The Psychology Of Recording

Chris Carter offers insights into motivation and stress in the studio and some possible solutions.

There are many problematic psychological and physiological aspects to studio work: nerves, personality clashes, drugs, smoking, drinking, RSI, financial worries, fatigue, and of course the age‑old question, shag‑pile carpet or polished floor? The list is almost endless (and some of these subjects may be covered in future articles), but for now let's just consider two of the most common problems: motivation and stress.

Going Round In Circles

A lack of motivation, particularly when you're working in a home‑based studio, is a surprisingly common problem. But what causes it? Picture this familiar scenario: you are recording a song or demo but it just doesn't seem to be working out as you had hoped and is, frankly, going nowhere, when only a couple of days ago you and the rest of the band were telling everyone about this fantastic song you were working on. The lyrics now sound naff, you're still trying to get a groovy bass line and half‑decent rhythm, and the melody is beginning to sound tired and tuneless. You feel as if you're locked into a cycle of maximum effort and no return, with the smallest defects taking on gargantuan and irrational significance. The situation can seem even worse when you're working on MIDI‑based projects where it's easy to get bogged down with the intricacies and minutiae of a track and you find yourself spending hours and hours endlessly tweaking and fiddling with MIDI information hoping to strike lucky, when in reality you're just going round in ever‑decreasing circles.

So what's going on here? Well, after a few days you get over‑familiar with the tune or arrangement, boredom sets in, your once positive attitude takes a spiralling dive into lethargy and indifference, and your motivation begins to trail off — you get that 'I just can't be arsed any more' feeling. This is quite common; it is, aptly, called Project Fulfilment Fatigue Syndrome and, once it has a hold, is pretty hard to shake off. So what do you do if you have reached this stage in a project? It's time to consider your options.

For a start, you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. When you're getting nowhere, even though you've spent days (or even weeks) sweating blood over something, should you just stop and trash it? Well, sometimes the answer is yes: it may be better to cut your losses and move on to something new. Or you could consider playing what you've done so far to someone not involved in the project, as anyone outside this umbrella of doom will most likely hear the track in a completely different light — and often all that's needed is a new perspective. You could try friends, relations, teachers, DJs, producers — really, anyone you feel might give a valid opinion, good or bad. If it's a bad reaction then move on to something new; if it's a good reaction then take on board what they say and try and come back to the piece from a fresh angle.

If you are working solo or don't have anyone you can immediately discuss it with, you could put the song to one side for a couple of weeks and distance yourself from it for a while. Things can sound very different after that long — occasionally worse, but often not as bad as you remember.

Three‑Point Plan

There are usually lots of complex interrelated factors that influence a loss of motivation, but three fairly significant factors are often involved:

• Your aims or goals;
• How well you cope with distractions;
• Your self‑discipline.

Let's deal with them in order; first, what are your aims and goals? If you're embarking on a project, what is your ultimate intention? Is making music a hobby and are you just putting together some ideas for your own enjoyment? Or is this meant to be a top‑notch demo and your stab at fame? It helps if you have some idea what you are going to do with the finished track; this doesn't have to be overly ambitious, but without some sort of an objective it's all too easy to run out of steam. What if you've already got your record deal and are still having trouble getting motivated, though? Well, money and finances can be a double‑edged sword when it comes to motivation. If you've been given a royalty advance before the obligatory 'contractual' album or single has been delivered (this also applies to remix projects and commissions), and the money has just been frittered away before you've even put anything significant on tape, it can be pretty difficult getting your act into gear. Personally I've always found the carrot of a fee a lot more motivating than payment up front.

What about distractions? If you have a day job, with only your evenings and weekends free to work on your music, just mustering up enough energy and enthusiasm can be a problem. Does your concentration drift, is your mind on something else — your job maybe — or is it just fatigue? If it is, there's not that much you can do apart from taking time off work. But you can at least eliminate obvious trivial distractions: try to ignore the phone and fax, don't answer the door, and while you are working keep all TVs, radios and computer games out of sight

The most serious distractions you are likely to come across, though, are equipment breakdowns and computer crashes and, depending on their severity, these can be pretty stressful too. Major equipment failure is probably the worst thing as far as motivation is concerned, because if your only keyboard, sampler, DAT machine or 8‑track is off somewhere being repaired you're placed in a helpless and frustrating situation. By the time you get your gear back (which could be weeks), it can be a major headache trying to pick up the threads of where you were, and getting motivated all over again. So it's vital to keep your gear serviced and in good working order.

