I’m probably a third of the way through recording some new music, this time on the analogue 4-track. I figured it was time for a quick update of how it is going.
My initial reaction was of extreme frustration and unsatisfying results. The technological limitations are not too frustrating, but my technical musical ability definitely is. Simple truth – I cannot play well enough. Not that this is a surprise, but the analogue recording really exposes it. However, there is a charm to the recordings. In some ways I think my voice is better when being delivered alongside the live guitar rather than recorded separately. They stay tonally in sync with one another in a way that I haven’t achieved on other recordings. I am noticeably faster on this device, without all the constant twiddling and tweaking that the DAW creates. There is a limit to what can be achieved, so there is a lot of ‘it’ll do’ going on.
The result so far is a series of recordings that are distinct from other things that I have done recently. This pleases me. I worry that I may be wasting ideas and executing them poorly, but another part of me is keen to remove this sense of preciousness. I would rather that the songs exist in some form rather than painstakingly live with them beyond their welcome. Again, another harsh truth, some ideas just are not worth endless stressing over.
Should I be so dismissive of the output? Is this something inferior that shouldn’t be published because it is not executed to a level of professional ability? Honestly, I don’t agree with the premise of these ideas. Ultimately, if at the end I think there are a collection of songs that some people (including myself, or only myself) find interesting, then I will share them. I think they can be appreciated in the context of how/why they’re being recorded.
Am I happy with them? No, but I’m rarely happy with anything that I produce. That is usually the reason to produce something else, in the search for some closer sense of alignment with my satisfaction. Weirdly, I am rarely happy at the time, but then retrospectively, I am happy (or at least satisfied) that I produced things. I don’t regret the things I have made, but the things I haven’t.
