outboard blues

[trebles]

I know that i have asked this question in many different ways to try and answer my own questions although some of the advice has assisted me i still find myself very confused on this subject

With the myriad of equipment choices out there and its uses how does one pick out the pieces of gear they require where outboard gear is concerned what i mean is how many of each piece of gear does one require eg 4 fx units 6 compressors 8 gates 1 or 2 chan strips 8 or 12 mic pres etc

id want to to work with anything from a person siging solo to a 4 or 5 piece rock band as most would know them

the desk i have is a 32x8 console Tascam m 3500 console

http://www.sweetwater.com/products/tascam/m3700.html

heres a pic of an identical 3500 like the one i have below

http://www.rockdirectory.com.au/tascam.htm

the info i seek is how many of each piece of gear would i need in my rack
not what brand is better then another or the best bang for buck special of the month any of that i can read in many other posts with out even keying in a single word

eg i own two rnc compressors how many more would i require that is how many more compressors not how many more rnc,s i need as i already have two of those

I also own one behringer multigate which seems to have 4 chans i assume i need something with another 4 chans and that gates are used mostly with drums? and that you should have about 8 chans of gating

the behringer also has what seems to be an expander on it i also asume that it also has 4 chans of that as well ? do i require any more?

how many outboard eq,s does one require in their rack

how many chan strips or voice strips does one need

do you buy compressors or compressor limiters or the any of the other units which seem to do the job of a compressor

this list goes on and on with all the rest of this gear

can somebody who actually knows just list for me the bits and pieces of outboard gear i logically need like saying ok you got two compressors get another 4 or you have 4 chans of gates get another 4 chans or you will need 8 to 12 chans of mic pre if you didnt want to use your desks mic pres etc

for bands i realise i need alot of mic pres in my rack simply because just with drums alone you could use up 8 chans of mic pre and also for different colouration of sound i just hope ive explained myself clearly this time and the responses left are of some use to me based on fact or left by people using a 32 track setup ok i await this info please someone who knows can you assist me here thanks in advance

Kindest regards
wayne
Melbourne Australia

[vox]

Every engineer has their own preferred gear list based on the way that they work, some engineers may compress EVERYTHING so they need 24 channels of compression, they may like the sound of dbx compressors on drums but prefer a Manley on vocals, others may avoid compression whenever they can, they might just have one good tracking compressor and some software. Some may like to tailor a different reverb for every instrument, others may just use one verb on vocals and one on drums. I think you see what I'm getting at. A good place to start is to get one of everything - One good stereo compressor, a good reverb, a good multi FX box, a good stereo or quad gate, etc. then add gear as you need it.
A friend of mine put together his own studio a couple years ago, he planned everything carefully, every little detail, he bought about a dozen patchbays and snakes and built a rack for them, he wired just about every input and output on every piece of equipment into the bays. After two years he realized that about 8 of those patchbays had NEVER been used! he recalculated his real requirements and ended up taking out 9 (!) patchbays and about a dozen 50ft snakes.

[trebles]

Thankyou vox for your post

I think a fresh approach is required by myself ive got a lil hung up on gear before ive even recorded anything

Your Advice is good and when you really look at it in this light

"yes" i could end up with more gear then i need and id say thats the last thing i really want to do as it would bug hell out of me to have to sell gear ive done nothing with.

I may just take along hard look at my gear list and keep all intact but only buy what i feel i really need for now as in reality id only really be recording me to start with the studio is the grander plan and i have let it go to my head a lil bit more then i should have

What i mean is i thought that by collecting gear that oneday when i was ready to open doors id just put all in place and off i go but yes it aint so simple

I think what i,ll do is buy what i need for now and just save the rest of the cash that way i can do what it is i want to for now
later on i can then have the cash to buy gear that will get used rather then gear that will just sit and do nothing and will only need to be upgraded again when iam ready

Reading your post vox is just what i needed thank you again your words i feel have let me see all this in a different light :-)

a fresh approach is what i feel is needed here

kind regards Wayne
Melbourne Australia