to record at studio or invest in recording equipment

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sport

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This is my first time at this forum. I'm sure you've had this situation posed to you before. I'm planning on doing a cd in the next couple of months. The music is like Lemonheads, or Gin Blossoms-that kind of thing. My budget is in the 4-5 thousand dollar range. I've been told than I can get good enough sounds for this amount of $$$ at a couple local studios. A couple of the producers I may work with are producers 'for hire' for a reasonable rate of 2-300 bucks a day. They have good credits and they and their engineers produce radio ready stuff. So I'm satisfied that I'll get pretty good sounds. My question is, for 4-5 grand, could I buy a setup at home where I could get a professional sounding record? If not-how much do you think it would cost? What is the learning curve like for Protools? I was taliking to one engineer/producer in town who briefly mentioned that I may want to invest in a digital setup at home, record the drums at a local studio, then do everything else at home. I'm totally ignorant regarding digital stuff, but I am intrigued by the advantages of digital-I'm leaning towards recording this way in the studio if I don't end up purchasing a home studio. Thanks in advance for your thoughts
 
Step right this way Sport! Welcome to The Greatest Show On Earth!

[This message has been edited by hixmix (edited 03-25-2000).]
 
Hi Sport...You are asking a difficult question !I can understand your problem .I've thought about it myself .And you will have to think about that one yourself for awhile! If you are going to record Airplay ready material...then there is no substitute for experianced studio personal...there is alot more than just equip. to think about ..there is a certain amount of skill involed that can only be gotten in time..How long did it take you to learn to write a song ,to play and to learn how to become a musian..how quick do you want to release this CD ? Myself what I do is demo at home....you cant beat this for fleshing a song out and getting some of the production values..but when it comes to doing major label recording or airplay quality I'll go to top flite studio every time...I don't know how long you have been in the game or how much exp. you have ,but just take some time to think about what you want to acheve..If you got 5 grand to spend on your record then....maybe spend 1500 on some demo gear, work your songs on that, do as much preproduction as you can yourself..that way you can get the most out of your CD.....Just my opinon...GOOD LUCK
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dondottcomm:
Hi Sport...You are asking a difficult question !I can understand your problem .I've thought about it myself .And you will have to think about that one yourself for awhile! If you are going to record Airplay ready material...then there is no substitute for experianced studio personal...there is alot more than just equip. to think about ..there is a certain amount of skill involed that can only be gotten in time..How long did it take you to learn to write a song ,to play and to learn how to become a musian..how quick do you want to release this CD ? Myself what I do is demo at home....you cant beat this for fleshing a song out and getting some of the production values..but when it comes to doing major label recording or airplay quality I'll go to top flite studio every time...I don't know how long you have been in the game or how much exp. you have ,but just take some time to think about what you want to acheve..If you got 5 grand to spend on your record then....maybe spend 1500 on some demo gear, work your songs on that, do as much preproduction as you can yourself..that way you can get the most out of your CD.....Just my opinon...GOOD LUCK <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm just looking for suggestions and ideas at this point. I've recorded in some major studios, but only demos. This time around it'll be a full album, and like I said the goal is to get it on the radio. I keep hearing about bands and artists who do some of their record at home and some at the studio. Paul Westerberg comes to mind. He has a home studio and some of the stuff he's done there has made it on to his albums. I realize that it takes years to get a handle on recording equipment but I have to start asking these questions at some point. I was curious about a setup that might save me money over the course of a few years. If I plan on doing 2 albums in the next couple of years, and the going rate at a good studio is 450 bucks a day-might it not save me some bucks to be able to record guitars, bass and vocals at home? I thought maybe I'd have the drums set up and recorded by a pro engineer in a big room. And of course the actual mixing done by a pro after I had laid the tracks down-or maybe it's not so simple?
So, do you know of any examples of stuff that was recorded on home studios that made it on to radio? Do you know what a minimum investment would be to get this quality recording-assuming someone knew how to use it of course. And if you had 5 grand to invest in a home studio what are some of the options you would recommend? What is the most important piece of equipment-is it the sound card? Like I said, just looking for ideas at this point-I'm not going to run out and buy anything in the near future. I just like to hear people's opinions, and thanks for your reply btw.
 
