Well, as far as the title of the thread goes , how many takes do I need to record...that depends. I sometimes do it in one and but there have been times I've done over 40. Yup that's right!
But I have to explain. I am a recording illiterate I know absolutely nothing about recording and have some sort of mental block (like I do with math) for learning it. Actually i don't even want to (again, like math lol). So all I know how to do is set the volume, hit record, stop and then save the file. I don't edit or enhance or mix or anything. I don't even have good equipment. To be honest, saying I know how to set the volume isn't really true. I only know how to make it louder and lower on Audacity. Not on my interface. (is that what its called? Hardware?

I am more of a live singer and for some reason my recording singing just never feels right emotionally. So there are many recordings I do in one take. The reason I might do more is because of the cheap laptop I have. Quite often it makes a weird sound, sort of a heavy static sound during recording. I hear it in the headphones. When this happens, on playback the music will be fine but there is a skip in the vocal. Just like an old vinyl record. Only the vocal though. So I have to hit stop and then start over again if this happens.

The times it's taken me 40 or more takes are just bad days . This usually happens when I am making my blues video's with my harmonica playing partner that I've posted here. I'll start to record then forget the words. Then I'll restart and forget to turn the camera on. Sometimes I do this twice in a row! Then I'll record the whole song and have it perfect then realize I forgot to take my glasses off. Or sometimes I'll sing the wrong line. I once said a sentence backwards (sort of). I sneeze.....ohh there are so many things that happen when i hit the record button that don't happen live. But generally speaking, I don't make good recordings so I really don't worry about it much. Recording isn't my thing. I recorded a song last week for the umpteenth time that I think I do well live. But I can never get a decent (to my ears) recording of it. I keep making one and putting it on my soundcloud page then a few weeks later deleting it. Then a few weeks later I do another one. We'll have to work on that song Felipe Well, live it usually goes over well.

Shit I still didn't even answer your question LOL!

For me it all depends on a million things. So it could be anywhere from 1 to 30 idk? I don't count haha. The goal is that you aren't mentally caught up on which take it is. You give it your complete focus whether it's take 1 or take 50.

I will say, most other people I have recorded, the average range I see is 1 to 10 takes. I think if you need more, you're no longer recording, you're practicing, which is fine if it's your home studio, but if you're paying money, you want your shit together without the 1st ten attempts for sure, any more and you're probably wasting your money and time, should have practiced and come more prepared

One thing I have to say about doing many takes (for me). I agree with the practice thing and that is pretty much why I record at all. So I practice. But, when I do allot of takes it wears on my voice and if I am trying to get a certain sound then at times I have to stop. For example. The last video I was doing for a project not yet completed, I was getting into the "making mistakes and having to start over" deal and ended up doing a good deal of takes. I was singing Crossroads (Clapton) and wanted a good deal of rasp. What happens, for me, after doing too many repetitions of a song is that eventually I lose the raspy sound I might be going for. I get tired. So what happened this time was, I knew my time was limited and I wouldn't have another day to do this, so I let go of some of the rasp and ended up with my final take being too clean for my liking. But it's done and being final edited, I had no choice, and I have to live with it. But that happens to me a lot with doing many takes. I get to a point where I just can't do anymore and sacrifice quality.

I'm really curious about this red light syndrome thing. I never had it, not even when starting out. I did get even more comfortable later on but to begin with I always found recording very comfortable. I always maintained in my mind that I get as many takes as I want and that it will take however long it needs to take and that is fine.

Is it not just a mind trick? What if you stop telling yourself you have red light syndrome and just relax because dude, you have complete control over what takes get out to the public or not? Thinking logically, singing live is far more scary to me because you have one shot and that's it. In comparison it just seems ridiculous to be worrying in the studio.

I will say from my perspective as a recording engineer, I am always in it with the person recording, if that makes sense. I remain completely sympathetic and all I want is to help them do their best and steer their own wheel into their comfort zone.

If a recording engineer were to judge their clients while they record, even inside their own head, it would ruin EVERYTHING...I will offer basic constructive critique after the takes if they ask for it or I find it important, but during, I simply can't allow myself to interrupt them from finding their most positive vibe.

So if you feel weird with someone else recording you, even if it's a bandmate or whatever, understand they are trying to feed you positive energy and it's your job to accept it. If they aren't feeding you positive energy, run like hell.

I also wonder if maybe a lot of this just comes down to a bad headphone mix. Or not enough time to relax before starting to sing. Little variables like that can screw any singer up big time.

OwenKorzec said

I'm really curious about this red light syndrome thing. I never had it, not even when starting out. I did get even more comfortable later on but to begin with I always found recording very comfortable. I always maintained in my mind that I get as many takes as I want and that it will take however long it needs to take and that is fine.

Is it not just a mind trick? What if you stop telling yourself you have red light syndrome and just relax because dude, you have complete control over what takes get out to the public or not? Thinking logically, singing live is far more scary to me because you have one shot and that's it. In comparison it just seems ridiculous to be worrying in the studio.

I will say from my perspective as a recording engineer, I am always in it with the person recording, if that makes sense. I remain completely sympathetic and all I want is to help them do their best and steer their own wheel into their comfort zone.

If a recording engineer were to judge their clients while they record, even inside their own head, it would ruin EVERYTHING...I will offer basic constructive critique after the takes if they ask for it or I find it important, but during, I simply can't allow myself to interrupt them from finding their most positive vibe.

So if you feel weird with someone else recording you, even if it's a bandmate or whatever, understand they are trying to feed you positive energy and it's your job to accept it. If they aren't feeding you positive energy, run like hell.

I also wonder if maybe a lot of this just comes down to a bad headphone mix. Or not enough time to relax before starting to sing. Little variables like that can screw any singer up big time.

Wow that is worth quoting. Really wise insight man!

Ok, I'll try to explain my feelings about RLS as best as I can. It is ridiculous when you think about it, playing live should be more of a challenge, but I feel that that is where I can come up with things spur of the moment because of the adrenaline involved. I think its just the thought that the final take of a recording is the end-all-be all of the song, that if I stray from what I do in it, it just sounds off and not comfortable doing the same thing live.

Led Zeppelin as a band was a paradox in a recording sense. In the early days, they would record almost live in the studio on half the songs. And then you have their songs like "Achilles Last Stand" that is a massive almost orchestral wall of sound kind of thing. Somehow Jimmy could pull it off live well, because he is Jimmy Since live performances will have similar but not identical performances between each other, there is a LOT of room to improvise. Thats what I would like to do when I do get some better equipment and that's pretty much how I treat any recording that I do (which is not much at this point, mostly practicing.)

Hahaha that just reminded me of that beatles track with John Lennon carrying on and making wisecracks about something before "Two of Us".

"I dig a pygmy by Charles Haughtry and the deaf aids. Phase one in which Doris gets her oats".