Hey guys I have a simple question. Do you think it makes an ENORMOUS difference if you go to the studio to record your first demo/EP or if you can produce a quality product on your own? I mean do you think it makes such a difference to clubs perception wise if you spend money going to a studio or if you create something that sounds good enough but isn't as polished as if you had spent $3000+ on it. We recorded an 8 song demo/EP and I'm concerned that certain clubs/music halls might be skeptical about it and might not think we're serious.

I know history is full of artists who went the do it yourself route in the beginning and became successful but I go with the line of thinking that you need every advantage possible to separate or at least bring yourself up to the level of your competition.








_________________
Without music, life is a journey through a desert.

Well, the reason for a studio is to put out a good demo, but if you can make a good demo on your own (i'm assuming in basically your own home studio), then it probably doesn't matter much that you didn't go the studio route.

Mitchell? wrote:

Well, the reason for a studio is to put out a good demo, but if you can make a good demo on your own (i'm assuming in basically your own home studio), then it probably doesn't matter much that you didn't go the studio route.

+1
I've heard some really good demos done on16 track/home recordings that do well. If you have the equipment, try it. If you don't like it take the tracks to somebody and see if they can polish them.








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I PROUDLY ENDORSE MEDICINE MAN DRUMS AND SALUDA CYMBALS, and Bud light.



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I think it has a lot to do with your goals as a band.
You could probably get by with making a self-produced demo while you're in the 'getting the word out/growing your brand' stage.
It's best to make things look and sound as professional as possible, but it can be done 'DIY' and on a budget.

What my band decided was that we weren't going to pursue a major-label career (what are the chances, realistically?) but that we wanted to make the best product we could, ourselves. So we gradually built our own facility so that instead of demos, we could make finished product that we could retain control of and market on our own. Instead of hoping someday to make the album we imagined, we try to do that to the best of our abilities now. Some folks say "play each gig like it's your last." We kinda applied that philosophy to recording. Rather than producing demos, we want to just go ahead and make the album.

I don't know if that makes a lot of sense in the context of this thread- I guess I'm thinking it really depends on the direction you're heading.
The DIY route is definitely more viable these days; if you really do your homework you can put together a pretty good product on your own.
I don't know that it'd make a huge difference to venues, etc, when you're shopping it around for work, they don't think they usually listen to much of it anyway.

Where are you guys looking to work (or have you already) in NOLA?








_________________
analog missionary
M=yspace

You want to sound and appear as professional as possible. Don't settle for anything less than the best of quality. I mean, if you want gigs you need to sound like you know what's going on. Save some money and hit the studio. Think like this, if it came down to you and another band to fill a sweet spot on the bill. They put in the other bands cd and it sounds good, but they can hear alot of unwanted noises in the background. They put in yours, it's clean, it sounds professional, nothing but music coming through those speakers. Who would you pick?








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Life is too short to not make music.

I think the two biggest factors are available gear and knowledge of sound engineering. A good engineer can make or break a recording. Beyond that there's mixing and mastering. If you know what you're doing you can put out a very professional sounding album by yourself.

And $3k for eight songs is actually pretty cheap, for a quality product. I know someone who's spending $20k on 12 songs and even that's still cheap compared to what a major label puts out.









Last edited by SGarrett on Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:06 am; edited 1 time in total
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Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

From Stevie Wonder to Sublime, self-produced has worked, and will continue to work.

Listen to this

http://thewildtruth.com

All done in Sven's living room. As well as about 150 other albums.








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13612
www.billraydrums.com
www.myspace.com/billraydrums

my dad and i are mixing my band's demo EP, recorded with rented mics from long and mcquade and an M-Audio ProjectMix board, and believe me the engineer makes or breaks the recording. we spend five hours on one song today. if you can get your hands on one of those solid boss multi-track recorders and know how to shuffle tracks in the mix and such then go for it.

in my area there's a guy named johnny screwdriver, he'll record you for a couple hundred bucks, split between a band it's not that much money. if you can rent a practice space for a couple hours and get a guy with some experience then it's worth the money, believe me. you'll be much happier with the finished product.








