General Music Chat

We all get distracted by "LIFE"
We play in local or regional touring bands. We write music. If you are lucky you get to go into a REAL studio and record!
You have a REAL career!Possibly family or maybe a REAL life!
I do all the above and write, record, my own music. If you go to my site and it say's original next to a song it means I am the only person that has ANYTHING to do with that recording! Being such a busy person sometimes after recording a song it seems like when I listen to my own music it is as if I am listening as a total stranger. It is really like an out of body experience.

Doe's this EVER happen to you?

Jeff your recordings sound great! Strong material and excellent production. You have a good record of your accomplishments in music and it should warm your heart.

My recording experience has been a little different. We went from very simple 4 track reels in the 70s to high-end Hollywood studios and back to home project studio DAWs. I have a hard time listening to my work. I fuss over every detail even 20 yrs later and it makes me nuts. Donald Fagan once described his anxiety over the recording process and I could relate to his feelings if not his incredible talent. As a result I spend as little time recording as possible although the need to have a copy of our current work is growing.

I think I was destined to be a live player and let someone else worry about recordings. I really feed off a live audience. That red light in the studio just tends to annoy me.

We all get distracted by "LIFE"
We play in local or regional touring bands. We write music. If you are lucky you get to go into a REAL studio and record!
You have a REAL career!Possibly family or maybe a REAL life!
I do all the above and write, record, my own music. If you go to my site and it say's original next to a song it means I am the only person that has ANYTHING to do with that recording! Being such a busy person sometimes after recording a song it seems like when I listen to my own music it is as if I am listening as a total stranger. It is really like an out of body experience.

Doe's this EVER happen to you?

Everyday! I listen to my sh*t and I say 'good gawd, what the hell was i thinkin...? Truthfully I get tremendously embarrased at my own sh*t...

Jeff your recordings sound great! Strong material and excellent production. You have a good record of your accomplishments in music and it should warm your heart.

My recording experience has been a little different. We went from very simple 4 track reels in the 70s to high-end Hollywood studios and back to home project studio DAWs. I have a hard time listening to my work. I fuss over every detail even 20 yrs later and it makes me nuts. Donald Fagan once described his anxiety over the recording process and I could relate to his feelings if not his incredible talent. As a result I spend as little time recording as possible although the need to have a copy of our current work is growing.

I think I was destined to be a live player and let someone else worry about recordings. I really feed off a live audience. That red light in the studio just tends to annoy me.

Its been my observation that a common anxiety of recording shows itself when decisions have to be made about the direction of a piece... 'Do I add the horn or not...? , etc... Because time translates to money, we can often feel pressured into slopping our work...then we feel frustrated...then some folks sink into a depression...

I just throw stuff down so I can remember how I was going to arrange it. At the time, I don't think I'll do anything with it. Then while I listen to it I usually feel like adding another guitar just for the fun of it. Then after that I'm so carried away that I start playing along with it on a bass.

It's about that time that I realize that I have too much time in it now just to throw it away, and I'm instantly wondering why? And besides, when you listen to something the first time, it generally does sound a bit rough. But after a while I accept the crappy and just forget about it. Than after I have accepted them for what they are, I guess I do enjoy listening to them.

And that's why my stuff sounds like it does.

That's an honest answer Paperdog.

Sounds to me like your to busy
Mr Haley, stop and smell the roses,
and turn that damn TV off. lol

. . . sometimes after recording a song it seems like when I listen to my own music it is as if I am listening as a total stranger. It is really like an out of body experience.

Doe's this EVER happen to you?

Indeed it does for me as well, I like to think that my better material wasn't written by Me anyhow, it was conveyed to me through my Daimon!

**you knew I'd have a comment like that!

Thanks J7!
Dog, Slacker, LD and Etu you guy's crack me up!

I love all the things I've written and recorded like they were children of mine, but only a very few can I listen to without nitpicking. Getting a perfect recording that my audience AND I will enjoy is tricky. I love the recording process, maybe more than playing live.

You got to nitpick everything, that's called
improving. I can't wait to record this year,
I'm really avirgin at recording. Done a lot of
stuff with my Handycam, but no recording.
Hell I just figured out how to take the buzz
out of my piano by using the mixing board
yesterday, I'm so excited. Far as live playing
goes, Jimmy your right I'm lame and pathetic.
I'm playing out on the restaraunt and tea house
circuit on piano playing lunchtime gigs. I have to
cater to my crowd and I've got a way with older
woman, they usually want to pay me more than
I want. I just don't want to get out late at night
to play in bars(tho I would if the price is right),
and I'm sick of playing for free on praise teams.
Well see what happens,but I'd just soon play by
myself than with lesser talented musicians, maybe
by playing solo I'll find some musicians that I can
play with.

Time to go pound the piano, than wring that neck.

Lynard I don't think you're lame or pathetic, as long as you're doing what you love it's all good. But it seems to me if you really wanted to be in a band you could, you just need to accept people with all their faults.

Your not the first to tell me that Jimmy,
for 50 years I thought being a man was
being hard stoic, my old lady who I've
been with since the 70s is finally getting
thru to me, at least a little.
God knows I've put her thru hell.

I just love to play and read and listen and
talk about and watch and dream about music.

That's the thing we all have in common. Despite our differences, we all love to make music.


Believe me, I used to be a control freak, trying to make everyone play it like I heard in my head. After many years and many lessons learned I now have the opposite view: hire good people and trust them to play the right thing. There's no "I" in band.

My originals I rarely listen to, dont know why?

They were just thoughts or things I was feeling at that given time, some are very personal, some very tongue in cheek.

I havent been as diligent as I should about recording the last few monthes, maybe I will get back into it.

When I listen back I hear all the mistakes and know I should have taken more time, some of mine are free form and I didnt use a click, so the timing sux, should have straightened that out, some i just lay stuff over a crum track with makes them feel stale to me.

At this point in time i have no aspirations of anything from my origianals.

I do them to get things off my chest and amuse myself, I also like to capture the newness of them so thats part of the reason I make lots of mistakes I just go for it, one two three takes and Im out of there and on to the next thing.

I got my daughter this cool keyboard a few monthes ago and have been jonsen to do some prog, techno rock with it, maybe I will get it done before too long, maybe not!

Rock On Bros!

That's the thing we all have in common. Despite our differences, we all love to make music.


Believe me, I used to be a control freak, trying to make everyone play it like I heard in my head. After many years and many lessons learned I now have the opposite view: hire good people and trust them to play the right thing. There's no "I" in band.

LOL Stop proverbially punching me in the stomach, Jimmy..
(I am not a control freak, yes I am, no I am not, yes I am)

I feel your pain. I had to stop trying to do MY music and do OUR music.

The real trick is align yourself with people that share your vision, so when you collaborate you don't get mismatched music.

You know you have it right when something sounds really good and it was definitely a compromise/collaboration.

I hate to admit it but, when I read what you wrote during one of the song critiques, I knew you were right Jimmy.

It hard to argue with sound logic and rational thought, although sometimes we do try to wrestle with that bear.
More often than not, all you do is end up tired and semi-defeated.