when is something "good enough"?

[klasaine]

I hear all the mistakes! The slidey bit is not great. The second last section of the solo is rough, the final slide is not good, the timing is a smidge off in some parts.
It's also annoying that I've mailed each of those parts in different takes, but never all in one take.
But I agree, it's not a bad attempt,

On reading some comments here, I agree with the idea that it's as good as I can make it at my current skill level and if I keep up the practice and hit it again in a few months it will sound a bit better.

I posited that question knowing that you were going to mention those things. But that's really not what I hear when I listen. For the most part, you've got all the notes. Neither King nor Clapton ever played it the same way twice. Where you need to focus your work is 1) on the overall feel. It needs to groove and 2) you need to get your bends in tune.

 

[StephenDeBoard]

Thanks all.

Lots of great answers and info.

I gave it another shot and am leaving it at that for the moment, anything better is currently beyond my skill and ability but will give it another go in a few months.
Time to move onto something else.

Here's the result, warts and all for anyone who's interested.

I'm really impressed with how well you played and sound in this one continuous take!

 

[FortyEight]

Yeah, Sounds pretty good to me. I mean if you're wanting to hold yourself to a level of skill and nuance that maybe Slash has.... you might have a way to go. But there's not too many guys that can play like him.

But I guess what I said before holds true. If it bothers you, I guess you're not done. But I'd say that was a solid effort. If you were playing that in a pub and people liked that kind of music, I don't think there would be much to complain about. In fact I would think most people would be giving you a hand.

 

[chulaivet1966]

Thanks all. Here's the result, warts and all for anyone who's interested.

Howdy....

I think you played pretty damn well....so, don't be discouraged.

How I perceive it:
I hear the 'warts' you refer to but they are very_small_warts.
Ones that will easily fix themselves with focused repetition.
I think you're just not totally comfortable with the piece as a whole quite yet.

Just stick with it....you're in good company, I might add.

Carry on....

 

[T Prior]

"Good enough" is the point where we keep recording new takes and they are not any BETTER , just different.

We arrive at the conclusion that we have reached the summit !

"Good enough" may not be the correct phrase but nobody wants to admit that its the best they can do !

"Oh My God, thats me " ?

 

[wilson_smyth]

I think you're just not totally comfortable with the piece as a whole quite yet.

I think that's a good point. I'm playing it from memory, not from reflex. I still have to think too much about what not to hit next. A few hundred more plays should dial it in!

 

[ndcaster]

the question is, "good enough" ... for what?

 

[matman14]

I think that's a good point. I'm playing it from memory, not from reflex. I still have to think too much about what not to hit next. A few hundred more plays should dial it in!

Get close and then play it your way.
Trying to consciously re create what someone else did instinctively/uconsciously is very hard to do.
It's like thinking about how you walk up stairs while doing it. You start to fall over your feet because you're getting in the way of unconscious action by making it intentional.

Almost no artist plays their stuff live the same way it was recorded, or the same way they played it at last night's show either. They'll play it differently at tomorrow's show too, for that matter.

 

[ndcaster]

For all the non pro's, at what point do you move on? At what point is something eating too much of your time?

that point is defined as "I can do this reliably," which is short of "I can never not do this perfectly"

at the other end, there is "I'm never going to do this well, so **** it"

 

[telemnemonics]

I hear all the mistakes! The slidey bit is not great. The second last section of the solo is rough, the final slide is not good, the timing is a smidge off in some parts.
It's also annoying that I've mailed each of those parts in different takes, but never all in one take.
But I agree, it's not a bad attempt,

On reading some comments here, I agree with the idea that it's as good as I can make it at my current skill level and if I keep up the practice and hit it again in a few months it will sound a bit better.

After listening I’d say stop paying attention to the mistakes at all.
Channel your inner Willian Wallace and make a damn mess of it!
Make whatever mistakes are needed but make them like somebody was trying to kill you and your whole village!
Seriously, that’s how I feel about that kind of music.
Break stuff and don’t think about sweeping up the mess.
As long as somebody loses an eye, nobody cares about missed notes.

