why do you record?

[Lt. Bob]

I seem to have a different reason than many ..... it seems that most people have it in their head to record a 'hit' song.
I have a long time friend in BR that I've played and recorded with for over 50 years and he recently had a new song he was working on and was telling me he envisioned it as a song brides would request at their wedding.
That means he's thinking it could be a hit.

He's delusional .... first off at almost 70 there's nothing in his music that's relevant today in anyway not to mention that the math has never changed ..... everyone has about zero chance of being a star.
I feel bad for him because he gets glum about it.

I OTOH don't even bother to show my stuff to anyone .... not because I'm shy but because I don't care.

I record for the fun of it ...... I play music and record for the doing of it.
It's rare that I ever actually write a song per se although I do occasionally.

But for the most part I just start playing an instrument ..... meandering around .... then I start adding whatever occurs to me to add and then finally I look up and whatever it is is finished.
And then I'm done with it except to listen to it from time to time if I like it.

I've always likened myself to a painter who's driven to paint and when he finishes one, tosses it into a corner and starts another, not caring if anyone sees it or not.
He's driven to paint ..... not to show off.

That's how I am ....... I have hundreds of songs but think how rarely I post one.

Now over the next year I'm gonna try to throw some of this up just to share ...... I think some of it may be interesting to some of ya'll but ultimately that's not why I record.

I record for the fun of recording and nothing more.

Why do you record and what's your process? Do you come in with a solid idea of a song you want to do or do you just wing it?

[JD01]

I've always likened myself to a painter who's driven to paint and when he finishes one, tosses it into a corner and starts another, not caring if anyone sees it or not.
He's driven to paint ..... not to show off.

I record for the fun of recording and nothing more.

This mainly. I can barely draw stickmen, but music is the form of art that I love.
I love the whole process from noodling on the guitar, hitting on something and think "Ooo, that's cool" to constructing the, building all the different parts and finding out how it sounds when its all together. I just really enjoy the whole process.

I probably will "release" some music at some point, just 'cos I feel its part of the process. But at the moment I can't see the point, so I won't. I've only managed to get anything that I feel is worth releasing on my last couple of mixes and they still need further work. So, no hurry. I'm only doing it for myself.

[Greg_L]

I OTOH don't even bother to show my stuff to anyone .... not because I'm shy but because I don't care.

I record for the fun of it ...... I play music and record for the doing of it.

That ^^^^^

I have piles of finished stuff that has never seen the light of day, no one's ever heard it, and probably never will. I couldn't care less. I do it for me because I like it. "Home recording" has been the best thing ever to me.

I play in bands because it's also fun, but in a different way. I do my own music for myself and it is exactly the way it is and how it should be. No one can tell me otherwise. But in a band situation I like the compromise and just being part of the whole. I don't want to be "the guy", I just want to be one of the worker bees. Stand me up, plug me in, and let me go. That's what I like about bands. I get to play with my toys the way they're meant to be played, make a lot of noise, and have a good time just playing music I like.

[WhiskeyJack]

I was immediately drawn to recording just because i liked mushing sound together and the freedom to keep trying to mush sound together in different ways to see what different results i could get. I'm not a good musician by any stretch of the imagination but i know enough to make some cool sounding shit. And i like that recording became far more accessible to an individual in the digital age it opened up more to me.

I can remember the day clearly i fell in love with it was when we were using this old four track to make a little demo tape. and we recorded both guitars doing the same thing. I thought it was kind of boring and i was like "can i stay late and try something else?" And my buddys dad let me stay out in the garage making fucking noise well into midnight. That was the moment i fell in love with recording. It was cool to see the possibilities grow off a foundation and morph and change and grow like plant. Needless to say the band absolutely hated what i had done and we went back to just layers of power chords, but isaw a whole new avenue for me personally to not only write and arrange but also grow a little bit within my own skills. The freedom to try what my band band mates weren't even open to.

I do it for me. On my own time and for my own pleasure. I haven't done much in the last handful of years. a couple finished cover songs here and there and when time permits i'll sit down stairs and remix an old song noodle around and troubleshoot on one of my horde of original works and it brings me joy. like seeing old friends or something. that could be why i never finish anything. When it;s gone it gone and done? I dunno i could dissect that alot deeper but why bother. Let's just chok it up to lazyness and non-comital with time management.


Really good question @Lt. Bob

[rayc]

Sanity...I have no other outlet since I gave up painting.
Seriously, it is fun, how I express myself, keep busy and keep control over something.

I've been writing & recording in various forms since 1976.

