Whether you’re in a band, rehearsing for a solo performance, or just tightening up your chops, recording your practice is one of the best ways you can dramatically improve your overall performance. This is something I swear by. Being able to listen back to what you just played is a huge advantage over anyone else that doesn’t have that capability. Believe me; you’ll be astonished at what you hear. You’ll listen back to what you just played and say to yourself, “that’s what I just did…it sounds horrible.”
About 19 years ago I helped form a band and we would practice our craft every weekend. For one reason or another, the guitarist decided to bring in his 8-track cassette recorder and tape the rehearsal. We did it mainly out of fun just to be able to listen to what we sounded like. What we discovered was a litany of mistakes and things we needed to work on.
There’s something about listening back to a live performance with the other musicians you play with and hearing all the mistakes you’ve made. It really makes you want to improve because all of your flaws are out there in the open. And, I’ll tell you one thing, if you can hear the mistake – someone else can hear the mistake.
Those early rehearsal went like this:
Arrive at practice area and set up all the gear.
Once all the gear is set up we would throw some microphones in front of the drums and amps.
We would set up the 8-track.
We would get a rudimentary mix and just hit record.
It was a very simple set up and didn’t eat up a lot of time. We weren’t trying to make an album or anything. All we wanted was to be able to hear the parts together. After we were done practicing we would take the tape out, make a copy for everyone, and then we’d listen. Sometimes we’d listen as a group and sometimes we’d drive off and listen to it on the way home.
Of course, each musician would zero in and listen to themselves. The singer would hear every bad note, the drummer would hear every awkward time shift, the guitarist would hear a botched solo, and I’d hear some sloppy bass playing. As harmony singers we would also be able to tell who the hell needs to work on improving their singing skills and harmonizing abilities.
Being able to listen back to your practice is an eye opening experience.
As time went on and I joined up with other bands I’d keep the tradition going. I’d record every practice and every live show. I streamlined my gear in a way that all I had to do was plop my stuff down on stage, throw a couple of mics in front of the drums, and then just take a direct signal from our in-ear monitor mix and record it all. Then I could listen to the live show on the way back home.
Of course there are a variety of ways to be able to record yourself live.
I was surprised to see that some people didn’t want to listen back to the rehearsal or live shows.
“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to hear how bad I suck.”
Really? Because you probably should.
Now I record myself when I practice whatever I do. I use a TC Electronic Flashback looper pedal to test my timing skills and I use my Cubase home recording software to record myself as I rehearse the set for tour.
I was recording myself last night and I was none too pleased at what I heard. I heard my harmonizing vocals really needed some work on one particular song. I heard lots of sloppy playing in other parts of the songs. I heard other things that, when in listened to in context, I realized I shouldn’t be doing at all.
This saves me time.
Instead of going over the whole set each night I can find the places that need the most work and just practice that for a while. Once those bad areas are polished out I can get back to practicing the whole set again.
This is something that most bands do when they practice: they run through the set.
That’s not practice. That’s just playing the songs – good or bad.
“Practicing” is repeating something over and over in such a way that will iron out the problem areas so you can improve performance. “Running through the set” does nothing for anybody. It’s essentially just hanging out with your buddies playing music.
If you’re serious about playing music you should listen back to your rehearsals. Find a way to record yourself and your band. You’ll be amazed at how much better it’ll make you.
