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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
is it really cheaper to record now?
is it really cheaper to record now?
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walterharp
1536 posts
Oct 16, 2014
6:37 PM
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Another thread on streaming being bad had some claims that is it cheaper to record now. In one sense this is true, if you make a medium to low quality demo on home-level equipment.
However this sells short several steps on making a really high quality recording.. recording engineers really know how to do things right (e.g. recording a full drum kit is not easy). The top notch equipment (stellar mics for example) are out of range for home or cheap studios. A really great mixing/ mastering job makes the difference between a recording that just sits there and one that jumps out at you.
I think the argument that you can do all this at home is for the most part bunk, and it sells short the level of professionalism and learning it takes to record and mix music the best it can sound. Why spend thousands of hours on practice, and thousands of dollars on your own rig, and then lowball the recording process and bring it all down to a mediocre level?
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LSC
690 posts
Oct 16, 2014
8:28 PM
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You're spot on there Walter. I just spent over $8,000 on the Matthew Robinson & The Jelly Kings CD including $700 for mastering with one of the best mastering houses in the world for just the reasons you state. Having said that, depending on what your goal is, home recording can still be a very viable option and one that wasn't available at the current level of sophistication until relatively recently.
When I did my first demos on a home computer 12 years ago and brought them to the multi-platinum producer/engineer/studio owner his first reaction was, "Let's just do them like this." The session players who heard the demos each individually asked me why I didn't just release the demos. But they were acoustic Americana with minimal instrumentation and no drums. The finished professional product was of course light years better but if I had more modest goals, just selling at gigs or to friends and the like, the demos probably would have sufficed. I'm sure you make quality recordings in your studio.
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LSC
Last Edited by LSC on Oct 16, 2014 8:29 PM
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Todd Parrott
1248 posts
Oct 17, 2014
12:07 AM
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It's possible to make great recordings in a home studio, IF... you have really good gear, have really good ears, and really know what you're doing. Many people who have "home studios" use them for the purpose of tracking (which can save money) and often have someone else mix and master the project.
But, even with tracking, there are lots of things that have to be done correctly - mic placement, compression, etc. When I record harp overdubs for producers, I use a Neumann TLM-103 condenser, and various preamps - Avalon VT737, Presonus ADL-600, or a Neve 1073 with an Emperical Labs Distressor. You don't necessarily have to use extremely high end gear for harp overdubs, but I would recommend it when tracking other things like acoustic guitar, vocals, or drums.
You mentioned one important point, walterharp, and that is the time it takes to learn what you're doing. Great gear doesn't mean a thing if you don't know how to use it.
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boris_plotnikov
1018 posts
Oct 17, 2014
2:17 AM
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It's such great variety of plugins so qualified sound-producer can make at home better that amateur soundguy on professional studio, while I suppose qualified sound-producer will make much more on pro studio than himself at homestudio.
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Excuse my bad English.
My videos.
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blingty
50 posts
Oct 17, 2014
4:03 AM
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Definitely the cost of equipment itself is lower than years back, and you don't need much to get started, so from that point of view, it costs less to get recording in high quality. Look at the prices of high-quality audio cards, it's amazing.
Todd, that's interesting that you use a Neumann TLM-103. I tried a good few of the big/popular mics (U87, AKG 414 etc) in studio a few years back and I found I much preferred the sound of the Sennheiser 441 dynamic mic so that's what I've used when people have asked me for harmonica parts. I'd imagine the sound it gives would also suit your style (which I really like!)
Actually on that, I've just moved house and the room where I'd do any work like that has a lot of hard surfaces so I'll have to see how that goes!
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blintgy like soundcloud, ug
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waltertore
2755 posts
Oct 17, 2014
4:44 AM
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I have recorded in world class studios with top engineers in the heyday of tape. Nothing can really top that IMO. But if you are going to split hairs to the umpth degree 99% of the listening public will never hear the difference between a good home computer based recording setup and the top tape stuff. Why? Because most of the world is visually focused. Most people listen to music on very low quality earphone speakers, built in computer speakers, or cheap stand alone speakers. To really hear a great recording truly shine one needs way high end components and speakers. Look at the videos shot by members here on new video cameras. The visual quality is usually so good I expect the audio to equal that but when I press play I can't listen for long because the audio hurts my ears. It use to be people spent money on reel to reels, tube gear, for home use. I remember the first time I heard music on a reel to reel with altec lansing tube gear/speakers. It was a Doors album and one I wore out playing on my cheapo record player. I couldn't believe it was the same music. Conversely, today we have focused on the visuals and the audio has gone backwards.
