The Truth about Expensive Studio Gear
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2020
- Are you waiting for the right gear so you can start recording? The truth is, the right gear is probably sitting right in front of you. That "cheap" stuff you're currently dealing with is seriously capable.
Gear Listed in this episode: (Sweetwater Afiliate)
Audient Evo: imp.i114863.net/rYjJv
Behringer ADA 8200 imp.i114863.net/QoJ7A
Shure SM57: imp.i114863.net/jkzY5
Shure SM7B imp.i114863.net/7P1yy
Rode Pod Mic imp.i114863.net/krW9V
Behringer 202: imp.i114863.net/OqKON
Focusrite 18i20: imp.i114863.net/VEZ73
Thomann Afiliate:
Audient Evo: bit.ly/2BUSFPp
Behringer ADA 8200: bit.ly/3k7Cob2
Shure SM57: bit.ly/31dchqt
Shure SM7B: bit.ly/30oRIIA
Rode Pod Mic: bit.ly/33isU6V
Behringer 202: bit.ly/31fmCSF
Focusrite 18i20: bit.ly/3i2hyYF
The Punk Rock MBA: / @thepunkrockmba
(thanks for the great episode idea, Finn!)
Fluff's FREE AMP SIM! ml-sound-lab.com/products/amp...
....and many, MANY thanks to Jason Constantine for yelling at me for the last two years to do an episode like this. I think it finally sunk in.
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About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
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Every noob should start with this video
100% yes they should lol tho they might think they know better hahahahaha
I was thinking the same thing, "experts" should watch this too, haha.
This video should be the first thing EVERY aspiring engineer or musician should watch. Honestly, everyone should see this.
Facts. Legitimately 100% truths in here. You can buy a whole studio setup for $1500 these days and get great sounding recordings.
Dude 100%
"A bad craftsman blames his tools."
Holds true for basically everything.
I agree with the philosophy of just get out there, start recording, don't hold yourself back, and have been following it my whole life, but I finally bought myself a nice interface and a nice mic (nice for me at least) and I've never been happier to have just finally forked over some cash for my art. Trying to fix furnaces or hang drywall with bad equipment is possible and you can make a living, but don't forget to treat yourself to the better gear later, don't go a whole decade without upgrading like me, lolol. You MIGHT be happy with the results.
A good craftsman and i don't own the same tools.
But i somehow get shit done anyway.
Try playing an electric guitar with no pots.
@@Kevin.Kelly. "basically everything" 😂
@@Kevin.Kelly. I always have mine cranked up all the way, anyway, so it wouldn't mean that much until I went on break. And no, I don't play that loud. I just prefer the sound of my guitars all the way up. Amp is on 1 or 2, most of the time.
"You can own the most expensive pencil, but if you don't know how to draw..."
So true!
100%
💯!!!!
It’s not the arrow, it’s the Indian
"How to record heavy guitars"
"How to record heavy drums"
"How to record heavy bass"
"How to mix heavy drums"
Still missing
"How to get paid by the band"
"How to sober up your bassist"
"How to learn bass so you can teach the bassist how to play the song"
"How to not pick up drinking to cope with having to work with musicians"
Excellent video Glenn! I actually was one of those dudes thinking "holy shit I cannot record for shit I have no gear and no room". I have a small, makeshift vocal booth now and got a used 18i20 and I am happy as a seal on a fishing boat.
Good for you and just starting!
🤣🤣🤣
You forgot "How to tell your bassist he's fired"
I'll offer a quick run-down:
How to get the band to pay you - don't give them the mixes at the end of the session until they give you the check. If they genuinely can't afford the full price because they didn't anticipate it taking so long and they're really sorry, maybe let them off with a deal just this once and be sure they know it's a one time deal as a reward for being good. If they wasted their studio time by being incompetent, too bad - your masters will be here when you can actually pay me.
How to get the bassist to sober up - get a new bassist, because if just talking to him doesn't work then there's nothing you can do. Don't be St. Anger-era Metallica, nobody needs a psychiatrist in the studio. If you can't find a new bassist or the band can't afford a session player, see...
How to play bass on the record: Be able to alternate pick and play on time (just get a metronome and plug along until you can play on beat, humans are usually naturally good at finding pulses), follow the root notes on the guitar if you can't play the original part or don't know the original part, done.
How to not start drinking to cope with the pain of working with these dumb fucks - take up hard drugs, religion, or just do the Phil Spector and abuse the shit out of them to exorcise your frustrations and hopefully prevent future ones (warning - don't shoot anyone or threaten to shoot them, as this is commonly frowned upon by the law).
