Can I get advice from those who have a home studio?

RICK FITZPATRICK said:
Post.
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I really can't think of what to reply to this with. I had about a page written.. but fuck it.

Who the hell said that acoustics aren't important?

There's no harm in LEARNING SOMETHING before you spend $35k on equipment.

You REALLY need to get the bone out of your ass. If you're not going to be helpful, just don't fucking post. It seems to me that you can't get over the fact that A.) Kids are spoiled rotten these days. and B.) Equipment is much more affordable now than it was years ago. Granted, it's not that nice, but it's good to just get an idea of what it would be like to get into recording.

I have bought nearly all of my equipment with my own money. I've had a job since I was 13. I have spent probably $2k in cymbals alone. I know what it's like to spend a lot of money. Sure, that number probably looks like the dirt on the bottom of your shoe.. but for a 13-17 year old? That's a lot of money. That doesn't include the cost of my 5 drumkits, my recording shit, my guitars, and whatever else I've spent my money on.

Kids that actually think they're producing "PRO QUALITY" results are dumbasses.

Just stop assuming and sterotyping. If someone's too young for you to give advice without throwing in their face that they're too young.. then don't post at all. Seriously.

I'm sure I'm just "another kid" to you.. but I don't give a shit. I'm pretty God damn content with what I'm doing with myself. No one should have to prove themselves to you for advice.
 
ou REALLY need to get the bone out of your ass. If you're not going to be helpful, just don't fucking post.
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Geet, aparantly you MISSED the whole fucking point.

I'm just wondering if anyone had advice or tips to pass along to me. Thanks,
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I gave him 5. I'll REPOST the last.

"Really, what can we tell you? Tips on what? There are 20 other forums for equipment, techniques, etc etc. This is the Studio Building forum. If you have specific questions, I'm sure someone can answer them. I already gave you good general advice. However, if you want STUDIO design, construction, treatment or other areas specific information, you need to tell us.

Here is a good starting place for general studio information."
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html


Now, pray tell, WHAT THE FUCK MORE CAN I SAY!! I think it is YOU and HE that need to pull the bone out of your ass and PAY FUCKING ATTENTION!! Show me one goddamned REAL question that he asked, eh? What the fuck do you kids want, some one to hold your fucking hand ? THAT my friend is my bone.
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
Now, pray tell, WHAT THE FUCK MORE CAN I SAY!! I think it is YOU and HE that need to pull the bone out of your ass and PAY FUCKING ATTENTION!! Show me one goddamned REAL question that he asked, eh? What the fuck do you kids want, some one to hold your fucking hand ? THAT my friend is my bone.
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Damnit. For whatever reason, those posts slipped my mind. It might've been that Bible that I read. :p

I don't want you to hold my hand. I know where I'm going with what I'm doing.. I wasn't the one asking the questions, was I?

You make a lot of posts that are mainly bashing kids rather then helping them. Whatever. Argument done.

Who wants ice cream? :)
 
I already said I wasn't sure what to ask for, but for general advice. Don't fucking rip on me just because you're bitter and tend to stereotype all of us "damn kids" as one. I'd appreciate a guide, but the last thing I need is someone like you holding my hand. I believe I've stated the fact that I appreciate the reference, but any negative comments after that should just be saved for someone else. I've had enough of put-downs and discouragement. I think from now I will ask for advice from people like geet who can atleast understand and relate to my questions. And I'll take up that offer for ice cream, I'm a fatty
 
Chris, your 16, I'm 20 so hopefully you'll be able to relate to this. My interest in recording started around when I was 15. I was in a 'band' and basically all I wanted was to be able to record the music we were making. I joined this forum in 2001 and have spent most of my time here READING. Anyway like everyone here is saying you can't be out to make money. I wanted to record my 'band'. I did a lot of reading, and bought a tascam cassette 4 track. For the first 6 months of recording using it I was using 2 cheap radio shack mics. I recorded me and my brother at home, and my 'band'. That was it, there wasn't really anyone else around to record. This is what I was doing when I was 16.

Anyway now I've got an 8 input sound card, a Behringer (yeah real 'pro') mixer and am gradually building up gear as I get money to spend. I am at uni studying computer science, and am not living at home, so the spending money doesn't come in all that often. I record my band (no 's this time) and me at home. I check here, the studio design forum and a drumming forum everyday. Most of the time I just read to learn different things. I am thinking about putting fliers up in music shops and recording some bands for free just to get more experience, but at the moment I don't really have a dedicated recording space, housemates don't always like drums pounding away all day. As you can see, I'm pretty much doing the same thing now as back then, but a bit more complex with the setup, and I think my knowledge has come a long way.

I'm guessing you're not made of money, so there isn't really a way you'll be able to do real pro recordings right away. Not just because of money, but knowledge and skills also. What I suggest to you is that if you really love music and want to get into recording, read up on recorders and get one that will suit what you are trying to do. Get some monitors, that is what I'm buying next. Then gradually build up your gear by buying stuff that you won't want to replace in six months time. The exception here is my mixer. I needed channel outputs to feed the 8 inputs of my sound card. You don't learn recording by saving up for gear, so sometimes buying top-of-the-line isn't feasible. Record as much as you can. You could probably record bands from people at school or whatever, for free or for a small fee.

