Help me produce my band's album!!!! YAY!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter jrhager84
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calm down.. there were only 2 comments about something really retarded someone said.. no one's jacking your thread! at least not trying to..

I think you've got lots of great advice... the only thing left to do is try some recording! and make sure to let us take a listen :)

This board is seriously a godsend so ask lots of questions and participate in the threads... people aren't afraid to call you on your bs and tell you straight up that you're wrong.. I've learnt alot from that type of honesty.
 
chessrock said:
I really dig the attitude. I really do.

Five years from now, when the album is finally near completition ... that tenacity and "whatever it takes" attitude will have served you really well. :D




Just kidding. Kind of. Good luck, and have fun.


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It only took me 6 months to make my first album, even though I was a beginner. It would never take someone 5 years to get to a point where they could make something sellable, unless they were REALLY in the wrong line of work, or just one of those know-it-all types who never really learn everything (they allready know it...RIGHT?)

I would HOPE you are kidding dude. Anybody with a reasonable ammount of talent and a good ear could easily reach something sellable, even if it's on the low-fi side (low-fi is STILL sellable, as long as it can serve the song properly) fairly early on. It's quite a bit easier with DAWs, in my oppinion, to get things to sound very nice, with less knowledge. Analog is a bit of a different story in a sense.
 
Reggie said:
Wow, a bonafide prodoosuh is on the case now. :rolleyes:

Anyway jr, I think you are a very good candidate for getting into the home recording muckity muck. It sounds like you are very into critical listening, which is a big part of it all. But you are kidding yourself if you are doing this because 1) you think you can do this efficiently/quickly, 2) you think you can do this cheaply, or 3) you think you will be benefitting your music/band by doing this yourself.

Reasons for the numbered items:
1) There is a huge learning curve to studio recording; even just for the basics.
2) Your recording obsession will become a black hole money pit and you will end up spending more than it would have cost to record at a pretty nice studio. "Ah, of course! All I need to do is buy xPreamp, and my drums would probably sound more like xBand..."
3) Rather than spending time rehearsing/gigging with your band, you will need to stay home and work on mixing or trying to figure out what that noise is on the bass track or try to figure out why your mix sounds like soft mush compared to xBand, etc. Eventually you will lose interest in performing music anyway, and just devote your extra time to recording other bands. Or your bandmates decide they need to replace you with someone who actually has time to rehearse/gig and take the band thing seriously.

So yes, I paint a bit of a dark picture, but it is really all about perspective. Maybe you would be happier in the end just doing the studio stuff anyhow...or maybe you will defy all odds and turn into an ultra-producing-songwriting-mixing-performing-golden eared-megawonder! Good luck
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yeah that's about right, but you surely could gig and rehearse with your band. I gig constantly, and to be honest playing live music is just as fucking awesome as it always was. It's a trip to do some tracks in my spare bedroom home studio, and then perform those tracks to a crowd who loves it. There are lots of folks who go the way you mentioned, but not everyone feels the same way. It's more of a game of time management. Rehearsal takes what, maybe a couple to three hours at one time? I know quite a few successful touring musicians that make a great living behind the mixing console. But yeah, it's a lot less of the "party party" lifestyle than it would be had you let someone else take care of that end. While the rest of the band is out living it up, you might often find yourself sitting in your home studio getting stuff ready for albums (or live shows in my case..we do industrial). But, it takes a certain breed to want to do so much work when in the long run it could be cheaper to just go to a studio. I guess if one wants it done right, they might want to do it themselves? :D I'd go almost insane letting someone else take care of that end of things on one of my projects...eek! I guess there are all kinds of bands, in it for all kinds of reasons. You just have to be in a band that has a similar focus as you, who appreciates the hard work you put in (and the lack of their wallets emptying) If I got some bullshit like that from a band I was in, I'd mail them all a bill for my time and skills.
 
Thanks for all the good feedback. What I think I'm going to do is this:

I'm talking to the guy at Osmosis Recording. He has a really nice acoustic space to track in. I'm probably going to track over there (he has 421's and royer ribbon mics and such:D) and then mix over here (with him giving me input). He said he has no problem giving me the rough tracks and helpin' me mix them (for a fee of course). I figured if I can't get a good mix out of it, I'll just have him finish it up. Hell, he'll still have the files to work with! Sound good guys???
 
Yeah it's an option

just track the drums there for a time saving I have to tell you this whole Room accustics thing is overblown i love old shitty myths from old shitty people.

