Help Me Buy My Next Piece of Gear!

studiogenocide

studiogenocide

New member
I have:

Nice DAW (8 ins and outs)
2 nice condensors
A Really Nice Preamp :) (2 channel)
Good Studio Monitors (8's)
Neat Headphone Amp
Good Mic and Instrument Cables
Power Conditioner
Two rock solid PCs
Great Multitrack and Mastering software
Awesome plugin suite
GTR modeler
Nice Acoustic
okay electric
midi controller

What next? If you had these, what would you buy next? I really don't know gear that well simply because I haven't been exposed to it. Only what I have had in the past ten years, and most of what I have now is stuff I acquired in the past year. I want to make a modest investment in something that will be noticeably (not just a little) beneficial to my mix.

I'm not saying what stuff I have cause I ain't in the business of boasting- just know its decent stuff. But I am a big kid, and I want more. Help me make my next purchase!
 
Well start boasting... because without knowing what you got, it's impossible to suggest what you might need.

I've got this car, it's a nice car... but I want it to go faster... I've already invested in souping her up... but what else will take me to the next level
 
What is currently lacking in your mixes and can gear even help with that.

If you feel (as you appear to) that you have the preliminary bases covered then what is preventing you from getting the recordings you want to get.

Gear is very often a disapointment if everything else isn't bang on. A sh!tty vocal through a great compressor will be a nicely compressed (assuming you know how to use it) sh!tty vocal maybe with added harmonics and euphonic distorion of a sh!tty vocal.

A great mic in a really bad accoustic space, recording someone who doesn't know how to play will capture a great really good (fidelity) recording of someone who doesn't know how to play in an awful space, and will sound really terrible (although really accurate or colored or whatever the mic is renowned for)

I'm not suggesting any of this is you just using to ilustrate the point, this really is a question only you can answer

From my own experience after my last recording effort was not everything I dreamed it would be, after some long, hard introspection I realized that setting aside more time to practice and really learn the material before I try to record is the answer. More gear won't change the quality of the source material. I've cut my self off from more gear until the source material is of a quality that warrants it. in the mean time lessons and practice time are the new gear lust.

As always YMMV
 
Okay ya'll, point taken. Let me just say this:I am getting some really nice recordings. I do want them to be better however, but how you ask? Well... I really can't say, because there again like I stated before, I really don't know gear or what it does beyond what I have. Take for instance, I use ren compressor plugin from waves, and i really love it- but I was considering getting a hardware compressor like the RNC- because I was hoping it would add a little more "punch" to my mixes.... Really guys, I have a very basic idea of what gear does (that I don't have)- of course I know what my gear does because I have it and utilize it.

I know I may sound like a dummy, but my experience is through trial and error, and I never got to use what I never owned before. I really depend on this forum to tell me what my next step should be.

You asked about equipment: here goes:
Tascam 1082 FW (DAW)
FMR RNP preamp
Event TR8 monitors
Line 6 UX2 gtr modeler
Rode NT-2 & 3 condensor mics
Waves Gold Bundle plugin suite
Cubase 5
Wavelab 6
Beh headphone amp
furman conditioner
Fender electric
Takamine acoustic
 
When I buy new gear it's always for a specific need, to solve a certain problem. That problem is usually as obvious as a flat tire.

If I were you, I'd just use what I have until something drives you nuts to the point of needing some new gear. I guess what I'm saying is that if you don't know what you need next and you have all the components to record, just record and forget about gear.

If all of a sudden someone gave me a few thousand bucks and I had your gear I'd buy a Neumann mic, probably a U87 used. But what matters is what's lacking in your sound to you. If nothing in your sound is driving you nuts, consider yourself lucky and save your money.
 
dintymoore said:
When I buy new gear it's always for a specific need, to solve a certain problem. That problem is usually as obvious as a flat tire.

If I were you, I'd just use what I have until something drives you nuts to the point of needing some new gear. I guess what I'm saying is that if you don't know what you need next and you have all the components to record, just record and forget about gear.

If all of a sudden someone gave me a few thousand bucks and I had your gear I'd buy a Neumann mic, probably a U87 used. But what matters is what's lacking in your sound to you. If nothing in your sound is driving you nuts, consider yourself lucky and save your money.
Click to expand...

What he said... there's nothing in your list that stands out as the definitive weak link... it's all in about the same range of quality. The next piece would be the start of venture into a whole new range of quality... so my only suggestion would be to not to skimp on marginal upgrades... but only when you notice something in final product that bothers you...

Have you considered room treatment?

And I have to add... mic and preamp are the only two devices you need to get a quality signal into the box...
 
MOFO Pro said:
And I have to add... mic and preamp are the only two devices you need to get a quality signal into the box...
Click to expand...

I have recently learned that mofo- and I hate that it took nearly ten years to do it. I just got my frm rnp and I absolutely love it.

No really, my stuff is all considered "nice". So I want nice recordings. And I am getting nice recordings. I, like everyone else, want it to be the best it can be with what I have OR with something reasonably attainable. A U87 or any other neum mic is not reasonably attainable. I have learned a lot about cheap gear, and I am thankful I never went that route with the exception of a behringer mixer I used for too damn long- because I could not see the need to replace.

As far as room treatment, I have done what I know to do, placed absorbers, etc. but probably my biggest problem with the room is it is almost a complete square. But I cannot imagine that being the reason why my monitors sound a little harsh in the mid range, but my room is treated to where the sound doesn't bounce all over the place. I could do more, and I will- for sure. I just need some more stuff to do it with.