I post my songs here because I want other ears to let me know where I'm stuffing up - I don't have confidence so need confirmation/direction. I make a video for most songs because I do post them elsewhere when finished and I know that the very few views they get are more than the very few plays the audio will get. PLUS making videos is fun, allows me to express myself and keeps me busy. Of course the the encouragement often found at TRR is very valuable too: a measure of improvement if nothing else.

I enjoy collaborating partly because I can't do it all and partly because it's fun to work, even remotely, with other people's ideas. Other people take me in directions I'd not venture. At present I'm working on a country tune of all things with a 76 year old chap from the Alabama.
My playing is such that I don't get asked to participate very often but I that's perfectly fine as I have an objective understanding of my abilities.

I used to start with a progression/riff back before we moved and there was always a guitar in the living room. Now there's no guitar and there's no where, yet, for me to sit and strum on a comfortable chair so I build a song base with BIAB and then replace everything I can with my parts. fewer riffs more progressions I suppose but it will have to suffice until I can sit n strum again.

I did Bandcamp/Kunaki an album about a decade ago but that was, mainly, to draw a line under and bring an proper conclusion to a songwriting partnership. The number of copies I gave away, (one to each person who participated in the recording), was larger than the number sold but that is perfectly fine too.

[Armistice]

I've always recorded. As soon as I'd developed some level of proficiency on acoustic guitar I was recording things on my father's reel to reel that became mine when he bought a new one. Rain Song was the first recording, from memory.

Then when Fostex were doing 4 track cassette recorders I bought one of those and a bass and an Alessis drum machine and I recorded on that. Then a Yamaha AW4416, now a computer.

I do it because I like creating entire complete things. I have very few discards. I'm working on my 6th album. And when that's done - in a month or so - I'll pivot to a new direction and keep going on something new.

I dislike most modern music, not because it's modern, but because it's boring - musically uninteresting, using the same same same same chord sequences that have been in use forever, with little other than a vocal melody and some interesting sound difference to differentiate it from everything else. I'm continually surprised when I go hunting for "best albums 2022" and have a listen, how average most of it is.

I've always played differently to lots of other musicians, especially those responsible for most of what I hear, and so I pursue that in my own way in attempting to create interesting, non-standard songs. I use standard formats, and sequences too, but with a twist. Or so I like to think.

Nice if other people like what I do too - my tunes are by no means musically inaccessible in themselves - but I don't put anywhere near enough effort into marketing for that to be a realistic possibility.

[Mr Clean]

I started recording as soon as I started playing guitar back in 1993. My first recording rig consisted of 2 tapes decks going into a mixer (DJ Crossfader thing) and using the mic input on that with the cheapest microphone I could afford. (I was 15 and paperround money only went so far when you liked a lot of Dope!) This method of recording was pretty terrible but I didn't know what I was doing anyway so it didn't matter. The added hiss with each overdub didn't phase me. I had to retune my guitar each time as well as one deck played faster than the other.

By 1994 I had a Tascam 4 Track and that was the best thing for a while. Me and a friend, who also started learning guitar at the same time as me, recorded daily. Anything we learned we recorded, just learning things as we went along.

1996 came the Korg D8 Digital Recording Console. That was awesome for it's time and for the first time I/we had clean sounding recordings. By this time we'd both learned a bit of Piano and had a Bass that we shared so we could expend a bit more. Those were good days.

I started recording on a computer around 2002 and progressively got better from there. I've never recorded anything with the intention of trying to make it big or anything. Recordings were always used to get gigs. As a solo musician as I was back then, I'd give promoters and bars, etc, a CD and hopefully get a gig. I worked as a solo musician from 2000 to 2012 and from 2008 to 2016 I played Bass in various bands. One of the bands I was in were constantly banging on about recording albums and singles but in all seriousness I knew that no one was going to buy they. It was a waste of time and money and all I wanted to do was play. The hassle of recording with, shall we say, lesser competent musicians was not high on my agenda. So I got out of that game and never went back.

Now I just record for me. I record a lot and like Greg said, most of the stuff I record no one ever hears. It's just for my fun. I might stick the odd thing on Facebox, Soundcloud or YouTube but that's generally so I can share it with people I know. I really don't give a toss what people think of the music I make, I'm more interested in how the mix sounds.

TL,DR - I record because it's fun, I enjoy it and first and foremost, everything I record is for my pleasure. If someone else that gets to hear it likes it, bonus.

[paulman]

I record because it completes me. The only thing that feels better than recording a song is writing one. I've recorded in some fashion or another since I was a teenager, first on a karaoke machine with a dual tape deck. I'd record my band as a rhythm section all together, then dub over the vocals and lead guitar by bouncing back and forth (which of course did wonders for the sound quality!). Then I had a Tascam 4-track for years. It was just seven years ago that I started putting together my current setup.

