Members mbengs1 Posted July 15, 2015 Members Share Posted July 15, 2015 how much does the average musician here record? I'd like to record 2-4 songs a week at least. I have 84 individual songs. i've been recording since april of last year. i'd like to know how much other people here record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted July 15, 2015 Members Share Posted July 15, 2015 I have about 8000 completed recordings since about 1980. That makes for about 228 completed recordings a year. God only knows how many tracks I did to get those completed recordings or songs I just erased or deleted because they didn't measure up. I lost most of my early stuff. I was playing live mostly before then anyway. I do have multiple recordings of the same songs too. At least 5000 of those recordings are original songs so I revamp them every so often with a newer version, but that would still leave a good 3~4000 singles. I can say I've slowed down in recent years.I was doing at least 5 a day for a good many years. Now I do mostly weekend stuff. For example I finished off two songs last weekend and started 10 more with drums and Rhythm. Next weekend I'll finish off a couple of more and do bass and possibly vocals on half of the 10 that are suitable, then I may get the leads polished off the weekend after. I used to start a project and finish it before starting more. That's changed over the years since I went digital. Its not like I have to find the right tapes and cur them up. I often have maybe 50~100 projects going and can work on any depending one which instrument I'm in the mood for playing. I may spend a couple of sessions just putting final touches on mixes just to get them out of the way. Other times I hear a playback and know it fails to make the grade. If it lacks a good musical idea and lacks in performance, it may wind up getting zapped. Id its got a good musical idea I may just stick it in my idea folder that contains bits and pieces of songs I can use. Every so often I'll go back through and string a few together, kind of like you'd strings notes in lead parts together to come up with a lead part. I try to break it up so things stay fresh and having multiple methods on multiple levels works best for me. I just wish I had a DAW when I was a kid. I'd easily double the work I've done. Just the rewind time along when dealing with tape ate up huge amounts of recording time. Digital has instant rewind so that's one less thing to slow the mind machine down from producing good work. If I only had my youth back. Getting motivated between sessions seems to take more effort as you get older but the quality of work gets better and you make less mistakes so I guess the number of good recordings balance out in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted July 16, 2015 Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 I'm almost ashamed to say my recording process is somewhat stymied by equipment problems, which is stymied by financial problems. I write a lot of lyrics and play quite a bit more now, but my computers are old as is the software on them. I'm doing really good to get 3 or 4 things a year recorded, and none of it is as sonically satisfiying as the stuff I did on my Four track cassette deck. So, I don't throw it out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted July 16, 2015 Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 how much does the average musician here record? I'd like to record 2-4 songs a week at least. I have 84 individual songs. i've been recording since april of last year. i'd like to know how much other people here record. I`ve been recording since 1991 and I think I probably recorded a few hundred at this point. I don`t record a lot. I have some decent gear but most of my recording sessions are work related which I am not including in this conversation… that would be in the hundreds as well… The truth is, I spend way too much time on tunes… I`m a perfectionist in that sense. I will spend months on one song. Working, re-working, then recording, re-recording…. its endless and its a huge problem for me. I don`t know how to let go off a tune. When it comes to vocals… forget it… Just to give you an idea… I started writing tunes for my 1st solo record in 1999… the album was released in 2007. I started writing tunes for my 2nd record in 2004… I`m still working on that album. Part of the problem is… it doesn`t cost me anything but time to work on tunes… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted July 16, 2015 Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 Quantity isn't as important as quality. I've done allot but like anything else, your best are like cream that rise to the top above the others. If we all have one great song in our lifetime that rises above all others, captures our best performance and is worth listening to over and over, then its all worth it. How you get there can take many paths. Each one is unique to the person who does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted July 16, 2015 Author Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 Quantity isn't as important as quality. I've done allot but like anything else, your best are like cream that rise to the top above the others. If we all have one great song in our lifetime that rises above all others, captures our best performance and is worth listening to over and over, then its all worth it. How you get there can take many paths. Each one is unique to the person who does it. Wow you are probably the most experienced musicians i've ever met. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted July 16, 2015 Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 If you like something allot, you often see your world though a lens that lets the things you're interested in through, and filters things you aren't. I used to be that way but I don't know if that's the best way to go through life especially in show business where you have to keep your mind open to everything else that interests people. Some of the best musicians I know couldn't tell you how an electric guitar works or how to turn a computer on, no less record with a computer yet they had the ability to inspire others and make them feel like they were the artists. The best were just great people to be around. They like what you have to say and you like what they have to say. For some people like myself who earns a living in the industry, its important to know allot about your specific trade because it's a matter of earning a decent paycheck and getting raises. Education goes on every day of your life. It doesn't end when you graduate school. I had one teacher that taught me that nearly 40 years ago. He said, expect to spend the rest of your life learning and keeping up with technology and don't expect to stay working for the same company for more then 5 years at a time. He was dead on correct in both cases. Manufacturers come out with completely new product lines ever few years and you have to relearn things constantly. You got to be good at learning and using what you learned to earn top dollar but you also have to be someone people like. I've had many Bosses who knew nothing about the actual technical stuff, electronics or music. They didn't need to, they just managed people who did. So long as I earn a company money I usually had a job, but that alone doesn't translate to better pay. The real way it works is, you are the guy below others on the ladder. You want to move up, you got to help others up (or off) that ladder so you can climb up a rung or two. Question is how do you do that? If you make others succeed and move up, their old position may become available to you but you have to be ready for it and be able to make that transition. If you were smart enough to do that, you should have also gotten that person to recommend you for their old position so you could continue supporting them in their new job. Some call this the good old boy system, but its truly allot more then that. You really do have to be better then others at something even if its just making the boss laugh. People in business like being around others who are knowledgeable but, have a positive "can do" attitude. This is many times more important then just being good or experienced. The fact is allot of people hate their actual jobs, but having positive people around them makes their jobs tolerable. Experience can make your life easier by not having to pound you head to find answers and it does come if you like what you do allot. It can also be a sign someone has been doing something a long because they lack skills to advance to other things. Its usually pretty easy to tell which is which, but its difficult to know which of the two will do better work. Some people can bitch all day long and do great work. Others who love their work may get distracted and make mistakes. So again, Experience is only one aspect. There are many other human qualities that are needed in music, recording, (or any other trade) if you want to be the best at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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