Red Light Syndrom

No, not that red light, I am talking about when the recording red light comes on my playing turns to crap. I have been recording myself over and over to try and get past it, but can't seem to get my mind off of the fact that the light is on. I have setup certain grooves that flow when practicing but on goes the light and they fall apart.

Ideas on how to get past this BS? It is driving me nuts.

It's your conscious mind tripping you up. You are thinking too much. Stop the chatter in your head! Get calm before you sit down at the drums. Clear your head.



This is what works for me FWIW.

Feel, don't think. Concentrate on your breath while you play and let the music be secondary, it'll be OK. This is just to transition you into a different, more productive headspace. The headspace you're in isn't working for you, you established that, so you must change your inner mindset. That's how everything works. Relax.

Feel, don't think.

Feel, don't think

Close your eyes, listen intently and feel. No pressure, steady as she goes.

You need to get yourself into the flow state, not the fear state. Think of it as an internal 180 degree turn from where you are now

You have to be a master at calming yourself, however you can. This is what works for me.

ZDrumMan said:

No, not that red light, I am talking about when the recording red light comes on my playing turns to crap. I have been recording myself over and over to try and get past it, but can't seem to get my mind off of the fact that the light is on. I have setup certain grooves that flow when practicing but on goes the light and they fall apart.

Ideas on how to get past this BS? It is driving me nuts.

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Is this recording yourself at home? Or are you in the studio playing with other people?

More questions. What are you trying to record when you say grooves? Double bass? Odd times? Linear Garibaldi modern fusion gospel stuff ?

I'm not doubting your playing, but perhaps you don't have the command of them yet that you think you do. Where if someone woke you out of a deep sleep and told you to play it you would be like ...sure no problem.

I get the red light thing though, but it's definitely fixable with relaxation and confidence. And time

ZDrumMan said:

No, not that red light, I am talking about when the recording red light comes on my playing turns to crap. I have been recording myself over and over to try and get past it, but can't seem to get my mind off of the fact that the light is on. I have setup certain grooves that flow when practicing but on goes the light and they fall apart.

Ideas on how to get past this BS? It is driving me nuts.

Click to expand...

Wear red glasses, you won't be able to tell when the light is on...

Record more and don't strive for perfection. Try looking at it like a painting, I'm guessing Picasso's and Da Vincis first paintings didn't look that good. But they made 'em and moved on.

jaymandude said:

I get the red light thing though, but it's definitely fixable with relaxation and confidence.

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Definitely all about the confidence. Once you know you can play the part, and with a realistic perspective on your playing, you should be fine. That applies to stagefright and performance anxiety in general.

I once had an engineer tell me to loosen up and don’t worry about making mistakes on my first session. He said, “You can’t back up and do another take live but you can in the studio.” So ever since then, I haven’t worried about it.

bermuda said:

Definitely all about the confidence. Once you know you can play the part, and with a realistic perspective on your playing, you should be fine.

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+1

When I began recording myself, I, too, could not believe how I'd choke. That frustration only made me play worse. Total downward spiral.

One mistake I made was assuming what I was initially playing was what I wanted in the recording. Nope. I [slowly] learned to just throw notes down and see what stuck. I played around, not even trying to "nail it" but trying to find something that worked with the music I was playing along to. I tried different snare drums and tunings, and different cymbals. Geez, I sucked at creating original, fresh parts. It gave me huge respect for Ringo Starr.

I began to use my DAW correctly and would loop the song such that I'd do five or six takes, go listen to them and select and/or modify what I was doing. This process would help me distill my part into a very succinct composition. Then, thankfully, once I knew exactly what I was going to play I'd perform/record it, doing five or six takes (by this time, it seemed the best take was always #2 or #3). Once I knew exactly what I was going to do, the red light fever completely subsided.

It's not the Red Light. It's the CLICK!

Thanks all for the feedback. It is definitely a mental thing and not an ability thing. It doesn't matter if it is Jazz, Double Pedal Rock, Merengue, Samba, Shuffle, etc. I just mentally start to overthink. It was only upon reflecting on the answers from y'all to the original question that has helped me see this. Thanks again and for those also suffering from this, best of luck.

I practiced a 6-second drum break for two weeks. I have no idea how many hours I spent doing it. I got in front of a crowd of a couple of thousand folks last week and blew it.

I'm not here to say I have answers; however, I'm here to say that I understand.

Don't be afraid to woodshed a part. Even after recording a few years, the feel of a seemingly basic 4/4 part was eluding me. So I sat with a metronome in my basement and worked it out. When I got back to recording it, it snapped together like puzzle pieces. That's the thing about recording--you'll know what needs work when you hear the playback.


Dan

I agree Dan, and that is why I overthink when the light goes on. I did record myself to hear what was needed last year. Things were fine, but when it comes to non-self-improvement but real recording - CRAP. So I just need to start to develop a different mentality.