I do plan on releasing music. I have a record label (Blonde Bulldog Records) and an LLC ready to go, but my pace of recording is fucking glacial. I'm trying really hard to make a pivot in my life to where music is all I do. But I'm not there yet. And when I do start releasing music, it will be on my terms, the way I want to do it. I'd like to "make it" in some form or fashion, but I'm ok if I don't because I will not compromise in order to do so. The main thing is that I need to create, and as long as I can keep doing that then I'll be happy.

[CrowsofFritz]

I record because it’s fun, but mostly because it’s an end result of my creative outlet.

I don’t think I’ll ever have enough clients to pay back all the equipment I paid for, but it’s whatever. It’s still nice to have that stuff.

[Manslick]

i record because im bored. ba dum dat.

[musicturtle]

I record and play music because I like to do it and it's always been a part of me. I like the tech of recording and the sounds of music. I love the challenge of learning, writing, playing and recording a new song. But I also like it when I play live or share a recording or video and people tell me they like it. It's kind of like cooking dinner, I like to cook and create, but I also like it when people tell me they like the food.

When I start a recording I usually start with the part I feel strongest with and record that and build around it.

I recently watched a youtube interview with Jack Blades, the bassist/vocalist from Night Ranger and Damn Yankees. Something he said rang true with me. He said "There's no rule that says 'Just because you're not selling 5 million records, you shouldn't make a record.' Hey, fuck you, this is what I do!"

Music is a huge part of my life. I learn it, teach it, write it, play it, sing it, record it, and share it. It's what I do and that's why I do it. Can't really imagine it any other way.

[vomitHatSteve]

I record because I write songs.

I personally think my songs are brilliant and need to be shared with the world, so someone's gotta record them!

[CrowsofFritz]

I record because I write songs.

I personally think my songs are brilliant and need to be shared with the world, so someone's gotta record them!

That’s another thing. I write songs that I want to hear. Some people think it’s narcissistic to listen to your own songs a lot. But I’m just thinking—I’m writing in a style that nobody else has, and I’m doing it in a style I really like. Of course I’ll listen to them.

[vomitHatSteve]

I record because I write songs.

I personally think my songs are brilliant and need to be shared with the world, so someone's gotta record them!

That’s another thing. I write songs that I want to hear. Some people think it’s narcissistic to listen to your own songs a lot. But I’m just thinking—I’m writing in a style that nobody else has, and I’m doing it in a style I really like. Of course I’ll listen to them.

Right? I create the music that I want to hear. Why wouldn't I want to listen to it?

[CeeBee]

I have no idea, good question.

[rayc]

Right? I create the music that I want to hear. Why wouldn't I want to listen to it?

Ah,
interesting point.
I make what comes to me. Sometimes it's stuff I wouldn't listen to normally but, as things come with a rough idea of what they'll be, I go with it.

[grimtraveller]

Why do you record ?

It's an interest of mine, a bug that bit when I was about 13, the seeds of which went back to when I was about 10. Actually, if I really cast my mind back, I was fascinated at about the age of 3 or 4 when my Dad recorded my little sister and I on his reel-to-reel. I was just amazed that we could shout at this round thing {I later learned it was something called a microphone } and he would play our voices back for us to hear. I was given a cassette recorder at 12 and I never looked back. From that moment back in December of 1975, I've always been recording something.
Even when I entertained thoughts of making a living from music, I was interested in the recording side of it. I wanted to write songs, play the bass, do backing vocals and record whatever outfit I ended up in.
Life took me in different directions but home recording equipment becoming almost affordable was one of the greatest things that happened to me. Recording jams for 11 years on a boom box or stereo was one thing and pretty enjoyable for the most part, but once I got a multi-tracker I lost any interest in jamming and set about recording the store of songs I'd accumulated for a decade.
I love to write songs, I love to record them, I love to listen to them, even the lame ones. Recording my songs is like having a stomach full of gas. I have to get it out.

what's your process?

That depends. It's gone through different phases. Initially, I'd record with my mate on drums/percussion and I'd be on bass or guitar. We'd record the basics rather like our jam days but that has refined over the years. I'll often record in sections, get a section right, then move on to the next bit then eventually join them all together. I got tired of trying to get the perfect take and having 3/4 of it good but not like a segment or part. So going in sections works for me. My songs often reflect my brain ~ all over the place, but in a strangely logical way.
Sometimes, if my drumming friends haven't been/aren't around, I'll use some tracks from other songs we've done. There's a couple of hundred to choose from. It's quite easy to alter drum tracks to the will of the particular song {well, it is now} and putting bits of the drums into different contexts gives them a new lease of life. I've even started laying down drums myself sometimes, if it's a simple enough part. I may be a shitty drummer, but I also use percussion as an integral part of many songs so I can just about get away with it.
Then everything else slots into that original shape. I'm not a good player on anything, but I think I'm good at mixing sounds and ideas and as I'm not under any commercial constraints, I can pretty much let a song flow as it flows. I'm also fortunate to have friends {and so do my kids} that can help with singing and some instruments I might want to use. Some songs take years to finish, some might have had the bass and drums down for 10 years then will be finished within a couple of weeks. When I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll.

