Thinking about packing it in...

[Morgan C]

Not sure if this has been suggested or not, haven't read the full thread yet, but is there any aspect of the process you DO still like? Atm because of my situation I can't record, so I'm only mixing bands who've recorded themselves or been to a studio already. It's not enough to make a living on, but I already have a full-time job like you. Maybe you can just scale it back to just mixing, or just recording, and then get some contacts to send bands before and after they come to you.

 

[Josh Burgess]

Do you not play an instrument yourself, Adam? No desire to put something out you've written?

 

[Cryo114]

Take a break from it before you decide to sell stuff. You don't wanna have sold everything only to miss it like hell a few months down the line.

I would hold off too, just make life easy for yourself for a while. Sit with the idea for a while and you might remember why you got into it in the first place. If you don't, well, the Gear for Sale forum will be a very good friend. Recording bands for a living is/can be hard, I packed in that idea before I even started. Nothing wrong with stepping off and living a more stress free life.

Edit: After reading more, sorry but you took on way too much.

I understand why an all but, fuck. Not surprised your not enjoying it. Slow the fuck down for a while. Honestly I don't know if it's possible but a middle way would be to, get out of the landlord thing, stop recording bands. Just work your job and save, while listening to music, get developing your chops and re-discover your passion (it must have been there before, good and strong too). Then if it's possible, get a part time job and start taking bands again.

Honestly I don't think I could survive what you've been putting up with.

 

[ahjteam]

5 or 6 songs. Recording bass for 3 hours a night for 3 weeks

Holy shit you are working with bad bass players. 3 x 21 / 5 or 6 = 10-12 hours per song just for bass? If I would record a bass for 12 hours per song I do, I would sound like Cliff Burton. Honestly, all your stress would go away if you would work with better musicians. I guess metal music is not a good choice either because of the skill requirement set by the genre. Try something softer and edit less, put more emphasis on the musicians effort than your (absolutely awesome) editing skills.

 

[superfreak]

I was in the same situation as you but then I became super picky about bands I choose to work with and I feel a lot better now. I just can't deal with kids who can't write a decent tune, can't play their instruments and don't have basic fucking knowledge ABOUT the instruments they brutally rape. If that wasn't enough, they actually expect me to wave a magic studio wand and turn their shit into a hit.

On the other hand, the bands I do choose to work with are mostly people I am friends with so the recording sessions feel like we're just hanging out, having fun and recording some music.

My advice to you... don't give up! Take a nice long break and DO NOT listen to rock/metal music. Listen to some jazz, easy listening, new age... anything relaxing to refresh your mind and when you feel you're ready to get back in the game be very strict about who you work with. Also, try and land more mixing jobs than recording so you won't have to deal with all the bullshit.

 

[Uros]

I don't even like LISTENING to music anymore like I used to. Just think this stage of my life is played out, time to concentrate on some other hobbies.

This is the most obvious proof of burn out right there. I've had this situation already, and let me tell you, it isn't cool. It took me like a year or two to overcome that, and even today I am not sure if I get excitement out of music like I used to. But the feeling, or at least a part of it definitely came back.

So, sleep on it for a while (a big while - like a year or so). Especially since you've been involved in it one way or another for such a big part of your life, it just can't be a phase, or a stage how you put it.

Stop doing your AE job for now, yes, but don't be so exclusive, it's simply not the way to go here. Frankly, I don't get the posters that advise you to do that. It's not that you started doing this like 6 months ago, got bored and that's it (like when a kid gets bored after playing with a new toy for some time).

 

[Glenn Fricker]

I'd advise to step back & take a break before making any life-altering decisions.

If after a month or two, you don't feel the hunger, then yeah, call it a day & move on. But, if you get the urge to get back in the game, then follow your instincts. You do very good work Adam, & it would a loss for all of us if you gave up.

You might also want to think about increasing your hourly rate... That tends to cut down on the epic bass tracking sessions.

Seriously, if they can't nail a song in 5 takes, throw 'em out. It's a policy that works.


