Mistakes aren’t a problem when making a recording. This is just a quick bit of advice on perspective when making a record.
Something may happen you didn’t intend but it’s inaccurate to listen to a recording and say something’s wrong. It’s not possible for a recording to be wrong. A recording just is. You wouldn’t look at a cloudy day and say: “the weather’s made a mistake,” or, “the weather’s wrong.” The weather just is.
Now, I love hearing mistakes in recordings but I have to realize the mistake I hear is only a deviation from some preconception my mind came up with for how the recording should go. I guess because I’ve heard a pattern in the song I expect it to continue. The reason I like hearing a mistake in a recording because it makes it sound human; it makes me feel connected to the musician. Humans playing music is beautifully imperfect & inconsistent.
Recently I was recording a bassist who often would listen to the playback and say: “No, that part’s wrong,” or, “no, that shouldn’t be there.” I think he was limiting his perspective to hearing the song only as he thought it should go, not being open to how it went.
“Honour thy error as a hidden intention,” -Oblique Strategies