Another factor is - what do you want your recordings to sound like? Most people really don't know because they have little to no time spent in a good recording studio situation. Recording is an art form as much as playing is. One of my old bandmates, Mark Rubenstien, now lives a few miles away from me here in OH. He runs the recording engineering program at Ohio State University. He has played/engineered for people like Cher, Natile Cole, and such. He listened to my recent recordings and said he would not change a thing. That meant a lot to me because after 20 years of spending 40 hours a week or more at it I have finally captured my sound as I hear it. What others think I don't care. I am not out to make a hit record but am out to capture my sound as I hear it. I have some very good mics, preamps, compressors, and computer hardware. There is no way to make a great sounding recording with cheap gear, one button recording. It is just a matter of how deep you want to go with it knowing that 99% of the world will never hear a great recording as it really sounds because they listen on very low end gear. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year in the Tunnel of Dreams Studio.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
my videos
Last Edited by waltertore on Oct 17, 2014 4:45 AM
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Diggsblues
1590 posts
Oct 17, 2014
5:10 AM
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About ten years ago I did an EP of five tunes and
it cost about 2,000 dollars. I could never afford that
today so I do most stuff in my bedroom. I think studio
costs are as high as ever for a good studio.
This is at a pro studio.
This is a home recording.
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waltertore
2756 posts
Oct 17, 2014
7:21 AM
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nice tracks diggs!
If you go to song #80 - muddy and me you will hear classic tape from his folk singer album. I dubbed some harp using my computer based recording studio. I wanted to see if the computer could make it sound as if I was in the tape studio at the time of the recording. I think it worked good enough to fool most people. The link below was recorded in my studio with the sean carney band with omar colman on harp. it was 1 take, everyone in the same room, old school with 5 mics total. There was no isolation booth on the vocals and everything was within a few feet of each other. Walter
black nights with sean carney and omar colman
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year in the Tunnel of Dreams Studio.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
my videos
Last Edited by waltertore on Oct 17, 2014 7:40 AM
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Kingley
3733 posts
Oct 17, 2014
9:49 AM
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"is it really cheaper to record now?"
A complex question with a a very complex answer. The short answer is yes, because more than ever recording equipment and software is more affordable and available to more people than ever before. Things like Garageband, Logic Express, Pro-Tools, Q-Base, etc can all be used at home and most computers these days a capable of recording studio/professional quality music. However the reality is that most people can't or won't spend the time required to learn those programs to the level required to produce studio/professional output.
Hiring studio space has become a lot more affordable too. Due mainly to small studios popping up everywhere.
However that comes with it's own problems too. Simply because a person owns/runs a studio, doesn't mean that they are capable of producing professional quality recordings.
The most important factor (after the musicians) is the engineer. Good engineers are worth their weight in gold. A good engineer can make a great professional recording with the most basic of gear. A bad engineer will always make a bad recording even in a studio with state of the art recording equipment. That is why the best studios hire the best engineers. Hiring that kind of engineering talent and a state of the art studio will always come at a premium.
That doesn't mean that you can't find good engineers at cheap prices. Because you can. The secret is really doing your homework. Listening to other peoples music, checking out studio after studio and talking to engineers. More importantly than all of that though, is knowing exactly what you want from a recording and how to explain that to a good engineer in a way they can understand. Then being prepared to spend time and money working with that engineer to produce the best product you possibly can, at a price you can afford. A good engineer will understand you, listen to you, correct you when you're wrong and suggest things you've never even thought of.
If you have the artistic vision and are prepared to do your homework and learn the software properly and spend a lot of time working on a project. Then you can do it all yourself of course and cut out the engineer altogether. For most people that isn't really practical though.
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Diggsblues
1592 posts
Oct 17, 2014
10:29 AM
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Walter I think you got the best of both worlds. I has a warm feeling yet clean. Some digital records can sound like ice. I still prefer the old films of the
Philadelphia Orchestra compared to the new ones that they use on the news to report stories on the orchestra.
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waltertore
2757 posts
Oct 17, 2014
10:41 AM
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Diggs: Thanks for the compliment. I am with you on the old. I would use a tape recorder but the maintaince on it is beyond my interest and the tape emulators I use from universal audio are pretty close to the real deal. Most today want the loudest possible volume, highly compressed, total isolation on everything, multi track, and lots of bass. I hate all of that. I use the Universal Audio plugins. They are great and the EMT plate reverb is best available for the sound I want. People don't realize how hard it is to make a good recording. It is much more detail oriented than playing an instrument because with the instrument it is just that. To capture it right requires a chain of gear coupled with as much skill as is needed to be a great player of an instrument. I continue to be fascinated with my simple puzzle of all instruments played/sing at once with everything within inches of each other. Understanding each component in the recording chain is something most musicians will never want to go through but by turning their music over to others it will also recieve those peoples take on the sound. Great engineers will not make what their ears hear as bad recordings because a client hears that as a great sound. You have to accept them as they do it or find someone else. By teaching myself how to record my music I am now totally self contained. I have no need for other musicians or someone else to record me. This is the ultimate in creative freedom. I own my universe. I wonder how many musicans own the entire spectrum and are honestly satified with the quality of their playing/recordings they make? Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year in the Tunnel of Dreams Studio.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
my videos
Last Edited by waltertore on Oct 17, 2014 10:47 AM
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