Why do you record at home?

  • Thread starter Thread starter squibble94
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Because in a matter of minutes I can get that chord progression or vocal out of my head and onto disk. Inspiration is time sensitive. Once it's gone, it's gone.
 
TheGuitarMan said:
Because in a matter of minutes I can get that chord progression or vocal out of my head and onto disk. Inspiration is time sensitive. Once it's gone, it's gone.
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yeah. I keep a guitar and a small interface at work for that same reason.

As for why I record at home, well, first off, it's more fun to do it myself. I guess it started out in high school when I though it was cool because I felt like a rock star. Now I do it because I've been doing it so long I can't think of much else to do.

The more I can eliminate unnecessary people from the process, the better of my music is. I think the best band would be just two people. That's why playing in bands doesn't appeal to me. It sounds like a fun idea, but as soon as you have 5 people in a room, the simplest of things seem to take 5 times longer than they should, and there is always someone who gets offended easily.

So I sit at home in my little hole recording songs. I don't have to smell anyone's farts but my own.
 
mshilarious said:
Bands make gigging harder on themselves than it should be. Nobody needs to bring an amp to a bar that has a decent PA (corollary: don't play gigs at bars without decent PAs). Just go direct, use your pod, whatever. Sure, you can hear the difference, but only you can, no one in the audience cares. Most of them aren't even listening, or if they are, they are just listening to the vocals.

Set up one mic for the drums and learn how to balance your own kit. Or don't; again, no one really cares. In fact, the drunks who are already at the bar and drunk at your 5pm soundcheck will be happy that they don't have to listen to you pounding out quarter notes on each drum while the soundguy gets all happy with his mix.

Setup in fifteen minutes, load out in five, get paid. If it doesn't increase your paycheck, don't do it.
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Ive been in theatres in Branson Mo where they set up exactly like that.
 
I record at home because traditional studio environment wouldn't be condusive of the type of stuff I do.
 
Here's my reasons

1. Its cheaper (for me).
2. I can do it on my time!
3. I don't have to deal with some guy that thinks he knows everything.
4. It gives me a greater sense of pride (Not in a egotistical way) knowing that I was able to create something from scratch and that I was able to learn something new.
 
I just liked the idea of being able to record, edit or mix whenever I want, at my own pace. I also have a live room so I can have some friends over to jam, and be able to record it with a decent level of quality.
 
terrific thread.

i'd pipe up my reasons, but they've all been covered.
 
It's about freedom, I think.

I would say I like to the process from song creation to song finish. The only thing I don't like is how much time it consumes. Actually, I should say how much time other things consume that keep me from recording. My song queue is ridiculous and yet I've only recorded/created almost two songs in full. So I end up being angry about the whole thing. So to me it seems it's about freedom and it is a balance. Recording at home allows you to work offline from the world where you can try as many ideas as you want, but then you can take too long, get stressed, and feel even more confined by the external forces. I'm still looking to optimize my methods to reduce stress and maintain the personal workspace.

Kerrio
 
I record at home because that's where my stuff is :)

As dumb as that sounds, I travel a great deal and usually on very short notice which makes scheduling studio time rather pointless. In most cases I'd end up paying $500 for a 4 hour block at a local place to record a bunch of rehearsing in the hope I can catch a couple of decent takes or worse still, end up having to pay for time I can't use cos I had to hit the bricks

Because of that for me I'd rather have some gear at home so I can record scratch ideas when I'm fiddling around at home so I don't forget what I was thinking when I'm in the air. practice practice practice like crazy between trips and then hit record whenever I feel like I'm ready to commit something to "tape" and not wait for a studio appointment that I may end up having to miss

AS far as covering the costs of a home set up...HA HA. at current pace of album/EP sales and Royalties I think I'd need to live to be about 300 years old but It's fun, very interesting, I like doing it and the feeling of yeah I did it when a project is finished.
I could easily drop the same amount of money in Vegas in about 30 minutes and generally speaking have nothing to show for it except maybe a couple of free drinks and a feeling of "well that sucked"
 
mshilarious said:
Bands make gigging harder on themselves than it should be. Nobody needs to bring an amp to a bar that has a decent PA (corollary: don't play gigs at bars without decent PAs). Just go direct, use your pod, whatever. Sure, you can hear the difference, but only you can, no one in the audience cares. Most of them aren't even listening, or if they are, they are just listening to the vocals.

Set up one mic for the drums and learn how to balance your own kit. Or don't; again, no one really cares. In fact, the drunks who are already at the bar and drunk at your 5pm soundcheck will be happy that they don't have to listen to you pounding out quarter notes on each drum while the soundguy gets all happy with his mix.

Setup in fifteen minutes, load out in five, get paid. If it doesn't increase your paycheck, don't do it.
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Best post ever. A huge dose of reality. It is sooooo true. Only the players at your standard bar seems to think anyone cares.
 