When you've got the gear and the skills you can start charging more. Also real studios have thousands spent on room treatment and design, so again you're still limited. Target bands who want to record but might not be able to afford to get into a 'real' one. No harm there. I know that if I advertised myself as a studio, NO bands that came to my house expecting a studio would be very impressed when I shift the coffee table out of the way and say "just set up the drums over there", which at the moment is what I would have to do. Doesn't mean I can't record people who aren't expecting such proffessional facilities though.

So yeah, record as much as you can. If you feel you can charge for this then go for it. If nobody wants to pay then do it for free until you've got the knowledge/setup to charge. Buy gear that will last you where possible, it's better than wasting money on less than good gear. Read as much as you can on the topic. And unfortunately, do what I have to do and get a real job to fund recording as a hobby, until one day when you (maybe) can do it for a living.
 
geet73 said:
...I don't want you to hold my hand...
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That sounds like a song!

Chrisku13 said:
...the last thing I need is someone like you holding my hand...
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That sounds like another song!

Anyway,...
2K is a lot of money to anyone, as spent on cymbals or anything else, & 5 drum kits is just excessive. :eek:
 
Yeah 5 kits is a bit much. One kit is fine for me, and 2K on cymbals isn't a real lot when you start getting into the higher quality gear. There was this 16 year old dude on nicedrums forum that bragged that he had 7 or 8 OCDP kits! Not only did he waste (more than likely) all that money on 7 drum kits, they were all orange county, which IMO are very overpriced.
 
Alright, I want to make something clear here. This thread started as a request for advice. As far as I'm concerned, thats what I gave right from the getgo. Everyone has their own experience with recording, me included. If you didn't like my advice, so be it. I don't give a flying fuck. But I want to say something here. Wait till you get a job in the real world and have to SUPPORT yourself while maintaining this interest. Then maybe some of my advice will sink in, or maybe not. The point here is, you didn't ask for specific advice or answers. So what you got was general viewpoints.

I then tried to link you FORUM specific information, but apparently that wasn't good enough either. Then you wanted to know how people got started in this hobby/career. I gave you mine. Well, if 40 years isn't enough time to generate a valid viewpoint, I suggest you dive in, the same as I did with NO advice. As far as giving kids a hard time, I think you are mistaken son. You haven't got a clue what the real world is about yet. Wait till you have to work under someone that don't give a damn about sensitivity to your age. Frankly, I think you are in for a rude awakening. And as far as stereotyping young people, maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I will say this though. The music and musicians speaks for itself. It's a standing joke on most professional recording forums. So are current record label mastering instructions. Even mastering engineers are at the point of expressing their disgust with it on pro forums. That is EXACTLY why I related my sarcastic view of this subject. And thats why my view of engineering in this day and age takes on the slant that it does. Good luck with your career choice OR hobby.
fitZ
 
c7sus said:
Don't hand over the master until you get paid.
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Or you could use this plugin on everything you give out before you get paied.

http://www.voxengo.com/freevst/#VoxengoBeeperVST

Beeper is an auxiliary plug-in which you can use to insert short beeps to the program material. This may help you to protect your work from stealing. It is safe to apply this plug-in to any mission-critical material because plug-in does not perform any processing on the audio between beeps
 
Thank you guys for the advice. I am already getting an idea of how I should be setting this up, and I'm excited to expand my skills and grow as a recording "engineer". I know I made it seem like I'm pretty greedy, but I'm mostly doing this for experience and fun. But I also need to start making profits in order to build upon my equipment. There's so much that I don't have, but I should in order to make good recordings. Oh well, I guess I just have to be patient.
 
Ha thats my dilemma.. Need so much gear, need so much cash for gear. Seriously though maybe the time spent between buying gear is a good thing because you get to learn how to master the gear you currently have instead of going into a buying frenzy and ending up with a heap of gear you have no idea how to use......







Nah, I still want more gear!
 
A Reel Person said:
geet73 said:
...I don't want you to hold my hand...
Click to expand...

That sounds like a song!

Chrisku13 said:
...the last thing I need is someone like you holding my hand...
Click to expand...
That sounds like another song!
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Just one song:

I don't want you to hold my hand.
The last thing I need is someone like you
holding my hand, without lettin' me stand
as I try to wander askew.
The one thing I need is to be left to be,
to find my own way through...
'cause the last thing I need is someone like me
needing someone like you.

Or not.

