simplifying

S

shiatzu

New member
i've recently found myself in a rut with regard to songwriting and recording, i've got a pretty acceptable hobbyist DAW setup and i've got some pretty decent results out of it recording local bands. lately, however, i've lost my zeal for recording and i wasn't sure why. eventually, i had a breakthrough and i sold all my recording gear except for a couple of mics, two 2-channel preamps, and a tascam 4track. if i can't make my demos sound good on that, it shouldn't be recorded in the first place, methinks.

i've likened it to the ol' "i've got so much work to do that i'm just going to sit here and not do any of it" mentality, i had too many options, too much freedom to be lazy and wav-edit my way to decent tracks... i know i'm sacrificing "fidelity" by switching to cassette tapes, since they're really not all that great, but i hope that will be made up for by the need to be more creative to get the tracks done.

anyways, that went on longer than expected, i just wanted to know if anybody else had this happen to them? did it work out, does getting down to the bare essentials keep you on your toes? or is it a really bad idea that will have me spending years and large amounts of cash rebuying all my old gear?

cheers,
rob
 
For me, I have no desire to down-grade my gear, but you do make great points about really self-examining and cutting back to what you truly need. I think it's a very necessary thing to do every so often because it's way to easy to slip into the attractive trap of over-doing things, especially in the creative stages like writing and mixing/editing.
Usually I like to simplify my approach, arrangements etc rather than actually get rid of gear but that's definitely a hardcore way to make sure you really do stick to the plan. I still like to have the stuff around in case I really do want to record a string section and mic each drum individually but the key is to figure out for each project if I really DO want to do that, or am I just doing it cause I can.
Anyway, good luck - sounds like you've found a way to be happy with recording again!
 
I went back to using my 4 track yamaha MT100 as the basis of my rcording. Record into it & then bump the 4 tracks, or mix, up into my comp.
I don't see it as a sacrifice in quality at all.
Refreshingly organic I think.
 
thanks for the well-wishing, i hope it all works out.. haha

rayc, i'm going to be doing the exact same thing. i kept an maudio delta 1010lt so i can bounce my 4track to two track stereo, or 3 tracks if i use the tape cue output along with L/R.

i've been thinking a lot about it today, i went for a long drive and contemplated how this will work. firstly, with a small selection of mics it'll mean i need to concentrate more so on mic positioning and general placement technique to get a good sound.. i can't rely on certain go-to mics for a particular type of instrument or room. secondly, with the ability to send only three tracks to my pc i'm going to have to strip recordings down as much as possible. instead of putting a room and a close mic on a guitar cab, i'll have to find a natural spot in the room where the guitar would sound both roomy and full and stick a single mic there. i've never been a fan of stereo drums, i never pan more than 50 L/R for any instrument in a mix, so i'm going to stick to a mono overhead and a kickdrum mic for drum tracking.

very rarely do i record full bands, and many of my friends have acceptable home studios (the advantage of having mainly musicians as friends), a 4-track is definitely better for songwriting, people can either be songwriters or engineers: it's practically impossible to find the time to be both and i can't give up writing songs.
 
a while ago i got sick of doing the whole recording thing for really ungrateful bands that don't understand why i can't make a crate amp with 1, 8"inch speaker sound like a mesa stack and ended up selling pretty much everything. later on i realzed that i missed it and the part that i hated wasn't recording...it was working with certain "musicians." i went back, purchased some new stuff, and really took a look at what i needed to acheieve the results i wanted and found i need a whole lot less really. a couple more high quality mics instead of lots of mid level ones, etc. i've also become selective on who i work with so i can consistantly achieve better results. it's helped a lot and improved my abilities as an engineer, not to mention made it fun again. i admire the fact that you've dumbed down and gotten back to the heart and soul. might be a bit unusual...but everytime i go to record an album for some (i'm a drummer) i'll learn the songs on a full kit, then go and remove everything but kick, snare, hihat, floor tom, and a crash and learn the songs that way. keeps me from doing things just for the sake of it and seeing how good the song is stripped down and what not. it keeps me from doing some fills that might sound cool, but just don't need to be there in the grand scheme of things. also makes me really know what i DO need in there. congrats and good luck with your new gear and approach.
 
thanks, i appreciate it. since i'm kind of a pack rat i'm sure i'll have an entirely new set of gear eventually but hell, i figure that i'm going to stick with my 4track until i can afford to get a 2" tape setup.
 
Bless you, my son!

Yeah, hey, what model Tascam 4-track do you have? There's a wide variance of Portastudios/Ministudios, and the highest-end and midline Porta's are very nice, indeed.

Some of my most bangin' and highly creative stuff was done on a Tascam 4-track cassette Portastudio. I'm still a HUGE Portastudio fan and user, to this day.

Rock on, man!!
 
the 414 mk ii. it's definitely a decent 4-track, and i take care of it... cleaning the heads regularily and soforth.
 
In the car the other day I accidentally played an old 4 track recording I did - Tascam 424 - when I was just getting started in home recording. I was struck by how innocent and warm the thing sounded.

Nevertheless I wouldn't go back to those days. Digital gives you options. I do believe in keeping it simple though. The shortest distance between 2 points is a curve
 
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