Don't need gear

I spent part of the day at a friend's studio.  He has nothing but a PC with a Presonus Fireface, a groove tube gt55 mic, two rode nt5s, a sm57, and logitech speakers.  One of his songs is number on on the R&B charts. So I was reminded again today that it is not the gear but what is between your ears that counts.

I am reminded of the words of walter E sear.

good music and good lyrics have always sold...

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pucho812 said:

I am reminded of the words of walter E sear.

good music and good lyrics have always sold...

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The industry wonders why music isn't "selling".  They blame downloading and ignore the fact that, radio conglomerates see music as necessary evil between commercials, and MTV turned its back on Music to showcase sluts and douche nozzles.

Some great music has been done with a spartan approach.  Though I'm hesitant to associate a charting song with quality songwriting.  Charts, now more than ever, are a relative thing.

that is true.

kml23956 said:

So I was reminded again today that it is not the gear but what is between your ears that counts.

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Very useful indeed to keep the right spacement between ears 

All so true.  He does work for hours and days on one sound.  He wants to use my studio, my response was... 

Why?  You are working in a small room with a very low ceiling and you are recording everything in there and the music is selling.  Don't fix what ain't broken.

That was opportunity knocking, and you walked away. Brave man you are.

I'm convinced that the SONG IS KING, how it gets to the people is secondary.

Why make the boy struggle to get sounds, help him out already.

Mark

Well, it's of course a tough one, but I do realize my songwriting is lacking, heck, I even learned to live with the fact that I may never have a #1 rnb hit. Or #1 norwegian polka hit. But whatever...
Fortunately, this board is full of people who enjoy building gear. Building gear for the sake of building gear is a perfectly legitimate pursuit, also it makes a good use of the in-between-ears ganglion, as well as hands. I say, do what you do and don't look at the others, it's all good as long as you enjoy doing it.

I'm convinced that the SONG IS KING, how it gets to the people is secondary.

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+1

Fortunately, this board is full of people who enjoy building gear. Building gear for the sake of building gear is a perfectly legitimate pursuit, also it makes a good use of the in-between-ears ganglion, as well as hands. I say, do what you do and don't look at the others, it's all good as long as you enjoy doing it.

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+2

I was recently blown away when the conductor of an orchestra here said that she'd
been recorded many many times by high-class studios, but that mine was one of a
kind. In the mean time I have it down to crawling around the orchestra during rehearsals,
using my ears to spot the right exact mic positions (and getting funny looks that turn
into smiles). Great gear is super helpful, no doubt, but GIGO is what is for me too.

What sells on the charts today has nothing to do with gear or quality.  It's all ITB mixes and made with synths and samples and edits and copy paste, etc.  It's ear candy.  It may also be good music, once in a while, though usually not, but that's really become beside the point. 

Marketing money can move anything if it looks pretty.  How it sounds is secondary these days.

We do our DIY because we love how it sounds, and we love to know how it works.  And good sounds still turns us on.

Don't forget... thats R&B.... most of it is electronics.

You find me a rock mix on the charts made without gear.

He records acoustic drums in that space. 

  I am with you in that case! if he can do it that simply, then he should stay put. I have seen more than a few fall a cropper when they ::Upgrade:: their work practices . . . .

when i first started recording...5 years ago i had only 2 mics and only the 002 pre's.
i did a few recordings and it sounded amazing.....but i found it boring to work on the same pres...thats why i decided to build more..
Of course i find it sounds better now!!

So i could understand that some people got good results using the basics...

I've been amazed more than once with the results people can get with "non-pro" gear! Raw talent and great orchestration!

AC

I've been going through stacks of old mags to throw out, and I have to wonder if the endless articles with titles like "What an A&R Rep is Looking For" has anything to do with popular music being so dismal. 

a blind snake and a blind rabbit bump into each other in the woods.
upon talking, they discover that they have both been blind since birth,
and as a result, neither one of them knows what they are.
then the snake says, "i have an idea, let's feel each other, and describe
what we feel and then we can figure out what we are".
"oooh, what a good idea!" said the rabbit, "you feel me first!"
so the snake starts to feel the rabbit,"well, you are soft and furry, with
long ears and a fluffy tail...I'll bet you are a bunny rabbit".
"oh wow! i'm a bunny! that is so cool!" exclaimed the rabbit with a great deal of joy.
ok, now i'll feel you, and we can find out what you are" and he started to feel the snake.
"well, you are cold, slimy, and you have no ears, I'll bet you are an A&R rep!!"

"but snakes aren't slimy, that's a common misconception"

I would have thought the joke was funny, but got nerd-sniped thinking that.

Kingston,

Stop being accurate. That's a joke and you are suppose to laugh. ;D

Anyhow that reminded me something. When my wife worked at the opera they designed a poster which featured a bird. After a while she received a complaint letter from an anorak saying that the bird featured on the poster belonged to some African species and could not have been in the UK when that opera was written, and it only came to Europe after 1900. I am sure she still has the letter.

Back to topic.

Whatever works is the business. Depending on the style a pc would be just as sufficient to create a piece of music that is not only enjoyable to listen but also has artistic merit. Few years ago my friend's son whom was only fourteen at the time came to our studio with his laptop and played few re-mixes that he did in his bedroom. My bro and I fell of our chairs. The boy had no experience in music recording. It was all done using soft synth and crude drum programming.