Just curious what, if anything, people do to record (as in notate in some for or another) the tunes they play. Especially the originals.

I ask because in a discussion that came up a week or so ago, I had to admit that I've tunes that I've even performed live that are now so far gone that I certainly couldn't remember them even if I tried. Hell I couldn't even hum them at this point. Maybe it's a sign that those tunes weren't worth remembering in the first place

At any rate, I've recently set off on a mission to notate some original fingerstyle guitar tunes that I play and will likely start doing the same for Stick tunes. It gets tricky with some of the tunes that use loops and multiple instruments though.

Or maybe a crude video is enough.

I don't know. What do you think? Or what do you do?

I think video is enough, plus its less work (i cant notate either). I ran into this today Glenn, trying to ressurect a bowie tune I let go by the wayside. Totally forgot the tune but I still have the vid for reference.

cheers,
kev

I notate with Lilypond when I really want to capture exactly what I did. I don't bother with StaffTab as I'm not intending to publish. I will add some fingerings to remember some tricky parts and the beginnings of some parts. I use a standard grand piano staff.

I think videos would be very helpful too but I have not been rigorous about making them. Now that we all have high quality video cameras in our pockets this has become easier to do.

-Eric

I use sibelius for notation and my phone for singing or playing ideas so I can remember what I want.

I am cheap. I made lines on an page in open source Excel and write tab on them. I write chord shapes and note positions on other hand drawn pages.

"Lost- lost like a child's first thought" -"My Fair Share" recorded by Seals and Crofts for a Robbie Benson movie "One on One" about basketball, written by Charles Gimbel & Norman Fox.

so, if I feel an idea has some merit, I immediately turn on ProTools which I can do with two switches, one for the 002 and one for my Alesis reference Amp. I keep two templates one for general song writing and one already set up for the Stick with all plug ins.

Even if I wrote it on the Stick, I play it into the ProTools on keyboard ( lead guitar was my main instrument for years) because ProTools has a scoring function now. It Ain't Finale by any leaps and bounds, but it gets a lead sheet and your harmony notated. plus you can play it back and watch duration and pitch of the notes.

Wurst to Wurst or Bratwurst for that matter, i keep old paper from the printer, and keep a set of pens and Sharpies handy, and do a quick slash up and down to represent a measure, and write the chord ie. C7 and the notes in small case, ie. d e and put lines between them and place them on the paper in a crude pitch notation going up or going down.

I also keep handy two guitar fret stamps, an ink pad and some roller bottle ink. Now playing the 12 string grand, i can use these for 6 string forms to place notes or chord shapes on, especially if there is interaction, I might place numbers by the annotated notes to show which ones are played in which order.

Earl Nightingale, author and media personality, once had a great radio program and here's a cool quote about ideas

SLIPPERY FISH
Ideas are like slippery fish. If you don't spear them with a pencil they get away.
Ideas are elusive, slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a pencil at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away.
We have 50,000 ideas run through our minds daily. Ideas are like wet slippery fish. You got to get 'em when they show up or they will slip away never to be seen again
Ideas are like slippery fish. They seem to have a peculiar knack of getting away from us. Because of this, the creative person always has a pad and a pencil handy. When he gets an idea, he writes it down. He knows that many people have found their whole lives changed by a single great thought. By capturing ideas immediately, he doesn't risk forgetting them.

hope this helps,
Dave B "DBro"

The tunes I have notated on Stick so far, and there haven't been many(maybe 3 or 4) have been on musical staff paper in standard notation. I hope to develop them into Stafftab(R in a circle or what ever is supposed to come after) for every stickist to enjoy, but I will probably never do it with software. Likely, they will be hand written. It feels better writing the information out with a pen dipped in an ink jar.

Until then, I agree that video is sufficient. Right on, K-C,

Mike

Good stuff. Just to be clear though. I'm not really talking about the "idea" stage. I'll generally use whatever is handy be it pencil and paper or a quick recording when an idea strikes. What I'm talking about is the finished piece. Certainly most pieces I have I play often enough that it's unlikely I'll flat out forget them. But there have been times where I've put finished tunes aside for long enough where it took a bit of doing to get them back or, in the worst cases, they were gone forever.

Anyone using Melodyne?
http://www.celemony.com/en/melodyne/what-is-melodyne

I'm very olde school I use manuscript paper and a pencil. Even a full orchestral part I will do this way, and I try to compose away from any instruments. That way I'm sure what I write is from my head and not my hands.