For recording musicians, what is the most important thing about a recording studio?

Question

I'm interested to find out what is the most important part of a recording studio for musicians who use them. Do you think it is the amount of high level audio equipment, outboard gear, mics, knobs, dials and software? OR do you think the most important part is the sound engineer/producer, who may be able to get fantastic results with very little technology?

I'm using Cubase SX2, M Audio Delta 1010's, Outboard gear by Samson, TL Audio, some Behringer bits, and a couple of Alesis bits. Desk is a Soundcraft Spirt Folio, mics my Rode, Shure and Samson. All recording and mixing is then done on Cubase SX2.

With this setup, I have made some good quality recordings, and am considering inviting bands/artists to use my services for a fee. The recordings I have done sound comparable, sometimes better than recordings from local bands who have used studios with top gear. Even though the software I use is outdated, and the gear is low end, should this matter if the final product sounds good?

Answer 1

Sounds like you have answered your own question. Other than having soundproofing and a dead space so you can control the dynamics, it seems you have a good set up. Enjoy.

Answer 2

Associations may be a good avenue to explore. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links. Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant: * Start and Run Your Own Record Label, Revised and Expanded Edition by Daylle Deanna Schwartz * Label Launch: A Guide to Independent Record Recording, Promotion, and Distribution by Veronika Kalmar * Music Business Made Simple: Start An Independent Record Label by J.S. RUDSENSKE * The Savvy Studio Owner: A Complete Guide to Setting Up and Running Your Own Recording Studio by John Shirley, Richard Strasser * Make Money with Your Studio: Setting Up and Operating a Successful Recording Studio by Tom Volinchak * The Studio Business Book, Third Edition by Mitch Gallagher * How to Build A Small Budget Recording Studio From Scratch: With 12 Tested Designs (TAB Mastering Electronics Series) by Michael Shea I also posted links to some free articles in the source box. Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 3

In terms of how bands would feel in your studio, I think that if it was me I would be happy to work with whatever you have, providing the results are good and it's enjoyable working with you.



It is true that you can get better results from better equipment - that's why it costs more, but then again you're only going to get better recordings if you know what your doing - which it sounds like you do!



It's great that you may offer the services for free, then you can offer reasonable deals to local, unknown bands or artists and making demos. As more and more people hear the results and become interested, you can raise the price you charge and can buy more up to date stuff.



Maybe some bands or artists with more experience could be slightly concerned with a low budget or old system - but when I listen to a great album, I'm not bothered whether it was mixed on a Behringer in someone's bedroom or a Neve at Abbey Road.



I'm doing a degree in Music Tech at the moment and hope to do similar to you when I finish. Good luck, and maybe one day our paths will cross!

Answer 4

A good engineer who really knows his stuff is certainly paramount in my eyes! But, that's not to say that good equipment that can clearly pick up the full frequency range and delivers a minimal noise floor isn't and important factor too.



As for Cubase vs. Pro Tools, my recording teacher put it this way: Pro Tools is the Rolls Royce of recording software, Cubase is the Ford. Both will get you to your destination just as well.



A note on software..... on occasion, older can be better. Up through version SX3 Cubase came with dither. (UV22HR)

Steinberg was bought by Yamaha, then SX4 came out. Many of the plug-ins, including the UV22HR, were no longer included and not replaced. This was the case with UV22HR. Needless to say, the Cubase users who loyally upgrade are royally pissed. I've heard that so much racket has been made that there is an upgrade that is returning some of the plug-ins. I don't know if the dither plug-in is one of them or not. I'm sticking to SX3 for as long as I'm able.



Then there's Mastering. You can take the best, perfect recordings and utterly ruin the end product in the mastering process. Mastering is an art in itself and requires skill and experience. The more experience you can get the better you will become.

Answer 5

I would invest in getting protools (and the hardware required to use it)

Make sure you're using balanced cables to reduce noise



Im not sure what your mics are like because you've only included the brand name.



Make sure you know what your different mics are good for, one mic doesn't fit all.



e.g. an AKG C1000 is good as an overhead drum mic, and is also good as a vocal mic or recording an accoustic guitar, yet if you stick it infront of an electric guitar amp you're likely to break it.



Shure SM57 is good for snare drum, and recording electric guitar from an amp... put it infront of an accoustic guitar and you'll probably struggle to hear. Some people use it for vocals cos it has a more "rocky" sound but generally speaking you'd want a condenser mic for vocals for a "studio finished" sound



Lastly, a really important thing is to understand the signal paths of all your inputs. This is a huge help not only in just generally knowing what you're doing but it helps mixing as well. Once you understand your signal paths you cant go wrong.



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edit: sorry, i posted before the aditional information.



As long as you show that you know what you are doing musicians generally shouldn't care what settup you have.



Of course they feel safer if they see a huge mixing desk and the latest protools settup, but if the producer didnt have a clue how to use it they'd quickly loose confidence.



Just make sure to explain things clearly to them. For example, if they're wanting to use some obscure effects pedal on their guitar, but you don't want them to because you can put the effect in later in cubase and want to leave your options open for mixing then make sure they understand. don't just say "no, dont use it" etc.

Answer 6

1 - Like it or not, you need ProTools. Artists know enough to look for it and expect it even if you have another great software.



2 - You do have to look like you're serious. Even if a 003 rack or mbox is enough, you won't get the big business until a band comes in a goes, "Wow! Look at the size of that board!” It's stupid and petty, but I know people that could not book a band to record until they bought a decent sized mixer. They only needed 4 inputs, but bought a used 32 channel mixer because it impressed the clients.



So the answer is - Use the impressive gear to build a reputation (sadly) and use your skill to make them happy and recommending you to their friends.

Answer 7

The quality of mics that the studio have i like to use akg414 for vocals plus i think its the computer and recording system that is used i think if you want to make top recordings that it should be done on a Pro Tools 7.3 HD rig and the more inputs and outputs the better. But if the end product you have sounds good and your happy with it then i cant be a bad recording. best of luck.

Answer 8

It don't matter how much hi tech schtik you have at the end of the day it's down to whether you can use it or not. You seem pleased with the sounds you are getting now so it is probably not the time for re-investing in new kit .Bring on the musos and get it on enjoy and good luck

Answer 9

i did a course on this at college, got a tripple merit in my final major project.

its not about the hi-tec of the equipment but of the quality, acoustics of the recording studio goes without saying (as you probably well know).

but from being trained as an audio engineer in my course, we didnt have really really expensive equipment, fairly decent but not over the top, but we got a hell of alot of results and happy clients. so i think its mainly to do with the engineers, their level of experience, and an ear for music and not just focusing on one genre of music but recording various genres so they can experiment different ways to position microphones and different compression levels etc.



my advice to you is to obviosly not over-charge clients as you want to build a good reputation and you would want them to come back and tell other bands about the service.



good luck with audio engineering. maybe we'll be in the profession together some day :)

Answer 10

i have recorded multiple times and the key difference between a good recording experience and bad recording experience for me was always #1 make the musicians feel comfortable. its your studio we are just using it for a few hours and if we don't feel comfortable its going to be awkward. also be confident and we don't mind if it takes u a second to set something up or try different things for different sounds. it shows you are trying to get the best sound for us. also, let us be involved in the mixing. in a band i was in the mixing was done for us by the engineer and he didn't really get the sound we wanted so we ended up spending alot more unnecessary time getting our goal sound.

Answer 11

The most advanced equipment in the world is useless unless the person operating it knows what he/she is doing.

A basic understanding of music and empathy with what the musicians are trying to achieve is also desireable as making music is not just about technology.