I think probably that's going to become pretty close to how most people will feel now that technology has begun to allow for it.
The reality of it is that the quality of your final will totally depend on how much effort you've spent learning how to do it and how much money you've spent on the equipment and necessities to make it happen.
And in some cases...the quality will be low. The sound will be muddy...the CD will have a sticker on the front. And the music will not be good.
I think, however, the opposite is also completely possible (not only that but I've seen it happen!). The mixing can be excellent, the CD can look fantastic, and the music will be awesome.
Which is pretty much EXACTLY how things have always worked. The only difference is that it was always so expensive that the ones that sucked never made it through the whole process because they didn't have a way to get their stuff into the studio (via a record label most often).
Now though, those people that wouldn't get a record deal...will saunter off and try to do it themselves. Which some would have you believe will ruin the MUSIC.
I don't think so. I just think that there will be MORE music...and that it won't always be good.
Which isn't really all that scary.
doesn't scare me ..... the best art comes from the unwashed masses.
I, personally, think that the common man having access to this technology is a great thing and leads to some awesome music. Some crap too but I hear great things all the time that would have never existed otherwise.
HOWEVER, in the interests of full disclosure it must be pointed out that I'm not a typical case.
I bought my first 3340 in 1969 (still have it) and I've been recording constantly ever since. And I've always made my living as a musician and piano tuner. The studio was always just for fun although I have earned minor amounts of money from it. But I have hundreds of reels of recordings I've done and lots of hard drives sitting around with crap on them.
So I have an unusually high number of hours of doing all the things involved in recording.
As it stands right now, I record with a different intent than most of ya'll. Everything I record is simply some musical idea that popped into my head and I'm just curious to see what it would sound like.
Musical sketches if you will.
So I'm after the very first take that doesn't suck.
Very few of my takes are more than 2nd or 3rd takes ..... often 1st takes.
I don't care about volume since they're not for commercial release and I hate compression except when it's absolutely needed to sit a voice or sax properly in the mix.
And I've been recording so long that even my quickest efforts sound decent and that's enough for me. I use to take recordings as far as I could quality-wise, but now I don't care that much ..... I'm just trying out musical ideas and my primary focus is on live skills.
I think in the next year or so I'll probably decide to do a CD for real and I'll take much more care when that time comes.
Will I get it mastered? I really don't know.
I'd be more likely to study up on the subject and do it myself since I totally trust my ears. I've heard plenty of 'mastered' CD's that sounded like crap. Even big names. I'm sure I can do better than that.
Having said that ....... 40+ years of recording and playing do give me some background knowledge that newbies don't have.
Ultimately the ears are the single most important part of this equation and that's something that takes time to train.