80% of the sound is the source, mic and placement now if you want a nice room sound you can get a nice basic room sound and work with it with compression and such.

Track the Beats there, if you don't have the know how to do the rest at home do it there also i guess.

but if as many people help you as they said they would then your fine.

if you really are a Gun Drummer i mean a Gun drummer i can't wait to hear the songs.
i just can't overemphasize the beat being right. In all aspects tone, dynamics, energy and placement.

Thanks for the comments guys I love how music is objective, don’t you?
it allows me to say such things on a forum like this and get a laugh from the responses myself, I believe it by the way and will say it again, I hear a some songs that are as good or better than my own (especially my new work) in terms of song writing….but not many. But that’s just to me so…. Ha ha .

tell me they aren’t.
it's the spitting paint analogy. and my point is made.
 
Has anyone

ever wondered what the psychology of the whole "analogue" renaissance is dedicated to or results from.

you know there are websites with pages dedicated to it everyone wants to get an analogue sound.

interesting isn't it and even further some people hone and work through every part of their sound and most people want to listen to something with the dynamic range of an LP vinyl with the scratchy needle.

it's a wide an complicated situation but basically it comes down to the fact that Audio art has in economic terms been corporat-ised it has been stamped to genre then copied…

now that's a generalization but it is also a fact, the older times were the times of companies and business not the all encompassing corporation.

businesses were full of people that really loved music and melodies theses businesses turn into the corporations that really love an idea or image that will make them more money.

This all gets represented in a nostalgia from the consumer, they know something is wrong and different but they are not sure what it is, they just know the older music sounds better. And different.

and as we know markets follow consumers so this has turned into the "analogue" renaissance were we think that if we use the same “means of production” from the earlier times but still keep to that genre the corporation wants we can win back theses lost souls.

And the rolling stones will be reborn or Cream again but this time corporate profits will surge instead of what is actually happening to them.

But alas it’s all for nothing as you well know you can own that fender Strat that the stones used or whatever but where are the idea’s.

my answer go raid your grandmothers prescription drug cabinet and 750mls of vodka.

i want to hear that type of music. You will never get signed but hey.

And people are making it, but the transition back to more equal time is a slow one those corporate monopolies just don’t want to die.


wow i really should do like seminars or something ha ha ha.:rolleyes:
anyone convinced?

yeah i have raided that cab just to kill the joke opportunity ha ha.
 
theblackBay said:
And the rolling stones will be reborn or Cream again
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But then Eric Clapton left Cream to return to a more 'roots' style of music.

And I just heard a Jeff Tweedy tune where he displayed a shocking lack of awareness of Adam Duritz's fourteen-year superior claim to Dylan's legacy :rolleyes: Not that Dylan wants it himself.

Anyway . . . what was your point :confused:
 
theblackBay said:
just track the drums there for a time saving I have to tell you this whole Room accustics thing is overblown i love old shitty myths from old shitty people.

80% of the sound is the source, mic and placement now if you want a nice room sound you can get a nice basic room sound and work with it with compression and such.

Track the Beats there, if you don't have the know how to do the rest at home do it there also i guess.

but if as many people help you as they said they would then your fine.

if you really are a Gun Drummer i mean a Gun drummer i can't wait to hear the songs.
i just can't overemphasize the beat being right. In all aspects tone, dynamics, energy and placement.

Thanks for the comments guys I love how music is objective, don’t you?
it allows me to say such things on a forum like this and get a laugh from the responses myself, I believe it by the way and will say it again, I hear a some songs that are as good or better than my own (especially my new work) in terms of song writing….but not many. But that’s just to me so…. Ha ha .

tell me they aren’t.
it's the spitting paint analogy. and my point is made.
Click to expand...


The fact that you realize that music is object makes your statement about being one of the worlds best songwriters completely rediculous (even more so) then it was at the start. Still I'd love to here some of your stuff to see if you have any talent to back up your claims.

you're right that mic placement and the source are super important (probably the most important ) in the recording process. But i think you're seriously misjudging how important the room acoustics really are. I've moved my studio a few times and i've definately noticed that recording the same instrument.. with the same mic.. in the same position yeild drastically different results depending what space i was recording in.


I don't mean to pick on you.. but every post i've read that you've posted in set my bs detectors way off..
 
mshilarious said:
Anyway . . . what was your point :confused:
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I believe his point is... music has no balls...no soul...no NOTHING anymore, because everyone has their eyes on "the record deal", instead of making good music. Record deals are overrated, and will only fuck you over when it comes to your artistic visions 9 times out of 10.

