Thread for Artistes to Vent re Aborted Recording Sessions

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Just curious, has anyone ever had a session that was fucked up beyond redemption by ANYTHING besides the fucking DRUMS? I would really like to hear if this has ever occurred. (This time the guy played everything OK, except the MICS FELL OUT of the kickdrum halfway through each song. Each song is 20 minutes long so basically the whole day was fucked) The book 'Heart of Darkness' might've been a racist piece of shit but if you use it as an allegory about drummers and drum mics and fucking DRUMS period then it makes better sense! Is it possible to record in such a way that a fucking drummer will just play the track perfectly once and then get the fuck out of there? Or that little elves will just mic everything instantly and perfectly before the 'important players' (ie guitarists, ie me!) show up to do the 'real' work without having to spend four hours chain-smoking while the engineers rig up some NASA-type mic contraption? This is a self-pitying bullshit post and I don't give a fuck because I just wasted another month's rent money on nothing.

― dave q, Thursday, 20 November 2003 10:34 (twenty-two years ago)

You should use a computer, man. Get the drummer to play for ten seconds or so, then loop it. No-one'll notice that it's the same eight bars repeated for twenty minutes.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Thursday, 20 November 2003 10:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Tried this, actually. Only works if the hits are EXACTLY on time. Even the best drummers on earth cannot do this. And post-punk (I mean chronogically, not genre-wise) drummers in London are not exactly the best drummers on earth. I thought this was a foolproof solution too, but after a few repetitions of a loop the imperfections start to become intolerable. Like a tic or something, "Will you just fucking STOP doing that!!?"

― dave q, Thursday, 20 November 2003 10:54 (twenty-two years ago)

whilst drumming issues have an impact, i've lost significant amounts of time and effort on 1" machines that were in desperate need of a service. it's not nice recording almost two whole tracks to discover huge dropouts all over the rhythm track.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 20 November 2003 10:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i have never hated analogue more than that day

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 20 November 2003 10:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh fuck yeah!
Especially when the vintage-geek engineer spends the first twenty-minutes bragging about his "pride and joy...what a find!...rescued from Abbey Road, they were about to throw it away but I fixed it up real nice...you can't get sounds like these anymore"! You also can't get 'parts' for them anymore, fuckstick.

― dave q, Thursday, 20 November 2003 10:58 (twenty-two years ago)

London drummers! When I was in Edinburgh, people who called themselves drummers could usually play a bit of drums. Then I move to London, and start meeting these chumps who play like they just got a kit for Christmas.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Thursday, 20 November 2003 10:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Ask him to "split yer 'ands"

― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 20 November 2003 11:00 (twenty-two years ago)

London drummer demographics -
a) Actually 'good', but also alcoholic drug addicts (ie amnesiacs) who are usually broke - 10%
b) Well-groomed middle-class people (usually the only Londoners who can afford full kit) who have developed a very polite style as result of practicing to Travis records in their house at non-neighbour-disturbing volume and hit with all the force of a safecracker fondling the tumblers. React with bafflement at reference to any record not to be found at Our Price - 30%
c) Style-cultists who will only play one type of music on principle. Sometimes will play only in style of one artist. Sometimes in style of only one single. - 60%

― dave q, Thursday, 20 November 2003 11:18 (twenty-two years ago)

fuck drummers - seek ye:

http://www.denhaku.com/r_box/ddd1/ddd1.jpg

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 20 November 2003 11:22 (twenty-two years ago)

do the brazen hussies all live in one houes like the monkees or a never never land ranch like below?

http://www.newtowncdc.org/images/Cradle%20House%20Before.jpg

― tralala, Thursday, 20 November 2003 11:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I used to have problems with egocentric, gear-obsessed, control-freak guitarists ruining things. Then I turned 14 and stopped working with them.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 20 November 2003 11:54 (twenty-two years ago)

once all the instruments not played by me are out of the way, recording is a breeze

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 20 November 2003 11:59 (twenty-two years ago)

"We" are revolutionizing recording and gigs. No tuning. No monitors. No sound check. Drums get 5 minutes to get their shit set up. If something doesn't work, it doesn't get used. Ambient mics. No setlist, because songs don't exist. All recordings are live.

Sick of this fucking shit.

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 20 November 2003 12:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I was much happier once I chucked my band, recording studios and "compromise" for Cubase.

― Big Red, Thursday, 20 November 2003 20:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Do you think the digital age has reduced our tolerance for slightly loose drumming?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 20 November 2003 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Not me. It's just all that fucking gear that's bullshit.

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 20 November 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

If anything, it has INCREASED my taste for it!

Good timing too, as I've discovered recording drum tracks over the past couple weeks that clumsy fuckers like me don't make for the most accurate drummists.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 20 November 2003 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Dave...click track???

