hottsauce_21 said:
COULD i get equipment for under $4,000 to make my music sound as good as 50's. I don't need equipment for beats or anything. Just what i would NEED. So what do I need??????
Sure, you could even do it for a lot less than $4K. Here's what you'll need:
I. Attitude
First and foremost, you will need a perfectionist's attitude, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the best possible sound. You'll need to be humble and realistic. You'll need to understand that the process of "just figuring out the rest," as you put it, could involve several years of trial and error as well as diligent study of your craft.
The "sounds good enough" attitude probably won't cut it. Being a perfectionist about how you go about every detail of your work, and being serious (even to the point of obsessive) about audio will get you there much more reliably.
II. Gear
But in terms of gear, yea, you'll need a decent mic for starters. Good news is there's a lot of decent ones out there for reasonable prices. The bad news is that it's very difficult to know which one is going to be right for you. The sound quality of any one mic can and will vary greatly depending on the source; in other words, what sounds stupendous on my voice might sound like ass on yours.
II a) the Mic
Again, the good news is if you're one of the lucky ones, you might even be thrilled with the sound of your voice on a $60 Shure SM-57. Very likely, though, you'll want to test some more expensive waters, but it isn't at all unreasonable to get a very high end sound out of a $500 or less mic. Some candidates include the Shure SM7 (around $300 or so), Rode NTK ($500), or even the Audio Technica 4033 ($200) or Studio Projects C1 ($200).
Just don't ask us which one, because only you can know the answer after auditioning it on your voice. Once you get that squared away, it's going to be equally as important to figure how best to position the mic; how far away you should stand from it, how it should be angled, etc. This you can only learn from trial and error.
II b) Processors and medium:
Then you'll need a good mic pre, compressor, EQ, and a good recording medium with decent A/D conversion (this might consist of a high-end sound card, a standalone recorder, or something of that nature).
If you decide to got the computer route, then you'll need the requisite processor size, speed, etc. as well as memory/storage, etc. From there, a good sound card like a Lynx One can definitely get you there in terms of sound quality and A/D conversion. I'm not as confident about many other cards, but I have a hunch the Lynx, in particular, can deliver the goods. Those can be found used for around $300 on ebay so now's a great time to grab one up. And you'll be indebted to me eternally for that tip, so I accept paypal, for future reference.
From there, you're going to need software to handle the tracking, the mixing, etc. There's a million different programs out there, and they all do basically the same thing, but they just arrive there differently. This is also a very subjective thing, as only you know what kinds of programs you will feel comfortable using and what comes intuitive to you. That said, something like CoolEdit Pro can be had for $300, I believe. N-Tracks (
www.fasoft.com) can be had for even less (I think it was less than a hundred last I checked). So again, you'll notice it isn't necessary to shell out megabucks if you're willing to learn and work with what's available for less.
As far as mic pres go, it's quite possible to get a high end sound using something along the lines of a Grace Design (single channel), or an RNP (dual channel) . . . both sell for around $500-600.
Similarly, you can get get a pretty high-endish channel of compression with an RNC for less than $200. Again, that comes with the caveat:
if you know how to use it properly, which can take a lot of practice and experimentation. To put it in perspective, I've been using compressors for about 15 years, and I'm still not getting the best possible sound out of them as I could.
To even further confuse matters, you also have the option of using software that will accomplish the same things. There are plugins that handle EQ as well as compression, and many other things that are otherwise handled by outboard processors. Which method is right will depend completely on your budget, as well as what you feel comfortable using -- what allows you to get the best sound given your personal aptitudes.
Sensors/Feelers versus Visuals:
Some people tend to be more sensing/feeling, and might have a real magic touch with outboard gear . . . being able to sense, with their hands and ears, the "sweetspots" in order to dial in the perfect settings and what not. Others like myself tend to be more visually oriendted, and thus might find the visual/graphical element of the computer interface more intuitive. That's why you may find a lot of Graphic designers making a relatively smooth transition from Quark Express to Pro Tools, for example.
Either way, what I am getting at is that there is no "best" way -- you might be able to get incredible results using the computer for everything, or you might find the whole process frustrating and useless, and thus find yourself filling rack upon rack of outboard gear and going that route instead. Most will find a happy medium using a combination of both.
Translate this:
Finally, you'll NEED to have something good to monitor with. This is a very tricky area, because there is a lot of factors that go in to monitoring. You don't necessarily have to have the highest-end monitors on the planet, but you do need to learn their sound and understand how they will translate on other systems.
This is going to require a solid knowlege of sound principles; how sound is formed, how it develops, how sound waves behave, and how they interact in various accoustic spaces. Unfortunately, I'm afraid this could be an area that could take years to develop an ear for.
Otherwise, it is highly likely that you will find yourself listening to a mix on your system that, to you, sounds brilliant right there . . . only to find that it sounds woefully inadequate on other playback systems -- i.e. your friend's stereo, your car, etc. So then it's back to the drawing board to determine why your mixes aren't translating. It's a very common thing that we all go through at first . . . and still go through to varying degrees even much later in the game. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit.
Anyhow, to cut to the chase, you will need both a decent set of monitors and something to amplify it with, which could very well set you back $1K or so . . . perhaps less depending on the type of music you're mixing, how "ahead of the game" your ears are, and how well your mixes are translating. I'm not going to say that it couldn't be done on $300 monitors, because it could . . . but the "your mileage may vary" adage will indefinitely come in to play here (and you'll hear that expression used around these parts from time to time), and you may find yourself "buying twice" if you "buy cheap."
You'll hear that one now and then, also.
Part III: Accoustics
Last but not least, you will need to have a good accoustic space with which to record AND to monitor in. This again requires not only a working knowlege on what constitutes a good accoustic space, but also what makes it good, as well as how it can be made better.
Truth is this area is a wildcard. You could be one of the very lucky ones who, from some odd twist of fate, just so happens to have one of these abnormally-designed living spaces that just so happens to be totally congruent to the transmission, diffusion, and absorption of sound. I know this sounds strange, but I've met a few people who have been blessed with this kind of luck.
Like a friend of a friend whom I happened to visit, and I noticed they lived in an A-frame house with big bay windows on all sides, hardwood floors, ceilings at least 20 feet high and absolutely no paralel surfaces anywhere in site. The place was even circular in it's design, almost. It made me want to puke.
Seriously.
Now that I've got your hopes up, I'm going to have to bring you back down to reality and tell you the truth, which is that your place probably doesn't sound good. In fact, in all likelihood, it will sound like ass, and it will require some time and effort to get it treated. What you will need here is some combination of absorption and/or diffusion . . . and no one can tell you exactly what kind or how much because every place is different depending on it's size and design. Again, this is where your knowlege of sound and accoustics will come in to play.
As much as you would like it to be, it just isn't going to be as simple as putting foam on the wall.
And the more you learn about accoustics, the more you will understand why.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, this has given you some basic info on what you're going to need and hopefully you've found at least some of it valuable and/or enlightening. I'm not trying to encourage or discourage you one way or the other. I'm just trying to give you something resembling a straight answer, as I can sense the frustration you must feel when you get the kinds of answers you've been getting.
This is directed, by the way, towards a ton of people who are in your shoes that I've seen wandering around these parts over the past couple of years asking basically the exact same question as you and getting the same answers -- and you all know who you are.
Best of luck!