8:13 "Tell them to blow it out their--" [ad starts]
It probably wasn't planned that way, but it's one of the funniest things I've seen all day.
Blow it out yer ads
Haha that same thing happened to me just now!
I was just telling my friend the other day "if you're not recording your album now, you probably still won't be when you buy that expensive interface". The truth hurts. Subscribed!
Absolutely!
Loved the podcast! Thanks so much for being on!
Finn, is the podcast episode the same as the interview you did on your channel 8 months back?
How did I miss that?! I know what's getting me thru my next shift.
Honestly can't stand you one bit!
@@ProjectCreativityGuy96 username checks out.
I've recently been down sizing my gear and have actually been finding I'm more productive and creative with less gear to chase. Further more the gear I've kept is the cheap work horse stuff because I'm not afraid of ruining it. Actually been forcing me to learn new things and have more realistic goals. Not one piece of gear I've gotten rid of is missed nor has my material gotten more limited.
A huge problem I found with getting new items is one thing often leads to another. Now that I have x I need z & y to make it all work. You can quickly find yourself up to your neck in hidden/unforeseen costs and eventually you run into the scenario of every addition you make forces a bottleneck of limitation somewhere else. It becomes a cycle of upgrades to accommodate the additions until finally you hit a brick wall leaving you with a really complex, expensive, time consuming, high maintenance wreck that doesn't quite do what it is supposed to. Kinda like my wife. :)
I hope people heed this FANTASTIC advice! I wish I would've seen this rant back in my 20's...would've saved me a ton of headache and a HELL of a lot of money!
Good advice dude, I know I was one of those gear worshipping "I'm not good enough" people too at one time.......One producer told me years ago that I should always try to make the most I can with the least amount of gear possible, still rings true to this day.
Back in the late 80s/early 90s, I used to make demos for Death Metal bands, by having them set up in a garage, play live -- as I ran all their instruments thru a mixer -- then, sending a stereo feed into a stereo VCR -- and sending that back into a Fisher tape deck.
Growing up in South Central L.A., I learned fast that I had to DIY lots of things, because music gear was expensive and unobtainable for me, so I had to figure out ways to 'make things work'.
I was proud to hear one of my demos being played on our local Metal radio station KNAC (albeit, at Midnight on a Friday)...
Necessity is the Mother of Invention was never more purposeful to a young Me. I saw local bands with a need -- and that young me having the wherewithal to fill that need for all those guys!
Work with what you've got!
@@Rr0gu3_5uture LOL... yeah man... my mentality (is still) we gotta work with what we got!
My first recordings were done by recording onto a minidisk, bouncing it to a tape deck through a cheap 2-channel mic mixer, rinse and repeat. Janky as all hell, but you know it had some charm to it.
@@alex-simpson ... Oh man, when I got my Tascam 424, it was a game changer for me!
A whole show of *DIY Recording: Back In The Day* stories would be such a cool episode for guys like Glenn/Ric Beato/Warren Huart to produce...
Hell, they could make the topic an ongoing series, and it wouldn't be wasted time.
Robert Goldie LOL... 👍
@@Rr0gu3_5uture ah, well nowadays my setup is a bit nicer - soundcraft LX7, MOTU 828mk3 and Digi 002, and a fair bit of outboard that I've acquired over the years... Kind of miss the simplicity sometimes though.
That was very inspirational. Thank you, I really needed that shot in the arm and decide to advance to the next level in my recording. Thank you again.
I think the message isn't just for recording, it can be apply to all things too. If you want to start something, do it right away and start small(cheaper).
You missed out on the most important thing: Sound treatment! But yes, get started now and upgrade your studio as you go along.
Na man, get a mortgage and buy a room with 1 x 1.6 x 2.56 proportions first and then you'll be able to make good music.
Id argue dont do that at first. Just get out there and start doing stuff. You'll appreciate what sound treatment does for you a whole lot more when someone tells you thats what your issue is.
It's possible to get good results with no sound treatment. You'll have the most trouble with overheads, but just set them up in xy to reduce room sound. And play around with instrument placement to find the sweet spot in the room.
Find the spot that sounds the best for vocals... Also, check out the video of Mark Ronson recording Amy Winehouse.... She is literally under a tent made of a rug and blankets!!! ;)
@@0000song0000 Whatever works! Just saying, before you drop a ton of money on converters, analog gear, and expensive preamps, start with some sound treatment (and DIY works just fine!)
