New to home recording, some questions?

[bobby230]

Hi all,

So myself and a friend of mine have recently decided that home recording our music would be the ideal way to ultimately reduce costs for getting our music out there.

I have been in many bands that entered studios and I like the studio atmosphere but am now looking for a more hands on approach. We both do not have too much money so pro tools is out of the question. But I have recently looked into Record by Reason which is coming out this Sept. It is not too expensive and since I already own Reason and love it I'm thinking it would be the ideal choice for home recording. Does anyone have any information on why this program might be a bad choice? And if I were to buy this what would I need to start...like moniters, mixer, etc?

Thanks

 

[Massive Master]

The software is nothing. ProTools LE is basically free with the interface. Reaper is next to nothing. There are plugs & processing that will take you forever just to sift through - free.

Software is also the least important part of the whole thing.

Other than that, you might want to try Tweak's Guide... Goes over pretty much everything you'd need.

But keep in mind that you'll save money in the looooooong run. Starting up can certainly be cheap - But there are varying levels of "cheap" -- The first several levels = "crap" -- Even after several years of experience. And don't forget the years of experience... No substitute for that.

I'm not trying to discourage - Just a touch of reality.

 

[Supercreep]

^^^This^^^^

 

[RAMI]

^^^This^^^^

^^^^and that^^^^^

 

[skiscem]

^^^^And That^^^^

 

[Richard Monroe]

You have set yourself up for a bunch of reality checks:

1. If you think that recording at home is the cheap way to get your music out there, you probably also believe that a motorcycle is cheap transportation! Until you discover that you replace the tires every 6,000 miles, and the chain and sprockets every 8,000 miles and....

2. It is also the slowest way on Earth to get your music out there. It took me a year to build the basic, no-frills studio, another 8 months for the guide tracks and overdubs, another year for mixing, mastering, duplication, and distribution. If I had walked into a studio, the whole thing could have been done for a fraction of the cost, in a few weeks. Hell, I've got close to $1500 in *cables*! I'll admit, the second album will cost less.

3. It took me more than 3 years to become a *fair* tracking engineer. I'm 2 years into mixing, and I'm still a beginner. Don't even talk to me about mastering. I've got about $30,000 sunk into the studio, and much of my equipment is obsolescent before I learned half of what it can do.

All that aside, I have never had so much fun in all my life, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Home recording is a lousy way to make money, and it sure as hell isn't a way to save money. But like that motorcycle, you don't ask why you do it- you just do. Because when I finish with the day job and come home to my play room for adults. I am reminded that if you just punch a clock and pay the bills, you aren't living, you are just existing. In order to live, you have to have dreams. And dreams don't just happen *to* you, you have to *make* them happen. You are embarking on an adventure, which is also a humongous pain in the ass. The pile of money you will eventually blow, the cool toys you won't own to buy gear, and the vacations you won't go on, are nothing compared to the endless hours of honest hard work and frustration you will go through to become an audio engineer. And if you stick with it, it *will* be worth it. But God, don't tell anyone here it's a way to save money. That dog won't hunt.-Richie

 

[ez_willis]

these guys all own studios. don't listen to 'em.

 

[theCKWilliams]

the knowledge alone will be worth more than you invest, financially, into your equipment. just try to get things you're pretty sure you'll stick with for a while. really do your homework before investing in any substantially priced* pieces. i've put together a couple of things i'm extremely happy with on a VERY limited budget. it's all in what you're looking to do. the best thing you can do is try out as much stuff as possible before buying as to not make waste of a limited budget. i've probably put less than $2000 into mine. it's extremely simple and does lack in some areas but i can do recordings myself and, if i ever wanted to rent a professional studio for all of the hours that i put into the recordings on my own time, the bill would be insane. definately more than i've put into my setup. plus, not a lot of studios are 24 hours and i don't think meeting me after work @ 3a.m. to begin tracking makes anyone happy to work with me. that and i suck.

*substantially priced means a lot of different things to different people. if i'm spending more than $30 on anything, it better be a freakin keeper! i'm cheap as all hell.

 

[witzendoz]

When people hire my studio they don't hire the equipment they hire me. My experience and knowledge and the fact that I will record, mix and sometimes master the performance and supply a quality end product.

The studio equipment is my tools of trade, just like a mechanic has a tool kit to repair your car, I have a studio full of tools to do the job.

The gear is the tools to record, you still have to know how to make it happen and get the results. If your car had broken down and you know nothing about cars but was given a mechanics tool kit, could you fix the car.

This is not to say you cant learn, but it takes time like learning an instrument.

Cheers

Alan.

 

[leddy]

Learning to record just to get one or two CD's out is like buying an airplane and taking flight lessons to go on one trip.

If you want to learn the process of recording and practice it for the rest of your life, jump on in. Otherwise...