When self‑discipline is a problem you'll often find distraction in the equation too. You know the feeling: you should be finishing this mix before tomorrow but there's a really good film on TV and you could do with a pint. So you pop down the pub, then watch the film, but it's late and you feel too tired to finish the mix. "Sod it, I'll do it tomorrow." But tomorrow comes and the track doesn't sound as fresh as it did yesterday, you've forgotten some of the mixer and effects settings, and now you want to move onto something new. Moral: don't put off today what you think you can do tomorrow — and keep a blank tape in the video machine.

Stress Fractures

Ironically, a certain amount of stress can be beneficial as it excites and stimulates the body, and many people work perfectly well in mildly stressful situations. However, as stress levels rise the physical effects become more pronounced. Apart from the obvious signs (shouting and screaming), stress can make an appearance in a number of ways: headaches, irritability, anxiety, palpitations, moodiness, depression and fatigue. But how do you cope with, or even avoid, stress in a studio environment?

While many people reading this may be comfortable in it, a studio environment can be a very intimidating place to a recording novice, and anxiety and nerves, even if hidden, can manifest themselves in any of the above symptoms. If you yourself are in a permanent state of total cool and calmness, consider your colleagues or clients. If you are working with someone new to recording they could well be a bag of nerves, tottering on the brink, ready to snap at the slightest thing. If things do escalate into a stressful situation, try to be as reasonable, considerate and, if necessary, diplomatic as you can. This is particularly important with vocalists, as the voice of a stressed‑out singer can disintegrate before your ears in a matter of minutes. When an engineer or producer says "You're singing out of tune", followed by "Is that vibrato getting stronger?" it usually means he's just about to get a kick up the arse. Diplomacy can work wonders: "Let's try that again in a different key", followed by "Would you like a glass of water?" may be a better option. If everybody is getting stressed out — and these things do tend to have a knock‑on effect — the situation can only get worse, but if you can keep the atmosphere from boiling over there's always a chance that the session will end happily ever after.

Technical Hitches

Stress can also make an appearance when technical problems occur. One faulty MIDI lead in a rats' nest of cables and interfaces can take what seems like forever to track down, and if you've got a studio full of irate (and paying) musicians the situation can get about as strained (and abusive) as you can imagine.

And when I say technical problems I don't just mean a few dodgy leads, although that's bad enough. From a musician's point of view, there's nothing worse than an engineer saying "Sorry, can we try that take again? I forgot to press Record" or "Sorry, I got a bit of reverb spill on the track. Can we try that just one more time?". There are only so many times this sort of thing can happen before stress levels rise and motivation takes a dive. Make sure all your gear and leads are working as they should before you start a session, and you could save a lot of problems (and insults) later.

Just Relax

If you are working in your own studio or at home and it's a large project, or one with a particularly intense and heavy workload, plan a series of incentives and rewards to break up the monotony that often creeps into sustained cycles of writing, recording and mixing. After a long session these could take the form of a trip to the movies, a big nosh‑up at a restaurant, a zip off to the beach, or a stroll in the woods or countryside — in fact, any activity not connected with recording. If you are working in a state‑of‑the‑art pro studio with access to swimming pools, tennis courts, games machines, and pool tables these can be a great way of winding down and relieving stress; but beware, they can also become indulgent and a major distraction.

Massage is an excellent stress‑reliever — just ask anyone who's tried it. It's especially effective after a long day spent slaving away in a studio and a great way of winding down at the end of a long session. I know of a particularly good masseuse who specialises in visiting studios and record companies, and performs a very effective and relaxing shoulder and neck massage. You could try calling one of the professional visiting masseurs who advertise in Yellow Pages (no, NOT the ones in telephone boxes!). Alternatively, encourage a friend to learn a massage technique, or try some other relaxation routine such as meditation or deep‑breathing exercises.

This may sound a bit wacky, but soft lights, a few floor cushions (or comfy chairs) and an aromatherapy oil burner can make quite a difference to some stressed‑out situations. When things are getting a little strained, tell everyone to chill out for 15 minutes, light the burner, turn off the music, dim the lights, get comfortable and try to relax for a while. It really can work wonders.

The Outer Limits

As you can probably tell by the non‑academic tone of this piece, I'm in no way suggesting that it's a definitive study of studio psychology. In fact, all the points raised and examples covered are gleaned from years of personal experience and from discussions with friends and colleagues. Remember, this is not an exact science and what works for one person or situation may be inappropriate or unsuitable for someone else. Half the battle is knowing the type of psychological traps and pitfalls that will catch you; once armed with this information, you can start working out how to avoid them. I hope I've given you a little understanding of the sometimes puzzling, contradictory and intricate mental processes that drive most of us in that unique twilight zone we call 'the studio environment'. Happy recording!