Anyone here ever made a whole album alone?

[naesthetics]

I find it serendipitous that i happened upon this site and this thread the very next day after sitting in with a studio engineer and him telling me a lot of the same things i'm reading in this thread. (how's that for a run-on sentence?)

i can't say anything now that hasn't been said by someone else in this thread, but after last night and today, i am convinced that the past 12 years of writing my own stuff and the last 5 years trying to perfect them has been because of a lack of collaborating and using live instruments. my mixes would just not get to where i wanted them and i would assume it's because i didn't know much about mixing. i know plenty about it now and i am at a point in my life where i am about to invest in some serious gear and start networking like crazy.

i came so close to releasing my first album after doing everything myself and then having someone else master it. i wasted $1500 on the mastering process because he smashed everything and because he was in a different state, it was difficult to tell him what i liked and what i didn't like. after a while, he got frustrated with me because i was nit picky about it. he became harder and harder to reach.

i decided not to release the cd because i just wasn't totally happy with it.

this thread has really opened my eyes to what i have been doing and, like most of you, kept feeling like you were the only one having these frustrations.

this is my first post. what a great community this is turning out to be! thanks everyone!

-sean

[blim]

Originally Posted by bogeyeater

like being able to dump something you've been working on for months then bang out something in 20mins.

The best sounding track on my project took a total of probably ten hours to write, arrange, play, record, mix, and master.

On the other hand, I spent probably close to one-hundred hours working on just the mixing and mastering of the track that sounds the worst.

[allencollins]

Originally Posted by blim

The best sounding track on my project took a total of probably ten hours to write, arrange, play, record, mix, and master.
.

Aren't all the best songs created like that? It kinda proves we a really
'mugicians'. Kinda half musician and half magician. Magic is the name of the game.

Originally Posted by blim

On the other hand, I spent probably close to one-hundred hours working on just the mixing and mastering of the track that sounds the worst.

That's rock and roll. You always try to get the best out of a song even though
it will never be the best one. But you try an that's all you can do.

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by blim

The best sounding track on my project took a total of probably ten hours to write, arrange, play, record, mix, and master.

On the other hand, I spent probably close to one-hundred hours working on just the mixing and mastering of the track that sounds the worst.

Yup.


Not every song I've labored over long and hard has been a dog (or a dog by my standards ) by any means... but it's so easy to work the life out of a track.

I've seen so many bands do it in the studio. They bust the bank making things 'perfect' -- perfectly lifeless. Admittedly, I'm coming from a different place than most REs... I came into studio work from out of the first days of punk and was torn between my notion that I wanted to capture real, live music (at least in feel) and the all-too-understandable desire to get better and better at my craft.

An important lesson for me was -- at a time when I didn't have all that much money -- I took a track by a band I recorded for a punk compilation into the mix studio on my own dime and spent five hours trying to drill it in to where I kept hoping I could take it. I walked out beat, unable to get it where I wanted, and a lot poorer. And then the friggin' label stiffed me on the whole project. So it was a multi-layered lesson. You bet.

[Newcleardaze]

Originally Posted by beebay007

Yes, I've done it.
Also you can suffer from being too close to the songs with little objectivity. Be careful not to spend too long on songs, and don't be too much of a perfectionist with the details, because you will lose the big picture. Its better to sacrifice perfect engineering and have good songs instead of making songs that lose their artistic focus because you tweaked them for too long.

NO DOUBT... I've done a few songs completely on my own for college projects, and my limitation on time was a HUGE +. However, I just finished with the mixing of my bands record, and OH MY LORD... for every other band I've had in the studio, time was an issue for them, so when I mixed, I did it all as one large unit. For our songs, I started by making everything saound as great as possible on its own (which meant making it sound BIG) then I put it together and began to mix and tweak an dmix and tweak and so on.After 2 months of trying to make it perfect, an dfocusing in on every little thing, it sounded like mud -- squashed, dull, and lifeless. I was so frustrated, I shelved it for over a month. I pulled it out again about 3 weeks ago, pulled up the original untouched backup files, and on my free nights, I'd mix a song a night, then check it the next day, then be done with it. What a difference.

[Ed1234]

Great thread.

I'm gearing up to make my own album from the ground up after years of doing full album commisions for production companies and recording EP collaborations with friends.

