How many takes when you record videos?

ghostrdr

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Maybe this is more due to my perfectionist personality.

When I play for me, I don't notice the mistakes, but I decided I wanted to post my first video of me playing a whole song.

It drove me crazy knowing that the mistakes would be memorialized on video, so I would either finish playing and then delete or stop playing, etc.

After like 4-5 takes, my fretting hand was tired and I was making more and more mistakes. I gave up trying to record.

Do you all just get it in the first take? At what point is good enough good enough? How many takes are you all doing?
 
I've never done that but have been videoed while playing. It's called red light syndrome. I have a small recording studio set up that I primarily used when I was still teaching school. Most years I had a chorus group even though I primarily taught band and string. I would record my own accompaniments for my chorus on digital keyboard. I play keyboard mostly by ear and play fairly well. The minute I started recording something I had more clams than a seafood restaurant. A project that should have taken an hour would take three.
 
Press record then poodle about for a while. Try a few tunes you know well. Have a bit more poodle etc. Keep recording.
 
Usually somewhere between 1 and 100. I try to keep takes to a minimum, but it doesn't always work.
 
Depends on the purpose. I'm getting better about letting small mistakes go. If it's a train wreck, then I'll start over. And if I don't have it good enough by the 3rd or 4th take, I figure I need more practice and will try again another day. :p
 
To make a recording, I always practice the song over and over, but when I start recording, I usually do 10 takes or more before I feel it's good.

I just finished making a video with the leader of my group doing the main track, and 18 members singing along with her during a few choruses. This was our first effort, a definite learning experience. Some of the participants kind of did their own thing singing along, so in many places it seems out of sync. Next time we're going to stress that participants need to play the song over and over to be sure they're in the pocket and singing along exactly with the leader.


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: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Depends on the purpose. I'm getting better about letting small mistakes go. If it's a train wreck, then I'll start over. And if I don't have it good enough by the 3rd or 4th take, I figure I need more practice and will try again another day. :p

I'm with Jim. After I work out my arrangement, I always practice a new song 4-5 times before even trying to record. Then, if I can't nail it after 2-3 takes, I come back another time. A small clam or 2 doesn't bother me, but anything more than that goes in the dumpster. Everyone is different.
 
It probably depends on how much one practiced the song, and how serious a video it is.

When I record for the Seasons of the Ukulele, I usually spend an hour or two during the week practicing the song to learn it to learn it first. Usually closer to one hour, distributed over three or more sessions. For me it takes some time to become familiar with a song.

Then when it comes to recording, I usually do 3-7 takes before I feel that I am not going to do any better that day. If I can't get it acceptable in 7 that many takes I guess I haven't learned it proper to record for my purpose yet. And after that many takes my energy level will be low so concentration and finger power will start failing. I don't always count the takes, I might have used more at some point, but it usually feel worn out at that point.
 
If I make any mistakes I can't live with, I just abort and start over. I've had the rare situation where first take is good. But usually it ranges from 3-5 on easy stuff I know well, up to dozens if it's a new and difficult one. I'm almost always playing and singing at the same time so there is more that can go wrong :) If I start getting frustrated, I'll take a break and come back fresh and try it again.
 
If it's to post on our YouTube channel, usually 2 takes. Once a while, we get lucky and it happens right the 1st time. But not usually. Never more than 3, or the song goes into the bin.
 
I do some busking and some coffee shop gigs. I also do some open mics. One day I was sitting down in my basement music room/bar and I thought I would record some songs. I showed them to my wife and asked her if I was really that bad and she said no, not at all. So she recorded a coffee shop gig, same songs, and it was so much better. She has a life time of performing and she says that sitting in a studio recording with absolutely no feedback and energy from an audience is the hardest thing to do. I also know from experience that when I have an audience I just fly through those little mistakes and they almost become imperceptible. But when I'm recording I get fixated on them and it manifests itself throughout the rest of the piece and I want to quit and start over. I'm just lifeless when I record myself. That's all there is to it.
 
I do some busking and some coffee shop gigs. I also do some open mics. One day I was sitting down in my basement music room/bar and I thought I would record some songs. I showed them to my wife and asked her if I was really that bad and she said no, not at all. So she recorded a coffee shop gig, same songs, and it was so much better. She has a life time of performing and she says that sitting in a studio recording with absolutely no feedback and energy from an audience is the hardest thing to do. I also know from experience that when I have an audience I just fly through those little mistakes and they almost become imperceptible. But when I'm recording I get fixated on them and it manifests itself throughout the rest of the piece and I want to quit and start over. I'm just lifeless when I record myself. That's all there is to it.

Sage advice from our teacher is that the audience is far less aware of mistakes than the performer. I do some videos for our Uke group so I only perform to my peers. I am mostly likely to blow it towards the end of a piece as I get nervous about the hassle of doing a re-take.
 
Not really qualified perhaps, as I’ve only ever made one video, but it was cool. I was surprisingly relaxed, made one mistake, made a funny face, and didn’t miss a beat. I think that for me, the time of day that I make a video is important - as I seem much more relaxed after 4:20
 
I heard Israel Kamakawiwo'ole recorded his famous version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in one take. But that's IZ.
 
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