[OldG]

yet another useful link to post... this is for anyone trying to get the perfect mix between instuments and vocals >> Linkage

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

The tracks also very in quality because the bands very in quality. Where you stick the mic has so little to do with the sound. Actually, it's VERY important, but I used to think that mic placement was 100% of the sound. It's more like 10%. 90% is having a great song, played by great musicians, with great instruments. The room does come into the picture somewhere.

I was listening for recording/mixing quality and not so much song/musician ship quality. The only thing that will affect the quality of the recording is the instruments, but I also listened for things like vocals, which you can make a high quality recording of even a terrible singer. If all the songs on your site were using the same gear, then it's probably that they were just earlier tracks.... Or it may have even been the way the client wanted it to sound.

I could get very similar tones with cheap gear. It would just take a little more effort.

Do you have any that were done using only cheap gear for comparison? The Mackie preamps, the Delta 1010, and any mic under $300 is fair game.

I have been recording for around 7 years and I have spent A LOT of time at various recording forums listening to other's recordings and noting the gear they used, etc... The majority of the time when they post examples using their new gear and there IS a pretty big difference in quality. Especially when you start building up a lot of tracks. Any shortcommings in the equipment is only going to be multiplied the more tracks are added. Not to mention that cheap gear generally doesn't take processing as well (such as EQ and compression).

But as always the difference in one piece of gear is generally only going to make a big difference if the other gear is good quality also. The sound is only as strong as the weakest link, and this is where the balancing act in home recording comes in. It may take a few uprages before finally getting that "big jump" in quality because the preamps in your Behringer mixer didn't allow for much improvement when using that brand new mic.

However, I've recorded a lot of band sounding, terrible songs through the Myteks. The song that made an entire room cry was recorded with my Delta 1010s. I'll take the tear jerker every time!

Absolutely, great songs can be recorded on a $20 tape deck and still be a great song. And a bad song recorded in a multi-billion dollar facility will still sound bad, just turning on the radio to any mainstream station will give plenty of examples of this.

-tkr

[brandondrury]

I was listening for recording/mixing quality and not so much song/musician ship quality

I'm 100% convinced that the two are inseperable. You can't mix a terribly played song. A great song played tightly will basically mix itself.

The only thing that will affect the quality of the recording is the instruments

I couldn't disagree with you more.

Brandon

[Lcjones]

People want to blame their room acoustics for their terrible mixes. I think that's hogwash. While I agree that it's much easier to mix in a $30,000 room, I do have to say that very seldom is the room the weakest link in the chain. The "excitement" in a mix is what is lacking from most home recordings and it has little to do with control room monitoring acoustics. That comes from having a skilled mixer (and well produced / engineered tracks).

...just want to chime in my Kentucky quarter's worth here .... I am not a recording engineer nor will I ever be one but I am learning the "home recording studio" thing as best I can.

I have what I call my "Open Aire Studio". It's the family room. 30x18, drywall, semi carpeted, ceiling fans, window fans....TV, kids, toys, crying, fighting, laughing giggling... cripes, you name the sound and it's in this room!

Anyway, while the recordings I've made are not exceptional by any means, they aren't too shabby either.....for basement tapes, as it were. Some are better than others to be sure!

The hardest thing for me to get a grip on is getting as close as possible to the sound that I want to hear. Now, I know its near impossible with the limited hardware that I have, but even so, I don't think it's un-obtainable. The term "excitement" in the mix is exactly what I need to learn and understand to get better recordings.

I like that alot .... excitement in the mix..... very cool. So, if any of you gent's would like to expound on "excitement in the mix", I'm all ears!

Les

[randomaire]

Wow tough crowd in this thread. Im taking the best of what the both of you have to say and drawing my own conclusions, I'm just learning also, but it looks to me like there isn't any one way to draw conclusions on how good, how bad, quality etc of a recording.

Some think its technology, some think its more the room you're in, some think its just the way you feel when you record. Who knows? To me if it sounds good it sounds good, I don't care what he/she recorded on, or where he/she recorded. If it sounds right and you're happy with your own recording then to me that should be all that is needed. Really though no need to fight about it.

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I'm 100% convinced that the two are inseperable. You can't mix a terribly played song. A great song played tightly will basically mix itself.

But you can totally butcher a recording/mix of a very tallented and skilled band, where even though the mix and the recording was sub-standard you can still tell the band has great tallent. On the flip side, you can make an excellent mix with every instrument in just the right balance and blend and but the music itself is terrible. To take it a step further you can even edit timing and pitchshift bad performances and make them better. Mainstream music capitalizes on this.

So I do think there is a difference between having a good recording and a good song, and it is possible to have one without the other.... Although having both is obviously the best choice.

-tkr

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by randomaire

Really though no need to fight about it.

I don't think anyone's fighting about it. Just very heatedly discussing.

To sum up I do think that gear plays a very important roll in getting "that" sound. Sure the engineer can make great equipment sound awful or bad equipment sound better. But the gear is what it is. To use a little more relavent example, the greatest guitarist can only make a $55 strat through a $50 practice sound but so good. Sure their music and choice of notes will be great (ie, the "song"), but it won't have that heart stopping tone of a high quality guitar and tube amp.

IMO, recording equipment is really no different. The selection mic, preamp selection, etc. will all make a difference in the final sound. Even most of the high quality equipment won't sound great on all sources.

Having done mixes on both types of equipment I know the gear I have now will only take me so far. There's a reason the recording gurus spend millions on their studio, if there wasn't then they would spend the money else where. Surely these guys are the best of the best so if anyone could do it with a $200 mic and Mackie preamps, it would be these guys.... But that probably wouldn't be as impressive to their clients.

I hope Brandon doesn't mind me quoting him, but when I went looking for his mp3's I saw this on his front page.... The whole thing can be found here. I just thought this part was interesting as it seems we do actually agree on the whole gear thing.... Unless he wasn't talking about the gear, which he can clarify if I misunderstood.

"I basically realized when I was down in Nashville at the Michael Wagener Workshop that I was totally half assing the recording thing. After working for 9 days in a professional facility, where I was capable of getting great sounds, it was very very frustrating coming back to my place. I couldn't get the same sounds. Things just weren't coming together. Basically, I found working in a professional studio environment much more effective than working in my place."

The gear, the room acoustics, it all comes together and plays a major roll in the "potential" sound you can get and it takes a great engineer to reach that full potential.

-tkr