Possibly the most informative episode yet for us amatures, start to finish. I really appreciate it, man. I hope you had a great birthday.
Glenn, your timing on this video could not have been better. After a long time of saying these exact phrases, I finally got my band into my studio to start recording our first record. I was afraid that in doing this I would get terrible mixes and it would just kill my bands motivation to ever try again. However, we recorded two songs over the weekend and were ecstatic with how great they sound! I use Reaper DAW, a Behringer UMC1820, an AKG P120 for vocals, Fluffs Amped Roots free amp sim for guitar, the TSE Audio Bass plugin, and a Digital Reference DRDK7 mic set with an SM57 on the snare and it is insane how good our mixes are sounding! Now we cannot wait to finish our record and share it with the world! If there is anyone hesitating right now, take it from me and go get started, you wont regret it! Thanks for all the endless great advice Glenn!
I am almost 50. I remember I couldn't afford a wireless transmitter for my guitar so I ended up with cheap wires and input jacks soldered by hand one by one. Young dudes should appreciate what's in their disposal nowadays.
You know, people still make their own cables, plus not everyone needs a wireless transmitter. It's not an old vs. young thing. All those things are in your disposal too.
You... you could have just bought cables... build your own wireless, sure, but why skimp on the $10-20 for cables?
Sunken cost fallacy - that's really great education, Glen!
Brutally well said! You gotta give it your all and focus some time in learning your craft!
Awesome advise Glenn!
I did this 3 years ago, now i have 30 songs in my catalogue, but unreleased yet. Still learning mastering in the box. This man is telling the truth, just do it and be creative with what you have!
this was more like a life lesson than a lesson regarding studio gear
Glenn this was incredibly inspiring and exactly what I needed to see/hear today. I’ve been so guilty of everything you said here and I think you’ve given me the inspiration to stop paying so much attention to forums(TGP, Gearslutz, etc.) and just dive in head first and make it happen. I got into music because I loved music - not the pursuit of gear! Thanks for your content and for always being honest and transparent with all of us!
Pedro Kantor I legitimately wish I would have never discovered that place. I’d be a much better musician!
Jaredt771 Just do it man. Gearslutz is entertainment. You won’t learn anything of value there. Stick with Glen and Warren.
Hands down one of the most important and enlightening videos you've done... should be required viewing for anyone/everyone dedicated to taking their sounds to the next level!
Glenn you're awesome; been watching your channel from the start. Nothing but helpful and true information on every subject you cover, much appreciated..
I recorded my first ever EP with the following gear:
Interface: Behringer Guitar Link - For VOCALS, guitars, bass and percussion.
Monitors: None. No money back then. I used some sony headphones, the ones you can buy for like 12 bucks.
DAW: Reaper.
Effects: Free puglings and free amp sims.
Drums: samples (sorry Glenn).
Acoustic treatment: None.
Did it sound awesome? Absolutely not. But the band and I were happy because we put something out. We achieved to record something and it was fun to listen.
The thing is that you gotta work with whathever gear you have at hand.
You have no money?
Buy a cheap interface. New or used, it doesn't matter.
Get some free pluggings.
Put some pillows on the corners if you're using speakers.
And have fun making music.
I just finished mixing an EP for my death metal band "Graves of the Abyss" with an old digi002 with an Behringer Adat add-on.
I did everything on reaper, with stock plugins and I'm extremely satisfied with the results. Thanks for all the help along the way Glenn.
Cheers!
Love to listen to it if you have it up on the net.
I just chucked up a teaser - waiting on the streaming uploads ;) I'll see if I can link the vid here
facebook.com/watch/?v=341421463691395
@@RyanPGallant hell yeah man. Ill check you page.
@@rpgstudios3628 bro that is outstanding. I dont have Facebook but ill follow you guys on Instagram. I love how that sounds. Very well done.
Thank you for putting this out there, Glenn. It’s so easy to get caught up into ‘needing’ the latest and ‘greatest’ gear.
What an excellent video, Glenn. I just recently discovered this channel and binging most of them 🤘
I totally said that in your last videos comment section. XD Everything I own is budget but I had to make a choice between making big money to buy great equipment or using my time to try and master what I have. I think this is a great message you put out today.
I knew there'd be a bass player dig in here somewhere. Lol
Damn dude, that was one of the best videos I've ever seen. You win the internet today in the "Music Production" category.
Amazing channel dude! Cannot stop watching your videos
All you need for home recording is an interface and a decent set of monitors or headphones. You can make anything sound great if you're willing to put in the time and effort!
