Just interested to hear how people collate their live jams into finished tracks, how long you jam for etc. my plan is just press record, take a stereo mix from my mixer, no multitracking, jam a track picking up all the happy accidents, altering effects live, filter sweeps, everything and then going back through the recording, pulling out the best bits and re-ordering the best bits into a finished track. How popular is this way of working
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ā¦thereās multitracking, picking the cherries, arrange them and make it a final cutā¦
ā¦and thereās single stereo tracking, picking the cherries, arrange them and make it a final cutā¦
and thatās pretty much all the ways u can achieve final cutsā¦
and since thereās picking cherries and arranging them involved either way, i prefer to have all individual access til final cut instead of getting all leveleing, balancing and eqāing right at once before iām able recordā¦
i can see the fun in quick and dirty stereo live jam recordingsā¦but i also know the frustration it always brings on the long runā¦
if u can, split ur signals at least into 3 or 4 individual sum bussesā¦and record those while u jam alongā¦
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If youāre jamming with someone else, having too many tracks to sort through can be its own nightmare, though.
Thereās benefits to mixing down upstream too. I like to think of it as āsampling myselfā, like what Iād do with a vinyl record going into an MPC.
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Yeah thatās the dilemma, picking cherries from a stereo mix or from a multitrack, easier to pick from one recording than trawling through all the multitracked parts but I see your point regarding eq, levels etc 
Iām thinking of recording stereo straight to iPad, any good audio editors on iPad that would be good for this approach ?
I do this with a friend. I wouldnāt necessarily want multiple tracks for both of us, but having separate stereo tracks for each of us has saved the editing a few times. Of course, we could always just get better 
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My most productive method is to record an improvisation havingnsetup a few different tracks. Record for 40-60 minutes, chop it down and do a few overdubs. Then mix down with outboard. I aim for -3 peak usually -6 average and quite happy with that. Some are shite but Iām ok with the odds.
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Good stuff and how long once youāve done initial recording does it take you to knock it into shape
Sometimes I leave it a while then come back to it. I have a backlog of recording sessions. Recently I completed an album over a weekend, it just came out that way. In the past I have obsessed over minutia of a track, itās easy to fall into. Another important factor is I donāt make music with āsharp cornersā it is more fluid maybe? This is where Iām at that keeps it balanced between fun and having something to show for it. I always try to remember that some of the greatest pieces of music recorded were done over 2-3 sessions.
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My musical life 
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I would add that now, i prefer having the sounds, that i regularly work/improve, then jam, then record, then sometimes listen, but never take/lost times to reconstruct to get a finished track.
I point my work to be able to play my sound/jam when wanted, with each time the way i feel good to interpret and then i would feel a musician that play, that is the thing i look for since long time. I try to tend to that. Must work moreā¦ and there, recording helps a lot.
Done and redone jams around the same tracks/synths and recording while playing helps to concentrate/muscle memory/listening and understand what function and what do not. Thatās my process.
I eard a pianist saying āwhen i play, i try to listen to the music like auditor would doāā¦ i keep that idea.
Edit : Sorry to @Adelock for having given my opinion out of sense to the original thread
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The two are still completely separate for me (jamming = OT, Rytm, synth/s and making tracks = Ableton).
I think I would run 4x outs from OT into 4 Ableton channels and the Rytm into more Ableton channels via Overbridge. Then I can jam but multitrack at the same time, and chop up and arrange the non-shite bits into tracks?
The only problem would be if I wanted more then 4 mono/2 stereo sounds from the OT.
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ā¦okā¦if u stick with stereo live jam recordings, final goal remains a final cut of thatā¦
because, whatās all the fuzz about, if u donāt end up with somewhat tracks/pieces/results of ur work, that U and/or anybody else can enjoy actually listening to itā¦
so, once u think ur ready to record, means, after u made sure, the overall sound is at some kind of decent mix leve contextlā¦take a little breakā¦come back and hit recordā¦
ā¦and once u hit play and start to jam, donāt jam too fastā¦
take ur timeā¦stay in one basic mood set for way longer than u think and perform just little twistsā¦then move drastically through some breaking it into all pieces before u land on another basic mood setā¦do that one more timeā¦
but always not thinking/listening in realtimeā¦go for slomoā¦get food for a final arrangement u donāt do āliveāā¦u jam for laterā¦
so now u got three basic mood settings and two anything goes all over the place break stack partsā¦all in one, long takeā¦
and now u must be willing to spent time with this recordingā¦start to LISTENā¦listen to what u createdā¦
and pick ur cherries in realtime along the wayā¦
but with the rule of 8ā¦
whatever ur measure, tempi or style might beā¦
every 8 bars at least the slightest change of events must come, go, add, vanish, change with every next 8 barsā¦
so, take the effort and really cut up ur recording in pieces of 8 or 16, to puzzle around with them later easlyā¦
because, every final track tells a story of itās ownā¦so be the storytellerā¦
every story has chaptersā¦
define a beginning/opening/prologā¦
define a first actā¦with itās own inner climaxā¦
define a second actā¦with itās own inner climaxā¦
and define an endingā¦
ur jam session led into a finished result, u and others can actually enjoy from time to timeā¦
instead of just adding another sonic neverending storieeeey to the huge pile of totally forgotten, never really happened moments in lifeā¦
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Jam. Record. Listen. Pick good bits
jam again, but just the good bits.
Repeat.
Same as playing in a band.
Also known as rehearsing.
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Yep. Once I settle on my songs structure I practice playing it like I want it several times then start recording and listening back to the various takes and figuring out what I want to change, etc. After all said and done and I have a final take, I am usually pretty ready to send it to the ether and be done with it.
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Actually I do it in a subtractive way. I listen back. Make note of the crap bits. Then go in and ditch them. Rehearse again record listen repeat.
The key lesson for me has been listen .
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Some great suggestions and ideas