Home Recording's Dirty Little Secret

[Bob's Mods]

For people who never had any home grown recording experience before getting in HR, my self included, the results when you first dive into to it are hard to stomach. The pro recorded stuff you listen on the radio and the results of your feeble attempts at HR are on two different planets when you're a newbie with no prior experience. I know I was crushed. You wouldn't think there would be as much of a difference as there is until you get some larnin and experience and decent gear and plugs. It was quite a shock for me in the beginning.

 

[TerraMortim]

what I did sucked at first, but I've always known that if you work hard at it, it happens. I wasn't really discouraged at all, it was about like when I started doing graphics, drums, keyboards, even video editing recently... I'll eventually improve on video if I keep at it and try hard enough. That's just the way it works. If you suck, jsut keep going and you're bound to improve some time or another. Will you be the biggest and best, maybe, maybe not, but you'll at least improve.

 

[Todzilla]

I'm getting closer every project. But then, my ears evolve and I realize how big the gap is.

I think most home recordists de-value microphones, recording technique, performance and acoustic space. Those are the biggies that i found make the hugest difference.

Back end system is almost moot these days...

 

[DarkHamsterLord]

i knew i couldnt compete with big studios but i could record a listenable song with certain techniques

 

[WhiteStrat]

I voted the third option -- and I still think I'll get there. Other than that, I was going to say something real smart, but Todzilla already did. So, what he said:

I'm getting closer every project. But then, my ears evolve and I realize how big the gap is.

I think most home recordists de-value microphones, recording technique, performance and acoustic space. Those are the biggies that i found make the hugest difference.

Back end system is almost moot these days...

 

[GuitarRuss]

There are two aspectsne the talent, the other the recording. How many of you have had a Stevie Wonder, an Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley and the Wailers, or someone with incredible talent in your studio? Our favorite recordings are unattainable for most of us because of the talent of the people being recorded. And of course these people also are able to choose out of the thousand's of studios and mixers and pick the very best people. So of course, when we compare to the very most talented musicians, recording in the best studios, with the best mixers, through the best equipment - it falls terribly flat.

A fairer comparison is - "How does it compare to the recordings you did at those lower mid level studios that you were paying $25-60/hr to record at, before you got your own studio?" You know, those people that made that really mediocre recording of you, the blandness of quality that inspired you to say, "I can do it at least as good as that guy!" By the first group, yes, the project has been a total failure. But compared to the latter group, I would say many of my recordings are better than the ones I used to pay to record at other people's studios. There were a few studios that were better, but there were definitely a few that were worse than what I can do at home.

 

[Beck]

There are two aspectsne the talent, the other the recording. How many of you have had... Bob Marley and the Wailers, or someone with incredible talent in your studio?

They never sounded quite the same after the international whaling ban of 1986 (plus that was the beginning of the end of Maxell reel-to-reel tape… no more whale oil). Not to mention, Bob Marley was dead… which did nothing for his rhythm.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

I thankfully dodged the entire issue.

I'd never even considered trying to record myself until back in college (this would have been 2000) a buddy of mine bought a copy of Sonic Foundry Acrid 2.0 on a whim, as a songwriting aid, and hooked me up with the demo version (as you could install a demo off the same CD). I had such an absolute blast just screwing around with it that I got hooked.

So, how did I dodge the issue? Because at the time I was recording through my laptop's built-in microphone, by putting it on the ground next to my amp. My recordings were literally SO bad that if I ever feel frustrated with the quality of my mixes these days I just have to remember back to what my recordings used to sound like. I'm not even that exceptional, yet the differences are night and day.

Besides, I write instrumental electric guitar music, a genre not known for its multimillion dollar production budgets, which helps.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

oops, double post.

 

[TerraMortim]

How many of you have had a Stevie Wonder, an Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley and the Wailers, or someone with incredible talent in your studio?

They all came by my studio last night... I had to dig up Marley, but Aretha Franklin helped. WE recorded a great album's worth of songs. We'll be seeing you at the Grammys, labias and gentlemen.

 

[TerraMortim]

Not to mention, Bob Marley was dead… which did nothing for his rhythm.

I couldn't disagree more. He was great last night in the studio. I have to have a lot of air fresheners in my live room now, though, so I don't think Peter Gabriel is going to like it when he comes to record that duet with Elvis Presley that we have scheduled for tonight, about 8 o clock.

 

[Seafroggys]

A fairer comparison is - "How does it compare to the recordings you did at those lower mid level studios that you were paying $25-60/hr to record at, before you got your own studio?" You know, those people that made that really mediocre recording of you, the blandness of quality that inspired you to say, "I can do it at least as good as that guy!" By the first group, yes, the project has been a total failure. But compared to the latter group, I would say many of my recordings are better than the ones I used to pay to record at other people's studios. There were a few studios that were better, but there were definitely a few that were worse than what I can do at home.

