Staying in time with a recorded song

Never-the-Less

Junior Member
So everyday while I'm drumming I play along to songs on my iPod. I decided that I would record myself playing one of them, then I went into movie maker and lined up the beginning of the song with my playing to have a listen. To my surprise my timing had fluctuated A LOT in the song, but I felt right on the beat while I was playing it (music coming through headphones). Is this me? Or could it be some sort of delay/fluctuation in the camera?

Maybe the music on the record is just wrong? Joking :)
I used a GoPro Hero.
 
I bet you are thinking the drums on the track is you and you are actually not in line as you think.
 
I play along to stuff a lot...and what I decided to do was video myself playing but without audio of the song...so it's just my drums....and I have seen the same thing, where it seems like I'm on it while playing, but the reality is that I'm making mistakes and having timing problems that didn't seem apparent in real time.

Pretty horrifying to watch, but also a valuable learning experience. While I was at GIT, this was a suggested method by my private instructor...he said even in his case, what he thought he was playing wasn't as accurate as he thought when he listened back on its own...timing wise.
 
Bad news....it's you!!!

I record our gigs with a Zoom audio recorder and a Go Pro and then use Movie maker to match them and they line up perfectly, no fluctuation whatsoever during the whole 30-45 minutes. Iphones won't get out of sync either.

Some more ordinary cameras will get out of sync but they will either speed up or slow down during the whole song, they don't "fluctuate".
 
I noticed this while recording covers to chuck on the tube... I thought I'd be able to get a song done in a take... ended up doing about 5 before it was on point.
 
It's you, I'm betting. It is a great thing that you are recording yourself, because it is one of the best ways to train your ear so you can learn to listen to yourself in real time. There is a great tendency to hear what we THINK we are playing, rather than hearing what we are actually playing. It takes time and practice.

It could also be that you are having trouble hearing the recording, but if you think about it, fluctuations in your time due to not being able to hear means your are reacting to the music rather than keeping your own tempo. We need to be able to hear, obviously, but we also need to be able to maintain our own meter and tempo. It's a learnable skill. Keep recording yourself and analyzing what you are doing. You'll get there if you work at it.
 
It's you. Sorry. I've run into the same exact thing. Thought I was progressing rather quickly these last few months. That was until I recorded myself.

Now I'm starting to play to drumless versions of the same songs. It is a lot more humbling playing this way. But at least you can figure out how well you're doing.

So everyday while I'm drumming I play along to songs on my iPod. I decided that I would record myself playing one of them, then I went into movie maker and lined up the beginning of the song with my playing to have a listen. To my surprise my timing had fluctuated A LOT in the song, but I felt right on the beat while I was playing it (music coming through headphones). Is this me? Or could it be some sort of delay/fluctuation in the camera?

Maybe the music on the record is just wrong? Joking :)
I used a GoPro Hero.
 
Bad news....it's you!!!

Nope. It's you.

I noticed this while recording covers to chuck on the tube... I thought I'd be able to get a song done in a take... ended up doing about 5 before it was on point.

It's you, I'm betting.

It's you. Sorry. I've run into the same exact thing.

NOOOO! Because if it's him, it must be me too ... :'(
 
Without knowing the details of your recording, it is tough to know exactly what is wrong.

The first time I tried recording, I had some latency issues and I thought, "Damn I suck!!" Once I realized that I was consistantly late, I realized it was an issue with my devices.

Another time I tried to record while listening to the music thru the PA and there was still some lag. I went to headphones and everything is now perfect and easy.
 
I think it's a slack in your equipment. If you can tap your feet and hands along to a song then there should be no problem keeping up with the recording on drums. In fact, a lot of people even doubt that playing along to music even benefits you, given its so simple. The best way to tell if turn down the volume so you can hear the drums better with the music. But in the end, I think you'll find it's just nearly impossible to sync yourself up without top notch programs.
 
Learn the song, and by learn I mean by heart. Film yourself playing it without the backing track. That is, just you "Imagining" the track but playing the drum part. Then you can see and hear how you are doing both playing and timing wise.
 
I bet you have your sticks in the wrong hands. Lots of folks make that mistake.
 
I bet you have your sticks in the wrong hands. Lots of folks make that mistake.

And make sure you're buying right handed sticks and not left handed sticks (or vice versa) depending on which you need....
 
Maybe your camera is set to the wrong time zone?


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Seriously tho, I started doing the "record-yourself-playing-to-music-and-listen-back-without-the-music" thing some time ago, and what you think you hear while playing is usually not really how it sounds.
It's a good lesson because once you get pass the initial feelings of horror and inadequacy, you can pinpoint what you need to focus on.
For example it made me see that I really had troubles with the right leg.. And the left one too. And with both of my hands actually...
 
I think it's a slack in your equipment. If you can tap your feet and hands along to a song then there should be no problem keeping up with the recording on drums. In fact, a lot of people even doubt that playing along to music even benefits you, given its so simple. The best way to tell if turn down the volume so you can hear the drums better with the music. But in the end, I think you'll find it's just nearly impossible to sync yourself up without top notch programs.

I disagree. How do explain the not so distant past when there were no "top notch" programs? Or even really good players who can actually do it? Too much reliance and blame on that gosh dern technology, I say! I used to walk barefoot in the snow to get to school. Uphill! Both ways!
 
Thank you all! Going back today after school and playing through the song multiple times, paying very close attention to what I'm doing in relation to the music and listening for things mentioned in this thread has showed me that it was my fault before. I'm thinking part of it has to do with the volume because I noticed that I can hear my drumming a lot more than the recorded ones. It's also me because when I played a louder song that I could easily hear, I jumped around quite a bit during and after fills. Aside from playing with a click (which I'll need to start doing more often) is there anything I can do to help remedy this?
 
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