taken from a post on rec.audio.pro without permission from authour
Spend the first $2500 on a very basic setup that you can either
resell for almost the same price or you will want to keep indefinitely.
Mabye a nice selection of different mics that are relatively good
values and inexpensive to leave room for the other stuff you need.
Here's a rough WAG at what that might could be (very arbitrarily):
1 used Shure SM-57 mic
1 Marshall MXL 603 mic
1 Marshall MXL V-67 mic
1 Beyerdynamic M-88 mic (used if possible)
1 Audio Technica ATM-25 mic
1 Electrovoice C635a mic (used if possible)
1 homemade pop-filter made with embroidery hoop and hose
8 standard mic cables 20'
1 used Mackie 1604vlz mixer
1 pair Sony MDR-V600 headphones
1 modern 4-track analog cassette recorder (hmm... model?)
1 FMR Audio RNC compressor
1 used Alex effects unit
12 patch cables
2 TRS <-> RCA cables so you can play stuff through your stereo
Experiment for about 100 hours or so, however long that takes you. Use
your stereo in addition to the headphones to monitor. Spend your next
$100 on some good books about how to do this stuff. Read them, then
spend another 50 or so hours experimenting.
Then spend the next $2400 on real studio time and an experienced engineer
to record your first few songs or projects, whatever fits the money.
Then decide how to spend the remaining $15000. You might choose any of
the following:
Combine that money with what you can recover by selling most of the
above items to buy more real studio time, because it is a more effective
use of your money. In other words, you learned that it is much better
to pay for professionals with great equipment to help you create the
kind of quality recordings you want than to waste that money on low-end
gear that you still won't have the skill to operate well.
Spend $10000 on building or treating your mixdown environment or
recording environment (get the room right) and to buy some low-end
but adequate monitors to match your room. Then you still have
$5000 to spend on upgrading a few pieces of gear. With that, you
could buy a low-end PC-based DAW and decent 2-channel mic preamp.
Maybe.
Pay for on-going time with a real engineer in a real studio in order
to learn the trade. How much? You could learn a *lot* by spending
just a third of the remaining amount. If you are any good at it,
they might even start paying you to help. If you aren't, then it's
a good thing you didn't waste all your money on studio gear that you
won't be able to use anyway. But in any case, at this point, you'll
have a much better idea of what to do with whatever money is left
over.
You might ask, why not just do one of those things to start? That's a
good question. But you're already bent on buying some gear and recording,
so it's best to start small and try to buy stuff that fits a tight budget
but still doesn't suck too much ("good values"). You can learn a lot by
playing around with a few mics and a 4 track. There's no point in spending
$20000 on stuff you won't know how to use. As you learn by making do with
lesser gear, you'll get a much better picture of what you might really need
to upgrade and what is actually just fine the way it is. Or whether you
really were wrong in assuming that this was something you wanted to do.
My only really serious point here is that I think it would be unwise to
spend $20000 off the bat, especially based on little more than advice from
strangers you gathered on a newsgroup. My apologies if you already have
a lot of experience. I certainly don't.
But then, some folks once scammed me out of about that much money, and
despite the SEC lawyers getting a ruling against them, they have no assets
left and/or they've fled the country, and I'll never recover a cent. So
I definitely know what it is like to lose that much money. It pains me to
see someone about to do something potentially so regretable.
And I am not an audio professional, so you certainly shouldn't listen to
*my* advice.
--
Keith W. Blackwell
wrote:[/QUOTE]
ive been reading alot of late at rec.audio.pro and alot ive read there makes alot of sense just wanted to post this here for new people who were all confused just as i was and are wondering alot about what gear they may need some good food for thought above
Let's start over.
Spend the first $2500 on a very basic setup that you can either
resell for almost the same price or you will want to keep indefinitely.
Mabye a nice selection of different mics that are relatively good
values and inexpensive to leave room for the other stuff you need.
Here's a rough WAG at what that might could be (very arbitrarily):
1 used Shure SM-57 mic
1 Marshall MXL 603 mic
1 Marshall MXL V-67 mic
1 Beyerdynamic M-88 mic (used if possible)
1 Audio Technica ATM-25 mic
1 Electrovoice C635a mic (used if possible)
1 homemade pop-filter made with embroidery hoop and hose
8 standard mic cables 20'
1 used Mackie 1604vlz mixer
1 pair Sony MDR-V600 headphones
1 modern 4-track analog cassette recorder (hmm... model?)
1 FMR Audio RNC compressor
1 used Alex effects unit
12 patch cables
2 TRS <-> RCA cables so you can play stuff through your stereo
Experiment for about 100 hours or so, however long that takes you. Use
your stereo in addition to the headphones to monitor. Spend your next
$100 on some good books about how to do this stuff. Read them, then
spend another 50 or so hours experimenting.
Then spend the next $2400 on real studio time and an experienced engineer
to record your first few songs or projects, whatever fits the money.
Then decide how to spend the remaining $15000. You might choose any of
the following:
Combine that money with what you can recover by selling most of the
above items to buy more real studio time, because it is a more effective
use of your money. In other words, you learned that it is much better
to pay for professionals with great equipment to help you create the
kind of quality recordings you want than to waste that money on low-end
gear that you still won't have the skill to operate well.
Spend $10000 on building or treating your mixdown environment or
recording environment (get the room right) and to buy some low-end
but adequate monitors to match your room. Then you still have
$5000 to spend on upgrading a few pieces of gear. With that, you
could buy a low-end PC-based DAW and decent 2-channel mic preamp.
Maybe.
Pay for on-going time with a real engineer in a real studio in order
to learn the trade. How much? You could learn a *lot* by spending
just a third of the remaining amount. If you are any good at it,
they might even start paying you to help. If you aren't, then it's
a good thing you didn't waste all your money on studio gear that you
won't be able to use anyway. But in any case, at this point, you'll
have a much better idea of what to do with whatever money is left
over.
You might ask, why not just do one of those things to start? That's a
good question. But you're already bent on buying some gear and recording,
so it's best to start small and try to buy stuff that fits a tight budget
but still doesn't suck too much ("good values"). You can learn a lot by
playing around with a few mics and a 4 track. There's no point in spending
$20000 on stuff you won't know how to use. As you learn by making do with
lesser gear, you'll get a much better picture of what you might really need
to upgrade and what is actually just fine the way it is. Or whether you
really were wrong in assuming that this was something you wanted to do.
My only really serious point here is that I think it would be unwise to
spend $20000 off the bat, especially based on little more than advice from
strangers you gathered on a newsgroup. My apologies if you already have
a lot of experience. I certainly don't.
But then, some folks once scammed me out of about that much money, and
despite the SEC lawyers getting a ruling against them, they have no assets
left and/or they've fled the country, and I'll never recover a cent. So
I definitely know what it is like to lose that much money. It pains me to
see someone about to do something potentially so regretable.
And I am not an audio professional, so you certainly shouldn't listen to
*my* advice.
--
Keith W. Blackwell
wrote:[/QUOTE]
ive been reading alot of late at rec.audio.pro and alot ive read there makes alot of sense just wanted to post this here for new people who were all confused just as i was and are wondering alot about what gear they may need some good food for thought above