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english, motherf**ker, do you speak it!?
http://www.myspace.com/tuskband

for only a demo, it is much cheaper to go to a studio than buy the equipment needed to make a home studio sound just as good

For my bands demo we used my home studio but if you dont have one dont go out and buy all of
the stuff jsut go to a studio.

Quote:

And $3k for eight songs is actually pretty cheap

For that much money, you can get a pretty efficient set-up.
If you have good ears and common sense, you can do it at home.
I've heard some real crap come out of local studios.

This was recorded in my bedroom...
http://www.myspace.com/whateverocks

That's a $700 Dell computer
Presonus Firepods, now selling for $399 each
Audix fusion drum mics $150
SONAR Producer edition about $500 right now

You could record any time you want for free








_________________
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" Lao Tsu
http://www.myspace.com/whateverocks
http://www.myspace.com/frontlinetribute
http://www.myspace.com/firthoffifth2

We have our own studio. We managed to get a mixing desk and it went form there really. We record our own little demos whenever we feel the need although we have a bit of a deal so will be going to record in London soon.

We've made some pretty good recordings ourselves though. If you know how to work the gear and an idea of how to produce a track you'll be fine.

There are advantages to being able to record whenever, such as recording your newest song, that killer drum part you love to play and spent ages getting down only to realise it's a bit to much and it wouldn't be a bad idea to hone it back a lil'.








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RobCrisp.co.uk

drumur wrote:

Quote:

And $3k for eight songs is actually pretty cheap

For that much money, you can get a pretty efficient set-up.
If you have good ears and common sense, you can do it at home.
I've heard some real crap come out of local studios.

This was recorded in my bedroom...
http://www.myspace.com/whateverocks

That's a $700 Dell computer
Presonus Firepods, now selling for $399 each
Audix fusion drum mics $150
SONAR Producer edition about $500 right now

You could record any time you want for free

I totally agree with this statement, I would say the most difficult part of the entire process would be mixing and mastering. Just make sure you get everything recorded at a decent level and that its not brick walled. Keeping that in mind you should be fine. I would also like to suggest recording a friend or another band first just to get the hang of it.








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"Without music, life would be a mistake." ~ nietzsche

I personally have never used a studio, which is odd because some of my friends own a few of them in town. Since I was 12 I've gone the diy route. Back then it was two tape decks and a 16 channel mixer. If you check out my myspace(always sounds like you're studdering when you say it like that),www.myspace.com/mybrotherjames(we're recording an album right now and i put some scratch stuff up), everything on it was recorded with a tascam 4-track, 16 channel mixer, some QUALITY mics(they make a world of diff), very few effects, and me and my brother's equipment(premier birch set, pork pie snare, paiste sig and visions, rivera guitar amp, fender bass amp, les paul, sg, and thunderbird bass(we love our gibsons)) Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the quality would be better if I went to a studio, but I can't justify the expense when I can create a product that I(stressed) am happy with. My 2 cents...

It really depends on what you need the recording for. We demo everything as a means of songwriting, and this would probably work for something for clubs to listen to. Home studio stuff is great, but it is reeal hard to get good acoustic drum sounds. If you don't mind using triggers or electronics a home studio will be cheaper in the long run, but you are going to need some one to help you learn the recording process and how to use the software. However if you want a good acoustic drum sound you need a good room and good microphones, as well as good recording equipment. This makes studios a worthwhile investment for anything you want to put out as a finished product.
As time has moved on and our recording knowledge has improved we budget our albums this way: 1.Preproduce at home- have the songs ready to record, get the clicks recorded etc. When you are ready to go to the studio 2. Record the drum tracks in the studio. Make sure to take time getting good tones-being thrifty here will not save any money in the long run. Also try to capture midi data for at least kick and snare during initial performance. I could go on and on with this step, but I'll stop myself here. 3. Record all the rest of your tracks at your home studio. Saves lots of studio time and gives youthe budget to: 4. Pay someone else to mix it for you. They will give your recording some input from out side the band. Also if you can afford to use someone with a bit of a name it can help give your recording some "street cred". 5. Make sure to save money to pay for mastering. This can be done by the person in step4, but it might be better to go to someone else. Just be careful this step really makes or breaks a recording especially these days when final wave forms tend to look like big squares as opposed to wave forms. Apparently overall volume is more important than dynamics in most of today's music. Any way without proper mastering your recording won't sound polished and will really sound crappy after it gets squashed into a MP3 or other compressed format.








