a lot has changed since "the masters of motown", I guess I do it all wrong because I cannot dictate what "game" I'm bringing each day...I'm an artist first and foremost and one of the reasons I have no desires to be in any other bands, I do not force creativity.tapper mike wrote:Stevie Wonder has to have at least two of everything. That must be great for him to afford it.
Recording should be an event not an excuse to do something because your bored.
Get your act together before you record. Set yourself a recording day once a week and don't record on any other day. It will give you a chance to line up your ducks. Think about what you are going to do and work it out before you do it. If you make the prospect of recording an event rather then the excuse of I've got some time on my hands you increase the possibility of success.
Learn to live with the tools that you have. Make wanting to record something good more important then just fiddling around. You may come up with toi many unfocused ideas rather then a good focused idea that you can bring to fruition.
I know a young guy who plays guitars and sings. He records one song a week. He focuses his attention on doing that one song. Not on facebook or kvr or checking his phone. I've heard a lot of his stuff. Each week his playing gets stronger and more confident as does his singing. It's that single mindedness which is making it a reality for him. He's focusing on being the best him he could be. Not trying to be someone he's not. It's working.
Think of yourself as a Composer first, an arranger second, a musician third and an engineer last.
Do you have a song? Write one. Define the song form, progression and melody line first. Arrange it. What instruments and style do you want it to be in. Think about how you are going to support the melody line. Play it. Remember the song is not just an excuse to play your instrument. The song is the goal. When you are practicing backing tracks and melody lines think is this subtracting from or supporting the foundational elements. Record it. When you treat the song as the first priority rather then just wanting to play your instrument. You can focus in on what is required to make the song happen. It's not a jam. It's a composition with an arrangement. If you are over playing the part or under playing it you are taking away from the song. Play for the song not for your ego as a musician. As an engineer your job is not to rewrite the song. Your job is to give fair representation of the music.
I studied recording engineering under the masters of motown. They would spend three times the amount of time used in recording for mixdown and mastering. Even when a band would have the material down cold before recording it would take at bare minimum an hour. This is after the hours and hours spent getting down the song before they recorded. This isn't a luxury for the studio musician. But studio musicians work from sheet music and there is little tolerance to those who can't sight play/ sight sing on tap. My point is this. Bring your A game to record. If you don't think your songs are worth recording then don't bother. If you don't think your skill level doesn't matter then don't bother. You don't have to be the greatest whatever but you do have to be the best you you have to offer.
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
It's not your guitar that is holding you back from playing your best or whatever instrument you have.
When I studied under the masters of motown they kept on reinforcing the dedication to the mix. They would spend three times the amount of time to mixdown and master as it took to record. Take your time with mix down and mastering. Your goal is not to rewrite the song. Listen to it flat for a good long time before you start eq'ing mixing down and adding basic compression and reverb. Treat post production with reverence. Like you are a third person and someone else has just handed you all their hopes and dreams. Don't crush that hard work. Treat it with respect.
Even if the world doesn't give you the respect you deserve you can still have self respect and the pride that comes from a job well done.
If someone were to give me your rules the first thing I would do is tear them up and walk out the door. (that does not mean I disagree with everything you said, like I agree it's not the guitar and the last bit of pride that comes from a job well done but that subjective and very hard to have an accurate perspective on whether or not your work is a job well done in your eyes) This may work for you but first I really have no idea what it has to do with the original post and second, while I agree with some of what you say I stand opposed to your dictating of how an artist should do their thing.
As for the original post, I'm not going to list out all my gear...too much time involved. However I agree that there may come a time when enough is enough but that can be subject to change at a drop of a hat due to changing technology. I think there is a big difference between hardware and software in this case though, I find myself backing off on software with every fresh install because I ask myself "how often do I use this" and "is it worth installing something I dont need or use much"? Of course the latter may happen down the road because I might have something not re-installed that might be the perfect thing for a project I'm working on.
The difference with hardware is some hardware wears out and needs replacing, some gets accidentally damaged, other times a vintage piece of gear may become available that I want. Location matters as well, in my old place I could not have a lot of the amps I have and went with buying many sims...now some of the sims are like a lot of software, sitting in a lockbox waiting for the time I need it...if I need it and I can use my amps.
There is a point where I will say enough is enough and then there is what I would compare to a wave receding where either stuff gets left behind or just becomes obsolete. It's a constantly changing view, for instance 2012 has brought me very little in new software. I have pretty much got over the urge to get everything free like so many of us have been through and I'm starting to get to deeper levels of understanding and appreciation for my software. I am down to some basic instruments and fx that are my go to, given the fact I have barely scratched the surface with much of what I have I dont need to get more of the same, just explore deeper into what I have.
I think that many people go through this, it will be interesting to see what happens now hat the software wave is rolling back in fueled by 64 bit. It all comes in cycles imo, but I have found that over the last few years when it comes to software my impulse buys have decreased significantly. I look at this lock box that is full of software that I may never use again but some I cant sell, others I can but are so obsolete no one would buy it and others I cannot get myself to say "enough is enough" and trash because in all honesty it's not like it takes much space to store discs and you never know.
In my latest install there is a lot that has not gone back in my machine because I find that my host of choice (samplitude) has many of those bases covered quite well and one thing I have grown tired of is "samplitude cannot find..." because I hadn't installed something or may not use something anymore (I have zillions of unfinished pieces, many of which I dont go back to because of this). Samplitude is 64 bit, those plugs in samp I use will always be in the same place and maybe a couple of years down the road I might want to finish something without having to work in new plugs...a good example is samples, they can become obsolete quickly and be very time consuming to replace with newer samples.
I guess there is a balance in there somewhere but in my life what I have found is that in my youth I made a lot of stupid rules for myself and now that I am breaking all those rules I see how much I held myself back...so I say go with the flow...enough may be too much or enough now and no where near enough a few years down the road...naturally you should be able to do a lot with very little these days, but do not allow that to dictate what you buy or do not buy in the future.