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Django57

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As soon as i press record my mind goes blanc my fingers turn to mush can't remember anything of the song i've been practising near perfect all afternoon AHHHH.
Rant over
 
Same here, but I tense up and can't seem to get my fingers to relax. So instead of a couple takes to record something I was playing well, it takes a couple hours or more!!
 
Ditto jkib , i was recommend to record myself, by a no longer friend (joking) to help me learn stuff if i wasn't in lockdown i'd go round his house and we'd have a nice cup of tea and mull over is idea.
 
I do a fair bit of recording on saxophone. Performance anxiety is a common reaction when making recordings.

Good performances tend to result from solid preparation strategies, and it's pragmatic to maximize your ability to relax into a performance. This might mean engaging specific muscle groups during your warm-up, visualizing/audiating successful performances, or harnessing adrenaline to constructive ends. Fortunately, psychologists and pedagogues have developed a large number of strategies over the years for isolating and effectively addressing the root causes of performance anxiety. I recommend doing some research into the topic if you're going to be recording regularly; it's likely to be a more effective use of your time than trying to improve solely through personal experience.
 
Thanks bacchettadavid , i'll do a bit of googling on the subject.
 
Yesterday I tried I don’t know how many times to get a short sample recorded without mistakes. Couldn’t do it. Trying again later. A friend told of a time when a professional singer graced his studio did one take perfectly. I never appreciated that story till now.
 
I find it difficult to record myself because it feels like I'm just going through the motions. There is no one to feed off of. I find it hard to play for myself.
 
I did google Performance Anxiety and it all seems to be about what happens in the bedroom . funnily i was trying to record myself in the bedroom as it's the quietest room in my house i might try the kitchen see if that helps .
 
I've been recording my bass uke parts to the recordings the leader of my group does during our group Zoom sessions. I follow a lead sheet she sends us to which I add my bass arrangement, even following that sheet, I have to do at least 10 takes, if not more. Once done, I upload it to my web site so everyone in the group can practice anytime they want.

Talk about pro players, in the early 70s I was a production assistant and road manager for The Johnny Mann Singers TV show. Every week we would go into the recording studio using many of The Wrecking Crew (look them up online). Most of the time it was one or two takes with about 18 players. Amazing experience in my early 20s.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Red Light Syndrome is what I've heard it called. We all get it sometimes I guess. I have a nice set up at home. I have a Tascam 8 track, BX5 monitors and three digital keyboards but have yet to record myself on ukulele.
I taught band/string/chorus for 34 years and used to record my chorus and a few accompaniments for my string players. It always took way longer than it should have. I'm not a keyboard player originally so mistakes were common.
 
Wow kohanmike The Wrecking Crew i must have watched the Documentary Denny Tedesco made 20 times, amazingly talented. It must give you goosebumps when you think back to those sessions .
 
As soon as i press record my mind goes blanc my fingers turn to mush can't remember anything of the song i've been practising near perfect all afternoon AHHHH.
Rant over

This is very normal; it's just stage fright/performance anxiety. You can have to get used to it, so just record yourself more often. In fact, I record myself almost always during practice (actually not for stage fright issues but just for reviewing, so in your case, you have an extra incentive).

Funny, how when I was younger, I always felt that having an audience helps me perform better in everything, in fact, the bigger the audience, the better I feel I can perform. But now, I'm almost the opposite; somehow, I think I've lost my old self confidence a bit : ( So, in a way, I understand both sides of the issue.

But, still, I believe music is meant to be performed. At the very least, it adds some meaning to our diligent practice. So over coming stage freight is a good thing to work towards.
 
Appreciate all the great replies , the thing is i'm not performing for anybody other than myself , i'm not sure if i'm more worried about not pressing record and missing a good effort or pressing record and fluffing it a few times , any way once again thank's for the great advise i'll take it all on board .
 
As soon as i press record my mind goes blanc my fingers turn to mush can't remember anything of the song i've been practising near perfect all afternoon AHHHH.
Rant over

You ain't alone!
 
Used to happen to me (still does occasionally). I got in the habit of just leaving my recorder running all the time during practice. It seemed to get rid of the anxiety, and as a bonus I got quite a few accidental gems.
 
Wow kohanmike The Wrecking Crew I must have watched the Documentary Denny Tedesco made 20 times, amazingly talented. It must give you goosebumps when you think back to those sessions .

Denny actually invited a number of us from the TV show to see the premier screening at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles when he finished the documentary. He asked everyone who attended to write a memory of his father Tommy Tedesco, one of our guitar players (along with Joe Pass and Herb Ellis). Being a guitar player myself at the time, I wrote that I was always in awe of how his short stubby fingers could move so fast and make his guitar sing.

Yes, it makes me very proud to have been in the presence of such incredible talent.
 
Did any body mention a few glasses of Chardonnay to relax. Every glass you drink you sound better and better and bretter and botter and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..
 
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