The real trick is to keep at it. Try to figure out WHY you aren’t happy...

Was it a flubbed section? Was it about part of the mix being too loud or too quiet? Was it too much reverb on your voice? Was it too long with one lead sound? Was it a poor choice of style for how you wanted to play?

And, in the end, also decide whether you want to simply post a recording of you playing, warts and all, or whether you want to spend a bit of time to push it a bit (or a lot!) further towards a pro recording. Usually, the solution presents itself once you decide on the end result.

If it’s a live warts and all demo, but you aren’t happy with the warts, practice more, figure out what the warts are, work on them until gone. If you’re singing, and you aren’t comfortable, try the transpose button and move it up or down a step or so, see if that makes your voice sound better ON THE RECORDING. Don’t decide while you sing... nothing sounds the same when you hear it on playback. Sometimes something you thought sucked while you sang turns out to have magic when you listen back. And vice versa!

But if you want to go to the next step, recording the performance to MIDI opens up the world of perfection. You can adjust the mix, fix flubs, edit drums to have less repetitive fills, replace less than stellar sounds with other keyboards or VSTI’s, the sky’s the limit. And then overdub your singing afterwards where you can concentrate on it fully, or comp different takes together.

But the main skill is recognizing what needs improved in the first place. And comparing to pro recordings usually helps pinpoint that. Don’t get discouraged when you do... It’s a process, not a destination!

One if the things I’ve done for years is take a portable digital recorder (I use a Zoom H4n these days) out on gigs, or when working at home on new tunes. On the gig, I turn it on at the start of the gig, and just let it run until the end of the show. It’s only data, so it doesn’t matter if you record the breaks and talking. You can edit those out super easy afterwards. But one thing you get, especially if you have an arranger with a mic in is a completely accurate take on EXACTLY what your audience is hearing. Not what you THINK they are hearing! The truth is, we never hear the truth until we play it back... Our mind isn’t on listening. It’s on creation, on singing, on the pretty girl in the front table...

But tape don’t lie!

I think, on hard drives all over the house, I’ve got almost everything I‘ve done for at least ten years or more..! I make a point of listening at home to each one at least for tops and tails and balances. If anything is not close to perfect, that’s the beauty of arrangers... I can make small adjustments to mix, effects, overall volume, whatever, and then next time I perform it, I can compare the old to the new and see if my changes fixed it. Sooner or later, you get an ear for what something that sounds great from the audience perspective sounds to YOU while you perform it, and get accustomed to it.

For instance, in general, if you can hear the vocal reverb well while singing, it’s too loud. Your ‘head voice’ changes the balance (the audience can’t hear that!). If you can hear your piano comping, it’s probably too loud (comping should be part of the rhythm section, not out front).

Just stick to it, be methodical attacking the problems, pretty soon your show, or your home recordings sound really ‘pro’...!