It just feels like the right thing to do, although I've encountered many of the problems adressed here on my other projects.

I agree with the advice about setting a general deadline, for any project - it certainly tightens up your efficiency and general critical faculties.

This thread has sealed it for me to get on and do it!

Cheers, and good luck with all those who'll soon be embarking on this lonesome but enlightening journey, otherwise known as being stuck in a room for months.

[thermos]

Good stories. I did 2 records that way (everything but mastering). Best things I've ever done, I'm still very proud. So frustrating and tedious, but my 1st record single handedly started my career mixing and producing.

On a side note, do it FAST! My 2nd record was especially tedious, and it sounds a little more labored than the 1st. That translates. When I was mixing my 2nd record (that I spent too much time on), I visited a college buddy of mine, who gave me the 3 albums he had made in the last 3 months. They were all great. That really kicked my ass and taught me a lesson.

myspace.com/natewoodmusic is where the music is.

[cjogo]

8 track.......early 90's --one take on each track --written/performed in a afternoon ----------

[Johnny Favorite]

Great songs Cjogo and Thermos, if you guys didn`t tell you played everything, it wouldn`t be evident to me, what I believe is a good sign.

[n8tron]

The EP in my sig was done entirely by me.

I'm a pretty firm believer that you won't get the best product doing everything yourself. I just doesn't work that way. But it is fun and you do learn a lot. Its something I'd recommend as a side project, but not so much as a full on project that you expect to take off and be the best that it can be.

One thing it does is round you out as far as what is involved with making a record start to finish. And I mean everything from the first chord and lyric, to the gear, to the mix, the master, the manufacturing (burning discs and printing crappy covers :) ) and trying to sell it on top of that. It can be a pain in the ass doing all this but you'll be better off having done it once.

[brentahl]

My name is Brent I need help from someone to build a serious professional recording studio to produce digital dance music. i own a company called digital vibe entertainment and have been using Logic Pro with a yamaha keyboard. I need much more in terms of sounds and talent. If anyone can help me put together a real professional recording studio so I can produce the right music I would greatly appreciate it. I have the equipment to tour but my company needs its own music. If anyone knows of any serious pros who can help me or would like team up with me please let me know. Im new to gear slutz and don't know my way around at all.. I live in Salt Lake City Utah.

[cjogo]

Originally Posted by Johnny Favorite

Great songs Cjogo and Thermos, if you guys didn`t tell you played everything, it wouldn`t be evident to me, what I believe is a good sign.

another few tunes from that year --leaping from 4 track to 8 >> really opened a new world

[DONNX]

Prince

[henryrobinett]

Originally Posted by DONNX

Prince

That's an excellent example! But yet, I wonder whether he's actually done it all himself, start to finish, meaning without an assistant to set up mics and pres "REC."

[Ken Paul]

I spend too much time alone in the studio mixing and mastering stuff that gets sent here already. When I get the time to make music I like having humans in the studio with me

Ken Paul
Kengineering

[theblue1]

Anyone curious as to what the self-recorded/produced music of the long-winded guy [that would be me, as though it need be said ] sounds like, he can find it in the mutant roots pop link in my sig line.

[allencollins]

I don't think making a record all by yourself means anything unless you have gone Gold or whatever. Anyone with a pulse can make a 100% solo record . What matters is how good it is. You can cook a Gourmet dinner all by yourself but if noone eats it and no one pays for it what would be the point? To feed yourself? Great! you're not hungry anymore but you are still a nobody. Not to mention you have to do all the cleanup. What fun is that?

Unless it sells a few hundred thousand it's just wasted energy unless of coarse you feel proud. If that is the case then you have a big head and need to get over yourself. I'm glad I hate everything I've ever written or recorded.
cause at the very least I know I'm not conceited and a pompous.

By the way you guys can go to itunes to buy my songs and email @yahoo.com
to tell me how great I am........


Just kidding. Yeah I'm just imitating someone here. Talk about desperation. Jeez Louise....

