High Enders, how many of you...

[RCM - Ronan]

I started on 4 track cassettes. I freelance in a lot of rooms around the world but also own a pretty high end room in Los Angeles.

[mattjew24]

Originally Posted by RCM - Ronan

I started on 4 track cassettes. I freelance in a lot of rooms around the world but also own a pretty high end room in Los Angeles.

Did you freelance in high end studios before investing in high End gear?

[ShadowAMD]

I sold most of my stuff off, it gives me money and when freelancing gives the guy some money.. Win Win.!

[LeoLeoLeo]

Grew up in a little in them with my dad.

Jimi Jamison lent me tascam ?porta one? 4 track when I was really young.

I am freelance. Wish worldwide... But all around US.

I own my own gear. Lots now. Obsession... 1st real purchase was a mac g4 & 001 & sm57 in 2000 right when I started interning at ardent studios.

[Ward Pike]

I started out freelancing as a session musician and singer in my teens, Then got into recording gear at the same time... and built up, kept doing sessions and kept investing in gear. Had my own studio and then started freelancing again all over the continent. Then career change and career change back and have my own studio (fully loaded) again.

Both are good career paths but freelancing has its obvious advantages.

[RCM - Ronan]

Originally Posted by mattjew24

Did you freelance in high end studios before investing in high End gear?

absolutely. I also had a few staff positions that gave me access to high end toys.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by mattjew24

How many of you own your gear? And how many of you mostly freelance in high end studios? How many of you started with a DAW and some cheap interface? Or did you just get lucky enough to be able to use SSL's from the get-go? (Some do this)

Very lucky to have worked my way "old style" from running to assisting to engineering, getting to play with all the toys along the way.

Own a few pieces of high end gear, but not enough to call it a "studio".

[cinealta]

Originally Posted by mattjew24

How many of you started with a DAW and some cheap interface?

Started with a DAW? I started with a Tascam 38 and Yamaha live board.

[John Willett]

I own all my own gear.

DAWs didn't exist when I started. I started off with a decent open-reel, a good pair of mics and a pair of headphones - and then gradually expanded and added to it over the years.

Editing was with a razor blade, until I got the "Cat" splicer.

I upgraded to Digital in 1983 with the Sony PCM-F1 system and eventually purchased a "CLUE" editing system for it (still before the days of what we call a DAW.

DAT came later, and it wasn't until the 1990's that I got a DAW - "Fast Eddie".

I'm now on Sequoia.

[Suda Badri]

started with a presonus firestudio.. had access to amazing rooms while at sae and doing staff/work for free roles at big studios learn't everything there... then bought a whole bunch of gear and run my own studio now... all ITB and as far away from what i learnt on.. but the principles are all the same... admittedly, the worth of all my kit combined is not something id call highend, in terms of flexibility and IO but most pieces along the chain are..

[mu6gr8]

Originally Posted by mattjew24

How many of you own your gear? And how many of you mostly freelance in high end studios? How many of you started with a DAW and some cheap interface? Or did you just get lucky enough to be able to use SSL's from the get-go? (Some do this)

Started on mid-level analog gear before graduating to high end Neve and eventually SSL desks. Practically lived at Westlake Audio Studios as a freelance producer / mixer for over ten years before buying a state of the art Pro Tools rig around y2k... and then bought enough outboard gear to make Pro Tools feel like a large format Neve desk in a high end room.

Even though I worked hard, I was very lucky to learn old-school chops prior to the shift to the digital paradigm.

[Sofa King]

I own my stuff.
been collecting and building as I grew.
The comfort, convenience, and familiarity of working on your own stuff is inspiring.

But alot of my TV tracking is done on pieced together rigs setup in unconventional, uninspiring places. And I think I usually do a good job in those situations too.

My point is, that is great working in your own comfort zone, but good work can be done while working out of someone elses place. and if you can find a spot thats reliable and affordable, it may be better in the long run than owning and maintaining a couple rooms of gear.

all the best,
Sean

[ROBOCOPROBOT]

I started with a crummy interface and some cheap microphones in a friend's studio. I currently freelance, sometimes in low end project studios, and sometimes in nice high end studios, and I aspire to have my own high end studio one day. I'm assembling it piece by piece right now, and building my credit so I can put together my dream studio one day.

I think it would be rare to find someone who jumped straight to really good gear. I feel like experience with all the low end stuff is what makes a person a more creative and resourceful engineer. There are so many mic techniques, technical skills and mixing tricks that I would have never learned if my gear wasn't constantly malfunctioning!

[MrTechno]

Originally Posted by mattjew24

How many of you own your gear? And how many of you mostly freelance in high end studios? How many of you started with a DAW and some cheap interface? Or did you just get lucky enough to be able to use SSL's from the get-go? (Some do this)

I own ans SSL however not from the get go though.

I own all my own gear, it has been allot of hard work pain and tears though, but I own all my highend equipment.

[TTatman]

My business partner/tech and I own the building and the gear. In the '70s we started making live-to-1/4" 1/4 track reel-to-reel recordings in my band's rehearsal space using SM58s and a Tapco mixer. Then one day we put up a wall with a window in it and upgraded to a Teac 3340S 1/4" 4 track with a console built from scratch by my partner. Things got out of hand from there.

[automatom]

I'm a musician and I started on 4 track cassette machines, then 8 track reels, then 1880 digital recorder, then cubase with some kind of tascam thing, then protools with the first mbox, then logic with a focusrite. In that time had a million and one crappy mics and preamps.

Throughout I've gotten to work in some of the finest studios and learnt from amazing engineers.

Now it's Prism Orpheus, DW Fearn, RND, Gefell.

Still an avid home recordist but, egads, does it sound better now.

[mattjew24]

Thanks for all the replies. I had assumed many guys who work with high end gear were privileged enough to work with it from the start, either by the Intern route (when that was viable) or by simply knowing the right people.

For instance one studio manager in Nashville told me he's never worked with anything but PTHD and high end consoles. Ever. I guess that is what struck me. I had assumed we all started with cheap stuff, be it a 4track or a small interface now. It definitely made me a little jealous hearing that this person never had to really work hard to get a nice sound.

This is interesting, keep it coming!

[nickelironsteel]

started with a couple of sm57, a mackie24-8 and adats.

i own all my gear and i work freelance mostly as a mixer all over europe.

[amarshism]

Own all my own in my own room, wouldnt have it any other way