-Glenn

 

[Harry Hughes]

Holy shit you are working with bad bass players. 3 x 21 / 5 or 6 = 10-12 hours per song just for bass? If I would record a bass for 12 hours per song I do, I would sound like Cliff Burton. Honestly, all your stress would go away if you would work with better musicians. I guess metal music is not a good choice either because of the skill requirement set by the genre. Try something softer and edit less, put more emphasis on the musicians effort than your (absolutely awesome) editing skills.

Bad bass players? Sounds like he's working with the average level of bass player these days, sadly

I'd advise to step back & take a break before making any life-altering decisions.

If after a month or two, you don't feel the hunger, then yeah, call it a day & move on. But, if you get the urge to get back in the game, then follow your instincts. You do very good work Adam, & it would a loss for all of us if you gave up.

You might also want to think about increasing your hourly rate... That tends to cut down on the epic bass tracking sessions.

Seriously, if they can't nail a song in 5 takes, throw 'em out. It's a policy that works.


-Glenn

It always seems like half the people here never agree with your approach of telling them to GTFO and come back when they're ready, but I think your approach kicks ass.
If people aren't going to tell them they're shit stinks, they're never going to take a step back, have a think about where they're at, and take the time to work on their weaknesses/improve their abilities.

 

[AdamWathan]

Thanks guys.

The reason it takes so long to record bass is because bands are retarded and tune down to B or lower where if the open note is in tune, every fretted note is sharp. Tuning is just a fucking nightmare in general and that is what takes up all my time, tuning for every take and a take is only ever 4 or 5 notes at a time tops. Guitar is a million times worse :/ I just fucking HATE tracking so so so so so much, but I hate mixing stuff that I didn't track just as much because I don't like the idea of mixing stuff that was lazily tracked by the band without the attention to detail that is necessary to compete with other modern metal productions.

I recorded a band in drop D a few months ago and it was the most wonderful blessed guitar recording experience of my life. Great players, instruments sounded wonderful and always in tune, definitely something magical about playing an instrument in the range it was FUCKING DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED IN.

For what it's worth, I've been playing guitar for about 17 years but basically gave it up all but completely 2 years ago or so, just no interest in playing anymore. Never really wrote much I liked and certainly not enough consistent material to ever put out a release or start a band of my own stuff, just played with other bands and wrote with them over the years. I think my lack of interest in playing at all is certainly relevant to my current lack of interest in recording as well... Just not really the music obsessed kid I was my whole life anymore for some reason. Probably only heard 2 new albums in the past 4 years that actually grabbed me so that doesn't help either.

For sure taking a break, will see what transpires after that I guess. Thanks again for the opinions and kind words. I'll definitely be selling some guitars and a Single Rectifier if anyone is interested at least Will hang on to my recording stuff for now though, I still do enjoy really small projects with the right bands I guess, just not interested at ALL in committing serious time to do more than a song or 2 with anyone. Sick of bands being bitter that I don't want to record every single night of the week after working my job or making me feel like I am being an asshole by wanting to take a night off just to have time to do some stuff at the bank and get a haircut or something for fuck's sake. We'll see what happens I guess, I think I really just need to get my life in general organized and under control so I can manage everything instead of getting overwhelmed like I am right now. Way too much stress and things to worry about and it's totally wiping me out. Bah.

 

[JeffTD]

Haircuts are for fags, suck it up.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

It always seems like half the people here never agree with your approach of telling them to GTFO and come back when they're ready, but I think your approach kicks ass.

I'm 40. I'm too old to be wasting my life with musicians who don't know their own songs.

I really don't' understand why my methods are controversial. My methodology is simple: "Instead of floundering our way through the tracks, let's play some fucking music!"

Consequently, tracking is my favorite part of the process.

 

[drew_drummer]

Just some thoughts, but wouldn't it be better to save your weeknights for relaxing with the girlfriend and decompressing from work... and relegating all recording stuff to the weekends??

Strikes me that you can get the same amount done in a weekend as you can in 2-3 hour blocks five nights a week. Would be less stressful for everyone.

But of course if you're not enjoying it, fuck it. Life's too short to do shit you don't enjoy (within reason of course!)