Everyone wants to play it safe.. pussy rock...white boy "blues" rock bands filled with near pensioners playing in only the finest pussy rock sports bars over on the "good side of town". Nobody wants to write music that will dare offend anyone, or present any new ideas that aren't pre-thought out, pre-tested, safe and all warm and gooey.

Then there's fake jazz, played by music school snobs, who understand music less than the average drunken beggar asking you for change. But fuck, they can sight read the most complicated sheet music, and can play 4096th note triplets up and down every happy major scale, without any real soul to it. Most modern music started as rebellion, full of soul, full of reality and truth, and it scared the shit out of all the status quo, until the status quo took that form of music and destroyed it in the name of profits, and turned it into watered down, meaningless jingles for people who don't really give two shits about music in the first place to listen to for the fashion of it.

It goes beyond rock, pretty much any modern music has been destroyed and turned into something for people with no interest in music, beyond the fashion of music. Yes, I mean underground music as well, which is almost worse in it's destruction of it's-self. Endless snobby scenster fucks who go to their indie rock shows and try to out nerd each other, and see who can hunch over like a picked on school boy more (even though they're in a bar, drinking their minds away...so they couldn't possibly be school children) than the guy with the square glasses next to him.

We get this false nostalgia, because we're holding on to the last music that was made with any amount of purpose or origionality, or even creativity for that matter. We think...I liked the Beatles, so I should use the same recording techniques and ideas endlessly, just like every other person on the planet, so my music will be good like their's. Vintage gear can be cool: There are some really nice older pieces of gear, but most of it is just a noisebox that will only make you the life of the party, as you brag about it at the AES cruise, almost like some nerd at the star trek convention who bought a pair of cap'n kirks monogramed thong underware.

People are desperate for music that is meaningful again, yet they refuse to make it. They refuse to buck the traditions, and the conventions of the music industry. They are too afraid of not getting signed, not being liked by their friends, not getting fans, or having to play on the bad side of town, where all the junkies hang out. Guess what, that's what made that music so great in the first place that you all love. People did whatever the fuck they wanted even if it was the weirdest shit you could imagine being done. It's all revered now, but it was often hated and misunderstood when it was new. It's gotten so bad that you can pretty much name any band or artist out there that is new, and you can describe them, not by their music but by which band they try to sound exactly like.
 
TerraMortim said:
I believe his point is... music has no balls...no soul...no NOTHING anymore, because everyone has their eyes on "the record deal", instead of making good music. Record deals are overrated, and will only fuck you over when it comes to your artistic visions 9 times out of 10.

Everyone wants to play it safe.. pussy rock...white boy "blues" rock bands filled with near pensioners playing in only the finest pussy rock sports bars over on the "good side of town". Nobody wants to write music that will dare offend anyone, or present any new ideas that aren't pre-thought out, pre-tested, safe and all warm and gooey.

Then there's fake jazz, played by music school snobs, who understand music less than the average drunken beggar asking you for change. But fuck, they can sight read the most complicated sheet music, and can play 4096th note triplets up and down every happy major scale, without any real soul to it. Most modern music started as rebellion, full of soul, full of reality and truth, and it scared the shit out of all the status quo, until the status quo took that form of music and destroyed it in the name of profits, and turned it into watered down, meaningless jingles for people who don't really give two shits about music in the first place to listen to for the fashion of it.

It goes beyond rock, pretty much any modern music has been destroyed and turned into something for people with no interest in music, beyond the fashion of music. Yes, I mean underground music as well, which is almost worse in it's destruction of it's-self. Endless snobby scenster fucks who go to their indie rock shows and try to out nerd each other, and see who can hunch over like a picked on school boy more (even though they're in a bar, drinking their minds away...so they couldn't possibly be school children) than the guy with the square glasses next to him.

We get this false nostalgia, because we're holding on to the last music that was made with any amount of purpose or origionality, or even creativity for that matter. We think...I liked the Beatles, so I should use the same recording techniques and ideas endlessly, just like every other person on the planet, so my music will be good like their's. Vintage gear can be cool: There are some really nice older pieces of gear, but most of it is just a noisebox that will only make you the life of the party, as you brag about it at the AES cruise, almost like some nerd at the star trek convention who bought a pair of cap'n kirks monogramed thong underware.

