How tight should "playing tight" be?

[Dexter_prog]

This may seem like a stupid question, but I am facing what might be a tightness problem. This is the first time I record anything and I am recording a cover. Before recording I practiced the song quite a lot and I think (thought?) I can play it well. But now I am recording I realized that some notes come slightly out of tempo (like playing a note faster than it should, slower, missing the beat, etc). I have been trying to record the same riff for hours and I couldn't get one single take with all notes near 100% in time.

So, is this common? Has anyone faced this? Should I just say "fuck it", split the wrong notes an put them (quantize) in their proper place? Should I break the riff into parts (it actually consists of 4 parts, the classic A B A C, riff). I'm really pissed off. I mean. I can play harder stuff than this riff (which is quite simple) but I can't record it.

If this makes no sense I can put clips of my bad performance, a clip of the original song and a midi clip of the tab.

pd: I am recording guitars

 

[Tommy Gun]

let's have a clip just for reference.

 

[updog]

Do you play with a metronome a lot?

Being able to play "harder" stuff than a simple riff doesn't mean you can play the simpler riff perfectly. The guitarists in my band kind of seem to have the same problem during some sessions.

You need to play easy stuff, just simple riffs for example, along with a metronome. When you feel like your timing is getting better, do it some more and again the next day. Playing along with a click a lot is absolutely vital when you're going to record something. A guitarist might not normally, like during rehearsal or so, realize his/her timing is bad, but recording magnifies everyone's weaknesses to a highly noticeable level. It's useless to spend time and your nerves trying to play something in when you're actually just doing something that you should have done well beforehand - played in time.

 

[rowdi]

i think the answer is as tight as it needs to be to sound cool no?

 

[Dexter_prog]

Do you play with a metronome a lot?

Being able to play "harder" stuff than a simple riff doesn't mean you can play the simpler riff perfectly. The guitarists in my band kind of seem to have the same problem during some sessions.

You need to play easy stuff, just simple riffs for example, along with a metronome. When you feel like your timing is getting better, do it some more and again the next day. Playing along with a click a lot is absolutely vital when you're going to record something. A guitarist might not normally, like during rehearsal or so, realize his/her timing is bad, but recording magnifies everyone's weaknesses to a highly noticeable level. It's useless to spend time and your nerves trying to play something in when you're actually just doing something that you should have done well beforehand - played in time.

Yeah, I know. I play with a metronome some times. The thing is that I don't realize I am hitting some notes out of tempo when I practice. I only notice it when I record and listen to what I've recorded.

Clips:
not tight + backing tracks
Not tight + gutiars + metronome
original song (panned right for listening to the riff I am recording
tab (midi)

note: I feel embarrased for those clips

 

[Metaltastic]

Sorry dude, but you definitely gotta keep practicing!

 

[P-E]

Sorry dude, but you definitely gotta keep practicing!

I've got the same problem, and I've got the same solution Marcus told you.

Keep on shreddin the riffz to a metronome (paying attention to it, not necessarily just in the background) and it'll sort out eventually.

 

[mick thompson]

yea mate your running into timing issues on the second phrase

what i usta do a few years back when i was practicing like a mad fucker was grab your metronome and set it to a painfully slow speed (like 70bpm or something) and the riff you want to nail just play it at that tempo for 3-4 days. no matter what you do you are not to play any faster then the metronome. always make sure your counting the beats in your head and use "up / down" picking strokes. you got to nail it for a few days - then say come day 5 start off for around 20 minutes playing it at 70 - then gradually bring up the speed up by 5bpm and shred it at that speed for about 5 minutes. keep bring up the speed and when you hit a speed that you just can no longer play the riff cleanly dial back around 10-15bpm and start practicing on that speed for again 3-4 days and keep the cycle going.

i promise you that you will have it to perfection in around 10 days - guitar is an easy instrument to learn but to master it is a real challenge. it takes patience and endurance

im shredding 9 years now - i think its coming up to 10 soon so take my word on that - its what i done and it works. once you nail a few riffs like that then learning more gets easier. you wont have to keep doing that in the future. you'll just keep getting them right quicker & quicker

also dont kill your brain trying to do it. if you hit a wall and you feel "ah im playing like crap" leave your guitar, walk away and do something else and come back an hour or two later with a fresh head and relaxed fingers.

again: practice very very slow and make sure you use up and down picking strokes to a metronome and you'll be fine

 

[jrt12]

does it have to be metronome to work on timing/accuracy? would a looped drum work just as well or is the metronome preferrable because there's nothing else going on?

 

[ParsonsMatt]

Yeah, you just need to practice more. If you fix the mistakes in your recording program, you'll really be shortchanging yourself.

 

[slashvanyoung]

You can also practice to drums of course if they're on time, but practising to a metronome will prepare you better for a recording situation when you can't expect the drums to be already perfectly quantized to play along.

Also, a metronome will give you a sound on every beat of a bar with the accentuation you choose. Your drum loop may be skipping some beats while still being on time.

 

[GarethSE]

When you're playing tight enough to not have to question whether something's tight enough or not, you'll know you're playing tight enough.

 

[jrt12]

ah right... makes sense. thanks!

 

[JBroll]

does it have to be metronome to work on timing/accuracy? would a looped drum work just as well or is the metronome preferrable because there's nothing else going on?

Don't let it be distracting - when you've used a metronome right, it should be buried by your impeccable timing. If a steady drum loop doesn't throw you off, and you can get to the point where you're locked in so well that you literally cannot hear gaps between drum hits and your attack, you should be set.

Jeff

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

. But now I am recording I realized that some notes come slightly out of tempo (like playing a note faster than it should, slower, missing the beat, etc). I have been trying to record the same riff for hours and I couldn't get one single take with all notes near 100% in time.

Most musical notes should be slightly out of tempo unless you want something sterile. However, being on "tempo" is different than being "tight." You don't want to be 100% tight with the metronome but you do want to be near 100% tight with the drummer (though you could argue against that as well).

Basically, if you record 2 tracks of guitar and they sound tight together, then don't worry about if it's on tempo.

 

[Dexter_prog]

Thanks for the replies people. I spent the last hour playing to the tab (click + the other guitar track - all in midi) at 75% speed. I found that playing with the backing track (real drums or even midi drums) distracted me from noticing mistakes in tempo or palm-muting mistakes. I'll keep practicing for the next days whenever I find time. I guess I've lost a lot of technique in the past years because college has been quite time consuming for me (I used to play with a metronome at slow speeds back in the day quite often).

Whenever I get somewhat better at this riff I will post the results back.

 

[Machinated]

id say learning to play in a way thats suitable for recording is a bit of an art in itself. the best guitarists i have recorded have great technique anyway, but its not uncommon for me to go over some stuff a lot of guitarists tend to miss.

one that REALLY bugs me is when people bend notes/chords out of tune when they play them.

 

[20Mg]

masturbate to a tempo

 

[Demonstealer]

I love the metronome

 

[brianhood]

anything i or the band i'm recording can't play to my liking, i just edit to perfection There is always a way to make it tight with editing.