You CAN have a pro home studio for 1 Grand!

[guitarboy94]

Attachment 279012EDIT: As promised, I have finished and posted a track. I also re-edited my title and post, hoping it would create less confusion regarding my intentions. Please be kind. This tune is my baby. It took all the courage I had to post it here after all the ruckus I created. This post was formulated merely to inspire other recording musicians to work hard with the gear they have. Yes, there are a few rough edges. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. Heck, I recorded my whole record in a spare bedroom with 1.5K worth of gear. I'm kind of going for an old-school Tom Petty/Wallflowers vibe.

Track was mixed and mastered by Cave Studios in France for 85 bucks. They're pretty darned terrific to work with.
Here is their link: WELCOME TO MIXING AND MASTERING ONLINE

Here is my setup used strictly for tracking (not mixing or mastering):
PrimaAcoustic Vocal Guard $100
DBX 163X Compressor $30 used off ebay
Blankets for room treatment $25
LiveWire Power Conditioner $60
Focusrite ISA ONE preamp: $380
Cad M9 condenser Mic: $220 new
Telefunken Tube upgrade for CAD: $40
Oktava MK012 pencil microphone: $150 used on Ebay
Oktava MK012 Mike Joly upgrade $100
EMU1212 soundcard: $150 new on Ebay
Monster XLR cable: $25
Mixcraft software: $60 new
Headphones: $60
Monitors: Used off ebay 100 bucks.

[cavern]

Agreed but what about:

Instruments
Computer
Monitors
Peanut butter sandwiches.

[gravyface]

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 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

Total comes to 1K. Friends, I kid you not, with this above setup, there's absolutely no reason a competent person can't yield a pro recording.

Call the 1-800 number at the bottom of your screen RIGHT NOW to order my how-to video! You TOO can be a PRO!

[M4-10]

Some of your better studios also have a pair of headphones.

[Enlightened Hand]

It has never been about price tags on the gear.

Where are these recordings by the way?

[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.

[guitarboy94]

Headphones...60 bucks.

So, my total comes to 1200 bucks.

[Enlightened Hand]

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.

How are you backing up what you say about your recordings sounding professional if we can't hear them?

Strange way to motivate:

"Trust me it'll work."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've done this before."
"How do I know that?"
"Because I say so. Sorry no criticism."

[guitarboy94]

Because I don't want to. I've seen the way great sounding tracks get completely trashed on this site. I don't want any part of that, sorry. That's not the point of this thread.

I'm strictly coming from a quality equipment angle. My point is that the above gear is pro-quality at a terrific price. Potential buyers can do some more digging if they want to hear recorded tracks with this equipment. The internet is loaded with it.

[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...

[guitarboy94]

Awesome...I'll have a listen later tonight on my good speakers.

[smoovemode]

I believe there are some Genres of music that cost more than others to record. I'm sure we can all agree that Pop and Techno is cheaper and less demanding to record than Jazz, Opera or Classical.

Techno is loud all the way through, Pop is loud, all the way through. If there was a noise floor issue, I doubt any of the Genre's listeners would know or would even care. Most electronic music is done...electronically! So, very few of the tracks are even audio tracks. So the quality of a given system is not challenged.

Now, Let's go to Jazz. Less noise, detailed notes, extremely dynamic, quiet spots, etc. Not only this, but you need more mics because just about every instrument is live. Now, take that same 1000.00 recording system to this? Listening, Yeahhh, I heard that sh**. All sorts of "Ss" (hiss) and when that Sax player goes from quiet to LOUD...Oh man...you hear that slight buzz? One of the reasons why Jazz, Old School RnB and soul is to said to be "Dying" is because it's EXPENSIVE to record it properly. Some of the nuances you hear in a 1000.00 mic won't even register in a 100.00 mic. Same thing goes with the other gear.

Oh Man, Don't get me started with classical. Even more pauses, nuances and stuff. However, I do believe dreams can be made on systems around 1000.00-1500.00 for certain genre's of music.