YEP....I hear ya man.....I think the more times we do it, in consecutive days....like every day....we get better.
But at first.....I thought the thread was about these....

SchmuckyPutz said:

It's not the Red Light. It's the CLICK!

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Well the click can be a problem as well - but as someone that started recording long before using clicks was commonplace - choking from the awareness of being recorded can be a real problem for many. It was for me.

As Bermuda mentioned, it is just like stage fright. That voice in the head that starts panicking over concern of this performance being scrutinized, that it will (good or bad) last forever... that fears wells up eroding first confidence, then concentration, focus, coordination...

What to do about? IMO just like any fear - realize it is all a mind thing... which likely means confronting over and over, trying different things in one's head to conquer it... or at least work around it.

In the past, I remember attempting to convince myself to simply not care (not care if it goes well, not care if I get the job or not, etc.), I remember sometimes relying on the old Dune trilogy mantra "Fear is the mind killer" - basically any thought or technique one can use to bolster confidence.

Certainly being prepared, being able to play well helps - but it's not ultimately the solution - if our mind/emotions refuse to play along.

In a nutshell - you just have to confront it, over and over again. Just like many of us had to do with getting used to playing in front of people.

dcrigger said:

That voice in the head that starts panicking over concern of this performance being scrutinized, that it will (good or bad) last forever...

What to do about? IMO just like any fear - realize it is all a mind thing... which likely means confronting over and over, trying different things in one's head to conquer it... or at least work around it.

In the past, I remember attempting to convince myself to simply not care (not care if it goes well, not care if I get the job or not, etc.), I remember sometimes relying on the old Dune trilogy mantra "Fear is the mind killer" - basically any thought or technique one can use to bolster confidence.

Click to expand...

Dead on DC ... I constantly grapple with adopting the mentality that praise and criticism are bogus as they should not matter (mostly they are empty words). But the reality is we in the USA are not raised that way. So when I know that recording starts I think I need to be the best I can be and lock up. This thread has helped me to understand that. Before posting, I was looking at everything and not the real problem. I guess I need to adopt the Primus mantra of, "We're Primus and we suck." Then it doesn't matter. (said tongue and cheek) It is odd that I don't have this issue with live performances. Oh well, life goes on and I will beat this beast just as I have with multiple time signatures in one song or contrapuntal work between my feet and hands.

A new electric bassist friend and I were talking about this lat night. He is having a fruitful time for writing stuff, and he mentioned it. But he is getting stuff documented. I told him to keep going because he is doing something right, and getting it recorded. I can record myself practicing but can't ever seem to press record when I'm playing stuff I'm trying to write

ZDrumMan said:

Dead on DC ... I constantly grapple with adopting the mentality that praise and criticism are bogus as they should not matter (mostly they are empty words). But the reality is we in the USA are not raised that way. So when I know that recording starts I think I need to be the best I can be and lock up. This thread has helped me to understand that. Before posting, I was looking at everything and not the real problem. I guess I need to adopt the Primus mantra of, "We're Primus and we suck." Then it doesn't matter. (said tongue and cheek) It is odd that I don't have this issue with live performances. Oh well, life goes on and I will beat this beast just as I have with multiple time signatures in one song or contrapuntal work between my feet and hands.

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Also, mad respect to you for sharing your story.

I used to be super nervous about recording. My timekeeping is something I've had to work on a lot, and locking in with a click used to be hard for me. I've come a long way from being replaced on a record (!) to one or two takes per track.

I always rehearse to either a click or a track that was recorded to a click. Always.

I rehearse the HECK out of anything I'm headed in to record. I probably spend six to eight hours per song the week or two prior really picking the track apart and getting to know it very intimately. I concentrate on anything I find tricky or that feels awkward in terms of sticking or body movement. I am working on keeping fills on click. I am listening to the song dynamics and making sure I have every stop and start nailed down. I should not be wondering, guessing, or not confident about anything in the song when the red light comes on.

When the light does go on, I'm not in the studio. I'm in a zone where it's me, the drums, the music, and the click. Most times I record with the bass track being laid down at the same time; occasionally I will perform to a scratch track; occasionally I will put down my track with the song playing in my head and nothing else going on but the click and the drums. We'll do a few passes each way to determine which is giving me the best feel, then the light goes on.

I adopt a "take charge" attitude when it's time to record. This is my instrument, my track, and I'm going to deliver it 100%. That attitude comes across as a very confident take. I listen back to some of my older recordings and I can hear moments when I failed to be confident -- and it shows!

At this stage of the game........what is the worst that can happen? Press stop, rewind and try again.......we all do it.

Assuming Donald Fagen isn't staring at you from the control room you have the ability to break through this on your own without any real consequences.......the only consequences would be self inflicted if you start doubting yourself. It's drums. It's music. Someone's life is not hanging in the balance of you nailing the take.......