How often do you record your practice?

[ModesSchmodes]

I was wondering about this, I try to do it quite a bit, especially for practicing improvisation, but could maybe do it more often.

I remember Julian Lage explaining in an interview, that he would record himself improvise over nothing at the start of each practice session for one or two weeks straight, while only listening to them at the end of the process. He said that that gave him a lot of insight of some "tics" he wouldn't otherwise notice in his playing.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I remember Julian Lage explaining in an interview, that he would record himself improvise over nothing at the start of each practice session for one or two weeks straight, while only listening to them at the end of the process. He said that that gave him a lot of insight of some "tics" he wouldn't otherwise notice in his playing.

You just don't want to listen to yourself on a full stomach

I've always recorded as much of my playing as I could, because it's the only way I know to find out how you actually sound. It was a bit cumbersome to do for the many years I only had open reel decks. I bought one of the first WM-D6C Sony Pro Walkmen to reach the US in 1984. The C model had line level imputs and the "Sendust & Ferrite" heads (for metal tape), both of which were major improvements over the original 1982 WM-D6. This made it easier to record practice and gigs, but I had to set up a portable mixer or use a preamp to record directly. I had to drag too much stuff to gigs to do it very often - mics, stands etc plus the mixer and recorder. There were portable recorders with built in mics, but none was even close to the quality of the Pro Walkman and those tiny mics were mediocre at best.

Since I got a digital recorder with good on-board mics (I use a TASCAM DR-40x), it's so easy that I record anything and everything that I think might help me. I regularly record my trio's Thursday night jazz shows, and I record at least one or two tunes whenever I practice at home. It's been a bigger help to me in correcting things I do wrong and refining my concepts than anything else I've ever done. For my money, the cost of a digital recorder is a far better investment in your playing than a new pickup.

[ragman1]

I record almost everything. The recording and the practice are pretty well the same thing. Not only does it focus the mind but it gets one used to playing in recording conditions. So I actually prefer to record than not.

I'm not even sure I'd call it practicing either; it's more just playing things right away. But admittedly I don't necessarily keep everything I record.

[kris]

I never recorded myself exercising.
Recording exercises or warm-up exercises would be terribly boring.
However, I record myself a lot when I play a full piece, e.g. a jazz standard.
Then I'm very critical of myself and pay attention to the sounds, timing, phrases and the whole form of the solo.
All this allows me to play jazz better and better.

[ModesSchmodes]

Well s*** I guess I have to invest in a better recording setup then... There goes the new strap that's sitting in my basket at Thomann.

[AllanAllen]

Well s*** I guess I have to invest in a better recording setup then... There goes the new strap that's sitting in my basket at Thomann.

Just use your phone. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.

[ModesSchmodes]

Just use your phone. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.

I've done this already, but when I'm using iReal for backing tracks, it's a bit cumbersome. Plus I find it really hard to keep it organised just on my phone. I've been looking at the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 for some time now, this thread here might just be what I need to pull the trigger.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I've done this already, but when I'm using iReal for backing tracks, it's a bit cumbersome. Plus I find it really hard to keep it organised just on my phone. I've been looking at the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 for some time now, this thread here might just be what I need to pull the trigger.

if you have an iPhone, use Garage Band - it’s a pretty good DAW, and it’s free. The output files can be mp3 or Apple’s lossless format, so sound quality is good. There are some fine DAW apps for Android as well.

There are good cheap interfaces too, eg iRig.

[Christian Miller]

Yes, but I try to record something specific, or have some clear yardstick in mind when I listen back.

in general recording something is a good test of whether or not you have it under your fingers. The red light goes on and everything goes out the window haha

[Jimmy blue note]

It's part of my 2023 New Year's resolution. Practice time from free improv to working through pieces. If there's something I stumble across, I'll take note so I can check it out again later. Digital .wav files don't take up any room at all so it's a net for anything if I ever wanted to check it out again.
There's a lot of what I work on that doesn't work in the playback. This has been helpful in revealing things to work on.

[Jimmy blue note]

I remember Julian Lage explaining in an interview, that he would record himself improvise over nothing at the start of each practice session for one or two weeks straight, while only listening to them at the end of the process.