[Draytone]

To the original poster, I see the intent in what you are trying to say.

[guitarboy94]

Enlightened,

Wow! Amazing guitar-work! Love the melody as well. Is that you playing the axe?

[dasnub]

You can make great recordings on a budget, but $1000 is not that budget in my opinion. I consider my studio fairly modest (no outboard gear) and its cost me well over $10,000. Heck, my VDrums, guitar, bass, and keyboard got me up to around $3000 before I ever thought about buying stuff to record them with.

[piano]

Or you can work on your song and pay someone in a real studio the money and get a professional sound. : )

[onespecial]

yeah, but jazz sucks.

[RARStudios]

How does this make you pro?

[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.

[daez]

If that's what you consider pro. I would say you couldn't even adress the acoustics in a pro studio for a g. The sm7b and isa one are pro pieces but that isn't the same thing as a pro facility. beside the fact your budget for cables is the cost for one cheap xlr. You can get a great setup for pennies nowadays but let's not get too carried away.

[Enlightened Hand]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Enlightened,

Wow! Amazing guitar-work! Love the melody as well. Is that you playing the axe?

Thanks. But not at all is that me playing anything. That's me recording things.

[guitarboy94]

Sorry, I don't think a singer/songwriter needs 10,000 bucks invested in recording equipment to make acceptable sounding music. Maybe if he or she needed to record a whole band, a jazz ensemble, an orchestra, etc. But just a voice and an acoustic guitar? I think not.

Listen, I have a 1997 Jeep Cherokee with 250 thousand miles on it. It's worth maybe 1500 bucks, but damn, it runs like a top. It gets me from point A to point B just as reliably as my friends 50 thousand dollar Lexus. That's my point. I think a bare minimum of 1K CAN get a singer-songwriter recording pro sounding tracks in a bedroom studio. With hard work and talent, it's very, very possible. My budget does not include instruments. That's a given that a musician on a budget already owns some instruments and a computer to record into.

I'm not trying to belittle studio owners who have lots of money invested in their setup. I understand that if you are running an actual business with clients, you need to have an appealing selection of mics, preamps, etc. I'm strictly talking about an individual looking to make quality tracks on a budget.

[guitarboy94]

This IS the Low End Theory forum, right?

Sheesh...I feel like I set foot into that "other" forum! LOL

[guitarboy94]

Looks like I have all the fancy, smanshy Studio owners after me now! Time to run! LOL

[guitarboy94]

Nice job, Enlightened! Sounds fantastic!

[Enlightened Hand]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Looks like I have all the fancy, smanshy Studio owners after me now! Time to run! LOL

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.

[boon]

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

[Wiguan]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Sorry, I don't think a singer/songwriter needs 10,000 bucks invested in recording equipment to make acceptable sounding music. Maybe if he or she needed to record a whole band, a jazz ensemble, an orchestra, etc. But just a voice and an acoustic guitar? I think not.

Listen, I have a 1997 Jeep Cherokee with 250 thousand miles on it. It's worth maybe 1500 bucks, but damn, it runs like a top. It gets me from point A to point B just as reliably as my friends 50 thousand dollar Lexus. That's my point. I think a bare minimum of 1K CAN get a singer-songwriter recording pro sounding tracks in a bedroom studio. With hard work and talent, it's very, very possible. My budget does not include instruments. That's a given that a musician on a budget already owns some instruments and a computer to record into.

I'm not trying to belittle studio owners who have lots of money invested in their setup. I understand that if you are running an actual business with clients, you need to have an appealing selection of mics, preamps, etc. I'm strictly talking about an individual looking to make quality tracks on a budget.

I got your point there.

Me too on my lowest spenditure when it comes to recording.

Sometimes I even come to a cheaper alternative where in real studio, they will laugh at your settings.

But hey, it works.
That's the point rather than saving for expensive shiny equipment and the wait is forever.
But of course if we can afford the more expensive gear the better.
The whole point it TO GET STARTED.
Right?

[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.

[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!).