Did recording yourself make you a better player, and how?

Yes.

Timing...dynamics...tuning...differences between keeping the stick on the head vrs playing far more staccato WHEN I INTEND IT...how the sounds from outside were changing the sounds I was making on the set which I could generalize to how bandmates would effect my playing by what they are playing....finding more interesting things to say on the set by finding my duplications and avoidances....

Record and, arguably more important....listen back more than once...

Listen for unintentional flams between limbs...and flams/ruffs that didn't come out distinct....ghosting that was not as quiet or clean as I thought...on and on and on....


And I agree about what others have said...try to be constructive for and kind to yourself...first bit can be shocking.
 
The main thing I got from recording, for me personally is....don't try too hard. It's just fine unless I try too hard. Keeping good feeling time and tempo comes off way better than me trying to be an "awesome" drummer. It works to my benefit, not my detriment, to play less. But that's my situation only and doesn't apply across the board by any means.
 
Yes I like to record myself, ether live with the band at a gig or practicing alone. Sometimes it helps with subtleties and dynamics that are not apparent from behind the kit or when you are playing in the moment. Also sometimes I am surprised by how good something comes out. Usually I am looking for all the mistakes LOL
 
I'm recording pretty much every day.

All I need to do to find value is to compare the first take of any song to the last.

It's usually a remarkable difference.
 
This is a timely resurrection of this thread.

Although recording has made me better, I was just listening to some isolated tracks and I'm ready to quit again. Even though everything is clicked, I still hear myself wandering around a bit. How the heck can you wander between the 1 and 4? It doesn't show in the full mix but I can clearly here it isolated.

I'm going to go with the simple fix and not listen to the isolated tracks anymore :)
 
Push pull stroke said:
Personally, I would say especially if the suck factor makes you want to never listen again. You learn the most from your biggest mistakes
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Agree with this 100%. Some times the suck factor is introduced by something you think is insignificant, a little accent or even as much as a “signature.” You then listen back and are horrified by the actual impact! It’s helped me to “cut the crap” at a minimum. It’s definitely helped me clean up areas too. Some of it wasn’t my fault per se, but the inability to hear myself play before recording gear. All in all I would say the investment in recording gear has been 100% worth it and way more useful than another snare or cymbals. Best to buy those after!
 
Yeah...learning to be comfortable with 'the cringe factor' is deeply important when listening back...its the only way to isolate the components of your planning that you want to make the biggest target of improvement.

I found a lot of my cringe factor to be the overall sound and mix....but of the things going on once I listened a few time(and chewed my nails down to the quick) were more subtle...and were making a large amount of the sound problems.

Record/playback is an essential tool in learning, in my opinion.
 
One thing I learned from listening back that applies to my situation is that I DON'T want to cut through the mix.
 
Push pull stroke said:
Personally, I would say especially if the suck factor makes you want to never listen again. You learn the most from your biggest mistakes
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My point was, if the recording reveals drumming so bad, so sucky, then don't listen again and go back to the woodshed. Don't waste any time lamenting a lame performance.
 
Didn't start drumming until late in life, but I've always recorded myself.

Generally we evolve in this regard over time, but most people need many years of playing before they're able to really heard what's going on as their mind is pretty much preoccupied by the physics of what they themselves are doing.

It's an eye opener for most.

I can remember my first recording session and it was pretty much all "red light syndrome." Very little else.

Same goes for the stage.

Recordings don't lie and when you don't have to concentrate on anything else you can easily hear what's going on and you then know exactly what you should be working on.

Many students start recording their own stuff quite early these days. It's usually quite evident, as they generally play way cleaner than those who don't.
 
Interesting how many people on here are not happy with their performance after listening to a recording. Which begs the question - are we EVER totally happy with a performance, or are we always trying to get to that level (but never able to reach it)?
 
larryace said:
The main thing I got from recording, for me personally is....don't try too hard. It's just fine unless I try too hard.
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This reminds me of something Ra Kalam Bob Moses said in a recent MD interview:

"It's [playing music] like getting in a car that's already driving. You don't need to do anything."
 
Jml said:
Interesting how many people on here are not happy with their performance after listening to a recording. Which begs the question - are we EVER totally happy with a performance, or are we always trying to get to that level (but never able to reach it)?
Click to expand...

I record myself as much as possible (which isn’t much when I get busy with work) and most of the time I find that after many takes (trying various rhythms & fills) I’m able to whittle my performance down to something I really like.

For me, it’s a laborious process ‘cuz I rarely like what I initially play. But the process of exploration & experimentation is really fun.

One of my faves, along with how my kit sounds can be seen/heard here.

That said, I still marvel at Ringo Starr and the performances he put together, especially on Abbey Road. I don’t know how many takes he had, but I’m sure it’s far less than what I do.
 
trickg said:
I started off as a "sub until we can find a 'real' drummer" for a church praise team, so I was doing weekly performances right from the start. With that church it was like pulling teeth to get recordings of the services, but when I did get them, they were very eye opening. I had a lot of the same bad habits many novice drummers have, such as hitting too hard, not playing with nuance, pushing through fills, etc.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm going through now. they're working out the technical issues now, but I really want to hear the recordings. They think we really sound great. I'm not so sure...At another church, they would occasionally record. At first, the playback was sounding pretty good, then we'd start picking it apart (Coulda done that better, Shoulda done that there, etc.).
 
philrudd said:
Oh, good god yes.

And I don't think you need high-end equipment to engage in this practice. The iPod recordings I use are not good; they're over-compressed and distorted and uneven. But I can hear my playing, I can hear my timekeeping, and I can tell if I'm locking in with the other players. Doesn't cost me a cent, and it's improved my playing by leaps and bounds. Do it!
Click to expand...

I agree with this 100%. I too record band rehearsals on a smart phone and I learn tons. Crude, but elegantly simple. If I had $2000 worth of recording gear and every drum close-mic'ed I suspect I might learn less about how my drums actually sound to the bari sax player and the trumpet section.
 
The answer to the question that you have posed, "what has made me a better player", is playing. Reps. Gigs. Lots of them. I had this discussion with a fellow drummer friend here this past weekend, he was telling me how he could see how much better I am now that a few years ago, and we both agreed it comes primarily from playing out, a lot.

If you can't gig a lot right now, rehearse as much as you can with the guys you play with, and jam with anyone you can. Reps. Reps.

As far as recordings, they show me lots. Usually that I'm going too fast :) They are helpful, too. We have friends record stuff from gigs on their cell phones, it is...illuminating at times.
 
Here is an odd thing I learned from recording. I have been playing with a click for years, both in the studio and live. It has become second nature.

Everything appears to be in order when I listen to the the full band tracks but, if I solo the drums on a live recording, I can sometimes hear the drums wandering.

I don't know if my brain has been conditioned to hear the fluctuations or if it is some kind of audio illusion. It doesn't seem like there is any room to wander between the 1 and 4 but, I sometimes hear it.
 
I found that recording myself, whether via video or audio, was beneficial because it forced me to see/hear myself objectively. There's nothing more sobering and humbling than to play a performance that felt flawless, then to hear yourself and go, "Whoa, is that me?" While this can be demoralizing at first, it can serve to fuel you towards better practice and performance if you seek to improve upon what you recorded.

It can be a bitter pill to swallow, but it's worth it when you put in the work and see/hear your improvement over time.
 
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