[cjogo]

Now that I have gone from 2 track cassette in the 70's to 24 tracks --I collaborate...so maybe my cousin and I get 8 tracks of vocals each and just mail the data back & forth. We sequence 16 channels of midi to connect to the 24 DAW tracks ....works simple for us.( Whoa~!! We're still using Kurzweil Floppys & Roland Data CDs )

[Dave Peck]

I did it a few years ago and it was a very rewarding experience. I created all the synth patches from scratch, wrote all of it, played everything, recorded, & mixed it. I used some drum modules for generating some percussion sounds, but still played the parts 'live' with a Kat controller (or on a midi keyboard). No drum machine parts and no looping. No samples except a brief piano bit on one track. I had it mastered by a good pro mastering house and was glad I did.

Info and some excerpts are here:
Electro-Music.com

I enjoyed the process so much that I'm doing it again right now. But this time I am considering having a little help from other musicians, maybe something unusual like a cymbalom or some North African wind instruments.

[blim]

Originally Posted by allencollins

I don't think making a record all by yourself means anything unless you have gone Gold or whatever. Anyone with a pulse can make a 100% solo record . What matters is how good it is.

Unless it sells a few hundred thousand it's just wasted energy unless of coarse you feel proud. If that is the case then you have a big head and need to get over yourself. I'm glad I hate everything I've ever written or recorded.
cause at the very least I know I'm not conceited and a pompous.

By the way you guys can go to itunes to buy my songs and email @yahoo.com
to tell me how great I am........


Just kidding. Yeah I'm just imitating someone here. Talk about desperation. Jeez Louise....

Al, Al, Al... where do I even begin?

You think sales equals quality? Funny, I doubt that the Velvet Underground, MC5, Nick Drake, American Music Club, or, for that matter, probably most of the artists I care about, ever sold more than 20,000 "units" of any of their albums in the years in which they were originally released. Then again, to my mind, the terms "Gold" and "Platinum" -- and especially, "Multi-Platinum" (Mariah Carey, anybody?) -- are usually fairly reliable indicators of crap.

Given your influences (gravy n' hamhocks southern rock, Kansas, and 80s lite-metal), there's probably a reason you hate everything you've ever recorded. (But I hope that won't stop you from posting a link to one of your tunes. Go ahead -- rock my world. I dare 'ya.)

Finally, with respect to your contempt for other gearslutters providing links to their own stuff, I'd like to confess that clicking on those links and listening to their music is one of my favorite parts of this forum. Click on an MP3 link and you can find everything from the truly wretched to the surprisingly OK.

[jeremy.c.]

Originally Posted by allencollins

I don't think making a record all by yourself means anything unless you have gone Gold or whatever. Anyone with a pulse can make a 100% solo record . What matters is how good it is. You can cook a Gourmet dinner all by yourself but if noone eats it and no one pays for it what would be the point? To feed yourself? Great! you're not hungry anymore but you are still a nobody. Not to mention you have to do all the cleanup. What fun is that?

Even though 90% of what you post is contrary for the sake of your own amusement, it bears saying that art is art; what people consume on the other hand is commerce and I somehow think we'd all be poorer human beings if we let free market economics dictate artistic merit.

Unless it sells a few hundred thousand it's just wasted energy unless of coarse you feel proud. If that is the case then you have a big head and need to get over yourself.

I have a very clear picture of your upbringing now and everything seems to be falling into place...

I'm glad I hate everything I've ever written or recorded.
cause at the very least I know I'm not conceited and a pompous.

I'm pretty sure that's not limited to just your own material, which kind of makes your statement a double negative.

[jeremy.c.]

Originally Posted by blim

(But I hope that won't stop you from posting a link to one of your tunes. Go ahead rock my world. I dare 'ya.)

he and another guy in particular have pretty close to the biggest mouths around here (for better or worse) and neither of them, to my knowledge, have ever shared with this community their own work, but they're very vocal about everyone else's... jus' sayin'

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by allencollins

I don't think making a record all by yourself means anything unless you have gone Gold or whatever. Anyone with a pulse can make a 100% solo record . What matters is how good it is. You can cook a Gourmet dinner all by yourself but if noone eats it and no one pays for it what would be the point? To feed yourself? Great! you're not hungry anymore but you are still a nobody. Not to mention you have to do all the cleanup. What fun is that?

Unless it sells a few hundred thousand it's just wasted energy unless of coarse you feel proud. If that is the case then you have a big head and need to get over yourself. I'm glad I hate everything I've ever written or recorded.
cause at the very least I know I'm not conceited and a pompous.

By the way you guys can go to itunes to buy my songs and email @yahoo.com
to tell me how great I am........


