Noobs and equipment

[fritsthegirl]

Starts rant....

Is it just me, or have there been more than the usual amount of questions/problems in the last couple of weeks about buying and not being able to work expensive microphones, software, interfaces, preamps...?

I don't get how people can have so much difficulty with the stuff they buy. I purposefully stop myself from buying anything that might further complicate my already over-heated brain. I flat line when something technical doesn't work, I have to keep it REAL simple.

I learned so much using the most basic & shit gear I had at the start though. That was Audacity, an acoustic guitar and a £10 headphone mic. I soon discovered that was really bad. But in the process of recording with it, I learned why what I had would never give me the results I wanted. It wasn't the guitar, and not even the software. That came a bit later...

I reckon some noobs really over-think things before just recording with what they've got. That really gives you the best indication of what the missing pieces are.

I keep reading about starters that have bought expensive stuff they're unhappy with or don't know how to work. Worse yet, thinking about buying expensive kit they don't really understand the function of.

I wonder if it's because people think that by spending money they'll be sorted to make awesome recordings. But without a purpose, no amount of money you throw at it will really make sense. That's in my view and very limited experience anyway. I guess people just like to buy shit. Stop it I say. Get a headphone mic & record something with free software. You'll soon figure out what to plug in where and what you should be spending your moola on to make it better.

...end of rant.

Quite keen to hear what you guys started out with on your home recording journey. Think it's good for us freshies to hear that other people started out with the basics before they got into what they have now. I just think the fun of home recording is making do with what you have. It's the fact that I know people on here aren't necessarily using state of the art equipment that makes what I listen to all the more enjoyable and impressive.

 

[Armistice]

Frits! How have you been?

I probably spent far more than I needed to, stumbling along like a typical noob buying stuff that I thought would help... and it took me a long time to work out that, really, it wasn't making that much difference...

I think to some extent it depends upon how your brain works. I'm an autodidact, so I like nutting stuff out on my own, and when I started, it was cassette players and DIing everything. LOL, I made two entire (instrumental acoustic guitar based) albums before I bought a microphone. What was I thinking?

In my defence, when I started, there wasn't nearly as much concisely detailed information around as there is now... this place is a treasure trove if you dig, now.

I also think one of the best skills you can learn is to ask the right question and I think that's where a lot of noobs go astray, and why I'm always asking them for more information, rather than just going, "Yeah, you need X interface and Y microphone"... comes of working as software support for a while.

My $0.02...

Now go get another song up in the clinic, frits... it's been weeks and weeks, unless I've missed something. I thought you'd given up. And listen to mine that's there now... poor thing needs some love... C ya...

 

[JimmyS1969]

I think it may come down to whether or not people have the ability to listen.

I don't claim to be anything special by any means, but my first recording was done on a 4trk tape machine (24 years ago) with crappy mics in a corrugated aluminum walled storage unit. There are still great aspects of that recording that I have not been able to duplicate since. Over the years I have had the opportunity to learn huge amounts of knowledge and experience.

I think it has more to do with the low cost of startup gear these days. People just assume that since the ad for the products say 'Professional Sound', they think that is all that is needed.

Hell, I have been playing for 34 years and recording for 24 years, and I still don't know what I am doing... Well, maybe a little.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Welcome to 2013, Fritz.
This is a time where technology is accessible so all you need is the correct shopping list and you can make a hit record.
It's also a time where everything's handed to you, so you don't even come up with the shopping list yourself!

You haven't been showing initiative, have you?? tsk tsk.

I did the same thing as you. I didn't even buy equipment to record; I started recording with the tat that I had lying around the house.
Outgrow it-upgrade it-outgrow it-upgrade it.
Seems to work.

 

[Massive Master]

Is it just me, or have there been more than the usual amount of questions/problems in the last couple of weeks about buying and not being able to work expensive microphones, software, interfaces, preamps...?

The week after Christmas is normally reserved for such things.

FTR, started out on a 2-track reel-to-reel with independent tracks. Record one track, bounce to the other while recording another, bounce to the other while adding again, etc., etc. Added a cassette deck at one point just to be able to work in stereo. Then a 4-track cassette unit (that was like a miracle).

