Beginning my career as a musician, help wanted!

[DrewPeterson7]

$300? That's what my audio interface for this rig costs. Lets be real here...

...but it's also, if not entry level, at least squarely towards the lower end of the "pro-sumer" audio market. Good enough so that you should be able to get some pretty satisfactory results if you know what you're doing, but also nowhere near the ballpark of what you would find in a studio where you'd normally expect to find "commercial quality" recordings being made.

A lot of the guys posting here are right, there is absolutely no reason you couldn't make an excellent sounding album on that setup (and to be fair you're working with the same caliber gear I do), but you have to REALLY know what you're doing with it, and you're going to want to start reading up on acoustic treatment for the space you record and mix in, and gain staging before you dig much deeper.

The problem is, if all it took was a computer, a DAW, decent monitors, and a $300 audio interface to make a killer record, then this forum would be full of mixes that would make pros weep with jealousy and all the big name studios would be out of business. But, the gear is only part of the story, and not a very big one at that - go out and buy that setup, but expect to spend a year or two developing your ear, learning how to arrange, track, and mix, before you even begin to get results that you're not completely embarrassed by when you A/B them against a professional recording.

I don't want to discourage you - far from it, because I think recording is a fuck of a lot of fun and it's certainly something you CAN get great results working in your home - but what you're essentially proposing here is becoming an excellent brain surgeon by going out and buying an affordable scalpel set and a couple bottles of tylenol. I mean, yes, the tools are important, but WAY more important is knowing what to do with them.

 

[TheChikenMaster]

I'll argue that in today's market the only thing that separates the pros from the project studios are the acoustics of the live rooms and control room. These are the biggest problems engineers face in project studios.

There are those project studios that kick pro ass even with those limitations.

 

[Supercreep]

There are those project studios that kick pro ass even with those limitations.

Yeah.... but where?

 

[senidge]

Nate, first of all, welcome to the world of home recording. I've been recording, probably since i was about 15 and at that time all i had was a hifi. From that i moved to a tascam portastudio and now i use a pc (albeit an 8 year old one). With those i've managed to get passable but rough songs. Even on the PC now i can make songs but unless you have all of the experience of some of the guys on here, it's just not possible to make a commercial track. I'm sure that many people on homerecording will probably agree, that most people that follow this hobby/profession are never happy with their equipement. With me it started with the method i was using to record, then as i learned more about equipement the more i wanted new equipement. It's an endless cycle of constantly wanting to upgrade your gear to get that better sound. I only have a couple of cheap mics: a Shure pg48 and just now i've bought a Rode M3 but i still need more, better mics, a faster pc, a decent mic preamp (one is built into my mixer but i'm thinking a dedicated preamp would be better) and dont even start me on all the software i need. i'm just telling you all this so that you do not just expect to create a perfect piece of music out of the box, as it were. that said, i'm sure you're in the right place for it. The guys on here are (mostly) helpful and anything you need help with you'll most likely get an answer to.

 

[grimtraveller]

I believe that I have what it takes to make it in the music industry. I'd done hours of research.



I would greatly appreciate the help.



Any more comments/suggestions before I dive deep?

It won't have escaped your notice that already, there are diverging views on a few subjects. Get used to that, friend !! It can be disheartening, discouraging, confusing and confidence draining......
But there's another way to look at it. Almost every person that weighs in with opinions and advice is doing so because they believe what they are saying and however it comes across, want to help {at least initially}. And different people have seen different sides and reached different conclusions. That's priceless raw material for you because it will hopefully push you to read up more and ask more questions about the divergent views you come across and experiment with things. In fact, I'd say that seeing the differing ways is a good thing that will arm you with skills that enable you to make up your own mind and develop. You'll learn what is good advice, what is enthusiastic but misguided, what is 'stuck in it's own way and can no longer see that there are other ways', what is likely to be crap etc etc. This takes a long time. But you'll never stop learning if you've got any sense.
There is a learning curve that is unlikely to come good overnight for you unless you are from outer space. All the great engineers and producers took time learning. The great, good, average and crap vocalists and instrumentalists took time to learn even basic studiocraft coz they had to.
It's good that you've made up your mind and that you are determined. Be aware that in music, like just about every other aspect in life, frustration is an invaluable part of growth and development. I wish it wasn't, but it is.
As for divergence of opinion, here's one. I have the "essentials" version of Cubase 5 and I think the Halion soundbank that comes with it is pretty crappy. Virtually all the VSTis that I've heard are better {ranging from Sampletank to Miroslav philharmonic to Swar systems etc}. I'm rather particular about this and they just sound fake to me. But that's just my opinion. It's not the law. There will be people that totally disagree - and a good thing too. Because that gives you balance and scope.
By the way, what kind of music do you create ?