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Being new to this site, I first joined 2 weeks ago expecting to simply login, post questions, get the answers I "wanted" to hear and POOF! become a studio recording Guru.

Now Im seeing this in a whole new light.
First of all let me begin by apologizing to the guys and gals on here, whom of which, actually know what they're talking about. As an uninformed and arrogant guitar player looking to start his own home studio, I was taken aback by the "answers" I first recieved when making my initial posts to this community. After posting about my available studio space, current equipment, planned future purchases and all the other questions the "new guys" always ask, I was quite surprised about the feedback that I got. "Could it be, Could I really NOT know what Im talking about after all?" "No, that couldn't be possible, all these people who are responding are simply biased or have alterial motives for 'bashing' my suggested gear".
Then, it all came into perspective for me. After disregarding their warnings/advise and making the purchases anyway(mainly due to my beginer's need for immediate gratification and impatience towards "wanting an entire, working studio NOW"), lets just say that certain "equipment failures" arose and caused me to hit bottom. What a reality check.
Then today, as I sit at my computer mad and sick to my stomach, I stumble upon a thread titled "what kind of deal is this" in which there were a few lengthy posts by a certain "respected past moderator" (one of the people trying to warn me) and something in those posts hit me like a ton of enlightening bricks. "Oh, now I get it" is something I don't think I've said until now...
Listen, for all the new guys coming on to the sound production scene; simply put, there isn't going to be a quick and dirty solution to starting this journey of recording your own music. I dont think anyone who's been doing this stuff for a while now expects us "newbs" to get in the first 2 or 10 go 'rounds. I can only hope that one of the first topics you come across is this one when you join this community, because there is a lot of help that's availalbe here and ignoring that help to simply learn the hard way and fall into the "studio on dime" pipe-dream fantasy is just plain hard to chew.
So, in retrospect, the moral of this topic is: "Listen to these guys on here, they know what they're talking about and there only here to help".
Try to avoid learning the hardway.

Comments

pr0gr4m Fri, 02/08/2008 - 14:08

How many guitar players does it take to put together a recording studio?
One, once he gets his feet wet and learns a couple things.
You'll get there man.

UCoVi wrote: lets just say that certain "equipment failures" arose and caused me to hit bottom. What a reality check.

Aww, come on. Give us the skinny. Let us, and the community know what sort of equipment failures you ran in to.

You experienced first hand how hard it was for the knokwledgable people here to get their points across. The least you could do is give a description of the problems you ran into, not for their satisfaction, but so that in the future we can direct any new recording hopefuls to some direct information that backs up the advice given.

Give a full review of the equipment you got and the experience you had with it.

anonymous Fri, 02/08/2008 - 15:46

It doesn't always hold true that it's difficult to get going and recording without a ton of experience and expensive equipment.

When I decided I wanted to creat a home studio, I discovered these forums and read as much as I could. Then when I began to look at gear I got very lucky. I came across a demo Tascam FW-1082 at S*m Ash. It included preamps, AD/DA, DAW control, and Cubase LE. I bought a drum mic kit and a Line 6 POD and started recording. They weren't great, by any means but I WAS recording and it allowed me to easily work out parts and arrangements, instrumentation etc. to the songs I was writing.

Then I got lucky again. Steinberg offered a special for an upgrade to full-blown Cubase $ at 1/2 price if you had LE.

I've since added a better mic, some decent passive monitors and done some treaatment to my room, all based on info from the experts on this site.

My engineering skills keep getting better. My arranging skill keep getting better. And as I get more extra money I will continue upgrading my gear. The advantage of not having a lot of money on hand, is that I have time to thouroghly research any gear I might think I want, and make wiser buying decisions.

I used to think that I needed a $100k digital console, racks full of hardware, and a beautiful commercial built studio to make the recordings I wanted. But the more I learn about mic placement, EQ, compression use, and how to place instruments in the mix, the better my recordings get.

You don't necessarily have to wait along time to get started, but you also don't have to have everything at once either.

Good luck.

Davedog Fri, 02/08/2008 - 17:17

REALLY :roll: !!!

Yeah...we really DO want to hear what happened and we want to gloat.......a lot.

Ahhhh....nevermind. This aint the first bit of monkey bizness we've gloated about. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Now listen. They ARE pieces of gear out there for sale RIGHT NOW that would allow a beginner to be up and running in a matter of hours. A lot of folks come on here and take the advice and thats when they think its going to be easysleazy. "Yeah, I did what you said to do, but it doesnt sound right??? Someone HEEEELLLPPPP!!!"

There is no amount of money you can throw at recording as an art that will make all the knowledge needed to be decent at it go away.

Theres the physical parts. Mother nature designed hearing and acoustics and space for a reason.
Theres the Musical part. Whats good and whats bad? Who knows.......

Then theres the ART. Which part of the Mona Lisa was painted first? Sistine Chapel was started in what area? Why do recordings made in the 30's and 40's still have fidelity?

So....and thanks for the heads up to all the unwashed. We want you to be successful and be proud of your work. :wink:

anonymous Fri, 02/08/2008 - 22:19

Well, I had planned on giving the skinny on the misfortunes but not untill I got my apologies across and hoped for an "overlooking" of my ingorance and hard-headedness.

Here's what happened:

The beh***ger board, when first tested out by my band, sounded "not horrible" during a live mix to the PA. So, I thought I had avoided the "curse" but then...

Well, I purchased a pair of AKG Perception 200's (which BTW are GREAT mics!) And upon my hooking them up to the board in a "recording" environment, I noticed a WHOLE LOT of NOISE. These boards are horrible. But it doesn't end there...after recording a very noisey test run, I turned everything off and left the room. When I returned to see what sort of "noise reconnaissance" I might be able to achieve I started noticing the sound wasn't as "strong" like perhaps the pre amps were rapidly going downhill. After noticing this I turned the board off and back on only to find that my entire Right MAIN channel had completely gone out!!! SO, long story short I shipped this POS back for an exchange and paid up around a 300$ difference to get an Onyx 1620 with firewire card.

Again, I regret not heeding the advice of the "older dudes"...lol

Codemonkey Sat, 02/09/2008 - 17:49

Admission is the first step towards getting into the club. (admission...getting in...oh never mind)

"I am Codemonkey and I am a newb. Plzhlppthx."
Goes a long way towards realising that letting the singer eat the mike is a bad idea. Among other mistakes.

Oh and please don't take that as an insult. More of an observation that we've both come to the same realisation, that there is a difference between crap and pro gear.

MadMax Sun, 02/10/2008 - 02:17

UCoVi,

Yeah, man... I feel your pain... BELIEVE ME!

I've tried to cheap out and DIY and buy my way in on all differing levels.

Here's a couple of "rules" I've picked up and learned that may help you on your way...

Good shit ain't cheap, and cheap shit ain't always good.
If it seems too good to be true... IT IS!
You might be able to defy the laws of physics... but not very likely.
Good gear is only as good as the wire and connectors that tie it all together.
Some gear you buy, some gear you rent. The rest, you invest in.
Be careful buying used gear. Only buy things that you know you can fix or have fixed.
DIY is a GREAT option, but only if you are willing to invest in yourself and your skills.
COMPARE PRICING!!! - Try to learn what the better manufacturers are and choose between the pricing that seems the most fair.
This is a business built upon relationships. Don't burn a bridge unless you KNOW you'll never need to cross it again.

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