I think it may come down to whether or not people have the ability to listen.

(SNIP)

I think it has more to do with the low cost of startup gear these days. People just assume that since the ad for the products say 'Professional Sound', they think that is all that is needed.

Ain't no doubt on all that. When everything was SO finite, you didn't have any choice but to painstakingly work on core sounds, preproduction, etc. Every penny went into what was little more than "rehearsing for the REAL studio" and you were thrilled when you could hear your "base layer" through the hiss after recording the rest of the song.

Now, people spend $200 on some cheesy mic and complain that their recordings don't sound like they were done at Sound City...

Meh...

 

[fritsthegirl]

Frits! How have you been?

I probably spent far more than I needed to, stumbling along like a typical noob buying stuff that I thought would help... and it took me a long time to work out that, really, it wasn't making that much difference...

I think to some extent it depends upon how your brain works. I'm an autodidact, so I like nutting stuff out on my own, and when I started, it was cassette players and DIing everything. LOL, I made two entire (instrumental acoustic guitar based) albums before I bought a microphone. What was I thinking?

In my defence, when I started, there wasn't nearly as much concisely detailed information around as there is now... this place is a treasure trove if you dig, now.

I also think one of the best skills you can learn is to ask the right question and I think that's where a lot of noobs go astray, and why I'm always asking them for more information, rather than just going, "Yeah, you need X interface and Y microphone"... comes of working as software support for a while.

My $0.02...

Now go get another song up in the clinic, frits... it's been weeks and weeks, unless I've missed something. I thought you'd given up. And listen to mine that's there now... poor thing needs some love... C ya...

Been great, holidays and that. True about information being readily available these days. I read so much online. For sure my learning would have been a lot slower without this place and the WWW. Definitely not dissing the help you can get online.

When it comes to technology and equipment, I'm often too lazy to even ask for help. It has to work after an hour of me working on it, or it's labelled 'a piece of shit' and I basically don't want anything to do with it. Not really, even with my guitar, not that it's really gear as such, but I didn't give up on that, even though it didn't seem to 'work' for about 1000 hours.

It has been a while since I posted a tune, but I'm working on one right now. And BTW your tune was awesome.

 

[RAMI]

D'OH!

I wanted to edit my post and I somehow deleted the whole thing.

I don't even know how I managed that.


No big woop....I was just rambling.

 

[DM60]

Not to sound like an old, bitter geezer (because I'm neither old or bitter), but I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that there is a whole generation growing up and being told that there's an APP for everything. The concept of actually learning, reading, experimenting, taking advice, being humble enough to realize that advice is to be taken rather than snickered at is foreign to a lot of people now.

It's also the way things are marketed too. Things are sold under the lie that they WILL make you sound like a pro. The fact that these companies do market research and know that if they have {Insert this week's big name in rap music} endorsing a product, then everyone who worships this guy will go out and buy the product.

A perfect example is the responses, or lack thereof, when you talk about something as un-sexy as room treatment. It's rare that advice like that is heeded. At best, the response is along the lines of "Yeah, I'm not quite ready for that yet, I really need to know what pre-amp will make my vocals sound great". I deliberately talk about stuff like room treatment just to see the response, knowing what it will be before I even mention it.

People consider practical advice as "old school". Surely, there must be an EASY BUTTON for everything, no?

But with the volume of people who cycle through here, if there is a 1-10 that somebody listens (1-100 isn't bad), then I think it is still positive. After all, those who want it easy won't last, those who want it, will work for it. Which, regardless of what is out there, you still have to put in the work. Craft the sound, compose the material, record the sound, etc. No matter how easy they make it, it still requires work.

The consumer generation will just have to work through it. Many will, most won't.

 

[Armistice]

Things are sold under the lie that they WILL make you sound like a pro. The fact that these companies do market research and know that if they have {Insert this week's big name in rap music} endorsing a product, then everyone who worships this guy will go out and buy the product.

LOL - "Beats by Dr Dre..."... they're headphones for chrissake... I love it when they get mentioned in the noob equipment list...

 

[fritsthegirl]

I think it may come down to whether or not people have the ability to listen.

