How to stop foot stomping while recording

[DAGGILARR]

I am fairly new to this and I am trying to record self playing acoustic guitar and I just cannot seem to stop my self thumping away with my foot, its ruining recordings. Any ideas?

[tacitus]

Hearing yourself doing it is probably the best incentive to stop doing it. You need physically to practice not tapping your foot - try moving your toe inside your shoe instead, which will be silent, then move on to internalising the rhythm, which is of course what we all should be doing in the first place. It drives me mad when I hear it in bands I conduct, especially as it's usually the people who can't keep time that do it the loudest.

To get used to the idea of moving your toe rather than your whole foot, practice whenever you hear music on the telly or wherever - it's invisible to anyone else so you won't upset anybody. When you've done this, move on to visualising (auralising?) the beat in your head. I found the second step easier than the first.

[Steve Hill]

Play in socks on a thick sheepskin rug?

Put foam pads under the mic stand's feet. Use a suspension shockmount on the mic itself. Engage a high pass filter on the mic and/or the desk at about 80Hz.

Or discuss bondage solutions with your partner.

[DAGGILARR]

Or discuss bondage solutions with your partner.

I followed this advice and my partner came up with an ingenious solution, she placed drawing pins through my rug and suggested I play barefoot

[Axonaut]

Put something inside your shoe, under the sole of the offending foot. Like a small stone, for example.

It can vary from a subtle reminder, to a severe punishment, depending on the size and sharpness of the object.

If that doesn't work, then try the drawing pin...

[Mowens800]

Mic up your foot and use it as part of the recording.

[Blue Lizard]

Araldite

[Guest]

Sit on the floor.

[Jack Ruston]

Anti personnel mine

[DAGGILARR]

Yup beginning to regret this

[FreQnic]

Stick your foot in a sound proof box filled with jelly! OK maybe not the jelly, that's just my personal choice.



Said to much methinks, time to leave.

[Studio Support Gnome]

1 nail, 1 hammer, job done.

[Folderol]

Now you lot have solved that one, how do you stop a singer jigging around in front of the mic?

[chris...]

Learn to stomp in time, so the sound will later be obscured by your poundingi drum track ?

[Jack Ruston]

Hearing yourself doing it is probably the best incentive to stop doing it. You need physically to practice not tapping your foot - try moving your toe inside your shoe instead, which will be silent, then move on to internalising the rhythm, which is of course what we all should be doing in the first place. It drives me mad when I hear it in bands I conduct, especially as it's usually the people who can't keep time that do it the loudest.

To get used to the idea of moving your toe rather than your whole foot, practice whenever you hear music on the telly or wherever - it's invisible to anyone else so you won't upset anybody. When you've done this, move on to visualising (auralising?) the beat in your head. I found the second step easier than the first.

This was a really decent bit of advice btw...before the rest of us started making 'helpful' comments

[ROLO46]

Mic up your foot and use it as part of the recording.

Some of my favourite Chess recordings mike up feet.

[FreQnic]

The technical term for advanced foot tapping is podorythmy which is very popular in French reels.

If you keep at it you could be as good as this... Reel et podorythmie

[Mike Stranks]

Presuming you're sitting to play - have you tried a footrest? Putting some more tension in your leg will make it more difficult to 'tap'

... or is it the other leg??!! Maybe a foot rest there would help!

(You won't believe this, but as I type "Foot-Tapper" is playing on the radio!)

[tacitus]

Well, even though I gave the 'decent bit of advice', the other posts have been a lot more fun.

As for the problem of singers jigging around in front of the mic, they need my new device, launching next April 1st, that only shocks you when you let go of it.

Somebody will now tell me you can do that, anyway.

[DAGGILARR]

I used to have a great chair that was high and had a kind or rail round the base to rest your feet on. bit like a bar stool (spent toooo long on they) it was a bit hard though

The fun is great in this thread and there are some good bits of advice too, and I will try some of these out

I wonder what is the ideal guitar playing seat

[Exalted Wombat]

http://tinyurl.com/8juzh

[DAGGILARR]

http://tinyurl.com/8juzh

Imagine the ground loop

[Exalted Wombat]

Now, if each leg had different impedance to ground, a differential current could flow up one leg, down the other, causing the b*****ks to explode....excuse me, I must go and lie down for a bit...over-excitement, you know...

[FreQnic]

I'm feeling a bit guilty for not giving a sensible solution to your problem, so here it is.

Use a thick, plush cushion or pillow under your foot.

I feel so much better now.

[inderface]

Some alternatives........

Keep your toe on the floor but raise your leg up and down to the rythm.
Also some head banging as an alternative to leg tapping to the groove..
Dance your body to the beat instead....
Try putting a tambourine or cowbell 4/4 on the beat in the track as a guide.....Then take it out once you have recorded the guitar.....
Or leave a bit in according to the track...............