By harsh, I mean "a little exaggerated". Hey, maybe thats the way its supposed to sound and I just dont know it? After all, these are the only monitors I've ever owned! Don't get me wrong- I love them. And chances are I will never upgrade them unless one of them dies.

All your advice rocks by the way- I want you to know I appreciate all the time you spend talking with me to help me get better.
 
dintymoore said:
If nothing in your sound is driving you nuts, consider yourself lucky and save your money.
Click to expand...

Brother I do- you can bet on that. I am thankful for what I have, and thankfully nothing in my mix drives me nuts!

I know nothing about mastering, so alot of times I wonder if a mastering house could add the polish to a track that I feel they all lack. See, The way I think is: if it doesn;t sound like a commercial CD I'm doing something wrong. Maybe thats not the way to go about it, but thats the way I am.
 
Well...when ya mentioned your room is square...the first thing I thought of was bass traps. Even if ya have some already, ya might consider more.
Where's your traps now?
 
I don't know ...maybe broaden your microphone inventory?
But that will be decided on what your going to record most of the time.
You do have 8 ins what if you are to do drums or any other multi miced situations.



:cool:
 
studiogenocide said:
... The way I think is: if it doesn;t sound like a commercial CD I'm doing something wrong. Maybe thats not the way to go about it, but thats the way I am.
Click to expand...

That's how I think too. I've bought Christna Aquilera CD's. People would say I'm nuts but if you listen to the quality on a tune like "What a Girl Wants", or a Brittany Spears tune like "Toxic" the mix is... well, pro to say the least.

Do I sit around listening that stuff? Fuck no, but I sure wish I could get that quality and that's what I strive for. "Commercial", to me only means that people want to buy it. Kurt Cobain was a commercial artist. Commercial doesn't have to mean "corny".
 
dintymoore said:
That's how I think too. I've bought Christna Aquilera CD's. People would say I'm nuts but if you listen to the quality on a tune like "What a Girl Wants", or a Brittany Spears tune like "Toxic" the mix is... well, pro to say the least.

Do I sit around listening that stuff? Fuck no, but I sure wish I could get that quality and that's what I strive for. "Commercial", to me only means that people want to buy it. Kurt Cobain was a commercial artist. Commercial doesn't have to mean "corny".
Click to expand...

Same here dinty..... I thought Kelly Clarksons last album was very well produced but it's not something that I listen to all the day long.



:cool:
 
Here's a funny one. In the last day this song has clobbered me. I've listened to it over and over and wrote out the chords.

When Ronnie Milsap was going on I was playing in lots of bands that did his stuff and I really hated it. I don't know why, but I don't hear country music, it doesn't work for me. But this, to me, is top rate - the song, recording, performance, and writing. It was written by Burt Bacharach. Larry London played drums. He played with Elvis a lot and is a monster player. Great bass part. The doubling on the vocals at the end of the bridge and after the solo is beyond excellent to me... what a fuckin' recording. Digital has not, to me, got close... yet.



I'm amazed that this song affected me so much because in general I don't like this type of music.
 
Really ..funny you should mention songs that do it for ya.
For me it's songs like *behind closed doors by Charlie Rich*, stuff from *Roy Orbison*, Or my all time favorite ...Anything from *Bill Withers*



:cool:
 
I love Will Bithers too. :)

In 1968 when I was 12 I was staying in Greenwich Village with my mom and she took me to this head shop a bunch of times. They sold beads and posters and incense, and everytime they had this Sam and Dave song playing:



There's probably no song that hit me ever like that one did. I love what I thought was the guitar in between the verse lines. I later found out it was Isaac Hayes on Hohner D6 clavinet. I remember thinking that it was different than anything else I'd heard, before that I'd heard mostly rock and Motown. To me that Sam and Dave Stax feel turned into Average White Band and Earth, Wind and Fire in the 70's, and I was playing that stuff. The Stax stuff still sounds amazingly right to me.

Hendrix clobbered me too. The intro to Purple Haze has to be the ultimate intro of all time.

And then there was Jaco...
 
Wow... where's homeland security... what about the air marshalls, talk about a hijack???

But I'll bite... Vanilla Ninja, Don't go too Fast... incredible production and engineering, but not something I'd be proud to play for my friends.

[video=youtube;<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/dGqWljmM9fk"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/dGqWljmM9fk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object>]video[/video]

Google them... I don't think any of them play their own instruments (eye candy chick band) with some real studio magic...
 
MOFO Pro said:
Wow... where's homeland security... what about the air marshalls, talk about a hijack???
Click to expand...

I don't know about that.
It's been 5 days from the 1st post and the people here that answered or gave suggestions are just bantering back and forth till the OP gets back, and then we'll all talk about his wants and needs for new gear.
Vanilla ninja huh? Who are the session players?



:cool:
 
I would tend to agree that the next thing I'd get is a wider range of mics. There's a definite benefit to avoiding recording every track in a dense mix with the same mic or even a couple of mics. Maybe add a couple of ribbons or a couple of nice omni SDCs or even a moving coil dynamic, depending on what types of instruments and stuff you're recording.

Beyond getting good gear, the other 99% of the battle is mic placement. That's often the biggest difference between a good recording and a bad one. An inch or two difference can drastically change the sound of some instruments.
 
moresound said:
You mean white or black Jaco ?



:cool:
Click to expand...

I would guess that he means Jaco Pastorius.

I would be confident that this could be the $million winning answer.
If I'm wrong :eek:, you've never heard of me, OK ?
"What was his name again, that twerp that lost me a million $$s ? Was it 'Time traveller' ?" :D
 
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