Bristol Posse said:
I could easily drop the same amount of money in Vegas in about 30 minutes and generally speaking have nothing to show for it except...a feeling of "well that sucked"
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You could also do the same thing in a casino ;);)

G.
 
I just enjoy doing it.

My dad was a music lover ages before me, so I grew up around a lot of classic albums - the Stones, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, you name it - and I always thought there was something magical about music and a good album. I picked up the guitar when I was 15 or so, and had a blast learning how to play it and play other people's music. Every once in a while I'd come up with a riff or something, and when I was in a band we'd try doing something with them, but I never really felt I had a reason to write.

Then I went to college, and a buddy of mine from my freshman dorm floor installed a copy of the demo for Acid 2.0 on my laptop, since he thought I'd enjoy it. I got hooked - suddenly I had a reason to write music, since I could turn it into something, working alone in my bedroom.

I just think it's one of the most rewarding experiences in the world, to fuck around in front of a computer for a couple hours, mix something down, pop it into a CD player, hit play, and sit back and think, "I did that." It's magic, pure and simple.
 
i like recording at home because i have total control and it's a lot more comfortable environment.

also i prefer the acoustics in homes to studio altered room sounds.

yo, i'm new. i have been recording for 7 years though.
 
johnsuitcase said:
Having a home studio is great double-edged sword. If you use it, you can discover a lot about your strengths and weaknesses, your compositional skills, etc, without spending money dinking around in a pro studio. Unfortunately, most people with home studios barely use them at all. If you added up the total hours they spend in a year, it's less than 100.

Also, there are very few musicians who can make decent home recordings. By 'decent' I mean something that a listener who isn't a friend or family would actually listen to more than once. Most stuff self-recorded at home sounds terrible. Sorry, but it's true.

There's a big industry built around selling the dream of the home studio. People make a lot of money telling you that you don't need 10 or 20 years of experience to make decent recordings. That's a lie. No gear will ever replace an experienced, talented engineer.

I think the gear available to home recordists is fantastic. It's entirely possible to make a record that sounds as good as anything on the radio, at home, with less than 10k worth of gear. And maybe 1 out of 1000 musicians can do it themselves, without years of learning.


Build a home studio, I think they're great. But don't kid yourself that you're going to make great recordings without spending a loooong time learning how. Not a few months, not a few years, doing one session a month. I'm talking 10 years, working every day.


I don't mean to sound like a spoil-sport or that I'm pooh-poohing the home studio revolution, I just get tired of seeing Presonus ads that basically portray some kids making a great record with their home computer and the latest Firewire interface. I realize it's marketing , but it's disingenuous at best.
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As a kid, I loved football grounds. They were magical places to me and whenever I'd see one, I used to get shivery all over. When I saw the old Wembley stadium, well, that was like being transported to God's right hand ! Once I'd been to football matches, recording studios became the same way to me, all the more mythical and magical because they weren't obvious and easilly identifiable. If you walked past Abbey Road, it just looks like a house.
The first time I walked into a studio, I was 29 and it was the basement of this producer's flat. After the session {my friend was a singer and she asked me to help with backing vocals} I was talking with the producer about studios and he said to me "a studio is really just a room". I know that things get done to the room but essentially, that's all it is. I used to see the odd photo of the inside of a studio, but mainly what you'd see was the console{which admittedly looked cool to me}. I had my own flat at the time and I'd been jamming with a buddy who played drums {I'd bought a kit and some congas and bongoes} and I used to record it on my tape deck. Actually we'd jammed since '82 and always recorded it {he's one of my main collaborators now}. So when I actively started recording with a multitrack {a Fostex X-15}, the notion of recording at home wasn't alien to me. In fact, as most of the people in my flats were young and noisy, it didn't even occur to me not to and besides, I would never record the drums beyond 7pm. And I'd DI the bass via the amp.
So wherever I've lived since then, my eye has always looked at one of the rooms as a 'studio'. I even do that when I visit friends ! At the moment, I live in a 2 bedroom flat so recording is mainly done in my kids' bedroom. But I also use the loo and the bathroom {rare acoustics}, sometimes the front room and the kitchen. As I use a standalone DAW, a computer and a Tascam 488 and mainly live instruments, there's a certain flexibility that I have. That extends to being able to record long into the night or if I'm keeping an eye on the kids or whatever. My friends that record with me are at ease and in fact we 'waste' alot of time chatting before we get down to action ! If I want to drink or eat something, it's there. If I get cold or hot, I can adjust. It's convenient to record at home and the funny thing is that studios no longer hold any fascination for me ! I go past Abbey Road regularly and just watch the tourists waiting for a clear road so they can cross the zebra crossing ! I go past Zomba studios and it looks like an office block....
Glen made an important point when he said that a home recordists' motivation was important - was it the song or the recording process ? For me, it's not quite so clear cut - it's the songs that are getting out of our heads and onto something final. It's the songs I'll listen to. But there's a process to getting them there and so one may as well enjoy that aspect too. I'm not rabid about it, it's a pleasurable means to an end and I want to learn more about it and how to make better mixes. But it's a hobby.
To Johnsuitcase, I'll say this. I spend alot more than 100 hours a year in my 'studio' ! I think many more hobbyists do than you realize. And having listened to much stuff from users of this site, I can't agree that most stuff recorded at home is terrible. Quite the opposite, actually. It's all a matter of taste. I have loads of big time albums over the decades that sound ropey. But I still love them. I agree that the manufacturers of gear have a product to sell and promise the moon, but we're simply not all suckers. And of course many of us know we're not going to achieve as hobbyists in a year what a full time engineer can. But over a period of time we can learn, do learn and hopefully progress. Well some of us do !
Sorry this was so long and rambling. I've relieved all my pressure.....:D
 
