Why So Many Home Songs Suck

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PS - As to the main question "Why so many home songs suck?" There are many different reasons. Poor songs, poor production, poor recording techniques, poor arrangements, poor players & singers...etc. The reason they suck is because it's so (relatively) cheap these days to record and release your music. In the 1970s when I got into it, there were only commecial studios because the equipment was so expensive and it cost $80+/hour to record. Hell, my day job only paid $600/month back then. Sure, some lesser musicians/artists saved up and recorded some marginal stuff, but in those days it was mostly the labels (local & national) that paid for the studio time and they only took that financial risk on artisits that really had something going for them.. today we've lost that filter. No filters! Today we have much for freedom and ability to make bad music! Thank heavens!
 
Justsomeguy said:
My mum once told me "never feed the trolls" so I didn't, until now, mainly because after watching this blow by blow i found myself getting furious. Anyway, i won't say more than this;

The Feeling - recorded whole first album with at least two UK hit singles in their house!. Even their second album (which this article is about) was DIY'd in just in a bigger house with better gear

David Gray - Biography on Bio. - recorded "White Ladder" with some international number 1's in his flat on a four track!

The Creek Drank the Cradle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - one of the finest songwriters of the modern age imo recorded this first album in his garage!

Gotye - Making Making Mirrors - a short documentary - YouTube - recorded a international number 1 in his garage!

And the last foo fighters album, albeit it with a bit of help and a lot of money, was technically HR'd

Also, i'm very lucky to say that Les Reed is my grandma's neighbour and, as such, in my second year of uni i was lucky enough to interview him for a project. One of my questions was about the use of sampled instruments and i was surprised when he said that, not only did he use them, but he had a home studio which he used to both capture ideas and for sound design for film and tv. I think this approach of being a songwriter/musician and just wanting a home studio to capture ideas is still where a lot of people start. some may never go any further than that because, perhaps, they just don't want to and just see their home studio as a tool, but others find themselves drawn to the wonders of recording technology.

Fuck it, i can't be arsed to say more or get philosophical. And as it's already been said, what kind of person starts a profile called "hates recording" and then comes onto a home recording forum just to start arguments
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Folks music acoustic guitar, doesnt matter much the medium.

One guy writing, engineering, playing drums, guitar, bass, keys, producing arranging....

Problem is buying home recording gear doesnt make you all that. THAT is the point, you think it does.

If you do go make an album doing everything yourself and see how it comes out
 
Pakala said:
PS - As to the main question "Why so many home songs suck?" There are many different reasons. Poor songs, poor production, poor recording techniques, poor arrangements, poor players & singers...etc. The reason they suck is because it's so (relatively) cheap these days to record and release your music. In the 1970s when I got into it, there were only commecial studios because the equipment was so expensive and it cost $80+/hour to record. Hell, my day job only paid $600/month back then. Sure, some lesser musicians/artists saved up and recorded some marginal stuff, but in those days it was mostly the labels (local & national) that paid for the studio time and they only took that financial risk on artisits that really had something going for them.. today we've lost that filter. No filters! Today we have much for freedom and ability to make bad music! Thank heavens!
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Im talking mostly about internet forums. If you say you found a song on a forum you loved so much you went and bought it(and it wasnt somebody you knew) youd be lying.

And id like for someone to show me the great songs on here?
 
hates recording said:
Im talking mostly about internet forums. If you say you found a song on a forum you loved so much you went and bought it(and it wasnt somebody you knew) youd be lying.

And id like for someone to show me the great songs on here?
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I totally agree! But then why would one search Internet music posts for awsome music? Eventually, you might find something good, but it takes a LOT of weeding through the no-so-good stuff. It's hard to find German mic quality in China.
 
hates recording said:
Im talking mostly about internet forums. If you say you found a song on a forum you loved so much you went and bought it(and it wasnt somebody you knew) youd be lying.

And id like for someone to show me the great songs on here?
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There are many, but you wouldn't like them. Nevermind, we'll keep all the enjoyment to ourselves. Have a nice time.
 
Pakala said:
but in those days it was mostly the labels (local & national) that paid for the studio time and they only took that financial risk on artisits that really had something going for them.. today we've lost that filter. No filters! Today we have much for freedom and ability to make bad music! Thank heavens!
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Well said !!!

sad thing is its only going to get worse :(
 
hates recording said:
Folks music acoustic guitar, doesnt matter much the medium.

One guy writing, engineering, playing drums, guitar, bass, keys, producing arranging....

Problem is buying home recording gear doesnt make you all that. THAT is the point, you think it does.

