Mid-March Update

Recording lessons resume today. When I signed up anew, I thought I was almost done with recording all the music tracks I needed and I would just need to cut the vocal and it would be ready for mixing but I found the overall sound of the song unsatisfactory and I decided to do it over. Now, I am so not ready. I've narrowed the reason down to the most horrible perfectionist streak that troubles my entire family. Must come from both sides, I decided. Now my children also have it from both sides and I really need to find coping mechanisms.

Yesterday, I attempted to record my daughter playing a one-liner on the viola. It was 8 notes. Oh boy, the frustration that she had over that was insane. We had a good talk about it afterwards. Performance anxiety kicks in, I get it. We came to the same conclusion that more practice was a good answer to that but it doesn't remove all the worries. Just doing it more helps one cope with it and getting in the zone helps block out the unwanted noise. Then later listening to the tracks, eventually getting used to the sound of one's own voice or playing of an instrument, that also helps. I told her, imagine the double whammy I have to go through each time. I record it, playing 4 chords over and over. Then I have to listen to the entire recording to find useable takes. It is exhausting. 

One of the things I feel like I need to address is some headphone leakage that I'm hearing in the recordings. Maybe I turn the gain up too high because the headphone volume tends to be midway and most things I've read suggest that as long as you're not exceeding 80%, it should not leak. But it does. I can attempt to lower the volume further, and maybe cover the ear cups but I cannot make them tighter because they would just be unbearable then. Right now, they're very comfortable and that's probably why they leak. Maybe I need a visual metronome. A conductor hahaha.

On my last trip to Guitar Center, I didn't bring my instrument with me so I took the opportunity to practice on a lovely Gibson J-45. This instrument is normally locked on the wall-hanger but I chanced upon it unlocked. Lucky! It has the most unassuming appearance for a $3000 guitar but felt comfortable immediately. Not much of an adjustment playing from my Epiphone but the sound difference was apparent almost instantly. It was fuller, more whole and just a joy to play right out of the box. Well, I"m sure it's been handled a good number of times but without a setup, you know? How I would love to hear the way it records. Alas, no budget.

Playlist Recommendation: One Headlight, The Wallflowers