movement with teenagers "jam rock" and to that ever growing fan base "the allman brothers at fillmore east" is the holy grail (well deserved i might add). Im glad that style is coming back. something's got to give with the current music scene. all this perfectly automated stuff that sounds the same is SOOOOOOOOOO boring it hurts.

That's why I focus on working with blues artist. It's one of the last honest formats. If you record the rhythm track live it's gonna have some feel to it. Overdub all you want but I've found that the best albums I worked on were tracked, overdubbed and mixed in 3 or 4 - 6 hour days! A lot of talented artists were involved and that's what made it go so fast. IMO just the fact that everybody keeps saying "what's wrong with music", indicates there's something wrong. …………… Fats

Originally posted by jimistone:
a half ass recording of a great performance is better than a great recording of a half ass performance...in my opinion.

That pretty much sums it up.

:c:

Right now, I'm doing 3 projects at once (Thank You, God and Yamaha, for digital mixers and total recall).

My wife's CD is finally in the mixing stage, a labor of love in more ways than one. I'm not producing, a close friend is and his schedule is terrible lately, so we get in about 2 days a week on it. This project is on Digital Performer and 16 tracks of DA88/38.

A couple from my church, very good friends, wife is a singer/songwriter. Nice stuff, inspired lyrics and we collaborate on arrangements. $25.00 an hour, only 4-6 hours a week. This stuff is all DP.

My 3rd son's band (15). 2 guitars, bass, drums and he sings/screams. Young guys and girl (bass) still learning their instruments (who isn't?) and they let me experiment with mic placement and such. All tracks are to DAxx with no MIDI stuff or DP tricks, though I'd love to be able to edit the drum takes. This one is another labor of love and lets me spend some quality time with one of my 5 sons.

Labor of love is a great reason to be recording IMO. You just can't beat it. The reason I posed this question / started this thread is I've been trying to demonstrate that it's far more important what and why your recording than what your recording on. Subject matter is the most important thing. To many times in this age of digital proliferation recordists are concentrating on what they're recording with rather than what they're recording. Keep it coming, I love hearing about your projects. Any more Blues out there? ...... Fats ;)

No blues here, but I did just start a new project Tuesday night with the polka man. A polka mass. Ever heard "How Great Thou Art" on an accordion? Me either. It was snowing out, and all I got was a huge bowl of chili and some Keystone Light (read: no money). It was a good night.

Fats: I'd say polka is still an honest holdout.

WoW :( .....anyone who plays accordion has got to be playing honest.
I once left an accordion in the back seat of my car. When I returned my car had been broken into... and there were two accordions in the back seat.

:D :D ...Fats

Interesting thread. After drifting into and out of numerous jobs and industries over the last 27 years, the only thing that has remained constant and consistent in my life has been my passion for playing guitar and writing songs. I haven't been in a gigging band for several years, but the drive to make a pretty sound, especially a loud one, always consumes me. Blues rock, folk rock, waltzy ballads, and Celtic stuff, mostly.

I'm recording only originals. Originials communicate exactly what my thoughts are, not someone else's. I began writing songs the day that I learned my second or third chord, and while I've enjoyed my share of time in cover bands, I would feel absolutely zero soul satisfaction from recording someone else's material. That's like painting by the numbers, IMO. No, my songs may not be up to the standards of Lennon and McCartney, but so what? They're mine. And when my project is completed, and I have a full CD of original music to distribute, then I'll have fulfilled a lifelong dream of producing something both artistic and original.

There are two other answers to the Why question. Now that I'm 43, and too old to be a (new) rock star, I finally find myself financially able to put together a cool, reasonably-equipped home studio. I wish I had had all this gear 20 years ago! Secondly, recording is a bit of an ego trip, I'll unashamedly admit. I'm not quite Jimmy Page, but after 27 years of playing Led Zeppelin riffs, I've developed a few pretty hot licks that sound just ripper as I'm driving down the road. It's fun to be able to say to people, "Yeah, that's me on the guitar. I wrote that."

Just wish I could sing a little better. Cheers. :c:

DDDDdduncan

I'm a day job guy, but also a lifelong (stuck with it forever) musician. I've given up the idea of making it pay, it's just not in my temperment. I got into recording as a part of the ritual of making music. I usually try to record each meeting of every band i'm in, if possible. (Lately I only do it if we're meeting at my place.) The purpose has ranged from practice tool for the individual musicians to integral part of the creative process. For instance, in one case putting the vocal into a fender amp for reverb and miking it in another room actually changed the song forever, gave it a vibe that stuck each time we played it after that.

These days, a lot of what i do is improvised music, and with that, every single time you play is or could be a keeper, so damn right I record all of them. I don't sweat the technical stuff too much, but i do try to get the best recording possible. And i love listening to these recordings. I am my own audience.