I wish I had a dollar for every time a bass player has asked me to remove clack out of his bass tracks. I always wondered why a bass player would play in this fashion if he didn't like it. To me, clack is just part of being sloppy. If a person really takes pride in their instrument, they want to sound great. Well, getting rid of clack is a responsibility of any serious bass player. The solution is in the hands.

Of course, like everyone else, bass players get excited and beat the living crap out of their instrument. The result is an enormous amount of clack most of the time. If a bass player could calm down and play their instrument they wouldn't have problems with this clacky sound.

For what it's worth, I have recorded bass players who loved the clack sound. In that situation, I have no problem at all. I guess the point here is that some bass players get really excited and end up playing a track that doesn't like what they had originally intended.

Guitar Players

I hate to even mention the dreaded “tuning” word. However, if your A chord is in tune when you hit an A power chord at a soft / medium strum, it is going to go way sharp when you strum the guitar hard. Guitar playing is EXTREMELY sensitive to how hard you strum. In fact, the best players know they have to hit certain chords harder than others to make them in tune. Particularly, the chords in the first 3 frets need to be strummed extra lightly in order to stay in tune. This is, of course, assuming that you want to be in tune.

So getting too excited as a guitar player can cause tuning nightmares.

Vocals

I think vocals are a little different. Just about every vocal on every song I've ever liked has been over the top. Sad songs sound SUPER SAD! Happy songs sound SUPER HAPPY! You get the idea. I always want my vocals over the top. Generally, if a singer is not bouncing off the walls for a driving rock song, it's up to the producer to get him bouncing off the walls. So with that said, live vocals can be really cool, assuming the singer is on pitch (which is a totally different story). Then again, I've also witnessed countless mid-temp songs that have been pushed into something they are not. If vocals are rushed, the song may as well be over.

Down Sides To Controlling Yourself

Everything is a catch 22. Recording music is no different. If everyone is completely unexcited, the track will probably sound boring. So the secret is to keep a nice amount of energy in the room, but most bands should probably not play with the exact same craziness that they do live. (If you want this craziness on your recording, then maybe you should record a live show!!).

Conclusion

While every bands is different, I feel that most albums and songs are most effective when the band is relaxed and focused on playing their songs well. Getting too excited often equates into sounding sloppy. Sloppy recordings typically do not pass off emotion as they should, but I'm sure there are exceptions. Being too unexcited results in a record that can feel unexcited.

It's up to you to decide what's best for your band's recording. If you are not sure, ask around and get some opinions, especially from older people, because they've been there and done that.