Just kidding. Yeah I'm just imitating someone here. Talk about desperation. Jeez Louise....

Don't know if that's directed at me (I had just pointed out a link to my own music in my sig line in a post immediately above yours) and it's okay if it is...

But, frankly, I was a little disappointed more people weren't putting links to their music. (Though no one, I don't think, should feel like they have to.)


Me, I enjoy it if people hear my music and like it -- but I know it's not something all that many like and that doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Like I said somewhere lately (maybe much earlier in this thread), I make music for myself, first. Because that is the only person I know, for sure, will hear it. And I'm perfectly cool with that.

[theblue1]

Decided to put my ear where my mouth was... er... wait a sec... well, you know.

Anyhow, I guess Allen doesn't want to hear anyone's music -- and, really, that's fair enough -- but I decided to take a few minutes and listen to some of everyone's music who'd put links in this thread.

Now -- let me point out -- I'm doing this for me, because I meant to listen. So why not post about it, yeah? I'm not trying to start a big round robbin' You rock dude-fest, so, you know... But I guess I do encourage other folks to listen to some of this entertaining, likable, and sometimes downright charming music below:


Olivia Neutron Bomb -- I'm listening to "Prakiti" -- a nice little slice of updated exotica pop... I feel the enhanced sway of the tiki torches by the rooftop pool high above Dubai. I feel... sophisticated. Love the vocal. Also the sitar thing works much better than most synthetic/sampled sitars I hear. You must tell me how you accomplished that sometime, dahling. Very nice.

Mortal Engines -- I listened to "Flying Lotus," a nicely abstract guitar loopy kind of thing, and "Leviathan," which I guess I'd call ambient bliphop, on the darkside, but I lost track of the nomenclature a long time ago. I especially like "Leviathan." The kind of thing that's just asking for trouble listening to driving through the desert at 3 am...


Seth Brand -- I think I liked "Why Are We Alone Tonight" best. It shows really solid pop sensibilities. It's a catchy, quite engaging song -- what I made of the lyrics worked well for me. I'll admit -- I'm one of those fogies who'll be hoping for a remix down the road with less vocal treatment (I like my vocals on the more natural side) but, hey, I'm not the target audience, I don't think. A lot of folks are going to like this.


jerry dietzel -- "That Fire" - Ah... we've swung back to the rootsier, rockin' side of things. I like Jerry's voice. It sounds like it's coming right out of a dark night in the middle of America. Love the "Light that fire" refrain... evocative.


BudgetMC -- "There's Gonna Be a Reckonin'" - Swampy garage rock with a great little riffy rhythm guitar and a classic 60s style vocal... the walls are breathing. 15 point bonus for apocalyptic imagery, particularly the warning that the ocean's gonna boil... Last really discernible line: "... It's only a matter of time... " We've been warned. I'm bathed in apocalyptic nostalgia. My lost youth living as much as I could 'cause the world was gonna end. Maybe it did. The end of the world should be dangerous fun. Now, how could I resist "The Four Pickups of the Apocalypse" -- and it's not exactly a funny song, but rather a broke farmer's lament. I love the groove.


Edward Null -- "Old Man" Nice singer/songwriter feel, a la Prine, Guy Clark, Townes and that lot of sharp-eyed, maybe hard livin' writers. A mostly straightforward sound (with a few homey touches of reverb that give it a very classic 50's feel) that serves a classic advice-from-an-old man song well.


Krou -- "Gelatin" - The culture needle swings wildly over to some midtempo downtempo (how does that work?)... a little dubby, a little blippy with a cool little filtered break to give it nicely syncopated kick in the pants. I had to listen at the CDBaby page 'cause Krou's MySpace player never came up in two tries, so it cut off just when things were getting good... well, keep 'em wanting more. This would be a great track to have on the car stereo at the start of a big night on the town.


cjogo -- "Driven Down the Road" - A sweet sound. I like how it builds up, love the "close your eyes" vocal moment -- it's a real nice moment. The strum has a sort of wistful cheeriness that really helps sell the bittersweet sounding lyrics. Very engaging. I couldn't help like this. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" -- nice!


