Building "home studio" vs paying for studio time...

[GardenoftheDead]

Everything I do is entirely in the box so there's not much point to paying for studio time. I don't even mic amps anyway more

[rfurtkamp]

I do for ambience but half the time or more it doesn't even make the final mix of stuff.

[Decibill]

Well, let me add this---Documenting/recording an idea is one thing. Crafting a well written, recorded and mixed song as another. There is a very LARGE gap between the two. Set your expectations properly.

[PeteeBee]

Well, let me add this---Documenting/recording an idea is one thing. Crafting a well written, recorded and mixed song as another. There is a very LARGE gap between the two. Set your expectations properly.

This is where I am. I feel comfortable enough capturing ideas, but I'd like to really put some time into some solo stuff I've been working on. I don't even know where to begin with taking that step. I want like a book to read on it, since I've watched so much YouTube on recording and mixing and still don't have a clue.

[friendship]

Well, let me add this---Documenting/recording an idea is one thing. Crafting a well written, recorded and mixed song as another. There is a very LARGE gap between the two. Set your expectations properly.

This is where I am. I feel comfortable enough capturing ideas, but I'd like to really put some time into some solo stuff I've been working on. I don't even know where to begin with taking that step. I want like a book to read on it, since I've watched so much YouTube on recording and mixing and still don't have a clue.

A good set of books for a beginner is Zen and the Art of... books by some guy who (lamely) calls himself Mixerman. I think there's one for recording, mixing, and producing; of course they are all related to one another but maybe start with Zen and the Art of Recording. His writing style can be a little weird, but he's pretty No Bullshit and has very practical advice on how to approach the process. I read them after I had come to similar conclusions/ideas as him through years of trial and error and found myself nodding along to a lot of it, and learning some new perspective as well.

[DRodriguez]

Well, let me add this---Documenting/recording an idea is one thing. Crafting a well written, recorded and mixed song as another. There is a very LARGE gap between the two. Set your expectations properly.

This is where I am. I feel comfortable enough capturing ideas, but I'd like to really put some time into some solo stuff I've been working on. I don't even know where to begin with taking that step. I want like a book to read on it, since I've watched so much YouTube on recording and mixing and still don't have a clue.

There's no better way than working on stuff. Especially things outside your comfort zone. Start practicing mixing other people's stuff.
Check out http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm for a bunch of free multitracks across various genres. Most of them have a final version of the song mixed included. And some even have articles attached with things like session notes, a breakdown of techniques used, etc.

[rustywire]

If you're into DIY then home studio is the obvious choice. Home studios are also a great sketch pad & demo factory...where you can take ideas and some home-recordings into a well-stocked studio & run it through their top tier signal chain, re-amp, re-record and so on. When time is money, having a blueprint helps facilitate the workflow. Such sketches can help communicate to the engineer/producer what you're trying to accomplish there.

Otherwise it's super dependent on which style of music/what type of record you want to make.
i.e. if you're a solo electronic musician you can do it all at home from start to finish.
i.e. if you're part of a 6 piece jam band with acoustic & electric instruments then a multiple room pro studio is going to be more accommodating.
In general, unless you're a serious drummer yourself...if you're trying to record a full acoustic drumkit...paying for studio time is probably a good idea.

[PeteeBee]

There's no better way than working on stuff. Especially things outside your comfort zone. Start practicing mixing other people's stuff.
Check out http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm for a bunch of free multitracks across various genres. Most of them have a final version of the song mixed included. And some even have articles attached with things like session notes, a breakdown of techniques used, etc.

I will give this some time soon. That seems super useful since I don't really have anything other than guitar and bass I'm normally fiddling with.

And I'll look up that book! Thanks for the advice

[Boxbie]

I'm probably the only guy here who disagrees.

I'd rather pay the studio and get something finished and good sounding in a finite time frame.

Its worth not having to worry about why channel 4 isn't working, or what the weird hum bleeding through is from, etc.
All that shit that kills your hard-on and interferes with playing.
Another thing, you can have awesome preamps out board gear mikes etc, but (particularly if your in a city) you probably won't have a big, good sounding space to leave it set up in.

And, (this will be controversial) it probably ends up being cheaper too to pay for the use of the studio vs buying tons of gear.