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Pashmina, I have that!

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:07 (twenty-two years ago)

ha ha giving drummers who have trouble keeping time a click track is one surefire way to ensure you will get NOTHING done!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Another thing I need to vent on: after 30 minutes tweaking knobs to get just this ONE sound, just as you're about ready to push the red button THE POWER GOES OUT AND YOU LOSE YOUR PATCH CUZ YOUR DUMB ASS DIDN'T SAVE IT!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha...in that case, Dave, get a new drummer!! (um, and new mic stands) (and put more breaks in your songs so you can punch in)

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

While we're venting, I recorded a demo with my band last week. I went over to the engineer's house to mix it, and he was busy fucking with Cubase on his Mac (where the drum tracks I did for HIS band are stored!!) because it won't open. Then he switches over to DB7, which we used for our session, and he had accidentally uninstalled some of those drivers too or something. He reinstalled, and then his external soundcard dingus wasn't working for no apparent reason so we could actually USE THE MONITORS to mix. We had to make changes, burn it to a cd, then go to the stereo upstairs to check it out and make a bunch of notes. It sucked.

Sometimes I'm surprised digital recording works at all.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Jordan, that is such a familiar story. However, a recording engineer who is quick and on top of everything is a nice experience. I've had both extremes.

Techno collaboration hell: you put in a percussion part, your partner goes into edit mode, and mucks around with it for 30 mins, nidging notes back and forward. Every time. Or cues up 90 loops in a row. Or experiments with 200 reverbs on the clap.

Quick and dirty in the writing, slow and careful in the mix. That's the way to go. Or do you disagree?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

'nidging' = niggling while nudging.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Ditto on the click track--even if the drummer's pretty good, if she's nervous about keeping time, a click track is going to freak them out beyond all belief.

― Eppy, Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I think you're right, but if the drummer can play with it I think it can be relaxing. You don't have to listen back and go "Am I rushing there? Am I behind"? It's a solid reference.

I guess it depends on the kind of music Colin...if I did more electronic stuff I would probably say yeah, for sure, but for more live stuff I think it's important to be well-rehearsed and to have everybody (musicians and engineer) on top of their sounds at the recording phase, then mixing should be pretty easy. I guess I wish I had more computer recording skills myself so I could take the time to be super slow and careful during mixing.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Pashmina, I have that!

I've got one as well, it's a good & very underrated machine. Do you have any pcm cards for it?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 20 November 2003 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

i think click tracks are evil. i'm actually quite a big fan of loose drumming.. it only gets frustrating when the ebbs and flows are seriously obvious.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 20 November 2003 22:36 (twenty-two years ago)

to be honest my drummer is pretty damn good at what she does. she's not there to be jaki leibzeit for fucks sake

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 20 November 2003 22:36 (twenty-two years ago)

You know I think for that elusive tight but swinging feel, nothing beats a band who went to school together, like each other, and have played together for years and years.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 21 November 2003 00:13 (twenty-two years ago)

hmm it's the first ingredient i'm never going to get. that must be the crucial one.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 21 November 2003 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm not sure i'd still want to be hanging out with the same people i went to school with years after to be honest... sometimes it's good to get out and meet some new folks, fresh ideas etc. i'm not convinced going to high school with someone is going to produce a better rhythm section...

― steve, Friday, 21 November 2003 00:47 (twenty-two years ago)

they might be tighter but they're likely to be a hell of a lot less interesting

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 21 November 2003 00:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Well maybe I could moderate that a bit. it's good to practise, practise, practise with your band until you start locking together.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 21 November 2003 00:55 (twenty-two years ago)

very true. hasn't happened to us yet, but then we practice about four times a year

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 21 November 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)

there ain't nothing wrong with a seasonal approach to rehearsal...!

― steve, Friday, 21 November 2003 01:00 (twenty-two years ago)

haha the summer one must nearly be due

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 21 November 2003 01:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah Colin, I wonder if I'll ever have the same connection as I do to the people I went to college with, the crew who all sucked when we started playing together and learned together. I think playing enough gigs with the same people probably does the trick though (being involved in enough wacky tour hijinx doesn't hurt either).

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 21 November 2003 17:20 (twenty-two years ago)

"Quick and dirty in the writing, slow and careful in the mix."

In my attempts at working with MIDI and synths, I find that I would often get bogged down freaking a patch or a trying to tweak some percussion lick and hours later, I would have a 60 second fragment that sounded fantastic but went nowhere.

― earlnash, Friday, 21 November 2003 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

my sessions get fucked because the engineer talks on the cell phone for an hour after we're supposed to start and then suddenly has to leave at 10:00 pm so I wind up with roughly 1 hr of studio time for what should be 4. It's cheap though!

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 21 November 2003 18:35 (twenty-two years ago)

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