How does one know when.........

[HangDawg]

your tracking skills have progressed to the point you are getting the most out of the crappy equipment you have? Ya see, I'm not sure anymore if it is me or the gear that is hindering me at this point. Has anyone else reached this point? I'm sure you have.

I guess I have to drop some cash and see.

Although I have been working on treating the tracking room itself and noticed things are starting to tighten up. Oh the wonders of OC703

 

[DeadPoet]

You always need to buy more gear, because you're a gearslut... admit it it, you only want MORE shiny lights, MORE knobs to turn, MORE computers to configure, MORE microphones to use...


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Herwig

 

[Teacher]

your tracking skills have progressed to the point you are getting the most out of the crappy equipment you have? Ya see, I'm not sure anymore if it is me or the gear that is hindering me at this point. Has anyone else reached this point? I'm sure you have.

I guess I have to drop some cash and see.

Although I have been working on treating the tracking room itself and noticed things are starting to tighten up. Oh the wonders of OC703

i reached that point...ended up spending over 1500 dollars..which i feel was well worth it..

 

[willovercome]

i know it costs to get good stuff, but i've been really happy with a moderate set-up. i do have some nice gear, but i could get by with just my RNP/RNC and a good vocal mic and two good overheads. the rest is nice for getting specific sounds. i think almost anything could be recorded with that set up - it's around $1500, i don't know if that's too much for most of you, but it will get the job done well regardless of your skill level (unless you have no skills).

 

[darnold]

i think thats just a think you gotta decide for yourself. look back over some old work in periodical order and watch your progression. If you feel that the last couple of recordings youve done havnt had much improvement, then maybe its time to upgrade a few things.

Personally i dont think you can stop progression if your looking for ways to progress. If you are doing the same things over and over then you arnt going to progress. Try some new things. Try something totally off the wall and make the best of it. You will always learn something new.

danny

 

[BPRecords]

your tracking skills have progressed to the point you are getting the most out of the crappy equipment you have? Ya see, I'm not sure anymore if it is me or the gear that is hindering me at this point. Has anyone else reached this point? I'm sure you have.

I guess I have to drop some cash and see.

Although I have been working on treating the tracking room itself and noticed things are starting to tighten up. Oh the wonders of OC703

To deadpoets comment - I actually am not a gearslut. I don't like having shitloads of racks filled with anything other than what's really needed.

To Hangdawg - The best way to deal with this is to always know the next few things that would add to your studio, and know the worst pieces of equipment in your setup.

Then when you have the money, just go with the best single upgrade or replacement.

As far as knowing when you "deserve" something new by maximizing your potential, that's a difficult one.

 

[Fletcher]

It's you. When you're a real 'gunslinger' you can get damn near anything to sound good... superior tools just make the job easier and allow you to define better depth and definition to your work.

Once you're making seriously nice recordings with crap hardware then you're on the road to noticing a serious difference as you move toward real hardware... you'll also know enough at that point to really be able to work around the crap that remains in your various signal chains as you march towards dropping the great big piles of showbiz cash that is required to get into the most serious of hardware.

Two things to keep in mind as you expand your facilities capabilites... 1) Machines don't make music, people do. As you acquire better hardware remember that you have to work just as hard as ever to translate the intentions of the music... that the intentions of the music are all that are important... in other words, don't get caught up in the 'audio for the sake of audio' thing... make sure your audio compliments the presentation of the music at any and every turn.

2) Try not to get caught up in 'audio hardware roulette'. When you buy better tools try to buy tools you'll have for an entire career as opposed to a few months. Yeah you'll find all kinds of great "it does everything but laundry" hardware for <$1k... but try to hold out and save your shiney duckets for a piece that is A) well built; B) unique in tone and character; C) truly a profession piece of hardware.

All too many times I've seen brothers end up in the near endless spiral of getting boxes they'll outgrow in a couple of years only to take a beating on 'eBay' trying to get cash to cover the purchase of some other genius "bargain"... it's a hell of a lot less expensive in the long run to buy good tools once instead of crap tools a bunch of times. An addition to that bit of advice... some of the most respected manufacturers of equipment have taken to resting on their laurels in the last few years... watch out for inexpensive product from the "big respected names".

All too many of the 'legends' of the industry have been purchased by 'multi-national' corporations over the past decade or so... and have taken more of a 'mass market' approach. Their motivation is more the 'bottom line' than providing the finest in audio hardware. By cuttin corners in the manufacturing process... designing to a "price point" rather than a 'no holds barred / quality driven' criteria they hope the consumer will purchase their hardware because of their reputation [which was based on product that was created by the company's founder... not the board room geeks that run the joint now].

Best of luck with all you do.