Hey all - I'm wondering if you could help me with research for a college project by answering some questions related to recording at home.
Please give some background on who you are and what you are involved in.
I'm a hobbyist with a wife, kids, a full time job, a life and never any time to be bored, what with juggling all of this. I write, record and mix for fun and because I just have to get it all out and I'm blessed to have a variety of friends that can sing or play various instruments to help me realize my, um, creations.
1. What is a home studio? Where do you draw the line between a home studio and a 'real' studio? E.g. If a professional engineer were to spend a huge amount of money on putting together a great studio in his bedroom that rivals the quality of any industry studio, is it still a home studio?
The term 'Home studio' isn't as straightforward as it seems. On the one hand, you have people like me for whom this is a hobby and I'll record anywhere in the house, for differing reasons at different times. So the term 'studio' for me is a kind of nebulous one. It possibly more refers to the recording equipment than any physical space. I suspect I'm way in the minority there though. On the other hand, you have hobbyists that have a dedicated room that's their studio. Then there are those that have dedicated spaces at home but for whom this is their living.
I still initially think of a particular kind of room when I think 'studio', but that's just habit. A producer once told me "
A studio is just a room" and because of the kind of music he dealt in, I guess what was in the room to capture the sound was what counted. I'm a bit like that. But I also can see that there's more to it than that. But regardless of the equipment installed, a home studio is a studio that's in someone's home.
2. Do you think industry recording studios are beginning to suffer financially as it becomes more common to make music in the comfort of your own home?
I've got no idea. However, I would not be surprized.
Having said that, only a certain number of people could use industry studios yesteryear . Many of the people with home studios today may be people that 20 years ago wouldn't have seen the inside of a studio anyway. So it's hard to say.
3. How accessible is the knowledge and equipment required for success within a home studio? (And how do you define success?)
In 2010, both the knowledge and equipment are accessible. I wouldn't use words like success but I would say that good to great recordings are possible that are on a par with pro studios and that it's more than possible to find equipment to help achieve that. With the plethora of websites and books that are now around, the situation of near silence on the matter that existed 30 or so years back can never again return unless the world ends next wednesday or we run out of electricity by monday week.
4. In the modern day, how far can the quality of a recording be taken within a home environment?
Having listened to some of the music recorded by people in their studios at home here on HR.com, the recording quality can not only be taken to the nth degree, it often is. It's like the pro scene - not everything recorded in professional studios over the last 60 years has been good quality. Some engineers and producers have a greater aptitude for it than others. And the home scene is bound to have that too.
5. Is it really as easy as many people seem to think?
I'd like to know exactly which people think it
is easy. Are these people with recording experience ? Or people that think you just press 'play' and 'record' and that's it, rather like some think being a footballer or darts player or politician or parent is 'easy' ? No, it's not easy. There is a learning curve and alot of practice and frustration along the way. But it's fulfilling and often fun.
Some people do find it easy but even for those that don't, you get to point where effective practices become almost automatic or at least one's choices are pretty easilly made. It's not suicidally difficult, either.
6. "The capabilites of a home studio vary greatly across different genres"
Do you agree? If so, why is this?
Actually, I don't agree with this. I think the capabilities of the home studio vary depending on the person(s) that has the studio.
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The following questions only apply if you have experience recording at home.
7. What is your experience?
Well, I've been recording since 1992, I've put together with friends 10 albums with a further 14 or so on the way. Of the first five, I consider some of them to be unlistenable and I'm no perfectionist by any stretch of the imagination. But I enjoy all the stages and can turn my hand to them, rather like I used to do with photography.
8. How much money have you invested, and where has the focus of your money been? Have you used software illegally? (if it's appropriate to ask that here...)
