You CAN have a pro home studio for 1 Grand!

[nooneimportant]

This reminds me of a response to a thread I was reading years ago...

"yeah, you could do that. you could also carve an entire set of furniture with a swiss army knife"

I think it comes down to experience first, and workflow shortly after, but I'm pretty green so what do I know (seriously).

[daez]

Theres a difference in saying you could whip a Honda like a Ferrari and saying a Ferrari can be had for the cost of a Honda . Nothing wrong with a honda mind you. a pro studio is about the space which you can build out or adapt your home too, should have an isolated room for tracking and be acoustically treated. I have a home studio that I make a living off full time and have pro gear but wouldn't consider it a pro studio. Not trying to be a downer just real...

[recordinghopkins]

Oh gosh, I almost posted in this thread.

[Jschwake]

Here's what I did with...

Recording Equipment: You can find these materials well under $2000 - aside from the instruments.

- a 5 year old macbook
- Digi 003r
- 1 sm57, 2 low end akg c-1000's designed for recording violins and accoustic guitars, and an audix D4 for the kick
- Pro Tools 7.4
- Mackie 624 (I think) monitors

Instruments:

- a free lower end drum set with high end cymbals
- Fender blues Deluxe
- Gretsch Chambered electric Guitar
- Rhodes Electric Piano
- Fender J-bass through Ampeg SVT DI

Application for mic's

DRUMS: 2 AKG on overheads, 1 SM57 on snare, 1 Audix D4 on kick

GUITAR AMP: SM57

VOX: AKG C-1000


bottom line:
I SPENT LITTLE TIME MIXING IT, WE ALL TOOK 1 TAKE EACH, NOTHING DOUBLED BESIDES VOX, RECORDED IN ONE DAY, PITCH ISSUES, LOTS OF RANDOM MISTAKES, TOOK 1 DAY TO RECORD AND MIX.

I played drums and did some BGV's. I have very little experience with mixing and only have a handful of plugins out of the box.

I don't know how to post that super sweet transient looking player from Sound Cloud, so here's a link.

I lost myself 2nd test by jarredschwake on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

[Convectuoso]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Forgot about my Sampson monitors....100 dollars used off of Ebay. Cheap, but they get the job done. Keep in mind that I don't mix and master my own stuff. That's an added cost I choose to have, mostly because I'm terrible at mixing my own stuff.

Just trying to motivate some newbies who feel they need to have to drop 5 grand on equipment to make good recordings. I'm not posting my stuff, it isn't up for criticism, sorry.

I'm sorry but that is horrible advice.

"Let's buy all this cheap crap and mix on some of the worst monitors imaginable, then you can sound just like CLA, Eric Valentine, MHB, Tony Maserati, etc etc etc"

[Convectuoso]

Originally Posted by Jschwake

Here's what I did with...

Recording Equipment: You can find these materials well under $2000 - aside from the instruments.

- a 5 year old macbook
- Digi 003r
- 1 sm57, 2 low end akg c-1000's designed for recording violins and accoustic guitars, and an audix D4 for the kick
- Pro Tools 7.4
- Mackie 624 (I think) monitors

Instruments:

- a free lower end drum set with high end cymbals
- Fender blues Deluxe
- Gretsch Chambered electric Guitar
- Rhodes Electric Piano
- Fender J-bass through Ampeg SVT DI

Application for mic's

DRUMS: 2 AKG on overheads, 1 SM57 on snare, 1 Audix D4 on kick

GUITAR AMP: SM57

VOX: AKG C-1000


bottom line:
I SPENT LITTLE TIME MIXING IT, WE ALL TOOK 1 TAKE EACH, NOTHING DOUBLED BESIDES VOX, RECORDED IN ONE DAY, PITCH ISSUES, LOTS OF RANDOM MISTAKES, TOOK 1 DAY TO RECORD AND MIX.

I played drums and did some BGV's. I have very little experience with mixing and only have a handful of plugins out of the box.

I don't know how to post that super sweet transient looking player from Sound Cloud, so here's a link.

I lost myself 2nd test by jarredschwake on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

While I actually dig that song as it is, if you are trying to say as the OP is trying to say, that that is a pro recording, I'm sure you'll agree it isn't.

That is how you set yourself up for a DEMO studio, nothing more. If you want better results, you need to put more time and money in. Care about fixing the mistakes. The general masses are surprisingly very aware of distractions. And I'm not talking about technical issues necessarily, but more about distractions in the broadest sense of the word.

[guitarmax_99]

Originally Posted by Convectuoso

I'm sorry but that is horrible advice.

Cheap gear isn't IDEAL gear, but it's better than no gear at all. My understanding of the OP's intent is that he's excited about results he's getting with inexpensive gear, and his message to noobs is: "you can do this".