@Lars Norberg True that. Reference mixes are really important imo. One thing I like to do (idea from Warren Huart) is to put a low pass filter on my mix and my reference mix. Like literally cut everything above 300hz and just compare the lows and low mids. Simply doing that can yield some great results
All.I have is a laptop, the free version of Audacity, and a mic
@@braidenr4 Reaper is $60 for a license, but you can use it for free indefinitely. It's just going to ask you to buy a license when you open it. Use the microphone-in port on your laptop. If you only have a headphone in, it's almost definitely a combination jack. Use reference tracks to mix. A decent pair of headphones could be your only real expense. Bounce edited tracks and re-import to save on processing power.
Make music, not excuses.
Very true.
Used to use (still do for certain things) Wavepad Sound Editor and a Rockband or Guitar Hero mic. Unfortunately they're not silent so you get the static background. But once mixed in. Didn't matter.
Sucky thing was it was single track so I had to record each things separately and then mix the files together.
Now with Ableton everything's super easy and my S10e has an amazing Mic on it.
The problem isn't that the shits hard.
It's just fucking tedious especially if you're doing a fuck ton of guess work.
I've mentioned it before and I'll mention it again here...
If you want (or need) multi-track recording capability on a budget, and particularly if you need a lot of outputs, get a Behringer XR18 (or the tabletop version, the X18). 18 inputs - 16 of them with mic pres (with separate phantom power for each).
EQ, compression and gate for each channel.
You can send each channel (with separate controls for output volume) to any outputs you want... it's not either / or.
Speaking of outputs, there are 6 mono aux busses (3 stereo pairs if that's what you want), stereo LR plus stereo headphone output. That's a lot of I/O.
In addition, you have 4 stereo effects busses which can be used as inserts or conventional FX send, each with their own return which can also be assigned to any output or buss.
Finally, if you need still more outputs, the XR comes with an Ultranet port which sends 16 channels of digital audio to their P16M personal monitoring system, which can be daisy-chained.
...
There is nothing, in my opinion, that offers more bang for your buck than a Behringer XR18. In fact, I have two of them - one for studio and one for live.
Wanted to post almost exactly the same comment...😅 Behringer XR18 = cheap, usable and great! Used it today to record Drums. Super easy! Just connected the USB into the old MacBook, opened GarageBand (just recording, no mixing!), set the channels and we were good to go! And we can record every rehearsal and show, use it as an InEar Monitoring unit. Works great (except for the built in WiFi...just use a cheap external router)
@@EliBernitt - That's pretty much my experience... The only downside to the mixer is the built-in WiFi. That aside, it's an amazing tool.
Marc Coté exactly! I believe any band can do this nowadays and with some time, blood and sweat (and some tears) comes the experience (and knowledge) to record yourself decent sounding demos
Amen brother! This episode is super motivational! Love it!
I really needed to hear this. Thanks Glenn. Been too caught up with figuring out what the “best gear” is. So thanks for giving me some hope.
Yes Glenn a rant video, god I have missed these.
My dad used to tell me these two when I was a teenager:
1- With what you have, sound how you want
2- A bad engineer, blames the tools
@jack Every single time a rookie wants to book a project and puts too much emphasis on the gear, I stop, look them in the eye and say “ the gear won’t be the weak link, it will be you and I “. Glen is cool and he knows what’s up. Rewatch the video and drop the excuses.
Jack Hey Jack, No way was I implying that people are cranking out Billboard hits with $ 500 worth of gear and a laptop. But there’s a lot more to making music then Billboard hits, it’s a big world out there and it ain’t all hi-fi. I just finished an EP project for a client for a cassette release. Shit, I hadn’t mastered for cassette since 1986. Apparently cassette releases are making a small comeback. ( It sounded surprisingly good ). Absolutely the gear is important, all I think Glenn and myself are saying is, don’t let the lack of a certain piece of gear your wanting stop you from making and recording music. Main thing is keep doing and keep learning. All the best and have a Good Friday.
Jack Your points are valid. It’s always tricky when the client wants to sound like anything but them. Doesn’t matter if it’s Drake or the Beatles White album. I swear my day is half friendly engineer/ producer and half psychologist/ philosopher.
My CZcams Watch It Later list has a whole bunch of videos. When I finally came across this one, bravo sir, bravo. Cheers from Omak, WA!
Wow! Thank You Glen. Now I understand more about what stuff I really need. I will arrange my time and learn seriously to produce something awesome with my stuff.