I have no idea how much money has gone into this hobby of mine but being a cheapskate, I can tell you it ain't much ! The focus has been instruments, recording and production stuff and bits of software (in the main, virtual instruments). Back in '92 I spent £1000 near enough on the 8 track portastudio that I learned most of this craft on. I spent £350 on a Hammond organ, £200 on a Fender Rhodes electric piano, I have a massive gong-like cymbal that was £85 second hand and my electric guitar and bass each cost between £100-£120. I've had loads of effects pedals and modules, percussion, an upright piano, an electric drumkit, you know, various bits and pieces that just make up a boring list when you go back 20-30 years. But the cost picture is also somewhat deceptive. My two electro acoustics (one 6, one 12 string) were both bought for me as have other items, and I used to get lots of stuff at this instrument exchange that had a chain of book, record, game and clothes shops and you could sell stuff there. If you accepted money, you wouldn't get much, but if you accepted exchange vouchers that you could only spend in their shops, you'd make twice the amount. So if you sold £50 worth of books, you could walk off with that in cash or take £100 in vouchers. That's how I got the £85 cymbal and the cello, for instance. So in effect, with selling and swapping I acquired instruments and equipment that cost alot for nothing. So the investment picture isn't as straightforward as saying "Oh, I've sunk £50,000 into this". When you're not a rich person in this game, a little wheeler dealing is of the essence !
But certain things are much cheaper now than when I first started.
As for illegal software, only once.
But this was back when I was computer illiterate
and I really didn't know, especially as I bought the stuff on e-bay. Actually, it wasn't till about 4 years later that I found out, when our computer crashed and I tried to load the thing onto my new laptop. I tried to locate the guy I'd bought it from for the answer to the challenge code and he'd obviously disappeared. I wrote to the company that made the software (Spectrasonics) and explained my lot, but they said there was nothing they could do without locating the original seller. The irony was that I thought the software was crap anyway. I only tried to reload it because I didn't want to chuck it away. Which I had to in the end !! But I don't go for pirate stuff. A few people have offered or asked but my reply is "Nay, Amos".
9. What convinced you to begin putting together a home studio - how did it start?
It sort of just happened. Back in the early 80s when I was learning how to play bass, I used to record jams with my neighbour who played guitar and my friend that played drums. So early on I was looking at ways to facilitate recording. Then in 1990, I picked up a clavinet and some percussion stuff, mics and a hernia inducing bass amp cheap from a shop that was closing down and started jamming in earnest with my drummer friend and recording them. I came by some money the following year and bought a double bass and because there was lots of cash left over, on a whim I bought a 4 track cassette portastudio, a Fostex X-15. I hadn't actually been thinking about seriously recording, it was, I suppose, just a head dream and I didn't get around to using the X-15 for over a year, in which time I acquired a drumkit, a mandolin and had access to an electric guitar. My mate and I started recording the songs we'd written but the X-15 was too limiting so I decided to buy an 8 track and it kind of rolled on from there. It was largely unconscious, just one of a few interests I had at the time, like photography.
10. How would you rate the quality of your work? How could it be improved? (Please link to examples if convinient - details on equipment etc. are appreciated)
In all honesty, songwise, pretty good, if somewhat off the wall at times. In terms of actual recording and mixing, not good. Most of my stuff has been done on a Tascam 488 8 track cassette portastudio and more recently on
an Akai DPS 12i, mixing down via a Sony stereo amp. I don't think equipment has been the issue, just my ability. If I had been doing this every day for the last 20 years, it might well be a different story but I've always done this in the context of other things make up my life........In terms of improvement, that's why I came on board at HR.com. Ideas weren't the issue, but the technical aspect. It's been challenging but I've been learning and applying where I feel the need. Time will tell, I guess.
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If you know of any music made in a home studio which you believe proves that home studios can rival industry studios, a link or info would be very helpful.
Just check out stuff by Supercreep's band, Little Purple Circles or RAMI's stuff. Anywhere here on HR that carries posts by them will have links to their music pages. There are others but they'll do you for starters.
The equipment is all out there, readily accessible