Nate Wood -- "Stand by Your Man" - Wow... if there was more 'modern pop/rock/whatever' like this I think more folks wouldn't kvetch so much. I loved the tempo... it's so hard to get slow right. This is cool. I love the changes. Some very hip elements here. "Too Much" -- more progressive pop songwriting. I hear a bit of the XTC he cites in his influences, nothing overpower, a lot of other classic thinking man's pop echoes, too. It wouldn't play all the way through so I jumped to "Little." Very strong writing and musical production. Nate's got a fine sense of what he's doing, I think.


Nathan Schafer (n8tron) -- "A Change of View" - 15+ for banjo. Very solid, knowing production work, here. The vocals are nicely reserved yet have a muted yearning I find just about right. I love the "boo hoo / yeah yeah" outro refrain. "A Sacrifice" is more fine craft. Nathan actually manages to use (ahem) modern vocal fx in a way that not only doesn't really bother me but I find almost kind of... [wait, is this me talking?] I like shift into the little banjo and slide bridge... it's rootsy and disturbingly postmodern all at once. Which is a good thing in my book. A real sense of itself.


Dave Peck -- "Droam" - I'm on the veldt... the grass us waving in the wind. It's big and and open and a little mysterious. "Fluid 1" - how the baby computer feels in the womb... and just like that I'm pulled out into the harsh daylight of silence by the end of the sample clip! That's a slap on the... uh... backside. Dave developed some hypnotic, cool sounds for this work.



ps... if I got the wrong band/name on a song, misspelled anyone's name or skipped anyone who posted a link to his music or had it in his sig and didn't mind being heard, do not be afraid to point that out (PM is fine).

[the_Chris]

This is exactly what I'm playing with at the moment. However, my expectations are a lot lower than most and I'm doing it purely for my own creativities sake. I'm tired of relying on everyone else around me to get anything done so I'm going to do it myself (for better or for worse). If you're not looking to make a living off of it, why not go for it? I think it's fun writing with different instruments and I'm going to learn a lot about the recording industry through my own mistakes in mixing and mastering. Coming from a background of playing guitars for a good portion of my life, it's fulfilling to lay down bass grooves the way I hear them, layering piano parts in places (talk about a rewarding, but somewhat frustrating instrument to pick up) and so on and so forth. I don't care that I'm a nobody, but if I can make anything that a couple people online enjoy, then my mission is done. For some people, music isn't about success - it's a stress reliever and a hobby.

[JP11]

Originally Posted by henryrobinett

That's an excellent example! But yet, I wonder whether he's actually done it all himself, start to finish, meaning without an assistant to set up mics and pres "REC."

I do not believe there is any Prince stuff that he did alone.

Dirty Mind has "Jamie Starr" listed as engineer...I think that's an alias of his, and that album certainly sounds relatively lo fi...but there's a bunch of musicians on it....who knows about the mixing and certainly not the mastering.

I didn't check all his albums, but if he did one alone...which one?

I don't believe any one major has ever really done the DIY thing.

[blim]

Originally Posted by JP11

I don't believe any one major has ever really done the DIY thing.

Todd Rundgren did everything on three of the four sides of his Something/Anything? double album back in 1972, including the mixing, but probably not the mastering.

[digibird]

Originally Posted by JP11

I do not believe there is any Prince stuff that he did alone.

Dirty Mind has "Jamie Starr" listed as engineer...I think that's an alias of his, and that album certainly sounds relatively lo fi...but there's a bunch of musicians on it....who knows about the mixing and certainly not the mastering.

I didn't check all his albums, but if he did one alone...which one?

I don't believe any one major has ever really done the DIY thing.

"Prince" (self-titled from '79) says "All songs written by Prince" and "Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince". Other credits include Gary Brandt - Engineer and Bernie Grundman - Mastering. So, you're right, he's not doing everything, but an impressive amount of things very well, nonetheless.

[cjogo]

Originally Posted by theblue1

Decided to put my ear where my mouth was... er... wait a sec... well, you know.


cjogo -- "Driven Down the Road" - A sweet sound. I like how it builds up, love the "close your eyes" vocal moment -- it's a real nice moment. The strum has a sort of wistful cheeriness that really helps sell the bittersweet sounding lyrics. Very engaging. I couldn't help like this. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" -- nice!
.

Glad you gave a listen >>>>> Just another from that series
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/attac...-down-road.mp3

[digibird]

...and I knew you would hate to miss the album cover from the '79 Prince release I mentioned, so here ya go...