Do you come in with a solid idea of a song you want to do or do you just wing it?

It's either and both.
Sometimes, I'll have an idea, hum it into my trusty dictaphone and before I know it, loads of other ideas have come to go with what I originally came up with so before recording, the song is more or less settled, although even that will change sometimes, when I actually record.
Or I might have an idea, record it with friends and it might be in the can for years and nothing has come so I'll sit down with an instrument and force something to come. Once that floodgate has opened, it's easy.
Some of my favourite songs have come that way. I used to think I was shit at melodies, but I kind of like the melodies and harmonies I come up with and my friends often have difficulty singing them.
Spontaneous, cleverly composed or forced out like constipated crap , I don't care. I enjoy listening to them. I do let people that have performed on them hear them. Maybe they'll flood the internet one day. I've done about 300 of them so I can't really be interested in hits.

[Armistice]

Why do you record ?

It's an interest of mine, a bug that bit when I was about 13, the seeds of which went back to when I was about 10. Actually, if I really cast my mind back, I was fascinated at about the age of 3 or 4 when my Dad recorded my little sister and I on his reel-to-reel. I was just amazed that we could shout at this round thing {I later learned it was something called a microphone } and he would play our voices back for us to hear. I was given a cassette recorder at 12 and I never looked back. From that moment back in December of 1975, I've always been recording something.
Even when I entertained thoughts of making a living from music, I was interested in the recording side of it. I wanted to write songs, play the bass, do backing vocals and record whatever outfit I ended up in.
Life took me in different directions but home recording equipment becoming almost affordable was one of the greatest things that happened to me. Recording jams for 11 years on a boom box or stereo was one thing and pretty enjoyable for the most part, but once I got a multi-tracker I lost any interest in jamming and set about recording the store of songs I'd accumulated for a decade.
I love to write songs, I love to record them, I love to listen to them, even the lame ones. Recording my songs is like having a stomach full of gas. I have to get it out.

what's your process?

That depends. It's gone through different phases. Initially, I'd record with my mate on drums/percussion and I'd be on bass or guitar. We'd record the basics rather like our jam days but that has refined over the years. I'll often record in sections, get a section right, then move on to the next bit then eventually join them all together. I got tired of trying to get the perfect take and having 3/4 of it good but not like a segment or part. So going in sections works for me. My songs often reflect my brain ~ all over the place, but in a strangely logical way.
Sometimes, if my drumming friends haven't been/aren't around, I'll use some tracks from other songs we've done. There's a couple of hundred to choose from. It's quite easy to alter drum tracks to the will of the particular song {well, it is now} and putting bits of the drums into different contexts gives them a new lease of life. I've even started laying down drums myself sometimes, if it's a simple enough part. I may be a shitty drummer, but I also use percussion as an integral part of many songs so I can just about get away with it.
Then everything else slots into that original shape. I'm not a good player on anything, but I think I'm good at mixing sounds and ideas and as I'm not under any commercial constraints, I can pretty much let a song flow as it flows. I'm also fortunate to have friends {and so do my kids} that can help with singing and some instruments I might want to use. Some songs take years to finish, some might have had the bass and drums down for 10 years then will be finished within a couple of weeks. When I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll.

Do you come in with a solid idea of a song you want to do or do you just wing it?

It's either and both.
Sometimes, I'll have an idea, hum it into my trusty dictaphone and before I know it, loads of other ideas have come to go with what I originally came up with so before recording, the song is more or less settled, although even that will change sometimes, when I actually record.
Or I might have an idea, record it with friends and it might be in the can for years and nothing has come so I'll sit down with an instrument and force something to come. Once that floodgate has opened, it's easy.
Some of my favourite songs have come that way. I used to think I was shit at melodies, but I kind of like the melodies and harmonies I come up with and my friends often have difficulty singing them.
Spontaneous, cleverly composed or forced out like constipated crap , I don't care. I enjoy listening to them. I do let people that have performed on them hear them. Maybe they'll flood the internet one day. I've done about 300 of them so I can't really be interested in hits.

Well, hello....

[grimtraveller]

Well, hello....

Howdy, podnah !

[rayc]

Great to read you @grimtraveller,
it has been a while or three.