...and then my ear said "Wow!"

Wonderlick

Wonderlick

New member
Good day all, just some quick musings on my first step (I guess gearwise) into home recording...

I've been reading these forums and learning everything I can for some time - all while recording with Reaper and a cheap USB mic/internal sound card. I figured I wanted to put some basic principles into practice and start to learn the software, recording techniques, etc.

Needless to say, it was all garbage. I don't have much of a musician's ear to begin with, and I knew it stunk quality wise - but didn't really care. My old childhood radio shows sucked in sound quality as well, but I had a blast doing that, and this was 10x more enjoyable and fulfilling personally.

So, without too much cash to spend on equipment, but having gathered enough to dip the whole toe into the water, I wore out the search function looking for opinions/info on such subjects as "Best Budget Mic", "Quality AI for Cheap", and the ever popular "Top Studio Monitors Under $50".

In my quest to find the best for less, a recurring post caught my eye. Now, I'm paraphrasing here - but something along the lines of...

"Whatever crap equipment your broke @#$ ends up buying, it's going to sound way better than your cheap USB mic and internal sound card".

I would sit and read that statement over and over. It gave me hope. But I always wondered how it would translate to me - since so much in this hobby is subjective, it's impossible to grapple what sounds will actually come out of the speakers the first time you play into something designed to record music. What would the result be? Would I come away disappointed? Indifferent? Ecstatic?

Well, with my "used only twice" DP-01FX arriving in the mail (already devoured the manual many times over, so setting up to record was a breeze)...

And an acoustic and bass guitar firmly grasped in each hand like the knife and fork of a hungry hobo, I dug in...

Maybe ecstatic is a tad much...but it's darn close. The best part is, it's the quality that is extremely inspiring - what goes in is somewhat what comes out! I've always wanted to record, albeit just for me, and even with a less than modest setup, I can now see myself enjoying this for a lifetime.

The sound was far beyond what I expected. Unmuddled, easily mixable, light years past anything I had done before. I darn near cried from joy and laughter...

...and all this with my "slightly used" Tapco S5's still in transit. Sigh, I cannot wait...


Daryl
 
Great story man! Yeah, and it can get even better. Welcome to the world of home recording. Toys, tools and more fun are in your future. Hope you have a good job. :)
 
Thanks guys!

Well, I like my job, but the pay could be better. I was prepared a few months ago to take the plunge, but then life got in the way, and I had to hold off.

But now I have stability, and even a couple other people willing to pitch in both musically and financially. I was going the one-man-band route previously - now there's an additional female voice, male voice, and Microkorg to goof off with...

It's funny, because none of us are particularly good instrumentalists, and have never composed music in too organized a way, but we're still stoked about crafting sounds.

Plus, man...I really hope MIDI starts to make more sense now that I can put my hands to it. It's a tough read for me.
 
I love hearing these quantum leap kind of stories. I won't bore you with mine except to at least say, I've had my epiphanies as well.

Glad it's working out for you. Look forward to hearing your tunes!! :)
 
I can only speak for myself, but I have a good feeling about you and your creations. Well, unless you just suck. lol!

Welcome to HR man. Many of us here enjoy the wealth of info and a bit of humor while we waste time learning from each other. :)

Somehow it seems to work...
 
Wonderlick said:
It's funny, because none of us are particularly good instrumentalists, and have never composed music in too organized a way, but we're still stoked about crafting sounds.

Plus, man...I really hope MIDI starts to make more sense now that I can put my hands to it. It's a tough read for me.
Click to expand...
For me, this is the most exciting aspect of home recording. I'm a mediocre musician at best (I play keyboards). However, with DAWs that combine sequencing (recording MIDI) with live audio, I can compensate for my so-so keyboard technique and focus on composition.

Be warned, though: home recording is a money leech! :)
 
Yes agreed......35 years for me.....:)

#1) Wife
#2) Everything else:):)
#3) Everything else that everything else#2 didn't cover....:)

Kudos to thread starter Wonderlick for getting his "ears" !!
 
Thank you for the kind words of encouragement everyone!

And Jimmy, trust me, I do suck (technically and musically)! But I look at that as more of a challenge than anything else. I picked up an instrument a few years ago, so I'm a bit behind, and my musical composition/theory knowledge doesn't extend much past "Uhhhh, I know D7 can add a bit of a twist to a G chord progression, so I'll use that!" type strategies.

My brother (the guy with the Korg) does have some musical knowledge, and he's as excited as I am about putting things together. It's great that he has some theory, as he can teach me as we go, hopefully expanding my personal knowledge and improving my abilities in the process. He's more Daft Punk while I'm more country/rock, but I like "everything", so I'm excited to experiment and play around. I'm a little more wise to the recording process, so it'll be a good give n' take.

But since he wants to focus more on synths/keyboards, I think I'm going to let him figure out all that MIDI junk. I'll pick it up as I go, maybe. ;)

And since I've been able to put chords together, I've always written songs, but just for me. That's the way it'll stay, but I desperately want to get better, and I think I'm in a good place for that. People can hate my songs, and I don't really care about that - and I don't mean that in a punk rock kind of way - more in the sense of I know who I am, and what I can do, and I just want to get better in the recording process and see how it sounds coming out the speakers when I'm done.

It's funny though - it's almost as if I'm starting at square 1 now that I have some tools - before, since my setup was junk, tweaks didn't have much of an effect. Or I was doing it wrong. However, the process was "almost" unenjoyable before, because the equipment was so restrictive - like playing tennis with a hole in the racket. Now I feel liberated and excited to work, even if I am starting out with the most basic of equipment.

But everyone on the forum seems really cool and helpful, and each in their own way, which is great. I'm chompin' at the bit to really dive in to this hobby/lifestyle and offer quality criticisms. And just as importantly, receive them.

Again, thank you for the kind words, and once my crew puts our pennies together and obtain a drum machine - it's on!

Daryl
 
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