why aren't the majority of people on these boards successful?

  • Thread starter Thread starter grn
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so we have a few who are successful on the recording side of things - and many people actually know what they're talking about... but this forum is for songwriters and performers as well. why haven't we been wildly successful as performers or songwriters or recording engineers/producers.

It's a bit like going on to an Amateur dramatics message board and asking "why haven't any of you won an oscar?"
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it's a slightly different in that we have the ability to record ourselves at a quality where most people will accept. the actors cannot do that successfully and must rely on many others. on this board I see some of the most talented individuals.
 
grn said:
it's a slightly different in that we have the ability to record ourselves at a quality where most people will accept.
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I think you've hit on it right there. Most homereccers are recording ourselves. One of my current projects is an oratorio of an epic poem I wrote about a chat room, using instrumentation such as dulcimer, digeridoo, bagpipes, and percussion. No one is ever going to buy that.
 
I throw a couple bucks at that - I LOVE bagpipes.

Really - No joke.
 
Please send me a Shure KSM44 (it can be slightly used) and then I'm sure I'll be successful. I won't forget you when I get my record deal. Thanks in advance for helping me out.

PM me for the shipping address.
 
Many people on this board were never looking to become famous and sell millions of CDs (I think we've kind of covered the engineer side, and some of them actually do have very successful careers, and I'm just glad they're here to help my sorry ass out).

On the musician side of things, it WOULD be interesting to see if there were people (or anyone for that matter) that actually did "make it big" that wanted to. I'm talking like Billboard top 40 or something. It's interesting that you ask why a "MAJORITY" of people on this board are not successful...there's like 30,000 members on here :eek: . We alone on this board would overflow a Tower Records...we can't all be famous. I know there have been people mention that they had a song or two that would be used in a movie or T.V. commercial. A lot of the music industry is similar to the film industry where it's not just how good you sound, as who you know...hell even then you'll get some shitty contract where you're lucky to make a $1 a CD you sell...but I digress...

Anyone know of any Top 40 (or 100) Artists that may have popped on this board at some point? I know I've heard enough quality music in the mp3 section that it seems inevitable. :D
 
grn said:
it's a slightly different in that we have the ability to record ourselves at a quality where most people will accept. the actors cannot do that successfully and must rely on many others.
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I disagree with you on both points. First off, not everyone can record themselves at the quality most people will accept. It takes time to figure that stuff out.

If it were easy, then you wouldn't need to come on this board and ask what a good bass track sounds like, would you? :D

Secondly, Independent film making is just as advanced if not more so than the making of Independent music. With the proper skills, knowlege, and training, you could produce your own (fairly high-quality) film . . . enter it in Sundance or similar film festivals and potentially be discovered. It's been done, and it's being done. Not at all unlike bands producing their own records -- it's a very similar paralel.
 
Well......

"If you build it they will come"

I built it!
They came!
I take the checks to the bank!
I report to the IRS!
My Kids spend!
I advertise so they have more to spend!

Therefore I fell successful.
In my own little world I am very successful.

Well Hell man, since it's an election year I'm thinking about running for recording office.

If there is such a thing?

I promise to lower everyone’s signal to noise ratio and offer medical insurance to anybody that has been zapped in the mouth by a microphone while playing guitar. (Ouch!)

Please vote for me!

C
 
grn said:
so we have a few who are successful on the recording side of things - and many people actually know what they're talking about... but this forum is for songwriters and performers as well. why haven't we been wildly successful as performers or songwriters or recording engineers/producers.



it's a slightly different in that we have the ability to record ourselves at a quality where most people will accept. the actors cannot do that successfully and must rely on many others. on this board I see some of the most talented individuals.
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I disagree, if you're talented and you have the motivation most will acheive success (to one degree or another). A good actor is a good actor wherever they're performing just as much as a talented musician can play well on budget instruments and a talented audio engineer can record good audio with budget equipment.
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
Because this is a BBS for home recording

It's a bit like going on to an Amateur dramatics message board and asking "why haven't any of you won an oscar?"
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HA! That's what I was thinking Kevin.

I'm a high school teacher by trade. Home recording is my hobbie. I respect all those pro recordists out there. I envy them in a way, but I love my job as a educator. Rock is my "release."
 
Massive Master said:
I throw a couple bucks at that - I LOVE bagpipes.

Really - No joke.
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Heh, you haven't heard me play them. :eek:

I'll send you a free copy if you master it :D

Seriously, this project is still in the composition stage, with recording slated to begin in November. It is likely to take me a couple of years.