Well, I would start recording and making music, once I can:
Move out of my parents basement
Find a better paying job
Have a space where I can set up real drums/ amps/ guitars etc
Afford mics and stands, drums, amps, guitars etc
Live in a world without a massive pandemic that cripples the economy and ability to do live shows...
Or! I could make music regardless of all these things, using the technology that is available to me... Even if it means contributing to the "death of music," using sampled drums and virtual instruments. I mean, I know Glenn's gonna hate me for using sampled drums and virtual instruments, but it's that or sit around and let my dreams die.
The vast majority of producers across all genres use sampled drums. Real Drum recordings is something that requires quite a lot of money that most people don't have. I am always curios why glenn always rants against samples.
GeneralQ Not only money, but time, and space. Getting a drummer to record, pay the drummer. Midi drums has come long ways tbh. BUT nothing beats the real thing
The best drummers dont worry about pissing off pop pop
Dude. Sampled insturments are nothing to be afraid of. Yeah, we all prefer analog when it comes to tracking, but if you embrace the things you can do with samples that you cannot with live drums, you have only added new skills and sounds to your toolbox. Jump on into the electronic music side! The water's fine...
There is something funny about hearing Glenn say this as he sits in front of $12k worth of Pultecs
I sure as hell didn't start out like this...
Glenn, I completely agree with what you're saying and think you're awesome. The setting just amuses me.
But, the nice part is that he KNOWS that you don't need them.
@Jozkg true. This video advice is like a message to the newbies and people, who can't afford the best equipment out there and kind of calming them down, BUT truth is there Is a reason why high end studios have those expensive equipment. Today was listening to Michael Jackson Dangerous and although I have a pretty good gear, RME interface, Neve pre's, DI etc, the sound of that album is soooo great, balanced and perfect, that I may get close like 80% and be more than happy with that, but those 20% is what gives you goosebumps and the Wow reaction. There is a reason for everything.And I understand why famous artists record in studios, still, and not in their home studios. The final polishing touch, the mixing and mastering is what makes a great song or album great. There's a lot of skills involved in making a great sounding albums, but for home studio and people just starting, he is right.
A year later and perfectly timed, the time spent on upgrades, feeding my head, and waiting for the gear I "need" where does it end. Back to the axe with what I got. Fuck YEAH Glen! Thanks
I was getting ready to start work on my own kit. This video helps a shit ton man!
So I've heard Glenn talk about studio ready guitars im aware alot of guys play shitty guitars but what makes a studio ready guitar, Ive got a ibanez with a super distortion in it and i think it sounds great. So what really makes a studio ready guitar? Is it just basic better quality or is it nice pickups or something else?
Episode coming!
@@machinedaluminum That's pretty much it.
I used to record Thrash and Punk bands, and *ALL* those guys might as well have been -bass players- tone deaf!
It was rare to have guys come in who actually gave a fuck about tuning their drums or guitars... and myself, being on the polar opposite of that spectrum... I used to have to tune their guitars up for them, or give 'em a quick setup while the drummer was setting up his kit.
However, I remember some of those recordings had a pure flaw to 'em --- *BECAUSE* of the _out-of-tuneness_ of it all... I always made sure the guys got in the ballpark within pitch of each other, but what made those guys so sick on stage, actually translated to tape as well... because of that broken characteristic.
Sometimes (and I really do stress *sometimes*) it can be a good thing to let the talent be the talent, instead of cleaning them up...
One can never polish a turd!
A good setup, no weird stray electronic noises and solid tuning is all you need. I made a decent living as a session guitarist back in the 90's, I had some gorgeous instruments, but I'd say a good 90% of the work I did was with a cheapo Korean Squier Strat with EMGs dropped in, purely as it stayed in tune, the neck felt super comfy and it was quiet.
I hope there's audio examples of studio ready and non-studio ready guitars. This will help go a long way for people to understand why it's important and honestly will make it easier for me to explain since I'll just start sending links to the video and save myself giving the same speech for the 100th time.
Almost 20 Thumbs Down ??
Oh, 20 people who spent too much . . . . .
it’s been a min since i’ve seen one of your vids, you’ve slimmed tf down! looking good!
THIS! FUCKING THIS! 💪💪💪 I saw a good comment from Eddie Pickard(Infant Annihilator/Black Tongue) who doesn't spend a lot on his rig, he simply said you just need to know how to get the best out of the gear you've got.