People are desperate for music that is meaningful again, yet they refuse to make it. They refuse to buck the traditions, and the conventions of the music industry. They are too afraid of not getting signed, not being liked by their friends, not getting fans, or having to play on the bad side of town, where all the junkies hang out. Guess what, that's what made that music so great in the first place that you all love. People did whatever the fuck they wanted even if it was the weirdest shit you could imagine being done. It's all revered now, but it was often hated and misunderstood when it was new. It's gotten so bad that you can pretty much name any band or artist out there that is new, and you can describe them, not by their music but by which band they try to sound exactly like.
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AMEN TO THAT!!!

it's so true..

I can only think of a handfull of bands that I truely believe are doing something that is actually interesting..

i'm not 100% sure how related to this topic this is but it's true and a good statement nevertheless.

I've played in a few bands... I've done a few tours.. and every show is packed with replica bands.. If i didn't love playing and writing so much I would have quit a long time ago.. it's frustrating and sad when you play with the same bands every show.. but with different member and from different cities.. almost makes most shows completely grueling.. but you have to bite your lip.. stick around.. because no one wants to be that pretencious asshole band that doesn't talk to anyone and bad mouths and makes fun of other bands... I guess not everyone can be super creative and come up with something new.. but your right.. most are after the deal.. I'd rather write music that will have some sort of longevity to it.. something timeless.. have i achieved that yet... hells no.. but that's what i'd want to strive for.. but for every 100 shit bands every now and then you meet up with 1 band that are in it for the right reasons.. playing amazing music.. that's when you realize that there ARE likeminded musicians out there..
 
Maybe that's why we don't have a cult following here in ID! We represent music, and there will be no cutting of the wrists, nor blackening of the eyes here! It's funny to see shitty bands that play "cookie-cutter" songs get packed crowds...it's almost depressing. We are actually OPPOSED to record deals at this point. Vision is what carries bands...Unified vision, and I'm not about ready to give that up.

Listen to my band's recordings and let me know if you think we should stop doing music altogether...

www.myspace.com/ambientband

*flamesuit zipped*;)
 
the folks at the AES cruise? Not a chance. They are the type of people who have $20,000 blow up dolls with vibrating pussies...

if your on about myself. I'm actually married, dude. haha
 
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yeah, it's hard to be the band that doesn't give in..but it surely is a hell of a lot of fun...and the fans you do get are actually FANS instead of a bunch of losers going to see a band to show off their latest emo sweater, or punk patch. (ahh what have they done to punk?!?!) There is a huge relief to just not giving a shit about anything like getting signed (which is starting to become more and more obsolete all the time, anyway), or falling in line with the "industry". I'd hate to be in a band that had those types of goals. The hillarious thing is, all the bands that have those goals have such a little chance of achieving them anyway.

I find, even with bands of the same "industrial" stylings, even ones that sound more underground than TM, there's so much of the falseness. I was laughing the other day, because I was setting up a show, and there's another industrial band in town that has been asking for a long time for a show with us. The show is going to be at a pretty decent club, great sound, great stage, nice staff, good lighting system, but in a very bad area in town (lots of homeless junkies and hookers everywhere). They about shat themselves with fear... oh no we can't play there, it's too scary down there. psshhh hahaha. The area isn't really that dangerous if you have any bit of street smarts, cause most people are so stoned they can hardly even stand up, let alone attack anyone, and the club is very clean, the owner doesn't let any of the locals in (most of them are too broke to afford the cover charge in the first place). I love playing places like that, because you don't have to deal with the kind of dickheads who normally run the "popular" clubs, and I find that the crowds are way better too. Every time I play at places in the "happening" side of town, it ends up kind of sucking because people have bad attitudes, and everyone attending thinks they're too cool to have a good time. I tell you, I've been screwed over more times than I can count from those types of clubs... but always have been taken care of by the "sleazy" punk rockish venues. haha.

checked out your myspace. I like step into the sound. =D Just keep going with it. Stick with your vision and eventually your fan base will build up. It takes longer, but it's more long lasting than the flash in the pan, get signed quick bands.
 
jrhager84 said:
Maybe that's why we don't have a cult following here in ID! We represent music, and there will be no cutting of the wrists, nor blackening of the eyes here! It's funny to see shitty bands that play "cookie-cutter" songs get packed crowds...it's almost depressing. We are actually OPPOSED to record deals at this point. Vision is what carries bands...Unified vision, and I'm not about ready to give that up.

Listen to my band's recordings and let me know if you think we should stop doing music altogether...

www.myspace.com/ambientband

*flamesuit zipped*;)
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Interesting stuff...I'm generally a fan of harder rock, but would check this out. Let me know when you guys are playing locally, and I would like to come hear if I can.
 
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