so there’s differences between playing live and in the studio. another example: while playing guitar, i tend to pick/strum too hard. live it’s ok, it adds a little something i like to the sound but it also is kind of a bad habit that gets me in trouble when i’m trying to record my playing. if i didn’t mention it already (and if you haven’t figured it out yet), i’m not a very good guitar player. live i get by, but recording is quite a challenge for me. so i’m really glad i developed some good habits too over the years. one of them is discipline, another one ease or calmness. there will be entries about good and bad habits in the future, so i’ll leave it at that for now. my point is, it’s very important to deal with the fact that different situations require different strategies. this might be something everyone has to experience on his/her own but there’s at least some things that work for all of us. and the most important one: tape yourself !!! maybe you heard that one before, i heard it lots of times. if there is such thing as a single most important aspect in becoming a good musician, this one might be it. come to think of it, taping oneself should receive it’s own entry as well…

i’d like to end this series of posts with a suggestion, or call it an exercise: if you’re a musician, try to figure out what differences in your playing do you make between live and recording? do you make any at all? and if yes, why? if no, are you sure it works that way? listen carefully.

if you’re a listener only you could become a much better one making the same exercise by listening to albums. compare studio- and live-recordings of the same artists. dynamics and precision should make a good starting point. see what you can come up with…