Without knowing a thing about you or your actual expertise in the matter, if you want pro sound thats ready to market then pay the bucks and have the shop do it. This is a mixed bag I know. You can spend $5000 to get it done for you, or invest $5000 and get a fair setup at home. But there is indeed a killer learning curve. One most of us are facing everyday. There are no substitutions for the quality that a pro team with a pro setup can get you. Point to fact, if theres an opportunity for you to make a jump to musical exposure by having the best possible sound in the least amount of time... cough up the clams.
 
Westerberg's home studio is ADAT based...This is the most "portable" media to go from studio to studio and the most common
 
A "fair" set-up for $5,000.00?
Hell, you could make some kick-ass recordings at home with 5 grand to toss around.
It took a bit of trial and error for all of us when we got started, but with practice and patience, you can make some awesome digital recordings at home.
Here's something to consider......
If you record at the pro-studio, and spend all or most of your money, you might still get a so-so recording if they don't know exactly what they are doing.
Also, you might not sell too many copies of the first album, and now all your money's gone.
Buying your own equipment let's you record at your own leisure, and as often as you want. Plus, you own the equipment, so you can record album #2, #3, etc etc.
You can also make some $$$ recording other people.
You can record naked if you want.
You can record at midnight if you want.
You can eat, smoke, drink, and chill out if you want.
There's no time restrictions.

Home recording is definitely the way to go.
The advantages far outweigh those of going to someone else.

... and no, I've never recorded while naked, but it's nice to know that I could if I wanted to.
 
I figure this time around I'll probably go to a a pro studio and invest in the home studio when I've done a little more research. But I also have to consider how much time I want to invest in learning how to use it, etc. So just to get some ideas floating around in my head, for $5,000-what are some of the options for a home studio(it's giutar based music with vocals-maybe some keyboards as well) What would you buy-or recommend for a setup that would be versatile, upgradable, etc. I've got decent guitars and amps-and shure 57 and 58 mikes. How about the rest? And also, I use a tascam portastudio 414 right now. I've got a computer with enough memory, etc, but no soundcard. How much do you think I would have to fork out if I wanted to do digital cd's with more tracks and better quality. Or is my 4-track going to give me better sounding demos than an inexpensive soundcard? Thanks for the info
 
Sport,

Maybe you can have the best of both worlds. Since you have a capable computer and some limited experience why don't you get a small home setup and still get the project produced in a commercial studio. Here's my suggestion (I welcome the comments of others). Remember these are just suggestions.

Portable Mixer (Mackie 1202 - ~$330)
Internal CDR for computer (~ $200)
Sound Card/Interface (Event Electronics Gina or Wave interfaces - $400)

Thats about $1000 spent and you can use the rest of the budget to do your CD commercially. To cut corners you may be able to do some preproduction or overdubs in your home setup.

This way, you'll still have a home set up and a good recording.

Just my two cents.
Rev E

[This message has been edited by Rev E (edited 03-29-2000).]
 
In my opinion I try to stay away from the computer as much as possible when it comes down to recording audio files. Maybe look into dedicated Audio CD recorder same thing as a tape deck, just a CD Recorder.
Unless you have a dedicated computer for doing music and that's all, it's sketchy as to the performance. I only use it for sequencing, and still, I get a hassel with skipping, ect. And I don't even think about recording audio into the computer, because one song will eat Hard Drive space like the Cookie Monster eats chocolate chip cookies.
What I would suggest for a decent setup:

Portable Mackie Mixer-330
Sequencing software(just for sequencing)-$50-150
Seperate CD recorder deck-350
Seperate Digital Recorder(you take your pick)-$300 and up
compressor(if you don't have one)-160

Although it may be a little pricy, when you start to work on your music at home, you will be glad that you got everything you need, and no substitutes or, things to "get you by". In this business, you need the resources( and practice). So start fresh with everything you need. Put yourself on the Pro's level.
Anyone else please let the suggestions flow.
My 2 cents.
 
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