So many friends have fallen into the K hole of spending so much time and money getting a setup together, time they could have been playing/writing, and the final output is minimal. I agree that a basic setup for demoing is a goods idea. Its just that studio gear gas is an endless cash sink hole.

I also think paying for the studio curtails procrastination. You go in, play and come out with something that sounds good.
How many of you have friends who have been working on something in their home studio for years with nothing ever forthcoming?

Disclaimer*

SO, I'm sure you could be the next Steve Albini, and every piece of gear you buy is investment in your fantastic studio, and it will get lots of use to justify the cost, and the recordings you make will be great.... but probably not.

Now-

[D.o.S.]

No I'd say that's pretty valid. It really depends on what you're looking to do and being honest with yourself regarding your ability, your aesthetics, and your acumen.

[ognoy]

I've release albums which have been recorded in our own "studio"/rehearsal space AND albums which have been recorded in professional studios.
The first Solstorm-album and the first Yuma Sun album we recorded/produced ourselves, and by the time I was satisfied with the result. The Solstorm album I'm still quite satisfied with.
But when it was time to make Yuma Sun record #2, we wanted to do it in a professional studio with a producer.
Before we went in to the studio, I was really unsure if it was worth paying all this money for recording an album when we could have done it ourselves,
I mean, how much better could it sound?

But when the album was done, I thought it was worth it. And it was very expensive. Probably 20 times as expensive as the first album(we only spent money on mastering).
As several people mentioned earlier, being able to just focus on playing and dialing in your own gear, and not worrying about why there is no sound in the monitors/noise/etc was very liberating. Also being able to record the whole band live in the studio was very nice as well. No click tracks, just rocking out as we used too when playing gigs.
And it sounded great. And the producer came with some good ideas as well, ideas that made the album much better than it would have if we did it ourself.
And I'm not just talking sound quality, I'm talking about the music itself.

[rfurtkamp]

There's paying for studio time and there's paying for production, two totally different steps IMO.

Good producer, if it's somebody you work well with, is worth every penny and then some. If not, it's the biggest waste of $$$ you can contemplate. Over the years, I've tried working with several - it's a case of I'm far enough out in left field that there's not much someone's going to add to my fairly rigid "It's improv time" process.

Somebody running the console and turning the knobs can be grand, though.

[ognoy]

There's paying for studio time and there's paying for production, two totally different steps IMO.

Good producer, if it's somebody you work well with, is worth every penny and then some. If not, it's the biggest waste of $$$ you can contemplate. Over the years, I've tried working with several - it's a case of I'm far enough out in left field that there's not much someone's going to add to my fairly rigid "It's improv time" process.

Somebody running the console and turning the knobs can be grand, though.

This is true.
When we have spent big bucks on studio time AND producer, we're in the rock/pop world of music, and we were using producers that we knew could work with our music.
Going into a random studio to do your new noise/drone/ambient record, and the guy working there/producing is usually doing generic dadbluesrock,
it's probably not worth your money.

I did a recording session a couple of years ago with my free improv/noise/ambient duo(guitar+drums/perc).
We told the studio dude that we wanted to capture the sound in the room we were playing/recording in,
and we put up mics all over the place, specialy around the drummer, cause he was using a lot of weird percussion things(waterphone, bow on cymbals, "hang"-drum). We also close-miced the kick drum, my two amps along with two D.I signals for re-amping.

When we started playing the guy in the control room didn't get the music at all, but it sounded nice.
We was there for 8 hours(including setting up og rigging down) and recorded 90 minutes of music in 4 different takes(10-40 minutes in length).
When we where done we got all the tracks with us, and I spent some time listening to the raw takes, and then mixed the tracks I thought made up the best music. Then we had someone else do the mastering.

We still haven't released this album, but if we're ever recording a new album, we would probably do in the same way. Record in good studio, mix it ourselves.

[D.o.S.]

One other thing that paying for studio time will do is motivate you to finish whatever it is that you're working on. This is not typically the case when you release something yourself.

[friendship]

One other thing that paying for studio time will do is motivate you to finish whatever it is that you're working on. This is not typically the case when you release something yourself.

A huge factor imo. Home projects have a way of never being done.