How do you guys psyche yourselves up before tracking?

[16S]

listen to someones really crappy mix in "rate my mix" on this forum for a confidence booster!

 

[botus99]

Smoke a doob, kill 200 people in GTA IV, record

also make sure you don't need to go to the bathroom. If anythings affecting my performance, thats the usual cause

 

[GarethSE]

Smoke a doob, kill 200 people in GTA IV, record

also make sure you don't need to go to the bathroom. If anythings affecting my performance, thats the usual cause

i refuse to let myself try tracking while high
all i want to do when i get stoned is just slouch into the sofa and get really into a drone album
that and id get sloppy as fuck
mixing while stoned is fun though
i put like 10x as much reverb on than is needed and then spend the entire next day fixing it haha

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/631208/check these drums.mp3

crank this up really loud and listen to the reverb haha
shit's blissful after a smoke

 

[Skinny Viking]

All I need is my sleeveless original Helloween "Keeper I" tour shirt from 1987. I wear it the entire time I'm tracking my guitars, no matter how stinky it gets. Part of the reason I think I'm going back to just 2 tracks of rhythms from now on

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

I don't do anything nowadays. I used to, and I used to be in a band that really got into the whole ceremony of it, but it never did any good.

I find that if I'm psyched up I just get annoyed more easily if (well, when) something goes wrong - if I get all intense and then screw up a couple of takes I just get worse and worse and angrier and angrier. If I stay relaxed and good humoured about it, I just laugh it off and keep trying.

It's actually one of the big reasons I got into recording - it means I get to record myself, which takes all the stress and pressure out of it, and keeps it fun (for me at least, I know a lot of people are the opposite). I'm a total perfectionist too; I'll happily do 100 takes of something if I think I can get it better, and it's a lot easier for me to do that myself than convince other people it's necessary

Steve

 

[ze kink]

One or two beers is good. Not enough to affect playing but enough to loosen me up a bit if I'm being nervous. The last recording I did though was in a youth center (but still a proper studio), where you obviously weren't allowed to drink alcohol, so I drunk non-alcoholic beer. I also usually grab my guitar and play along without plugging in when others are tracking, maybe coming up with some additional bits that we can record if we have some extra time. E.g. in the last recording I added some background stuff with an eBow and a slide.

And having a pizza about halfway through the day is the best. I also often drink quite a lot of energy drinks.

 

[006]

Myself? Nothing really, it's always boring and mundane

Clients though.. I've had guitarists that need to smoke a bowl before they are able to play some riffs, don't ask me how it works haha. Can't play it after about 50 takes, smoke a bowl, nail it within 3 more tries or so. I don't condone it but some people work that way.

I have also had a drummer, and a guitar player too, that played best when they just woke up from sleeping. Half awake, all groggy... somehow produced the best performances haha. Weirdest shit ever.

 

[DANiMALxMD]

i usually open my template. then i record.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yup, I've been doing it for so long it's not like it takes much "psyching up" for me! (though often I'll put on a song with relatively easy chord changes and just wail over it for awhile, that's my "warm-up routine" )

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

recording ball claps seems to get me ready...nothing like hearing the sack smack before tracking...in all seriousness though lol i was recording one of my songs a few weeks ago and for some reason anytime that little red light was on i would fuck up the part...so i called a buddy...i went in the other room and just played the song over and over and told him to hit record without telling me...smokin just makes me lazy and wanna do nothin but kill shit in halo so i smoke after tracking...other then that this whole post of mine was pretty much pointless wasnt it? LATE

 

[Psychotic Break]

A small dose of amphetamine gives me 5-8 hours of solid tracking. By a small dose I mean like 10mg. Any more than that and I'll spend more time talking about tracking than I will actually doing it.

I don't like click tracks. Once it's going it's like the pressure is on and I feel boxed in. I'll usually just spend a minute or two tapping my foot to the click track and then turn it off for laying down the track. I get better results this way. If you don't need a click, don't use a click.

Mostly though, I just take my time. No take is perfect. If it takes me all day to get a passage tracked, then so be it. At least I know that my finished product won't suffer because I chose to settle on tracks that I wasn't happy with.

 

[Metaltastic]

A small dose of amphetamine gives me 5-8 hours of solid tracking. By a small dose I mean like 10mg. Any more than that and I'll spend more time talking about tracking than I will actually doing it.

I don't like click tracks. Once it's going it's like the pressure is on and I feel boxed in. I'll usually just spend a minute or two tapping my foot to the click track and then turn it off for laying down the track. I get better results this way. If you don't need a click, don't use a click.

I'm just gonna assume those were jokes so, uh...lol?

 

[Psychotic Break]

I'm just gonna assume those were jokes so, uh...lol?

Haha the amphetamine one, yes. The click track thing was not. I seriously have an easier time playing in tempo without it.

 

[Metaltastic]

Ok, if one was gonna be a joke, I'm glad it was the first To be clear though, you do the whole "turn on the click, tap your foot, turn it off, go" thing, but are you recording your part by itself, or with drums? Pretty important detail

 

[Psychotic Break]

Ok, if one was gonna be a joke, I'm glad it was the first To be clear though, you do the whole "turn on the click, tap your foot, turn it off, go" thing, but are you recording your part by itself, or with drums? Pretty important detail

It varies, but yeah most of the time it's with the drums of course. I can stay in tempo without them though. Sometimes when I'm recording as I write, there are no drums until after the guitar parts are done and they usually line up pretty closely.

I have always always always used a metronome when I practice. It's kind of hard-wired into my brain now. Once I get the tempo locked in, I can sense when I start to get around 5bps off. I'm not sure how to explain it. I can feel the offbeats and fill in the blanks. It's pretty much automatic at this point. I think if I tried to do it on purpose I couldn't, but if I let it happen, it never fails me.

EDIT: Lol, I just realized this. I should add that all this does jack shit if I haven't been practicing the material with a metronome for a while. It's not like I can just pick up a guitar and lay down tight-ass tracks. I meant to say that once I practice the passage enough, I can pick up on the tempo because I have everything memorized.

 

[PhilR]

I think back over all my rehearsals, remember the parts in songs where I get tired or my hand starts to cramp up. Make a mental note of all my likely punch-in spots. Then I tell everyone to get the fuck out while I get to work faking my playing ability.

Being a recording bassist is a huge advantage sometimes.

 

[Erik Monsonis]

Just getting up early (10am is early for me in August ), nice breakfast, shower... It's all I need before tracking others. Cofee + tea + water + chewing gum is a must while tracking!
If it's tracking myself, there's no preparation needed.

 

[Nebulous]

I find that if I'm psyched up I just get annoyed more easily if (well, when) something goes wrong - if I get all intense and then screw up a couple of takes I just get worse and worse and angrier and angrier. If I stay relaxed and good humoured about it, I just laugh it off and keep trying.

It's actually one of the big reasons I got into recording - it means I get to record myself, which takes all the stress and pressure out of it, and keeps it fun (for me at least, I know a lot of people are the opposite).

Steve

+1.

 

[Narissa]

milk duds.
the sad thing is its true. they are a staple in our studio. you cant really get drunk or do anything like that. but you can eat some candy

 

[Metaltastic]

EDIT: Lol, I just realized this. I should add that all this does jack shit if I haven't been practicing the material with a metronome for a while. It's not like I can just pick up a guitar and lay down tight-ass tracks. I meant to say that once I practice the passage enough, I can pick up on the tempo because I have everything memorized.

That too is a key detail, but it's still impressive!