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

[D Rock]

So I have been going with the first route. Everyone knows studio time is expensive as shit, and I usually feel more comfortable playing in my home where I can drink/smoke/etc. with no pressure to get something recorded by a timeline. However now that I feel my stuff is a little more polished, I feel like being able to focus on my playing instead of getting my DAW set-up and starting and stopping every two seconds to edit some shit would be hugely beneficial. Thoughts on this? I feel like being in the studio under some pressure could be a good thing, and being able to focus on what I do best would be nice instead of trying to be a recording engineer as well.

So which route do you take?

[Psyre]

I don't really have any interest in recording in a studio other than mine....however, I would like to see some professional workflows.

The biggest thing is to remember you are in many ways paying yourself for personal studio time. You break even in time cost, but you have to make sure the producer and musician roles you play are equally fulfilled. Don't let your musician side waste your producer side's time. I would assume you're more comfortable as a musician than as an engineer/producer like most of us.... so make sure your musician side is conforming to what workflow works best for your producing side.

[friendship]

Comparmentalizing my mindset while working at at a home studio is the biggest challenge. One way I've started to manage it is by treating my home setup like it's a professional studio I'm paying by the hour for. For example, I won't hit record until I've nailed the part I'm playing. I also separate tracking sessions, editing sessions, and mixing sessions. I feel like if I try to do these all at once, I do them each half as well; I can wear many hats but I can only wear one at once, if that makes sense.

The timeline at a studio may seem at times like a constraint, but having a set schedule is useful to me. If I had unlimited means I'd track at professional studios all the time, even though I get results I like at home. Especially when performing, it's really helpful to have someone else take care of the engineering so I can focus on doing my best.

[waltdogg]

Home. It takes some doing to get up to speed. But unless you have a huge project that your home rig wont be able to do justice. Just work at home.

[rfurtkamp]

Get templates set up in your DAW for common song-building.

Minimize the setup time by leaving stuff hooked up and ready to go - or being ready to track more than once thing if it requires setup time.

I'm at a point where I can be recording within thirty seconds of sitting down at the desk and picking up the guitar.

I also have a blisteringly stupid track count in at a time to allow me to focus on playing and not mixing - taps off each amp, taps off each rack unit, taps off all sorts of places. I can go up to 24 tracks at once inbound *and* mix them all later together - so it's not critical to worry about "is this sound going to virtual tape perfect right now?"

Going high track count made my workflow much, much faster and I've gained so much flexibility.

[echoraven]

...I'm at a point where I can be recording within thirty seconds of sitting down at the desk and picking up the guitar..

I envy you so much it hurts my manly giblets.

Would love to see your setup though...

When your in the studio, your not only paying for use of the equipment, but the engineer's experience. Saw a interview with Lemmy (RIP) where he credits his engineer for telling him when he should take suggestions and generally guiding the creative process.

As someone who positively sucks, I have a humble setup at home. (mac mini 2012 16G RAM, 2.5TB hard disk space, Akai EIE Pro interface)

[rfurtkamp]

Mission control about a year ago, I've added a few things but the core of it's been the same for a while.

Running a dedicated i7-4770k, 32gb, three SSD (3/4TB spaceish total) plus 4 TB on three HDD.

Interface (master) is a Tascam US-1800 16 channel, have a Alesis 4 channel for room mics when I want 'em, a Boss GT-001 and the DI from a Fender Mustang V halfstack chained in as well. If I'm using the guitar synth, GR-55 USB out is typically enabled as well just to have a direct to digital from that in addition to running it through the boxes and toys.

Various rack stuff I've loved for one reason or another, various outboard gear: venerable Quadraverb+ (still impressive control options and grainy early digital fun), pair of Digitech RDS LFO delays (the crappy vintage sample+hold plus non-destructive LFO that stretches out to about six second after tweaing the internal trimpots, a V Amp for an acceptable faux-BF clean on demand without touching anything else, the irreplaceable Lexicon Vortex, and the similarly venerable and amazing Midiverb II (home of the world's most nasty, grainy 15s reverb ever made), and the big box Space Echo.

