General Music Chat

it is surprising how much money a guy or gal can shell out just for home recording studio gear, I used my Audio Technica mic I used 34 years ago in a band I was in Ft.Walton Fl. to record vocals trying to help Amadeus out, thru a Line 6 Toneport UX-2 .. I could never afford another $150.00 just for a mic again

I have received a couple thousand dollars (not much, but better than nothing) in royalty checks this year for music I recorded years ago in a very modest home bedroom studio, MXL microphone, cheap little Mackie mixer for a mic preamp into a SoundBlaster card. I was fortunate that nobody told me it was not possible to produce anything worthwhile.
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Bravo Bill! Got a soundcloud link where we can hear your best recordings?
I just checked and nobody ever said it couldn't be done. Your words, not mine. Creating recordings at home that will genuinely sell just require skill that few of us here possess. I am the president of the limited recording skills club and I have been doing it at home since 1969. Some folks are slow learners.

"Selling" music is pretty much a thng of the past except for the top 100 in the business. I buy CDs from my favorite performers as they produce new suff, and will buy a CD form a player/band I see somewhere, if they even have any - but 90% of the people out there today dont' buy ANY music. They stream from some service , rip music from youtube/websites.

Yep, a hobbyist home project studio makes a lot of sense if you want to record your music, and you have realistic expectations of your result. He has experience with Garageband already so the GB/ipad is one way to go with good results for dirt cheap. One could spend as much as one wants on home studio goodies but diminishing returns hit very quickly for most of us.

Here is an example of someone who breaks the mold. She is a friend of a friend and just has a boatload of musical talent. Their bare-bones recording could have been done with an iphone (it wasn't) and mic interface but any interface would work. Sometimes the simplest tools and techniques yield the best results.
https://youtu.be/wXhbYJPElXc

I agree with some of the other suggestions; Reaper is a great, low cost alternative. I'd also like to recommend checking out the Tracktion DAW. It looks and feels a little different from most other recording applications, but I really like its workflow and single-screen interface.

I have links but have only shared them with one person on this forum.
He has given my music a very kind appraisal,
though that may reflect more of his generous good nature than merit of the music.

might not it be BOTH "his" generous good nature AND the merit of your music? (rhetorical question).

i consider myself very fortunate to have heard your stuff and honestly DO think it's great, and really quite impressive. the rest of BM has no idea what they're missing! eat yer hearts out!

I don't have any recordings I think good enough to promote as best.
They are all filled with all kinds of flaws, some just a bit less than others.

well, we can always do better and we're often (usually) our own harshest critics. i certainly heard no clams or gaffes anywhere. then again i'm a big fan of first take rawness vs. something that's been buffed, buffed, and rebuffed to be all shiny and pristine.

"Best" for me would bear no relation to the production quality.
I came up listening to recordings of Charlie Patton, academic field recordings, Lee Perry dub mixes, old New Orleans r&b recorded by a grocer in the back room etc. ... not so much Eddie Kramer, Glyn Johns, Quincy Jones etc.

well, i'd say that the stuff i've heard of your's lays somewhere between the two colorful extremes you outlined there.

i'm certain i'm not the only one who'd enjoy hearing what you come up with the changes i tossed out there in the "musical project thread". what say you?