Most of us start with "beginner" gear at first. I mean, it's too much to ask most noobs to whip out the check book and start buying Neumanns and Neves (we're IMPOVERISHED MUSICIANS after all!).

But here's the thing. I know I can make a decent sounding record with cheap gear (I've done it IMHO). I've since moved on to getting nicer gear, and I like the results even more. Would I trade my Neumann's for my MXL's? No. But I'm grateful that I had my MXL's when I was starting out because I learned a lot when I was using them (and yeah I got some decent results with them).

[Beefy]

You can record for real cheap if you just want some decent sounding recordings you can use garage band on your ipod touch or ipad. It sounds pretty good actually. We use to use a sony boombox with its little built in mic and it sounded good too.

I got about 2500-4000 in gear and I spend somewhere between 150 and 300 hours upgrading the electronics and making proper cabling. I don't use a computer and I can control about pretty much every aspect of the sound except crappy playing.

The truth is both do the trick and I like and can appreciate both. It's not really about the money you spend or what your even trying to do. It's more about the pursuit of excellence in everything you do. Of course it's also about trying to get some puntang. So any money you spend might be better spent on some axe body spray.

[euphoria89]

Originally Posted by guitarmax_99

What impresses me is that, gear-wise, the bang-for-the-buck factor that is available today is leagues ahead of what was available 20 years ago when i was interning. Nowadays, I think remarkably good sounding results can be achieved for under $2000 (but it depends on the scale of the production).

Below is a link to a clip I posted a ways back.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/5414739-post719.html

It was tracked with (roughly) $1000 worth of gear (not counting the guitars).

As for the OP's intent in creating this thread, I'm behind it 100%. Encouraging and empowering people to work on their music is a good thing! And no, you don't have to break the bank in order to get good sound (although more expensive gear can yield even better results and make it easier to boot!).

Lovely. Best example yet.

[guitarboy94]

I should also note that none of the gear I listed is cheap beginner junk. It's all gear that can be found in pro studios and has been used to make tons of commercial records. It's gear that a newbie can keep for the rest of his life. You don't need a 2,000 dollar pre or a 1,000 dollar mic.

Shure Sm7b $250 used
ISA ONE preamp $380 New
Oktava 012 pencil mic $300 used with a Mike Joly Mod.

My main point is that the essential pro-gear can be purchased for around 1 grand to get a newbie started in making great recordings. It doesn't guarantee a pro recording, but the tools are there are at a terrific price.

[taylorsparks]

Why have a stereo pair (assuming) oktavia pencil mics when you have ONE pre amp and ONE monster xlr cable..

Sent from my Droid using Gearslutz.com App

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Just the other day I realized how great my recordings are starting to sound after two painful years of buying and selling sub-par mics and preamps. I decided to tally up exactly how much I have invested in my current equipment. To my surprise, I came to the conclusion that around 1 grand can purchase a setup that can yield a pro recording. (and I stress the word can, provided one is a competent musician, songwriter and knows how to use that equipment). Keep in mind that I'm doing acoustic singer/songwriter type of stuff.

Here is my setup:

Focusrite ISA ONE preamp: $380 new from Ebay
Shure Sm7b: $250 used from Ebay
Oktava MK012 pencil microphone: $150 used on Ebay
EMU1212 soundcard: $150 new on Ebay
Monster XLR cable: $20
Sonar Producer 8 software: $50 used on Ebay
Headphones: $60
Monitors: Used off ebay 100 bucks.

Total comes to 1200 skins.

Now go make some great recordings!

$1k buys you a studio that is better than we had in the 60s that cost millions.

its what you do with it that is important

these days the cheap chinese mikes are a lot better than what most folks could get back then. a few big labels studios could afford the best but still not all that much better than a decent cheap mike today.

and you have to go a long way to find a pre that doesnt blow our old gear away.

problem is :
MISusing digital.
some SRC that are hideous. even expensive ones.
some daws with inferior processing filters fx etc
MISusing digital especially add on plugs and fx.

[recordinghopkins]

Forget mics, preamps, monitoring, and acoustics. Forget mic placement and gain staging. Forget tuning and talent. Forget songwriting.

The key to achieving pro level work is learning the difference between you're and your.

You're - \yü-er\ : contraction for You Are
Your - \yor\ : The possessive case of You

Learn the correct pronunciation and you'll never get it wrong again!

There are other equally important distinctions to make, but this is the place to start. Dealing in a professional world requires command of your language, which is also a key to getting the best vocal recordings you're capable of.

