Whatever happened to the music itself?

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Floyd1506

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I am a technical idiot.
I hate computers.
Despite myself, I bought the super duper Cakewalk Pro Audio 8 and I have a fantastic spiffy new computer equipped with a CD burner, and I have all the instruments and spiffy pedals I need. So it's all here.
What I'm wondering is how can I cut out the middle man in terms of recording and distribution? Every time i hear the words "home recording", they are mentioned in conjunction with the word "demo". I'm talking about making an "album" at home without a 3000 channel mixer that takes up half my wall and costs me an arm and a leg.
All i know how to do is play music and record it, and if my Cakewalk and computer can get "CD quality sound", can't I just make my own CD? And if I can, how do I get it out to the people without dealing with publishers,labels,recording studios,etc.?
I'm a simple man, folks, help me out here.
 
I don't see how you feel that a little PC recording system is going to compete with studio's who's starting costs are around $1,000,000.

Just because it is capable of CD quality does not mean that you have all the other equipment necessary to get great sound onto the hard drive, and quality components to mix it. Now Cakewalk makes a fine sequencer, and provides an okay way to record digital tracks. But are you using something like an Apogee A/D converter, or are you using a sound blaster type sound card? Do you have class A mic pre-amps, or are you using something like a little junkie mackie mixer? You you have at least an AT4033 microphone, or are you getting along with a C-1000 S ? Does your digital mixer have all the high dollar plug-in's for compression, eq, effects processing, etc...to even somewhat get into the ball park of analog high dollar rack unit's? Do you have very much engineering experience? !!!

You see, there is more to it (getting big time sound) than just getting a $1500 computer, a $400 dollar sound card, and a $100 mic. Although some great recordings can be made with the above, the knowledge of the engineer is going to make the biggest difference in the finale product. Next, having the tools that the big boys have helps alot. Sure, they shiny magazine ad said that such and such product, for the low price of $100, is capable or producing high fidelity results, but if you think that a $100 dollar microphone will work well on as many things as a $1000 dollar microphone, well, you have a little learning to do.

I think that it is important to remember that the equipment you listed can be used as tools for developing you music. If high fidelity recordings are your aim, you might want to get about a $100,000 loan and buy some real recording gear. You just are not going to get the kind of sound you hear off of the average CD with the equipment you are using.

I have written an essay that is posted on my website, www.echostarstudio.com/info.html that kind of covers this stuff in a little more detail.

Good luck.

Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio www.echostarstudio.com
 
Don't be so pessimistic sonusman!

I think whether or not you can produce a 'high quality' homerecording depends on the style of music you play. Obviously to get the 'slickness' of mainstream albums then you are gonna need big bucks, however if you are into an 'underground' scene then the standards are gonna be substantially lower and consequently a homerecording is gonna be nearer the industry standard in terms of quality.

To distribute CD's you could start off in your home town/city. I know that where I live that there are 3 or 4 big CD shops which sell a wide variety of music - from death metal to classical. More importantly they have a separate local music section. If you have similar CD shops where you live then just go and ask them to sell your CD's for you. If it sells well, then expand to more CD shops around your area.
 
Floyd,


This all depends on your ability as a musician/songwriter, technical ability - engineer, production ability, mixdown, mastering ability etc. etc.. I'm not sure what big time sound is, but I guessing something like... I don't know, Celine Dion? Madonna? Many commercially available albums have been recorded on semi-pro equipment such as ADAT's, 1/2" 8-track reel-reel and cassette 4 tracks. I agree with Cooperman in that the style of music does dictate how high fidelty can/or should be. The style also dictates the equipment requirements as well. I find the hardest thing about recording in a home studio is trying to be both engineer and musician. I would much rather have someone else push all the buttons and worry about the technical side. But... this is one small disadvantage of having a home studio.

If getting this album out as quickly as possible with the highest level of quality, both in recording an production is your highest priority - go to a good studio. If however, your not that rushed, willing to spend as much time as it takes to get it to your liking, willing to possibly sacrifice some fidelity and you enjoy the technical side of recording - maybe setting up a home studio is for you.

Big $$$ does not always mean good (or maybe even "big") sound. It means musicians with lots of dollars to spend, and don't mind doing it. Home recording is about having the freedom to learn, write and record whenever and whatever you like.

Provide some more details as to your budget, current equipment and how you plan to approach it all and I'm sure someone in here will try to help and not discourage.

Your topic: "Whatever happened to the music", brings us back to what we are all trying to do. The music is the important thing, equipment, spec's, lingo is all meaningless.

Emeric




[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 09-03-1999).]
 