But you can read an excerpt of the libretto, this is the unedited poem version, the lyrics will likely be a little different (the last 4 of about 260 stanzas):

copyright mshilarious said:
Darkness ruled the land anew
The eternal Word,
Spoken at the beginning of time,
Reduced to a murmur;

No one left to listen,
No one left to learn,
Nor repeat, Nor comprehend,
The echo of the Word grew quieter;

Having become so soft
As not to be a whisper,
Rather a contrast to the ultimate silence
Soon to be experienced for all eternity;

Yet the murmur remained,
Too low to hear, too quiet to notice,
Unable to be measured,
As the emptiness of the Universe itself.
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chessrock said:
I disagree with you on both points. First off, not everyone can record themselves at the quality most people will accept. It takes time to figure that stuff out.

If it were easy, then you wouldn't need to come on this board and ask what a good bass track sounds like, would you? :D

Secondly, Independent film making is just as advanced if not more so than the making of Independent music. With the proper skills, knowlege, and training, you could produce your own (fairly high-quality) film . . . enter it in Sundance or similar film festivals and potentially be discovered. It's been done, and it's being done. Not at all unlike bands producing their own records -- it's a very similar paralel.
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Adding to this, I think the future of pro studios (as we know it) will be gone. The home "project" studios will be so good that the record companies will be buying fully produced albums from bands on the spot. It is already happening and will continue to grow. Bands in the future will be working with the *studios* to produce albums that will be *bought and promoted* by record companies. This is exactly opposite of the past. All these pros working in pro studios complain about this but don't see the upside. The upside is that they will see a chance to develop an album with the band and make a percentage of the "deal" if the band gets bought up.
 
i feel successful when i walk down the street and someone says "hey didn't i see you on tv?" or when my old singer calls me up wanting to hang out so he can ask me if i want to start a band with him again. i may not have 3 million in the bank and be on a world tour, but i do have enough usefullness that people want to keep asking me to work with them.
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
Because this is a BBS for home recording

It's a bit like going on to an Amateur dramatics message board and asking "why haven't any of you won an oscar?"
Click to expand...

Perzactly!

Can we make this a sticky note?
 
grn said:
why aren't the majority of people on these boards successful?
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Maybe because this is the Home recording forum and not the Pro rec forum??? *hint!
 
acorec said:
The home "project" studios will be so good that the record companies will be buying fully produced albums from bands on the spot.
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This is already standard practise in various dance music genres for a number of years now. Labels shop for completely finished products which "producers" (=teenagers) have put together more or less in their bedrooms and/or on a laptop (with Reason and a sequencer, for example, and vocals tracked with an MBox and a $200-class mic).

I think as long as the end results are stellar, its a positive trend for almost everyone (except the pro facility owners). Sure, a lot of crap is produced that way, but once in a while extremely good albums hit the streets, which wouldn't have been produced otherwise. Also, sharing of files over the internet (also "invented" by the low-budget bedroom producers as means for sharing their music) forces the music biz to rethink their marketing strategies. Be honest: is $14 for a piece of plastic CD a realistic price (given that most of the money ends up in some big fat ass "producers' chair and given that the artist doesn't see much of the profit)??
 
"why aren't the majority of people on these boards successful?"

Excuse me? Isn't that a little patronizing? I put myself and my 3 kids through college, had a successful career, and now have the free time to record myself and my cohorts...a CD I recorded, and played on, and did the graphics on will soon be released, and I'm working on another one. I have spent a lifetime with music and art and don't think I need to defend whether or not I'm "successful". Hell yes, I'm successful at enriching my life and involving myself with gifted, creative people, and if you judge my success by whether YOU have heard of me or not you probably need therapy.
 
lpdeluxe said:
Excuse me? Isn't that a little patronizing? I put myself and my 3 kids through college, had a successful career, and now have the free time to record myself and my cohorts...a CD I recorded, and played on, and did the graphics on will soon be released, and I'm working on another one. I have spent a lifetime with music and art and don't think I need to defend whether or not I'm "successful". Hell yes, I'm successful at enriching my life and involving myself with gifted, creative people, and if you judge my success by whether YOU have heard of me or not you probably need therapy.
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What he said.
 
I'm not successful because I have an inferiority complex. I mean, yes. I'm the sole provider for my family. I have a wonderful house in a class A school district. My son attends the best pre-school in the area and my wife has the luxury to not work and attend college to finish up her degree and begin on her masters. And sure, we both drive nice cars that are bought and new. And fine, you could point out the memberships to the yacht club, the gym, and the various musical associations. And that i've got a beautiful collection of instruments and equipment to satisfy my hobby of recording. It's also pointed out to me that my new CD release has sold well and I have had to have 3 batch presses of it by request from my .com seller. All of which my income subsidizes.

Man, I wish I was successful...

Well, that was fun. Anybody want to talk about me some more?
 
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