Can go DI off of all three amps I have loaded (attenuator DI plus Oktava mic on the Deluxe, Mustang V USB and matched cheapie MXL for stereo, and another Oktava on the Jazz Chorus plus line out) and my speaker sim/placement/etc honestly it's not even necessary to go for more than a little room micing for ambience at best.

I've been recording stuff longer than I've been playing though, I used to be the guy who was roadie/soundman/etc to friends' bands and was the only one who didn't play something, and have twenty-some years under my belt.

[goroth]

Excellent Fates poster!

[rfurtkamp]

I got several of them (original record store promos) in a package deal a few years back, I hung up the beater and put the good ones in storage until I get a proper frame.

Someday.

[Decibill]

Two big questions: 1.Do you have a lot of time to devote to this....? 2.Do you have a chunk o cash to devote to this...? Having the gear to record is only part of the solution. Knowing how to use it is something else completely. Studying and experimenting with mic placement and selection, compressor settings, room treatment, DAW software and plugins, etc....I've devoted years of research and thousands into my home set up. But I chose to do so because I wanted to learn the process. You can record an albumin a decent studio for $2k. That same amount of cash will get you a decent computer for your studio, which really is only the beginning of the investment.

[D Rock]

Thanks guys, some good advice in here. I just always feel so much freeier when I'm just playing and not worried about recording, but I think you guys are right about giving equal parts time. I spend way too much time playing, a little recording, and very little if any mixing, etc. I think part of it is I just see the back end of things as more "work" and not as much play while just jamming is so much more fun. But maybe if I can focus on the finished product and having something nice to show people I can put more effort there. I really don't have much money for studio time as it is, so home is what it's going to be for now. I do appreciate the tips on workflow.

[friendship]

Thanks guys, some good advice in here. I just always feel so much freeier when I'm just playing and not worried about recording, but I think you guys are right about giving equal parts time. I spend way too much time playing, a little recording, and very little if any mixing, etc. I think part of it is I just see the back end of things as more "work" and not as much play while just jamming is so much more fun. But maybe if I can focus on the finished product and having something nice to show people I can put more effort there. I really don't have much money for studio time as it is, so home is what it's going to be for now. I do appreciate the tips on workflow.

My story is similar to a lot of people's: I got into recording because I loved playing and jamming and just wanted to capture my ideas. I considered the "back end" of recording to be kind of tedious when I was starting out, an obstacle that I had to get out of the way to get to the good stuff, but a funny thing happened. The more I learned, the more I enjoyed it. Now I get just as much (well, maybe almost as much) satisfaction out of recording and mixing as I do writing and playing. They each have their own challenges, all of which I find very rewarding.

It's cheaper and easier now than ever in the history of recorded music to DIY. If I can give you a word of caution, though: when you're starting out, it is exponentially more important to develop recording skills than acquiring recording gear.

[rfurtkamp]

Yep, time in front of the desk (and learning the monitors/speakers/cans/whatever you're using and how they sound with stuff you *know*) matters.

It's training your ears as much as anything.

[friendship]

Yep, time in front of the desk (and learning the monitors/speakers/cans/whatever you're using and how they sound with stuff you *know*) matters.

It's training your ears as much as anything.

Totally. I'll tell OP what I wish someone had told me when I was beginning (though I almost certainly would not have listened): create as much as you can and get all your I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doings out as you learn, and don't beat yourself that it sounds bad. Try to step outside of your ego who wants to present himself in the best way possible, and look at the reality of what you made, think critically about what you don't like about, give yourself credit for what you do like about it, and then go make more. Keep doing this and you will inevitably be very good at it.

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, it's also a case of this stuff is not exactly hard.

Sure, some aspects can be...but you can do amazing stuff with "Terrible" gear.

I'd have killed for modern terrible twenty years ago.