My one piece of advice (other than "marry rich"... that's a really nice one :D) is that, as at least once person here already mentioned, a home studio isn't likely to take off unless you're in Nashville, LA, New York, or some other similarly music-centric location. If you want to make money in the field, you should seriously consider either:

1. doing recording as a side hobby and doing something else for your job... like going into audio installation as a business... there's good money in that field if you know what you're doing, though it's hard work.
2. doing recording in a non-studio setting commercially as a subset of a video production business. It helps if you're friends with a still photogrpaher who doesn't do video, as a lot of gigs end up requiring both and prefer to contract it to the same company. In any case, even in my old digs, you could make enough money to survive if you got your name out there. In a larger city, there's probably more potential (but more competition). Hard to say how it would work out.
3. two words: corporate video.
4. getting a night job as a DJ, audio engineer for a club, whatever. If nothing else, it puts you in touch with local bands.

Beyond that... good luck. It's definitely not something I'd try as a first business, but to each his own.
 
If we're talking DJ's that do mixing, then I'd say absolutely.

If we're talking about folks who just play records they buy at weddings one after the other, then I'd say probably not. Though musicians can be DJ's on the side to pay for more guitars :D
 
If we're talking DJ's that do mixing, then I'd say absolutely.
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By the same stretch of imagination, I guess when audiences clap to the beat, they become musicians too, huh frederic? Or mixing engineers, as they do the same exact thing routinely. Or computers when playing midi.
fitZ
 
Modern day DJ's do a lot more than overlap beats from record to record. Nowadays they are building (often on the fly) original compositions out of extractions from other, existing recordings, overlaid with some of their own stuff. To do this successfully, one has to have good concept of timing and pitch, for it all to fit together well.

So, I think there is a difference, Rick.
 
I think people are going over the top with the designation of a "professional studio." My impression from reading the original post was that the guy was thinking of charging people to make recordings. That's pretty much all that was said. He did use the word "business," which I agree is completely out of his league (and most of ours).

But, I don't think there's anything wrong with doing this as a "side business." As long as clients understand that they're not going to get a "professional" recording, I don't see anything wrong with having a decent set-up in the 5K-10K range and charging someone like $10 or $15 an hour for recording, provided you're skilled enough to get the best results out of what you have.

Is it realistic to get a full-blown commercial recording studio going on a budget? Of course not. But then again, not every band has $100 an hour to shell out for studio time. And some of them don't have an interest in recording themselves, so where do they go?

While I was in college, I had a basic, decent set-up with 2 ADATs and some decent outboard gear. With it I would record bands for $10/hour, and I never had any complaints at all. I was upfront about the quality they could expect, I would play them things that I had recorded, etc. Did I make enough to support myself? Hell no. But it was a little extra cash on the side and a whole lot of fun. (Please know that I did PLENTY of recording for free of myself and others before I thought about charging anyone.)

What I'm saying is that I kind of think of it as like giving music lessons. I've played guitar for about 20 years now, and I'm very skilled on the instrument. I'm also very knowledgeable in music theory, etc. I've put a lot of time into developing that skill. So do I feel guilty for charging people to give guitar lessons out of my home? Hell no. There's no reason I shouldn't be paid for my time. Just like there's no reason that a recordist shouldn't be paid for his of her time if he's skilled and able to develop a product that's worth his asking price.

Any band or musician expecting to get pro-sounding results from a $10 or $15/hour studio is really, really naive. But you can still get a pretty decent-sounding demo that's a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Let me say again that I do realize he said he'd like to do it as a "business," which would imply (possibly) a self-supporting operation. But I just wanted to point out that there are many other kinds of "business." Lots of hobbies turn into side businesses, that eventually turn into bigger things.

Think of photographers that get their start doing weddings for friends. Eventually they charge a bit for their services as their skills improve and they get word-of-mouth recommendations. If they're serious about it, they put money back into better equipment and eventually into advertising. And eventually they can turn that into a nice "business," just like someone giving music lessons. I personally know a photographer that took that approach and makes a good living as well as a guitar teacher that makes six figures (granted he works about 70 hours a week, but he does it).

I know that there's a world of difference between a pro commercial studio and a wedding photographer, but all I'm saying is that there isn't just "pro" quality and "shitty" quality. There's a huge gray area in between. And for the people who can't afford pro quality and don't want to invest the time and money into doing it themselves, there's no reason that some of us home recordists shouldn't be able to provide a sevice at a fair rate.
 
I never understood these threads,,really this kid and others on here in their teens are learning at a early age to be business smart. Nothing wrong with that. Also to take their love for music to another level. If he wants to charge for recording then I say go for it. Sure he is 16, and will have to start out small but who knows in the near future he could be the next up and coming engineer in mix magazine. So dont discourage or tell him how hard its going to be to succeed in this business, let him find out for himself. Hell if I started when I was 16, I probably wouldnt be working a full time job and trying to run a home studio. (btw that is making some decent side income) I would be running a studio full time. Me being 34 and looking at kids 16 doing what I love to do at a early age then my hat goes off to them. Follow your dreams and read as much as you can. Dont let some jealous people that wish they were running a successful studio slow you down. Charge when you feel your ready and start putting a business plan together for that commercial studio.

Good Luck
Eddie
 
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