[Jamie]

Hi All,
          I started trying to record in Jan this year and my recordings have improved immeasurably ( in many ways because of things I've picked up from this forum), but even when I  have something that many or most people would think was a 'pro' sounding recording, I'm still not happy. I don't think there's anything I'm 100% happy with (singing, playing, arrangement, recording etc the whole thing!).

Dear agony Aunt,
                          Is this normal. When do you draw the line and stop tinkering?

Cheers

Jamie

[Boydie]

Someone once said on this forum something that has stuck with me:

Songs are never finished, they are abandoned

I can't remember who first said this but they are soooooo right

The beauty of modern technology and home recording is that you can generally go back to your recordings at any time and "tinker" (blessing or curse?)

So you are not alone!

[Bernd]

"Is this normal." Yes - that much have I learned from reading musicians' auto biographies. I don't care myself, but I'm not a musician.

How much effort you should put in depends on what you're after, I guess.

Shall the recordings serve as demos? Then there are two options: one goes "keep it simple" (my partner Craig Pavone follows that philosophy); the other says "a demo must be perfect so the later producer only has to replace the vocals to make it a commercial song" (my partner Alex Geibel adheres to that view).

Do you produce the songs just for your own and other's pleasure. Then they are done when you think they are ;-) My partners Fredy and Angie who call themselves KOMIR publish their recordings on the internet for everybody to enjoy and share. I don't know what their criteria are to tell when a recording is finished. But they publish them rather quickly so they can't be fussing too much. To my ears their recordings sound perfect.

Do you want to sell your songs yourself? Then they should be as perfect as you can produce them. Feedback may help. But then, feedback is always biased on personal taste. Make sure to get feedback from people who focus on producing songs rather then writing just their own stuff.

That's my two cents.

I love your "King of broken things", the chorus reminds me of Procul Harum who I am a fan of.

Cheers,
Bernd

[Homeless Recluse]

For me a recording will never sound what I want it to sound like.
Not having access to a multi-million pound state-of-the-art recording studio, a top rate producer and a bunch of pro session muso's to play and improve on what I've written, kinda gets in the way of it sounding how I want

Having said that, having all those resources wouldn't necessarily get it to how I'd want it to sound and I'd probably still be frustrated with it the process. At least that's what I tell myself to console myself, lol

I also think there's a fine line between just letting a recording develop and controlling it's progress. I've spent hours on one tiny section of a song to get it to 'sound how I want' or at least to the best of my ability with what I have available, but when I come back to it months later, I cant tell the difference between the different mixes! Then there are the ones where I am really pleased with the results, come back to them and think WTF

I also have recordings that I've done off the cuff that are quite rough but when I've gone to do a 'proper' recording, even though It's of better quality, I still prefer the rough original. 

    

[Jamie]

Hi Guys,
             Thanks for the feedback, it's always appreciated.
I guess the general thrust is, you need to know what your target is in terms of the absolute requirement for a quality recording, and then to also realise that even if you went to a pro studio and recorded your best song, you'd still know where  'the bodies were buried' so to speak .

HR talked about preferring a rough recording to a more 'worked' version, and as an example, Bernd, you mention my song, King of Broken Things. This was a one take version of the song, and there is something I prefer about this version to any other I've done (I think it's the live feel to it ).

I guess I knew that I wouldn't be alone in this, but sometimes it's good to check!

Thanks all
Cheers
Jamie