grimtraveller said:
To Johnsuitcase, I'll say this. I spend alot more than 100 hours a year in my 'studio' ! I think many more hobbyists do than you realize. And having listened to much stuff from users of this site, I can't agree that most stuff recorded at home is terrible. Quite the opposite, actually. It's all a matter of taste. I have loads of big time albums over the decades that sound ropey. But I still love them. I agree that the manufacturers of gear have a product to sell and promise the moon, but we're simply not all suckers. And of course many of us know we're not going to achieve as hobbyists in a year what a full time engineer can. But over a period of time we can learn, do learn and hopefully progress. Well some of us do !
Sorry this was so long and rambling. I've relieved all my pressure.....:D
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I didn't mean to imply that all home recordists are terrible, or anything. I got into this to record my band, too.

I'd say that people on this message board (and others) represent a small percentage of those who own gear. The fact that we're here talking about recording means we have a certain amount of interest in improving our skills, etc. But I would say that the majority of people with home setups don't even bother to read books, let alone go online and try to dig up specific answers.

I only say this because almost every band I record has a home setup, or several. And being this is Phoenix, a majority include one or more members who attended CRAS. You would think they could get good results, if anybody could. But going to school and buying the gear isn't going to get you great results. If you spend the hours working, and reading, and learning, you'll get there. Anybody can do this, if they put in the hours.

But realistically, most bands are going to spend a few weekends messing around and get something kinda mediocre themselves. Then they can decide to hire someone who has the skills, or they can spend the next few years learning to do it better.

I encourage every band to record themselves! I just think they need to be clear that it's extremely rare for a band or artist to self-record a great piece of audio.
 
johnsuitcase said:
I didn't mean to imply that all home recordists are terrible, or anything. I got into this to record my band, too.

I'd say that people on this message board (and others) represent a small percentage of those who own gear. The fact that we're here talking about recording means we have a certain amount of interest in improving our skills, etc. But I would say that the majority of people with home setups don't even bother to read books, let alone go online and try to dig up specific answers.

I
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Actually, on reflection, you may be right.
 
squibble94 said:
Hey Guys

I'm not sure where to put this topic, so feel free to move it somewhere if need be.

Anyway, I was sick for a while. During that period I had a lot of time to think. I was lying in bed with a pounding headache, and I took a look at my computer (the one I record with.) I thought, "Man, recording is REALLY expensive. I still need all this software and equipment to complete my bedroom-studio. I'm not even considering room treatment!! Why do I blow all of my money on this stuff when I could just record in a real studio for 50 bucks an hour."

I live about 30 minutes away from a great studio, but something about it turns me off.

I think I record at home because it feels like I actually accomplished something. It's not just me playing songs. It's me setting up the "studio", writing, recording, editing, mixing, and mastering my songs.

So why do you guys spend over a thousand dollars on a home studio when you have access to a real studio? (you might not... if you don't, then it's kind of obvious why you have a home studio. Feel free to post something though!) But even if you did have a nearby studio, would you use it?


~Squibble94
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You can record in a studio for 50 bucks an hour, or as you said you can record at home and build your own "studio" for thousands of dollars.
You could go into a studio and bang a couple of songs out pretty fast in 2-3 hours, but if you have your own studio even though you spent a ton of money on it, you have pretty much unlimited time to spend making music and not worry about costs adding up, not worrying about some doucher engineer thats going to tell you about the way something HAS to be done, not worrying about how fucked up you can get before you record or anything. If your are recording in your home, you are the one in control, and if you are an artist, then you like control.

Thats why I record at home. Plus I'm a freakin awesome engineer and my parents bought me a ton of recording equipment.
 
To me it's kind of like asking "why do play the guitar if you can just buy a CD for $15 and listen to someone play better?"
 
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