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by cavern

Agreed but what about:

Instruments
Computer
Monitors
Peanut butter sandwiches.

instruments are not part of a home recording studio
computer - used refurb for $99 tuned for audio works great
use headphones and your stereo speakers

[guitarboy94]

Oh come on....I'm typing this stuff up pretty quickly while at my desk at work. I'm doing a billion other things at one time. I believe folks get the point.

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by CJ Mastering

You can get a pro sounding song from a $100 4 track. Its not the equipment you have. its how you use it.

+10E6



those without skill want to think that they have overcome their shortcomings by throwing away money to buy expensive gear that they still cant use very well as if spending more equates to better results and improves their abilities to use it.

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by Enlightened Hand

Relax. Nobody's after you. It's just that making claims only makes sense if you back them up with evidence.

That and the fact that what you say requires some pretty important qualifications before people accept it. I for one would never tell somebody they can do it for less than a grand. Because the component parts are just too expensive for that when you really get down to it. I WOULD say it can be comfortably done for less than 5k depending on what and how you're recording.

$5k would buy a kit that is different

but different is just different
different is not better

its what you do with the gear that matters
a talented person with a $1k studio
will beat a schmuck with a 5k studio
also the kid with the rich daddy who bought him a $50k rig
and even the indie label with $500K of gear if they destroy the music with too much fx, overcompression and limiting, recording too hot, and basically not knowing how to handle digital well.

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by boon

i just bought adobe photoshop! now i'm a pro graphic designer!

???
that is the low end now

you need the full CS suite of adobe stuff to be pro

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Not to bust anyone's bubbles, but "PRO" and "Expert" are such buzzwords these days, as if "pros" and "experts" are an elite class of people with gifted knowledge from the gods. Truth is, most things, including laying down tracks, can be learned competently with several years of hard work and know-how. Like carpentry, laying flooring, repairing a vehicle, etc.

too many people claiming to be pros
are not experts

they just think that throwing money at gear made them one

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by Convectuoso

I'm sorry but that is horrible advice.

"Let's buy all this cheap crap and mix on some of the worst monitors imaginable, then you can sound just like CLA, Eric Valentine, MHB, Tony Maserati, etc etc etc"

so if you are not filthy rich you should not even try to do audio?

lots of noobs at the photo club use point and shoot camera
they have a lot of FUN
some of them even win ribbons

those who get serious eventually buy better gear
and READ BOOKS , TAKE CLASSES, and learn more
so they can improve and use the features on the new gear.

That is the sweet spot. Unfortunately a few try to become "pros" and waste time making pennies in microstock sales, and printing huge expensive pictures for the club contest to gain an edge at winning another meaningless ribbon.

the self described "pros" use really expensive gear
they dont seem to be having fun
it is more like work to them
and they do win a few more ribbons
but so what
was all that time and money really worth it?

the point is that you can do good work and have fun with the very lowest end gear

and no matter how much the deep pockets and golden eared sterophiles put them down it doesnt change the factoids.

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by recordinghopkins

Forget mics, preamps, monitoring, and acoustics. Forget mic placement and gain staging. Forget tuning and talent. Forget songwriting.

The key to achieving pro level work is learning the difference between you're and your.

You're - \yü-er\ : contraction for You Are
Your - \yor\ : The possessive case of You

Learn the correct pronunciation and you'll never get it wrong again!

There are other equally important distinctions to make, but this is the place to start. Dealing in a professional world requires command of your language, which is also a key to getting the best vocal recordings you're capable of.

this is the low end thread
it is internet spelling not formal grammar for a college essay

[newdigitaluser]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Oh come on....I'm typing this stuff up pretty quickly while at my desk at work. I'm doing a billion other things at one time. I believe folks get the point.

honest people got the point
its the folks who blew big bux needlessly
because they cant record crap with it
due to their lack of skills
that are trying to justify their silliness in blowing so much moolah

[recordinghopkins]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Oh come on....I'm typing this stuff up pretty quickly while at my desk at work. I'm doing a billion other things at one time. I believe folks get the point.

And congrats! With a quick search of the page, we find that you didn't even get it wrong! Don't take offense, that was genuine advice, not sarcasm. I roll my eyes all the time at emails I get from "professionals". In the professional world, the best place you can spend $1k is on education.


Aaand I've been sucked in to another partisan thread. Damn my crazy views!