Having expensive gear is nice but only if you actually get the utility out of it. I've been using the same cheap set up for a few years, but actually learning how to use what's available to me and working within my means has totally transformed my mixes and just as important, my ear for mixing.
I have been liying to myself for many years all I was holding myself back this exact way until I had the balls to make this! I made this on a 2010 MacBook and a Chinese phone! Yes I'm death serious!! I also animate a goat with thas coal eating relic from the past!! It's not the best son in the world but still proud to make a little progress!! Guys don't hold yourselves back just do it as good as you can!! Thanks for all the advice Glenn, watching your channel has been a life changing experience!!
This is my final result! czcams.com/video/xliWe6vlm4I/video.html
Just took a listen - sounds awesome, my friend.
@@davidmarais1048 ohh wow thank you so much to listen to my crazy stuff bro!! 🤘🤘🤘
Brilliant, great vid! Had a good ole chuckle👍
Outstanding post! Speak truth, brother. This should be required viewing for not only anyone entering this space, but for many of us old hacks -- just to keep us appropriately grounded and focused on the objective: making good music.
I just ordered a scarlett 2i2 3rd gen bundle today and I'm ready to get my guitars on the road! your video gave me the push that I needed!! thanks Glenn!!!!
This is an extremely important video for this time in Audio / Music. Thanks Glenn.
Videos like this are the ones that made me fall in love with your channel Glenn! Thanks man, you are the fucking best!
Out of this world awesome. Thanks Glenn!
Really great article !!! Spot on ! Bless you man .
When I was 10, my uncle who at the time worked for Apple, gave me a cable that directly connected my guitar to my laptop. This was the year 2000. So all I had was GarageBand, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and eventually a TINY midi keyboard. I went on to record over 100 songs on my own. It’s all I did. Before school, after school, on weekends. I taught myself how to do some very basic mixing. And I just fell in love with the craft. I’m engineering on a much higher level now. But it took me years and years to get “Good” gear. I was maybe 24-25 when I really started putting money into my hardware and software. I do get a kick out of listening to those 15-20 year old songs. And some of them aren’t bad! In high school, I sold burnt cd’s with my stuff on them and made a living on my own, doing that. I played at all of the school functions. It was great! I had one cord. One computer. No microphone (I used the mic on the laptop so the vocals were either not too bad, or the worst thing you’d ever hear). Would LOVE to re record some of those old songs. I got on local radio. Anyway. Moral of the story. You can do it. There are SO many options now. If I did it with the bare minimum, no complaints, anybody can.
Great story of working with you got.
No excuses. Find a way to record, and record something awesome.
I’ve been watching your vids for a bit now. And this is by far THE most true video I’ve watched for a bit. I was doing this very thing. I have 20 years experience as a session guitarist in literally every genre, I wanted to badly to get into doing remote session in my home studio. But I just never had the right gear to get started and take on jobs. Finally I did get a new computer which truly was needed and made the conscious decision to start. Since then I have successfully began to bring in regular monthly work tracking 100% in my home studio. The gear I’ve been using, Avid Eleven Rack as my interface. Logic Pro x as my DAW and occasional for heavy fuzz tones an MXL 990 mic’ing........ready for it, a pig nose.........my clients have done nothing but complementing my tone first.......😂😂😂
So true. Thanks Glenn. Looking sharp too sir!
Dude. You’re awesome!!! Hahahahaa made it fun to learn and laugh. Wish I could show this to every recording snob I’ve met through the years.
I so fucking badly wish I found your channel when my first band started to record. All we had was a interface, used mixer, and three mics. The best sound we could get was early 2000s deathcore but more airy. The dude who played lead guitar asked me to help him out three or two years ago, with recording his own band, since he couldn't remember how we did some stuff, he had the same stuff, but better guitar, amp and more mics. He didn't know he should compress guitars, drums and vocals. I bought him his first compressor as a gift and pulled some tricks that you taught and we got the best sound we ever got, and it was all because watching your videos and taking in your tips.
Cheers mate
Glenn, you make my lunch so much better! Damn, I am SO GULTY of this! Thanks for the kick in the ass!
Never seen your channel before and im already in love, Thats a sub for you!
The way you started this video, is what I've been saying for too long!! I finally put something on Soundcloud the other day, just to get use to hearing it outside of my house!! I try telling myself, "They can hear it" because I can't compete with the loudness wars Plus, I'm still transferring wav from my Tascam Dp-02. I just bought a Presonus, and have to learn it.This was good to hear. THANKS.
Thank you for apreciating my profession at last.