I used to make tapes on a four-track. I got cakewalk for two reasons: more tracks and better sound quality. i don't want "great" sound or "studio" sound. I recorded in a studio once and i hated it. It was so clean and crisp, it sounded like a band made out of plastic.I have all the instruments I need (no MIDI) and a bunch of effects pedals, along with a decent amp. I'm willing to spend 100 or 200 bucks on a decent microphone but the ones i have now seem to suit me well enough. I'm going to record the drums on a four-track and plan to take till the end of this year to finish this album. I'm confident that i can get the kind of sound quality I want. However, things I don't know about are mastering, pressing copies, distribution, selling on the internet, or even getting more exposure. So that's my deal.
 
nevermind

[This message has been edited by nero (edited 09-08-1999).]
 
i agree with cooperman. it really matters what kind of music your trying to get cause look at "Guided By Voices" they sound great and most of their recordings were done on a mixture of boombox and 4-track cassette. so u mentioned mastering well thats your call if you want it mastered, master it, but if it sounds good the way it is, dont bother.
 
If you're talkin' about bypassing the recording industry altogether... Then get ready to get in the van... The main way to promote and distribute your own music is to tour and sell your merch at shows... This is more work than it sounds... You would make more money working at the loacal 7-11.
My advice... shoot for an independant label and a smalltime record deal. You need some kind of distribution...
DIY only goes so far... unless you can build your own record label...
 
i sorta disagree , but i agree with the " start your own label " comment..

record companies jerk you.. youll see 70 cents per record you sell if your lucky.. and before you see a dime of that you have to recoup all the costs of recording your album.. if your lucky , youll have a little of the advance money left over after you recorded your album , but with an indie label , thats not much... then theres publishing , but at 7 cents a record ( or whatever the going rate is now , im not sure ), its not alot.. especially if your signed to a low volume selling indie.. not to mention the publishing company will take half... so my suggestion is , to get in the van !!! record your album as best as you can .. press about a thousand copies to start... hire a manager/pr person/booking agent to get you alot of local gigs.. sell at your shows , and over the internet ( a very useful tool).. and see what happens... but most importantly... DEVELOP A STRONG LOCAL FOLLOWING .. and heres why.. when an a & r rep comes strolling along , and walks into a club or venue your performing at... they are gonna watch you... but more importantly , they are gonna watch the crowd .. they wanna see if the crowd likes you..and if they get into your music.. if they do.. they are gonna be interested , if not..then bye bye record deal.. a & r reps see your local fan base as a test market.. if they like you , then america will ( but not always ) like you.. if you just make a demo , and send it to a label , and they listen to it ( its doubtful they will even take it out of the box ) , i dont care if your metallica , if you dont have a local fan base , you prolly wont get signed... and if you do , good luck convincing the label to vigorously promote you... a label has enough money to promote about 20% of their acts effectively , that means some artists are gonna be very upset when thier album bombs.. if you have a strong local following , your more likely to be part of the 20%..

as far as profiting from self promotion goes , the profit margin is wider , but the sales volume is lower.. but say you sell 5 times as less , but your profit margin is 7 times greater...you end up making more.. but you do more work for it...

p.s. its not a bad idea to GIVE AWAY 1000 copies of your cd's at clubs and venues before you start selling just to become known... if your confident in you abilities as an artist , youll see this as a wise investment..and if your nervous about giving an entire album away for free , press a few hundred promo copies , which contains half of each song on your album , and try to entice them to buy the full cd with some sort of discount...

record labels dont see the music business as good music anymore.. its all about marketing... if you could get a crowd of 10000 people to watch you play a empty paper towel roll , the labels will take notice...

hope this was informative , most people dont know the real scoop on record labels..

- eddie -
 
Sure, you can spend a lot of time hunting around for an independant release, but really there is very little chance of getting signed (esp. if you have no experience or 'reputation').

You need to get the music out to the people and the way to do this is DIY. As I said in a previous post, start off locally and expand if it takes off. If the music is any good, word of mouth can go along way to getting good sales. Try and get some exposure in the local music press or perhaps on a community/college radio, but most importantly get out and play some gigs so you can sell your CD's, caps, T-shirts, bumper stickers etc at the show. The most important factor in 'making it' is to create a fanbase - by doing some/all of the above your partially there. You just need to hope they like the music.

Good Luck
Paul
 
Floyd,

Just make your music. Set the goals you want to achieve and make them happen. Get your music out there. Stay positive. Have fun. If you're happy - what else matters?
 
Thanks for all the advice,peoples.
I think i got the three cardianl rules now:
1.Play
2.Plug
3.Repeat (over and over and over again)
So, i guess this topic is kinda closed for discussion. I got more info than I coulda hoped for. So thanks again.
 
love the 'empty paper towel roll' reference Eddie N (hahaha!)

smoov
 
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