Patric_Bernard

How many attempts does it usually take you to get a recording down solid? to exactly how you want it, Clean, no fracks, and exaclty how you want it to be played?

brem

What is the problem? The horn, the recording equipment or the player? :)

You have to be able to play the piece "perfectly" before recording... other than that, check mic distance, volumes, how the sound tops (it shouldn't) or distort... When you're set up, which should take like an hour, just press record, play it, enjoy. Repeat until satisfaction. If you're really perfectionnist, you might iterate a lot.

gridjam

What are you recording? Improvised music? A demo? An audition? Is it with others or are you alone?
I need more info to answer this question properly.
ij

Patric_Bernard

Oh sorry lol. What I usually Record right now is just improv. With just me and smart music backround tracks.

brem

(sorry, i didn't realise it was ingrid's thread! :P )

gridjam

apology not necessary....please, the more input the better!
ij

gridjam

Hmm, as far as an answer on this one- there is only one that I can think of. Get playing and get experience improvising and 'hearing'. Perfection is not the point unless you are talking about playing the melody correctly. If you have a pre-conceived solo that you want to play a certain way, then it's not really improvising- especially since you are not involved in any sort of interaction with other people.
See the Tips for improvisation thread for ideas on how to grow as a player. Then you will eventually be able to play 'perfectly'. I think that there is an impression that what the great jazz players are doing is really easy to do.
This is simply because they have put SO much time and soul into what they do.
As I often tell my students, get to work- enjoy the process, and you will be fine.

brem

Then again, what is improv? Repeating patterns that are known to work? :)

From MY experience, picking note out of a hat rarely produces a nice melody... ;)

When you solo, and have to retake the solo, should you discard what "worked" simply because it was played once?

Unless one's a real pro, like you described, and is able to solo a masterpiece out of the blue, the rest of us will have to rely on other strategies.

Right? :)

duval

That's an interesting point Brem, and is in a similar vein to the argument between playing licks or not. But your assertion that the notes are picked out of the blue seems a bit misleading...the notes you pick will usually be from a scale that is derived from current chord/key. On top of that phrases usually start on chord tones... so there is a harmonic foundation on which to build your lines, you don't just have to guess what sounds good. Constructing new and interesting lines every time one takes a solo is part of the challenge (and fun) of Jazz. I believe that Miles once said that if in any gig he came up with 2 minutes of new material he thought he was doing pretty well.

brem

Duval: I meant pick up notes from the notes of the scale/chord/mode, from the hat.

Even if the note "works" in theory, it might not be an extraordinary choice when you place it with everything else. Was my point.

:)

And yes, in a show, part of the fun is not restricting yourself to your "safe territory". But for a recording you will be hearing over and over again, I'm not sure. Not for me anyway.