You are right, Bass players who get their shit togethe are priceless.
They are out there - somewhere.
Hey Glen, I started recording in 2005 with a Korg d-12 portastudio having only 4 channels of input. Used for 560 bucks. I still enjoy listening to the music I recorded on it to this day. Yes, full drumset, bass guitars vocals and everything. It's a poor workman who blames his tools. Knowing how to maximize what you have is more valuable than ANY piece of gear. Today it is easier than ever to get capable gear for low cost...Excellent advice too in this video. I agree, just get something to start with and learn every trick you can and get to doing it. Doing something always sounds better and teaches you more than doing nothing waiting to get started.
this was what I needed, I was looking at “updating” my audio interface, amp, you name it.. because social media and youtube makes it seem like your gear isn’t good enough. I realized that making music (with what you have) is more important.
perfect timing for this video. I was seriously looking into upgrading from a Focusrite Scarlett Solo to the UA Arrow, thinking the UA preamps were gonna make my vocal recordings sound amazing
Thanks a lot Glenn, your show is a true inspiration ! Keep it up !
GLENN!!! In the early 2000's my dad was a drummer in a kick ass local band and all he wanted was some decent recordings, but since tape was so expensive and we were before a time when recording digitally was available to your average musician, he engineered and recorded his bands full mix to record through a VHS PLAYER! AND IT KICKED ASS!! You should definitely try this technique for a video sometime :) and cheers from Oregon
Priceless video! Must watch for everyone!
Back when I was in AE school, whenever other students started obsessing over gear (pricy gear, of course), my favorite line was "I'd MUCH rather watch Bob Rock mix ITB on Pro Tools with all stock plugins than some random hack on a SSL with a wall worth of vintage outboard, I'd definitely learn WAY more with the former than with the later".
I still stand by it. Gear are tools. Sure, they can be fun, but if you don't know how to use them... A good craftsman never blames his tools for his failures, right ?
Works pretty well for music gear too: if you can't sound good with a production Fender or Gibson, a bone-stock Marshall and a couple of Boss pedals, chances are, the issue isn't with the gear.
Haha I needed this video 15 years ago! Instantly smiled when I saw the title.
Thank you for the extra push I needed
Thank you so much for this video. I am re learning my own gear after studying on a great (private school) studio. I got used to their hardware, their pretty 48 channel analogue console, the patching, the Manley voxbox, ribbon mics and ProTools and Logic everywere... Yet only have my Cubase AI 10. 5 and PCs at home... So now I have to learn to record with what I actually have: Izotope VSTs, my guitars, basses and keyboards.
Great Wisdom, Glenn! Thanks!!!
Thanks to your channel, my home studio in my bungalow uses relatively inexpensive gear that sounds great. Yes, I have a Behringer 8-channel interface and it does the job well. The biggest thing that held me back wasn't the quality or price of gear. Once I got a patchbay and an XLR panel, I can now record on a whim just by plugging in. Hell, this is a hobby of mine and I ain't fooling anybody. It's great fun and your knowledge helped me a lot. Thanks again!
I started recording as a hobby way back in 2006-2007. Free software was almost nonexistent, free/affordable DAWs were impossible to find(Reaper was less than a year old!), and a lot of the audio gear a bedroom hobbyist could afford was junk.
Nowadays there's dozens of solid free DAWs, thousands of great free VSTs, and $200 is enough to get you a rock-solid mic/interface combo that'll sound great and last forever if you take care of them. It's amazing to me how far everything's come in a little over a decade, the barrier to entry is basically gone now.
Thanks so much for this! I've found that I can achieve results that I like quicker with better gear - but I certainly understand that it's not necessary. Cheers.
Best video ever on this subject. You cannot buy expertise. You can buy instruction, but you have to practice practice practice. It took me a long time to figure out how to get the acoustic guitar sounds I wanted -- used a pair of el cheapo samson small diaphragm condensers fed into a behringer umc202hd. The secret was in the mike placement. I had read books and taken classes and I grasped it academically, but there is no substitute for just trying a bunch of different things, making one little change at a time until -- shazam.
Compared to what was used on the records of people we know are legends, even the cheapest modern gear is usually light years better.
This is no different than going into a guitar store and hearing some kid sounding like heaven -- and he's playing that $149 guitar. It sounds like heaven because he's been practicing 5 hours a day.
