When you lose that "perfect" take

Back in 1977, I was in a good classic rock band in Dallas....we played all the usual clubs, Mother Blues, Binary Star, Sneaky Petes....
When you got a gig at that time, it was always for 6 nights.....clubs closed on Monday.
One week I set up a nice reel-to-reel AKAI recorder and recorded each set for all 6 nights.....I used room mics plus took the board mix.
After many hours of listening, I took the best performance of each tune and made a really good sounding master tape.
It didn't have every song, but it did have 2 hours of great songs performed very well by the band.
After the creation of the master, all the other reels were used otherwise for future recording.
About a year later, I decide to listen to the master (because I had put it away for 7 or 8 months).
I start the tape only to discover that our keyboard player had used it to record some of his "creative" stuff.
Great tape recording GONE FOREVER!
When this guy would get into his creative mode, we referred to him as Dick Wakeman.
Good keyboard player but very spoiled rich kid that wasn't much good for anything else.....goofball.
 
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The short version: brought my song on 24-track tape to a studio and they blasted over it with tone while they were calibrating the machine, a la Steely Dan. I can't even tell you what getting that phone call was like. I was able to save it, but not without a crap ton of work.

Other song was Pro Tools. I played to a stereo rough mix of the track. Got a killer pop from my '98 Supra....never found the session again. It had obviously been deleted by some studio wanker. Why we didn't insist on copying it to our HD? No idea. But I wasn't producer.

Dan
 
Most of the music I've made over the past 40 or so years has been to a high degree improvisational, and although I tried to record every rehearsal and live gig, I've lost count of the number of inspired takes and live performances that have either been ruined due to technical issues (poor mic placement, insufficient mic availability, lack of a sound check, extreme instrument volume variations, etc) or outright lost due to recording SNAFUs (I'm looking at YOU, hsosdrum, for forgetting to press the Record button!). Eventually you learn to just move on to the next take or song, but losing one particularly good take of a song during a recording session back in 2000 still haunts me.
 
We paid the venue extra to record a show .
We had a near flawless night ….

Yup , you already know ……..

I’m still mad …
 
Sorry I removed the video at post 12 because of a mix issue. I re-did the mix and will repost it in the thread where I talk about my new drum studio, wich is a more appropriate place for it.
 
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I record all my own shows (1-2 per month) usually multitrack audio (direct/miced instrument amps, PA FOH mix, additional mics where needed) and 2-6 cameras. Invariably something always goes wrong. Saturday I apparently had the audio recorder on pause for whole 2nd set, the main full-stage shot 4K camera wasn't going first set, the GoPro on the conga and keys died halfway through 3rd set. I've been doing this for years, but always juggling playing with all the A/V stuff.
 
DamnSingerAlsoDrums said:
Tonight I was recording and filming. Nothing important, just a drum cover to pass the time and entertain myself. But the song (a groovy Galt MacDermot instrumental) was a blast to play. I had even setup my camera instead of just using my phone to film. Shot was great, had good light, everything was in focus.

I played about 3 stiff takes but by take 4 I was lossening up and started really locking into the groove. At take five I had one of those elusive "perfect" take. Complete flow state, every hit, every fill was in its rightful place, everything easy and fluid..

Almost as if the sounds were playing me instead of the other way around.

I was overcome by a wave of joy when I hit the final crash, waited a few seconds for the cymbal's decay to die down and then I let out a sonorous "YES!!" As I got up to stop the camera.

ItI was vwith horror that I discovered the camera was already off. The SD card was full and it had shut off.

Damn it!

Always check the SD card. Start with a fresh one or delete stuff BEFORE you start filming. I knew this, but my darn ADD brain never misses an opportunity to make things complex for me when they could be a breeze!
Click to expand...

If it makes you feel any better, a friend of mine and I recorded a project. My friend never paid for the recording time (it was his deal, not mine), and the studio sold all of their gear which included our entire project.
 
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