_________________
DW Drums& Pedals
Zidljian Cymbals
Roland V-drums
Twisted Tower Dire &Jon Fritz band

Well, to echo everything that's already been said...

First, it depends on the kind of band you are. Example: there's a local band, Easybake, who recorded their first CD in a club, live; they're working on their second, and learning that too much is bad for their style... they're a bluesy, boozy, Southern punk band who would suffer from too much quality, if you follow. They have a setup in the loft one of them lives in, the best stuff they can afford, and they're just going for it! With my band, Kavish, it's more 'album as art', with lots of layers and detail, so pristine sound and crisp performances are important.

Secondly, it depends on the knowledge you can access. The drummer in Easybake is a sound engineer at local clubs; the bassist/singer in my band, Kavish, has been recording for years, is a huge Beatles/ELO fan, and is obsessive (in a good way!) about learning techniques, and putting them into practice. Having recorded with other bands, it makes a huuuuge difference, believe me.

Thirdly, it depends on the equipment you can access. If you're an Easybake type band, you can get by (even maybe benefit!) from less high-end gear, because it will give you the sound you're going for; for a Kavish type band, you need higher-end mics, preamps, mixers, and consoles, to get the best signal you possibly can.

So, to DIY or not to DIY isn't really the question: it's, CAN you DIY and get what you want? If you can, you should: it'll be much cheaper in the long run, and with the level of gear available now, the quality will be as good as what you can get at a 'local' level studio.

Good luck, and get that demo where we can all hear it!








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KAVISH

Subterranean Spider Studios


If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of his children a drum - Chinese Proverb

I am in the mixing stages of my material and my producer and I have been discussing what to mix for
I have no plan as of yet to produce a CD because most of the people who will be listening to my music will be downloading it
This means we are mixing more for computer spakers and earbuds
I don't pretend that my music is multi-million dollar major label music so why spend the money to act like it is?
Think about this

To produce a CD you need to have it recorded
Mastered
Mass produced (at least 1000 copies)
Gatefold artwork
Buy a bar code
All of this so you can pay postage to send those CDs to booking agents and clubs etc.... just so some guy with a one inch ponytail can either throw it in the trash or give it to a friend


To make your tracks avalable for download you need to put it up on a site and charge per download
You can also make al the album art available for download as well
No postage
No reproduction costs
No barcodes etc.....


Check out my favorite artist's download page
http://foetus.org/
He offers any complete album for $9.99 plus the album artwork
You can burn it to CD or just transfer it to a player
If I have my way, this will be me too
Record company?
What's that?








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You say irritant, I say catalyst

Rockula! wrote:

Record company?
What's that?

I know quite a few bands that are signed to "labels" now, which means they sell your CD in their webstore.
They really have no point when you're going to self finance, self produce, and self promote your band anyway

Our band did go into a studio to produce our last EP though we have aquired the equipment now to produce a studio sound in our own jam space. There is a slight difference due to the accoustics of the room but when all is said and done it would be hard to tell the difference. Peace on ya!








_________________
It's so important to make best friends in life!

Tama and Medicine Man Drums, Zildjian, Remo, Roc-n-Soc, DW and Pro-mark.



www.myspace.com/thestarseedproject

recording at home is fun. don't let anyone tell you you have to have the "best" or it's not worth it. I've heard good-sounding records come out of totally crappy home studios.

basically, you need to know how to mic the kit, then how to eq/process it. or you could go the route of getting decent sounds recorded, then pay someone experienced to mix it. I think these days it's much easier to record yourself if you have a decent sounding room to record drums in.








