Learning tunes

My husband runs a website development company so he's a bit of a tech geek. But I can't blame him for making fun of me when I break out my tape recorder, (yes, you heard it right - tape recorder) to learn tunes. In this day and age with the advancements in technology you would think there is a better way to learn tunes.

There are different types of computer software, such as Transcribe and The Amazing Slow Downer, that take the tune and slow it down without changing the key so you can learn it right off your handy dandy laptop. However, if you're heading to a session and you want to learn the tunes that your peers play, you can't really break out your laptop to record. That's where my little tape recorder comes in.

I have a hard time learning tunes by ear when they are racing at lightning speed. I'm one of those fiddlers who has to learn every single little note before I consider the tune complete. So for me I have to tape the tune and then go home and listen and try to learn it by hitting play, stop, rewind, play, stop, rewind...

I guess my point is, with technology growing so rapidly, there are still some old fashion ways of doing things. How do you learn tunes?

The art to recording

For some reason, we can play like rock stars in our living rooms but put a microphone in front of us and some recording equipment in back and we fold. It can be a bit stressful knowing that if you make a mistake, one tiny mistake, it's being recorded. And for some reason, that's scary.

Here are a few tips to follow before you head into the studio:

1. Practice recording. My husband makes fun of me because my home recording devise is, yup, you guessed it, a tape recorder. But boy does it come in handy when learning tunes. I find it very helpful to record myself sometimes so I can hear what other people hear when listening to me. It's amazing what you'll learn about your playing. I find that my mistakes are in different spots than where I thought. So I record myself playing and practice the weak spots before heading into the recording studio. This does a couple of things: It makes me completely aware of what I need to work on and it gives me confidence when I finally get into the studio that I know what it is going to sound like.

2.Get lots of rest the night before. You can't really be on your game if you're tired. And it is tiring to record. I recently recorded 6 tune sets with my band, Muddy Boots which doesn't sound like a lot but some of our tune sets are 6 minutes long. So if you make a mistake at the end of the set, you have to re-record the entire set. (That is if you're all recording in the same room). It's seems simple enough but go into the studio fully refreshed because when you leave, you're going to be exhausted.

3. Have fun. We sometimes get so nervous about the process of recording we forget to have fun with it and it shows in the music. So take a deep breath, smile and rock it out!

Heading into the recording studio

As with most bands who come to the point of getting sick of playing kick-ass tunes in their living room, my band Muddy Boots, is heading into the recording studio this week. We're planning to lay down 5 tracks of rockin' Irish fiddle tune sets.

It's hard to believe but we have been playing together on a weekly basis for almost 7 months now. We've played two gigs, one for a benefit to raise money for Jerry Holland and one at the Richmond Farmer's Market. And it's now time we get our there and share what we have been working on so off to the recording studio we go.

I'll post the finished product when it's...well, finished. In the meantime, you can catch some of us playing at the Wednesday night Irish session at Radio Bean, in Burlington.