I don't claim to be anything special by any means, but my first recording was done on a 4trk tape machine (24 years ago) with crappy mics in a corrugated aluminum walled storage unit. There are still great aspects of that recording that I have not been able to duplicate since. Over the years I have had the opportunity to learn huge amounts of knowledge and experience.

I think it has more to do with the low cost of startup gear these days. People just assume that since the ad for the products say 'Professional Sound', they think that is all that is needed.

Hell, I have been playing for 34 years and recording for 24 years, and I still don't know what I am doing... Well, maybe a little.

Yeh, low cost. I dig that most about homerecording. The accessibility and low cost makes it an option as a hobby to idiots like myself. I like delving into anything if it's cheap and I can have fun with it. That's why I like cycling too. You know, I often pull up to the lights next to some overweight douche bag on a titanium frame with all the expensive lycra in the world clinging to his balls. I've got my humble bike loaded up with 15kg of shopping. When the light go green I wonder what he'll do but it's obvious. He thinks he's going to be faster because he's got all the right gear. I let him think he's a hero and stay on his tail for a minute before I get bored and pass his sorry ass. I guess the moral of the story is, it's not what you wear or what you ride. It's how you ride it. LOL.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I did the same thing as you. I didn't even buy equipment to record; I started recording with the tat that I had lying around the house.
Outgrow it-upgrade it-outgrow it-upgrade it.
Seems to work.

Maybe it's because my parents never gave me exactly what I wanted, but always rocked up with something that was kind of (cheaper) what I wanted but not really, so meant I had to make do.

 

[fritsthegirl]

The week after Christmas is normally reserved for such things.

FTR, started out on a 2-track reel-to-reel with independent tracks. Record one track, bounce to the other while recording another, bounce to the other while adding again, etc., etc. Added a cassette deck at one point just to be able to work in stereo. Then a 4-track cassette unit (that was like a miracle).

Ain't no doubt on all that. When everything was SO finite, you didn't have any choice but to painstakingly work on core sounds, preproduction, etc. Every penny went into what was little more than "rehearsing for the REAL studio" and you were thrilled when you could hear your "base layer" through the hiss after recording the rest of the song.

Now, people spend $200 on some cheesy mic and complain that their recordings don't sound like they were done at Sound City...

Meh...

Expectations. I think they're typically a bit skewed these days, it's no wonder peeps are so often mega disappointed.

 

[Armistice]

Yeh, low cost. I dig that most about homerecording. The accessibility and low cost makes it an option as a hobby to idiots like myself. I like delving into anything if it's cheap and I can have fun with it. That's why I like cycling too. You know, I often pull up to the lights next to some overweight douche bag on a titanium frame with all the expensive lycra in the world clinging to his balls. I've got my humble bike loaded up with 15kg of shopping. When the light go green I wonder what he'll do but it's obvious. He thinks he's going to be faster because he's got all the right gear. I let him think he's a hero and stay on his tail for a minute before I get bored and pass his sorry ass. I guess the moral of the story is, it's not what you wear or what you ride. It's how you ride it. LOL.

I'm a novice bike rider too... ride to work occasionally, trips along mainly cycle paths on the weekends... and so far, apart from when my noviceness gets me into trouble, the only issues I have are not with cars, not with pedestrians, but with MAMILs* on their uber lightweight machines... and yes, a lot of them do appear to be of the portly persuasion, and regard the road as their personal training route. Not sure I can pass any of them just yet though...

Back on topic. I bought gear because I thought it was the answer and I was pig headed enough to have to smash my pig head into the wall many many times before I learn. Now I'm all evangelistic 'n' shit about that and try to stop others following the path of Satan, where I can... REPENT SINNERS!

*Middle Aged Men In Lycra..

 

[JimmyS1969]

Lmao!

 

[moresound]

Lmao!

watching you LYAO!

 

[JimmyS1969]

watching you LYAO!

Nothing more worthy of a LOL than 'Middle Aged Men In Lycra'.. And the story told by Fritz previous...

Suppose I should have quoted....

 

[dervish riff]

There used to be a group of MAMIL that met up downtown and rode en masse out past my place. I was riding a lot but wasn't trying to keep pace with them--they'd pass me all the time, lol. Somebody asked me if I rode with them, I told them,"No, I don't fit in. They spent more on their riding clothes than I spent on my bike."