Jules is one of the most meticulous practicers I'd known. Ben asked him what he does to practice smooth phrasing and clean technique. He said he practices with headphones out of the amp, no effects, dry signal straight into the cans. When his picking technique was clean under THOSE circumstances, it'd surely be clean in a live situation.

[RobbieAG]

It used to be easy back in the day when I had a Sony Walkman with built in mics. I should do it more. I need to get one of those Tascam portable units (DR-40X?) mentioned above that has the built in mics, or figure out something for my Android phone. I do record myself in my home studio, but I don't consider that practice, and I can only do so when I'm in my basement.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

It used to be easy back in the day when I had a Sony Walkman with built in mics. I should do it more. I need to get one of those Tascam portable units (DR-40X?) mentioned above that has the built in mics, or figure out something for my Android phone. I do record myself in my home studio, but I don't consider that practice, and I can only do so when I'm in my basement.

DR-40x it is. There are many similar units from the usual makers for under $200 USD. I looked at several and thought this TASCAM was my best choice. It’s made well, easy to use, versatile, and gets wonderful results. The mics on it are as good as my original Sony electret condenser mics. I leave it connected at home and use it as a simple DAI into my PC as well as a stereo mic pair with a decent preamp / ADC built in. It sits in front of my Blu, so I can mic the amp with it or plug the guitar directly into the TASCAM.

[Christian Miller]

Jules is one of the most meticulous practicers I'd known. Ben asked him what he does to practice smooth phrasing and clean technique. He said he practices with headphones out of the amp, no effects, dry signal straight into the cans. When his picking technique was clean under THOSE circumstances, it'd surely be clean in a live situation.

I don’t think julian was using any amp reverb either time I saw him live

[Christian Miller]

For working on evenness I record myself and look at the waveforms on a DAW. And despair haha.

[Liarspoker]

I was writing some stuff this morning and recorded it on my phone to hear how it sounded.

Sound quality was crap. Threw out the first thing I wrote but am happy with the second bit.

Heading back in now to work on another short piece which I'll hopefully record over the weekend.

[mr. beaumont]

I record myself often. Usually to see if something is "down" or progressing the way I think it is.

I just use my phone. Anything more is practicing recording, not practicing playing.

[John A.]

I realize this seems contradictory, but I don’t record my practicing very often, but a large portion of what I do wind up recording is essentially practicing. For instance, most of the "virtual jam” videos I did were snapshots of learning a tune. This is in contrast to stuff like somewhat involved demos of compositions or live performance videos (another thing I rarely do).

[ModesSchmodes]

For working on evenness I record myself and look at the waveforms on a DAW. And despair haha.

Can't you just click on "Quantize"?

[supersoul]

I play Aebersold tracks from my laptop; then to record I open Audacity and record through the internal mic, which picks up the backing track from the speakers as well as my guitar. I listen once or twice but I don't save it afterwards.

[RJVB]

You missed the poll option "Not often enough" ...

[itsmyname]

oups I did it again !



I bought a motu M2 last month, all I do for now is recording myself comping standards then I can solo over; I like it more than playing on a back track.
Motu gave ableton live lite, it's enough for my use (8 audio tracks max).

The surprise is the sound of the comins cgs16-1 directly in the motu, no eq, no effect ,nothing and I think the sound is cool.

I got a lot to learn from this I'm sure, if I make something good according to me, I will post it !

[RJVB]

oups I did it again !
...
I got a lot to learn from this I'm sure, if I make something good according to me, I will post it !

Lol, the question is what it is you're practising right now (granted, the thread subject leaves the choice open)

[redsea]

I hardly record myself and when I do, I immediately delete on most occasions.

[Tim Clark]

I record all lessons, rehearsals, and gigs, and listen to them carefully before deleting (and sometimes saving gig snippets for PR). Rarely record practice sessions.

Listening to these recordings and making adjustments based on them has improved my playing more than anything else. I don't think my technique has improved a bit over the past 10 years but I'm a better player, mostly as a result of playing fewer notes / overcoming bad habits that came to light from listening to those recordings.

Though some say I'd achieve better sound by reducing the number of notes played to zero...