_________________

www.myspace.com/alanselectronicmuse

twisteddrummer wrote:

It really depends on what you need the recording for. We demo everything as a means of songwriting, and this would probably work for something for clubs to listen to. Home studio stuff is great, but it is reeal hard to get good acoustic drum sounds. If you don't mind using triggers or electronics a home studio will be cheaper in the long run, but you are going to need some one to help you learn the recording process and how to use the software. However if you want a good acoustic drum sound you need a good room and good microphones, as well as good recording equipment. This makes studios a worthwhile investment for anything you want to put out as a finished product.
As time has moved on and our recording knowledge has improved we budget our albums this way: 1.Preproduce at home- have the songs ready to record, get the clicks recorded etc. When you are ready to go to the studio 2. Record the drum tracks in the studio. Make sure to take time getting good tones-being thrifty here will not save any money in the long run. Also try to capture midi data for at least kick and snare during initial performance. I could go on and on with this step, but I'll stop myself here. 3. Record all the rest of your tracks at your home studio. Saves lots of studio time and gives youthe budget to: 4. Pay someone else to mix it for you. They will give your recording some input from out side the band. Also if you can afford to use someone with a bit of a name it can help give your recording some "street cred". 5. Make sure to save money to pay for mastering. This can be done by the person in step4, but it might be better to go to someone else. Just be careful this step really makes or breaks a recording especially these days when final wave forms tend to look like big squares as opposed to wave forms. Apparently overall volume is more important than dynamics in most of today's music. Any way without proper mastering your recording won't sound polished and will really sound crappy after it gets squashed into a MP3 or other compressed format.

This is some really good advice! I second the section about triggering. Triggering is a fast, economical way to get a good drum sound without blowing lots of money on mics (don't forget the overheads and room mic.)! Also, if you want to do this, make sure that you choose a studio who is using the same format of media that your home studio is going to use, i.e. choosing a studio with ADAT because you have a home studio which also uses ADAT.

I would say it all depends on whet you intend to do with what you are recording and the time you have available to learn how to get exactly what you want.








_________________
Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw

for my bands first EP we went into the studio (since we had no idea how to record). but lately we recorded a few home studio songs and put them up and havent recieved asa much feedback as if we were to enter a nice studio. like some guy said up there, if you have awesome equipment then definatly go for it. but if you and your band arent sure, then believe me dont do it. its not that you wont get taken seriously, its just that, no one is going to want to listen to your band if you have bad qaulity recordings. if you dont want to listen to them then whaat makes you think everyone else is going to. just out of curiousity what genre do you play?








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www.myspace.com/tomorrownevercameny
www.myspace.com/rayaltamura
CHECK OUT MY BAND IF YOU LIKE
Misery Signals
Underoath

SGarrett wrote:

I think the two biggest factors are available gear and knowledge of sound engineering. A good engineer can make or break a recording. Beyond that there's mixing and mastering. If you know what you're doing you can put out a very professional sounding album by yourself.

And $3k for eight songs is actually pretty cheap, for a quality product. I know someone who's spending $20k on 12 songs and even that's still cheap compared to what a major label puts out.

$20K can go very quickly. Especially when you get used to the nice studio time the first day. You won't want to go back.








_________________
Do what you can and do it well.

www.myspace.com/spacelounge1
www.myspace.com/whitehallsessions

Rob Crisp, you're UK aren't you? Do you know Pete Miles? We recorded our last album with him, he's a genius with recording. We did our entire album for around £1600 which included renting out Earth Terminal Studios for 3 days - deffo worth looking into if you want something you will be happy with

www.myspace.com/petermiles

As far as which to do, I think it's already been said but just pick the right method for the job - a proper album, save up and get it done right, to the best quality you can. For a little demo then by all means do it yourself if you can, as it can save a lot of money that go into making other areas of the demo better, or even just paying to get it sent out places








_________________
Random Hand
Me!!



Mapex Drums
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Sabian Cymbals
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