I agree. One of my old bands used to record some tracks at one of those ~$35/hr studios. While it was nice, after I got my own gear, a couple of the musicians that were in that band with me prefer my studio sound, especially the sound of my drums.

 

[rec1166]

interesing

some of my favourite recordings come from the 70`s ....

boston dont look back .... yes close to the edge ...U.K ....bruford one of a kind ..... i really wonder if my EMU 1212 , 2 PRESONUS , 1 EUREKA AND SONAR PRODUCER EDITION is less ore more than what these guys had in lets say 1975 .

i think the success of a recording is how well you represent the music on a comercial product ( cd ) . i `ve heard hip hop and some r&b music that is really just a loop and the lead voice ..do you really need to do those sessions on peter gabriels studio ? ...of course not .

 

[drossfile]

some of my favourite recordings come from the 70`s ....

yes close to the edge .

amen, brother.

 

[Seafroggys]

What most home recorders have nowadays is better recording technology than what was availble in the 60s and 70s.

I read somewhere that the recording technology used to record Sgt. Pepper's would cost around $400....minus the room, mics, etc.

I mean, I have a Firestudio, and look how many great albums were recorded on an 8 track tape? Abbey Road, Tommy, etc. etc. the list goes on. Granted my records will sound nowhere near as good as those albums for the obvious reasons, but still. It is a hopeful thought.

 

[TerraMortim]

What most home recorders have nowadays is better recording technology than what was availble in the 60s and 70s.

I read somewhere that the recording technology used to record Sgt. Pepper's would cost around $400....minus the room, mics, etc.

I mean, I have a Firestudio, and look how many great albums were recorded on an 8 track tape? Abbey Road, Tommy, etc. etc. the list goes on. Granted my records will sound nowhere near as good as those albums for the obvious reasons, but still. It is a hopeful thought.

yeah that's got some truth to it. Good mics and a good room ARE really important tho... but in reality, I don't think that what you're recording WITH is nearly as important as WHAT you're recording. Great takes, by talented musicians, with good instruments, on a good song, will win out over anything 10 times out of 10.

 

[Steve Moser]

Great takes, by talented musicians, with good instruments, on a good song, will win out over anything 10 times out of 10.

It's surprising how many recordists are confounded by this. "All I need is some compression," they'll say. Or, "A little EQ on that vocal will do the trick," when in fact, they're just trying to cover up the suck.

Suck is an endemic disease and can only be eradicated by not recording it in the first place. Don't bother with attempts to shine up the feces. Please. Play it right, and this discussion will be unnecessary.

FWIW.

 

[Sunifyde]

Overall

I think that all home recording is going to be limited unless you get like 5 grand worth of equipment and alot of time figuring out software. This is a list of the most important things that go along with home recording in order from the most important.
1. Solid musicianship- Playing off notes or deadening notes kills it no matter what, you can only record the sound that you play so it has to be good.

2. Good Microphone's- Once again back to just getting the sound you play or the voice you project.

3. Good Computer Software- Along with this software you need to be very familiar with it, it will take loads of practice before you really know whats going on. With this software you can often times eliminate the need for alot of guitar and vocal effects processors.

4. Good Hardware- You need a computer with a good processor to be able to handle all the different actions going on simultaneously while you record a song. You also need to have a good mixer, some sort of port to connect your mic to your computer and then an equalizer and compressor. Top that all off with like a line 6 pod or other effects processor and as long as you have set everything up right and got your computer skills are practiced up you can get a good recording no problem. It's simple as long as you get the right equipment, practice with it and then all that is left is a good performance to make great home recording tracks. check out our semi-home/mini-studio recording on mypace under music type "Sunifyde" note these are still only rough tracks and havent been equalized or mastered and they already sound near cd quality. Check out piranah sound if you are in the midwest.

 

[Seafroggys]

Musicianship, microphones, and room are everything. With those three, you could record straight to a Firepod and have a stellar record.

 

[Bob's Mods]

Its great to see this thing is still alive and kicking. It certainly hit a nerve. The poll results I'm sure are being observed by every product marketier out there. As long as more than 35% of "newbs" think they can sound as good as their fav commerically recorded artist we'll continue to see products with the "sounds like such and such (high end studio stuff)" marketing label plastered to them.

My recordings these days a pretty good for a bedroom recording as the technology has come a long way fast. The only issue I have, and there is only one, and that is the mix engine. Its damn tough to get individual tracks to have their own sense of space in the mix I find. At a certain point in track count it becomes more of a sonic blur. The problem can be massaged however but only so far. I believe some recording software is better at this than others based only on what I've read other users of other software say. I use Sonar and individual tracks can loose their idendity pretty quickly as I layer each track one at a time. I sent them a suggestion to develope an "analog modeled mix engine" that better simulates the analog mixing process that goes on using a large studio console. Whether they will do anything with that suggestion or even if they can do anything with the problem remains to be seen. This topic is a divergence from the original thread.

Bob