[dugan03]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Sonar Producer 8 software: $50 used on Ebay

[redredstudio]

Originally Posted by Enlightened Hand

Here I'll go first:

The following is a RAW recording, completely not mixed, no input signal processing, no leveling, all of the faders are sitting at unity and only panning has been done. This was tracked on a Presonus Firestudio 2626 interface, with a Presonus Digimax FS channel expansion unit.
http://soundcloud.com/audio-wisdom/raw-band-recording-no-vocals/s-UtB7g

Mics:
-SM57 (snare, toms, guitar cabs)
-D112 (kick, bass cab)
-MXL 991 (overheads)
-Digital Reference DRHX-1 (high hat, ride)

Preamps:
-Presonus xmax (the ones included on the interfaces)

No other input gear was used (and there was no signal processing done whatsoever) but there was extensive use of:
-over a dozen mic cables
-multiple mic stands
-a mic snake
-multiple headphones
-a cue mix system
-a $2500 computer (original purchase price)
-Cubase
-my house
-monitoring KRK vxt4 + sub10 (about $1000)

All told it's a pretty modest, spartan recording set up. But it kills for home recording on a budget. And it's about reasonable for the kinds of recording people envision themselves doing. My point is that it's not about the price of the gear. It's how you use it. But in my case you can hear what I've done to support my argument, no haggling about mixing or mastering, because there isn't any. No worries about people "trashing" anything, because I'm confident that I'm telling the truth. They can trash it if they want, some people are clueless like that.

So I say, put your work up. Put it up raw if you want us to really know what you can do. I double dare you. At the very least it'll make what you say have some substance. Anybody can say what they want.

But show us...

WOW so digin this.... the music, the vibe, the roomy sounds, great work homie!

[guitarboy94]

Recording Hopkins,

No offense taken! I'm a published author, so I certainly understand the importance of proper grammar. However, I'd be a dead duck without the assistance of my editor!

And not to brag, but WOW, since the birth of this thread several days ago, sales of my novel, The Device, have skyrocketed! Could just be a coincidence, however, with everyone loading up their new Christmas-gifted Kindles and Nooks.

Patrick Skelton

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by newdigitaluser

$1k buys you a studio that is better than we had in the 60s that cost millions.

its what you do with it that is important

these days the cheap chinese mikes are a lot better than what most folks could get back then. a few big labels studios could afford the best but still not all that much better than a decent cheap mike today.

and you have to go a long way to find a pre that doesnt blow our old gear away.

problem is :
MISusing digital.
some SRC that are hideous. even expensive ones.
some daws with inferior processing filters fx etc
MISusing digital especially add on plugs and fx.

Sorry but I think you're wrong about a quite a lot. 1k these days gets you a decent demo setup, not a record making setup, it doesn't come anywhere near a 1 million dollar studio back in the 60's where they had great mics and a great acoustical space. What you find as you go forward in this business of recording is how true the phrase "game of inches" is. Some of these chines mics happen to be OK and some are garbage, in general the ones that people like Mike Joly and a host of others are hot rodding, and there are a host of mid price level mics, like the Peluso, and Pearlman, Beez Neez, that sound very good, however all of them are more than your 1Khz studio. The fact is you get your gear work on your music and then A/B it with records, and then ask yourself what's missing, you'll find it's a few things, years of experience and hugely larger equipment budget. I work quite a bit with singer songwriters who have little studios and after I've gotten them to buy a decent mic and pre and compressor they were able to get some useable tracks , and when we re-amped the amp simulated sounds, we got a pretty good sounding guitar sounds, but basically it took recording the drums, bass, re-amping the guitars, replacing crappy samples with better ones, we were able to keep the vocals.
I think it's more honest to say you can have a studio for 1k, but pro? hardly

[guitarboy94]

And why can't a Shure Sm7b going into an ISA preamp at home yield a pro result? Please explain! I'm not talking about junk equipment, here! Why should I pay a studio 50 plus bucks an hour to record vocals through the same flipping mic on the same flipping preamp? Again, as I have stated, there's no reason a person can't track at home on my above listed setup and then let a pro studio mix and master. I'm talking about two different things. Track at home on budget-friendly PRO equipment, then let the pros polish the mix.

[rasmussen]

If the song is great, and the performers are killing it, the gear used and the engineer's skills become less important, assuming the engineer is at least adequately skilled to capture the event.

So many things must come together for a recording to be great, but 1st and foremost: Great song performed by people with great energy.

99% of the time, this most basic variable is not met, deeming all of this discussion of gear moot.

I personally give no regard to anyone who voices strong opinions about gear or engineering skills and does not back it up with an impressive sounding song / mix.

[recordinghopkins]

Pro pieces of gear at home do a great job of capturing the sound of your guitar in a bedroom. You can really hear the slap off of the dresser quite well! Was that a motorcycle I heard after the first chorus? Nice touch!

But that's what you were going for, right? It's a creative decision. I get it!

Forgive my sarcasm, but it helps to make my point.
Pro level recordings require attention to more than just the signal path, regardless of who mixes it, or where.

A guitar in a bedroom still sounds like a guitar in a bedroom, no matter how much reverb is applied. OMG I sound like I have chugged the Gearslutz Kool Aid. Maybe I have. Maybe this mantra actually has some merit.