This is not meant to be a personal cleansing or soul-search question, just a reality check. Please bear with me.
I am a fledgling in the recording world. I have been making music via the computer for 4 years now, starting with completely no knowledge of music theory, performance and not a clue what really went into good recording, mixing or mastering. I (and a friend)educated ourselves with Reason 1.0 and some computer music magazines.
I have learned an insane amount in 4 years and I feel as though I have taken the steps very fast, maybe trying to progress faster than I can handle. Here is my setup:
PT HD3, PC really fast 1GB RAM, etc., 96I/O and 96iI/O, with a Control 24 and Mackie 624's to monitor with. I have a vocal/solo room, a drum/live room and a control room. Now I realize that this is in no way a crappy or even so-so digital setup, so I ask this question with that in mind...
I read all this stuff on the Pro Audio side that makes it seem as though using anything digital esp plugins for mastering will get you an end result worthy of spinning clockwise (or counterclockwise for our southern hemisphere friends) with some stains on it. My rooms seem to be a mess ((by others standards)(I just haphazardly threw up acoustical treatments in all rooms using only if it looked good as a guide)) and I don't have enough experience to tell me my recordings are actually junk.
Is the answer to "Am I screwed?" just me knowing what exactly I want to be for a studio and not trying to be everything in one package? Or I guess the main question is, how great can this studio REALLY be in it's current setup? Can I expect to be able to turn out widely respected albums or just respected by those who don't know any better to question? Or at this point is it just my abilities/talent/ears that can produce a great album? (Yes, I know, no amount of gear can make you better, but is the gear I have really able to produce the results I am looking for? (i.e. Professionally respected sound) Where's the line in the sand?
I am done now, sorry for the long post, thanks to anyone who chimes in!
Dave
Comments
Hi Dave . . I don't know if this will answer your question but..
Hi Dave . .
I don't know if this will answer your question but..
I know a guy, an extremely talented engineer. His setup is something like this: A quality mic pre, a u87 mic, digi 001 running PT5 on os9 with Waves plugin bundle and some other plugins. Not sure what he monitors on but I he makes really great sounding stuff, that I think is great quality, and this is without being mastered yet. He has about 7 years of experience under his belt, and like you and I he never went to school for it. He studied on his own, saved every dime he had working his way up with a pretty nice ecording studio, read books and mags, bought some equipment and learned it like second nature.. He dedicated his life to just being the best at every thing he bought, be it hard/soft ware and now whenever there's a problem, people go to him. Not only that but he's known for his quality and doesn't have the ego that usually comes with his position. . Now what's my point.. Oh, yes, my point is this: I think you can do it, but don't expect it so soon. Keep learning, keep reading and stay dedicated/focussed. That's what I'm gonna do anyway :) Hope this helps....