Plus I knew all the local shortcuts, sometimes they'd have to pass me 2 or 3 times.

There's a lot to be said for starting small, between birthdays and Xmas, I worked up to a guitar, amp, fuzzbox and a mono reel to reel while I was in HS. From what I've read online, even this small rig would confuse some people.

 

[mjbphotos]

Everyone's said it - times is what they is, people think all they need to do is spend $1000 and they can be the next 'big thing' because all of their drunk friends at karoake night say so.

Stop ranting, get off the bike and make music!

 

[DSPDiva]

But with the volume of people who cycle through here, if there is a 1-10 that somebody listens (1-100 isn't bad), then I think it is still positive. After all, those who want it easy won't last, those who want it, will work for it. Which, regardless of what is out there, you still have to put in the work. Craft the sound, compose the material, record the sound, etc. No matter how easy they make it, it still requires work.

The consumer generation will just have to work through it. Many will, most won't.

Couldn't have put it better myself. Those who want it easy won't last. They get mad when i tell them they have to buy a $150 interface and invest in some treatment. Oh well.

i come from the opposite background. Started on an SSL, scaled back to a macbook pro and and a uad satellite. (I went to school tho, didn't buy an SSL) but my mixes and recordings are x1000000 better now than they were when I was at my peak in the audio program. I was into the "fix it in the mix" mindset until I got to the mix portion and then I realized I was screwed. Now I spend at least an hour making sure the everything is in phase and the mics are positioned as best as possible so I can start with a good rough and mixing becomes that much easier. A lot of kids don't get that for some reason. There's a reason we tell them what to do...EXPERIENCE!

 

[TheBones]

Starts rant....

Is it just me, or have there been more than the usual amount of questions/problems in the last couple of weeks about buying and not being able to work expensive microphones, software, interfaces, preamps...?

I don't get how people can have so much difficulty with the stuff they buy. I purposefully stop myself from buying anything that might further complicate my already over-heated brain. I flat line when something technical doesn't work, I have to keep it REAL simple.

I learned so much using the most basic & shit gear I had at the start though. That was Audacity, an acoustic guitar and a £10 headphone mic. I soon discovered that was really bad. But in the process of recording with it, I learned why what I had would never give me the results I wanted. It wasn't the guitar, and not even the software. That came a bit later...

I reckon some noobs really over-think things before just recording with what they've got. That really gives you the best indication of what the missing pieces are.

I keep reading about starters that have bought expensive stuff they're unhappy with or don't know how to work. Worse yet, thinking about buying expensive kit they don't really understand the function of.

I wonder if it's because people think that by spending money they'll be sorted to make awesome recordings. But without a purpose, no amount of money you throw at it will really make sense. That's in my view and very limited experience anyway. I guess people just like to buy shit. Stop it I say. Get a headphone mic & record something with free software. You'll soon figure out what to plug in where and what you should be spending your moola on to make it better.

...end of rant.

Quite keen to hear what you guys started out with on your home recording journey. Think it's good for us freshies to hear that other people started out with the basics before they got into what they have now. I just think the fun of home recording is making do with what you have. It's the fact that I know people on here aren't necessarily using state of the art equipment that makes what I listen to all the more enjoyable and impressive.

Why are you guys so worried about how any of these "newbs" spend their money. What's the difference? If you don't want to be helpful and respond to their posts then don't. It won't break their hearts to see that some jerk wad didn't lecture them about how "when i was a kid i used to walk uphill, 5 miles, in the snow both ways too and from school... you kids these days and your school buses..."
Get over yourselves. These people try to find answers to their specific questions. If it's a dumb question, ignore it.

Forums are a very valuable resource. I use them to answer a lot of the questions I have. I tend to do a search first, but you know what i find more and more of? Threads that might have a chance to answer my question but fail because some blow hard starts lecturing someone and all his buddies chime in and it gets off topic OR it's off topic to begin with and instead of deleting or moving the thread the moderators leave it up for everyone to click on and see that it was in fact "off topic".

Answer the question or don't. Don't troll the playground (newb forum?) looking for kids to beat up. I'm sure you can find a better way to spend your time.