Thanks for the warm pep talk ❤️
I'm playing bass out of necessity for my songs "a bass player that can actually play the song, priceless". I felt that deeply
Top teir advice! Legendary content! Again and again from you my friend! Keep doing what your doing. Its guys like yourself who are laying the foundations for the future producers and engineers of music. Sub for life! ✌
I'm not the only person who I'm sure needed to hear this. Thanks Glenn!
Great video. I needed this kick-in-the-rear. Been half-assing for too long. \m/
When I started DAW recording in the 90's I had only a tiny ad in a mag and the advice of 1 guitar center employee to guide me into Cakewalk/USB Mobile Pre. 2 years later I was doing video game audio in Japan where they had THEE WORSE gear. Stuff held together with TAPE. This channel made me decide to start audio recording my own music for the 1st time since way back.
And yet another fine pep talk by our Mr. Fricker.
This is fantastic. I'm a former music retail sales associate the first thing I'd recommend to recording noobs were books before expensive gear and I always caught crap from other salespeople for it. Thank you for helping set the record straight.
I produced with a core 2 duo Dell laptop and Skullcandy earbuds for a while and that never stopped me from coming out with tracks for artists. Work with what you got. Then upgrade when necessary. Not out of necessity. Love this channel! 🤘🏼
I needed this video tonight, I've got zero self worth which is putting me off doing music. I keep thinking I don't deserve to charge people anything when I can do it for free instead just because I can't seem to care for myself much. I feel like I'm my own worst enemy in life, but on the rare occasion I do find momentary boosts of motivation; like this channel for one. I haven't been on the discord much but last time I was on there I got help from nice people when I was expecting to just be looked at like an ignorant fool for not knowing how to use something simple. But yeah that was a nice moment on there the discord is a great extension to this great channel. I wanna make music for videogames as my occupation and this channel has helped me a lot, I feel shitty for using fake drums and MIDI instruments but it's what I got. This has gone onto a dumb tangent and I don't really know what I'm commentating on now but thanks Glenn and the community for keeping it real.
Glad I could help!!
Great timing on this video. I just started recording the songs of my former band during high school so we can all have some memories of 2002-2005. I don't have the gear I want for this, but I decided to give it a shot anyways and stop with the excuses. And yes, there are A LOT of compromises to be made. This is what I am stuck with for now:
- crappy Line6 UX1 audio interface to record DIs
- Reaper (yeah, at least there's that)
- EZDrummer for the drum tracks (neither can I afford an entire drum kit that I couldn't even play nor do I have space for that thing)
- Some AMP Sim I bought from Neural DSP
- all of those awesome free PlugIns that I found at least in part thanks to this channel!
I don't even have a bass guitar yet so all the bass tracks are programmed for now. But this is something that is going to change soon.
To get a feel for all this I started to record the weaker Songs hoping that all the better Songs might benefit from the things I'll learn in between. And this is how far I have come so far:
soundcloud.com/doriath-499774756/deep-in-the-woods-demo/s-yHUGWjhnx4N
soundcloud.com/doriath-499774756/the-witch-demo/s-dmUgng98zTo
I know this isn't special or a big thing, but at least I started working on things and actually get some shit done.
Pretty cool shit man! 2001-2005 was a fantastic time for metal. I graduated in 2005.
Thank you man, needed this!
Man love the ideas... Will definitely be making great music .... Nairobi is watching
When I started playing we could barely get the cash together to buy a 4 track and it sounded pretty horrible. Coming back to it 30 years later my mind was blown by all this digital gear. Literally blown. For next to no money you can have a fully functioning recording studio in your home! You young pups don't know how good you have it. It's just incredible how much you can do these days. In my limited experience you can get something sounding good enough to share with your mates or soundcloud or whatever in a matter of hours. Sure, to get it sounding great takes knowledge, time and experience but all the info to gain those things comes free too on youtube! Just do it!
Thank you so much for this! Now I got my eyes on a good affordable mic I had intended. Amazing advice and been amazing ever since.!👍👍🎶🎶
Great vid Glenn! Ive been thinking about recording my amp (with something other than my cellphone mic) just for fun and this was perfect to outline the kind of entry level gear to shop for! I was really wondering why i would ever need more than 1 or 2 inputs haha! Also Finns channel is definitely a good time haha
I love these pep talks. Thanks Glenn!!
BTW I needed this one.
I need to be reminded of this sometimes. Thanks, Glenn!
Great video, man. All the screaming and f**k you’s are fun sometimes, but these videos are the reason I subscribe. Kudos from a proud Behringer UMC404 and Reaper user.
I appreciate that!
Sir, this is one of the best videos about gear around period.