Studio or comp. recording

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mori0043

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I am planning to start recording an album and I would like to get the best recording possible. I have a budget of $5000 where $2000 will be spent on cds and mastering. Should I record in studio or should I buy/rent the equipment and record from home.

Here are my specs...

933mhz, 256RAM, M-audio nearfield spkrs, Audio-Teck studiophones, Audio-Teck AT3035 condenser mic, a lower qual. mixer (I would have to rent mic pre-amps), and Audiophile sound card (I will need more ins).

I will be tracking drums and bass first which will need 5 ins, 4 of which will need mic pre-amps and then I will track vocals and guitar at a later time.

What do you guys/gals think? Should I do this in studio or should I buy a good soundcard with more ins and rent the rest? Or, is there any other options?

Thanks in advance....
 
Well Josh, if you know what you're doing, then it sounds like you have enough money to get it going right.

$3000 is more than many of us here started out with, and you already have a Computer, some decent mics and monitors, and some software that will Multitrack I assume?

This all depends on whether you feel that you have the skills to produce the quality you're after.

Your website looks very nice, BTW

You need to ask yourself what your goals are, long and short term, because if you go the home studio route, you can get bogged down in the technicals of just getting evertything going and working properly. Short term you may spend a lot of time before you actually get to the stage where you are recording. But long term you will be able to record quality anytime you want to (If you have, or develop the skills)

If you just want to get the music out, hire yourself a studio, a good engineer, and a producer, and just concentrate on making good music.

Some people like both the artistic side and the technical side, and some people are great at only one or the other. If you know which you are then decide based on what you know about yourself.

Hope that helps!

Dave-:D
 
Further to the question

Thanks for the input maestro_dmc..

To further my first question. Assuming that my technical skills are sufficient (software is Nuendo), is it possible to create a radio cd quality album with the specs provided above? And if so, what gear should I be looking to buy/rent?

Thanks again.
Joshua
 
I would cut at least the drum tracks in a real studio......

do the bass and guitars at home.......a sm57 and a RNP preamp for guitar, and a J-Station or Countryman DI for bass......

if the budget allowed, id go back to the studio for vocals, but if not, get a nice vocal mic that suits the voice and construct a makeshift vocal booth.......

again, if the budget allows, send it out for mixing/mastering..theres a few people here that do that kind of thing and do a really good job for reasonable rates.......

dont rent anything.....
 
I am assuming that you will be selling this CD, and it isnt just a demo.......
 
Yes I would be selling the cd. I am a little shocked though... I would have thought that hands down, people here would tell me to do it myself!
 
Unless you have a) experience, or b) time on your side, it's pretty likely that you'll be unhappy with the home recording. Most of the folks on this board have spent a lot of time getting intimate with their gear, and that is what lets them get good sounds. I don't know of too many people who got great recordings out of the box.

If you have the ability to act as an engineer (not a band member) during most of the tracking, and have someone who can act as a 2nd (to move mics around, etc, while you dial in your sounds), it becomes a lot easier. I'd recommend going to a studio, just because you get someone who is doing it all the time on your side.

If you do decide to do it at home (and it CAN be done), make sure that you have time on your side. The first several trials will probably not quite be up to snuff.

If you do decide to do it at a studio, make sure that it's a studio which knows what they're doing. You'd hate to walk into a "stoodio" (just made up a word), where the guy is a home recordist who cannot put out a product any better than you could have.

And definitely set aside some money for Mastering. It goes a long way!

-mg
 
Going with home recording

I guess I all ready knew the answer before I asked the question. Thanks for the answers though. The reason why I will be recording at home is because I was not impressed the last time I recorded in studio. You can check out what I mean at


The recording sounds rushed... I thought that the engineering was poor quality and the overall recording sounds unprofessional. I am pretty sure that I can do better than this from home. I'll give it my best anyhow!!

Thanks
 
mori0043 said:
Yes I would be selling the cd. I am a little shocked though... I would have thought that hands down, people here would tell me to do it myself!
Click to expand...

90% of the stuff recorded here sounds like ass. 2% could pass for a professional recording. If you want a good CD in less than a year go to a studio. Just pick the right one.
 
TexRoadkill said:
90% of the stuff recorded here sounds like ass. 2% could pass for a professional recording. If you want a good CD in less than a year go to a studio. Just pick the right one.
Click to expand...


That's about it.


Pick a studio based on it's output. They should be able to provide you with sample material they have produced, hopefully similar to what you want to do in some aspect.

They should also be able to give you a good sense of how they accomplished what you hear on the samples.

As for recording at home, it's more about the person doing the recording than it is about the gear.

There's a lot to be said for the inspiration that comes when you know you are frittering away a couple thousand bucks of studio time. Alternativley, recording at home can take away all urgency, and you can develop an "I'll just fix that later" attitude. Pretty soon you're just fixing everything all the time, instead of doing it right in the first place!


One other drawback to recording it yourself is the learning curve.
By the time you've got ten tracks in the can, you hear so many things you've done wrong with the first few tracks you did, that you can't bear to listen to them anymore!

You'll spend over a year of your life working on something that you don't want anybody to hear!

OK so this is worst case scenario, but it could happen.

If you don't know much about what you're doing.
 
TexRoadkill said:
90% of the stuff recorded here sounds like ass. 2% could pass for a professional recording. If you want a good CD in less than a year go to a studio. Just pick the right one.
Click to expand...

where's the other 8%?
 
Teacher said:
where's the other 8%?
Click to expand...

It won't pass for a pro recording but at least it doesn't sound like ass :D

That's the decent 'demo quality' stuff.
 
You in that 8% Tex?


New Forum Name:

"The Eight Percenters"
 
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