What are some habbits/things you do when recording/writing?

Before I start recording, I open up a picture of John Lennon on my PC. I tend to feel like he's watching me and saying "Go get'em, champ".

nothing...I just sit down and hit record. i put down my rhythm guitar first, then i lay down a drum track, then a do either bass or keyboards. then i mix down. then comes my smoke break. then i do my leads. i improvise pretty much all the leads, although i usually have a certain sound in mind. if i cant nail a lead in one or two takes i usually scratch it and try something else. after that i do a second drum track and work on an intro. then the final mix down. and off it goes.

Rhythm before drums? Do you record to a click track?

sort of. i either have the sample beat playing...or i use a prerecorded sample drum track.

Usually I take a hit off my bong, it helps the creative juices flow.

I on the other hand would never get my creativity via drugs and the like. Just makes it seem like the drugs are writing instead of me. Meh, to each his own.

I don't use drugs, but a fair point would be that it's still your own brain. It's just working in a different way, skold.

True.

Apparently you don't hit the bong Skold or else you'd know that some of the best songs ever written were written while on drugs, infact name a guitar player other than Dick Dale who doesn't use drugs.

That's my point. If you have to take drugs for the talent and creativity to come out, it's not really your creativity. It's the drug. Also, I'm not an idiot. I know that most artists take drugs to write their shite.

It's not really the drug. It's still your mind as I was saying. It's just working different. If it might be beneficial to use drugs then people should go ahead and do what they need to write how they want.

I just choose not to, but each method has pros and cons.

My bad habit is sometimes thinking to much into the music I write and making it too complicated

John 5. one of the best guitar players out there...i think its also fair to say, guys like satch, vai and petrucci dont do drugs. also, i doubt any studio guitar player would risk his career by doing drugs. jimmy bruno, alan holtsworth and john mclaughlin dont do drugs. just to name a few. drugs are a part of life-NOT a part of music.

Yeah, John 5 is quite amazing. Loved most every track on "The Devil Knows My Name" Album.

what about boston? idk but i dont think they used drugs, if they did, it wasnt a lot.

Okay then Drink and do drugs and write music.....lol,what people do behind closed doors,is personal there own choice.

I'm a retired drug doer but it never really helped my playing. I have the tapes to prove it. The inspartion i did get when i was high turned wound up not being very good. again i have the tapes to prove it.

but when i sobered up completely after a 10 year haze, it all came together. Playing imporved faster ideas flurished but i still can't spell.

I agree bro(tele) In my world ,music came with drugs and partying but I am also a ex drug user, and got caught up in that scene too, and I wish all that happened never happened, snd after the haze like you,....man. so many mistakes and wasted so much time.....live and learn I guess