If you do go make an album doing everything yourself and see how it comes out
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1) I agree, iron & wine may just be a folk record, but what about the other 4 examples?
2) i don't think gear makes you "all that" by a long shot. infact, i agree with your basic sentiment regarding great songs being the back bone of a great recording. Great gear is meant to enhance a great song. However, as i said, i think a lot of people get into home recording initially to just hear their songs from an outside perspective. Most then practice and build on their writing skills and playing skills whilst also working on their recording skills. Some leave it there and produce ok recordings of their songs knowing their weaknesses, some focus purely on recording and move away from writing and playing and into nothing but production, and some have spent the majority of their lives playing and writing and, to them, learning to record is the next step, the next learning curve, the next challenge. These are the people who probably can do it all and it's some of these people that your anger has been inadvertently vented at. Granted, you get some people who try to run before they can walk and try to everything at once whilst still learning everything at the same time, but, as was discussed earlier, to many this is just a hobby and places like this are here to help people, not berate them or argue with them. I still think this could've been a genuinely good thread with a lot of advice and tips about "what makes a good song", "Where do you start writing" etc etc if the initial tone hadn't been so aggressive.
3) i did. it was ok. it wasn't great, it wasn't awful, but then again, my focus has always been on songwriting and playing and the rcording always came second. i toured my arse off on the back of it for a couple of years, played some cool shows, met some awesome people, and threw a number of avenues earned a living from music that bought me my house, my car, and kept my girlfriend and i staple whilst she was finishing her post grad studies and beyond. Then my crippling spinal problem caught up with me as i was told it always would and it's left me unable to play guitar. As such, my focus has moved much more into the recording and mixing domain. Listening back now to my old stuff i know there are flaws in the production but it doesn't take away the joy that I and others got from it.
 
hates recording said:
And id like for someone to show me the great songs on here?
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there's a great amount of talent here in the mp3 mixing clinic ... some great players, some great performances ... some of them are recorded pretty badly too but if you can listen through the sound and enjoy them for what they are you can find some gems :) ...

oh and while your looking you will also find some damn near perfect recordings,amazes me some of it .... go look for yourself
 
Rustysurfer

Good point. My hobby studio was set up for fun, however it now has recorded dozens of albums for professionals, some with major success overseas, some not so popular, but it has been fun. I do some hobby recording...look up Rustysurfer on Soundcloud. And even though it is a hobby it does make money as a bonus. I have a full time job as well, so my mate does most of the recording.
 
Ok, I can see the local customs on this forum are to 'troll', but I thought I'd contribute a bit instead.

While rooting around in the internet music dumpster, I found this diamond: themates1 Radio
The music style may not be your cup of tea, but I think anyone rational would admit it is very well composed, performed and recorded.

I conversed with the guy via another forum when I found their music on the web, and he said he and his girl recorded everything in a small bedroom using relatively cheap instruments and gear. I bought a copy of their CD off their website (so, yes, it does happen, if you don't try to sell sonic garbage...).
 
"but a professional song will stand out over non professional one."
Really, I've heard some "professional" rubbish of late & some amateur diamonds (& not in the rough).
Do yu mean professional recording? Or professional song as it says in the quote?
I think there's a tendency in "radio land" to use technique/current/popular fads over a good song - the overuse of Autotune/melodyne being an example. Tin Pan Alley was filled with PROFESSIONAL songwriters paid to climb on the bandwagon of sound, sentiment and source. Even Lou Reed was an in service songwriter - the Ostrich or something similar being an example of his "professional" work. The last 10 albums by Lou have been examples of poor songs in a professional setting by a professional song writer.
Mid to late 70's I was paid AUS$78 a week (when the AUS$ was worth about US$0.80). A couple of hours in a studio was paid for by all the fellows in a band and we rehearsed incessantly until we had the songs down so we could best use the expensive time. I know rehearsing a part isn't nearly as important now as an hobbiest - though I do it a fair bit & have to do it across a few instruments.
I think the thread is bare.
 
18 pages on a dumb troll...i need to hang out here more


If only i didnt have to work so hard to get the kids through college...
 
Jean Micheal Jarre recorded Oxygene in his kitchen in an apartment in Paris...amateur
 
After reading this whole thread, I feel spent.....

What wonderful bounty could possibly come 'post' this s**t?

Instead of posting a popcorn eating emoticon, I'm actually going to make some popcorn, only because I can afford it, while I enjoy wasting my life taking the time to pop it, because I desire myself, to do so. That is an expense that I decide for myself, to be what I want.

If anyone has an opinion of what is good for me, then they can have that. But get your opinionated, attitude ridden, pathetic attempt to judge my love of popcorn out of my kitchen, because you are not welcome in my life. Nor to my favorite hobby, eating popcorn, that is. :)

I have something else I would like to say, but it would not be very 'mod' like of me. So I will just eat my popcorn...

:D
 
Imagine if JMJ recorded Popcorn in his kitchen & used up all the Oxy gum!
 
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