 

[asatbender]

I think your video sounds really good. If you want to record it, I would suggest doing 12 bars at a time.

 

[Martin R]

The problem with home recording is you can always do another take...

 

[suthol]

I didn't listen to the whole clip so take this with a grain of salt if you wish.

I saw and heard some pretty decent playing that to my sensibilities was a bit mechanical because you were too focused on how someone else played it and not how you felt it, to my ears it didn't quite swing.

Just let it flow

 

[Skully]

Thanks all.

Lots of great answers and info.3

I gave it another shot and am leaving it at that for the moment, anything better is currently beyond my skill and ability but will give it another go in a few months.
Time to move onto something else.

Here's the result, warts and all for anyone who's interested.

It looks like what you're doing is more of a playing exercise than an original recording project, so it would seem that the point is for the process to reveal your limitations and give you an informed way to hone your chops. If that's what you want to do, great.

But...

You've already got good enough chops to do some interesting stuff, but you're not going to match Clapton, Freddie King, et al, in your mind or the minds of others, so doing a faithful take like this is unlikely to interest or impress listeners or inspire you to keep recording. So if the question is, "When is something good enough?," in this case the answer is "never." You might want to mess with the formula a bit, like Cream, so you're not doing a pale imitation of an excellent copy (Clapton).

You don't need to be an excellent musician to do an excellent original or an original take on a classic, as the Flying Lizards demonstrated with their cover of Barrett Strong's "Money." (My younger daughter recently discovered this track and she's low-key obsessed with it.)

 

[klasaine]

You might want to mess with the formula a bit, like Cream, so you're not doing a pale imitation of an excellent copy (Clapton).

^^^ That sums it up nicely ^^^

 

[Timbresmith1]

Im a bedroom player for the moment, getting back into playing.
Im learning Hideaway and i have it down as well as im going to have it for some time.

When i try and record it, every mistake is amplified in my headphones and i start again.
Giving up for the night after 20 takes, with only 1 thats about 85% there.

For all the non pro's, at what point do you move on?
At what point is something eating too much of your time?

Listen to some old records. There are mistakes. It’s mostly feel/vibe they’re going for. The really good musicians learn how to ride a mistake off into new territory. Make it your own.

 

[chulaivet1966]

I think that's a good point. I'm playing it from memory, not from reflex. I still have to think too much about what not to hit next. A few hundred more plays should dial it in!

Ha....did I mention "you're in good company".

Carry on....

 

[Timbresmith1]

B) CHEAT
Seriously, slow the tempo way down.
Record. Move on.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

well when short term memory needs to be reformatted and diminished attention span comes a creeping, cut and paste is not only understandable it comes, highly recommended.
When remembering the sequence order of a simple blues progression is an issue, number sequences , chronic spelling errors are a given, sometimes good enough becomes the gold standard, I'm mean what else is there?

The more...The more... The more... The more... takes, takes more takes more takes involved the worse it gets the worse it gets gets gets ? savvy? It's time, to take a walk and have a bite to eat, don't erase it, just come back after a nap and check it out maybe it was, maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought, maybe its a real train wreck.
I always ask what is my intention, who am I trying to impress. I think having a clear answer to those two questions can be very helpful.

 

[Skully]

well when short term memory needs to be reformatted and diminished attention span comes a creeping, cut and paste is not only understandable it comes, highly recommended.
When remembering the sequence order of a simple blues progression is an issue, number sequences , chronic spelling errors are a given, sometimes good enough becomes the gold standard, I'm mean what else is there?

The more...The more... The more... The more... takes, takes more takes more takes involved the worse it gets the worse it gets gets gets ? savvy? It's time, to take a walk and have a bite to eat, don't erase it, just come back after a nap and check it out maybe it was, maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought, maybe its a real train wreck.
I always ask what is my intention, who am I trying to impress. I think having a clear answer to those two questions can be very helpful.

As many have mentioned, walking away for awhile can be great. When you come back, what you've done can sound surprisingly good or surprisingly bad.