Craig Anderton's Sound, Studio, and Stage

[MarkydeSad]

Are you a gear-snob?

I'm not. I'll buy any old crap 

[blue2blue]

Definitely not a gear snob here.

Nice gear is nice. 

But it doesn't make bad music good and it never will.

[MarkydeSad]

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blue2blue wrote:

Definitely not a gear snob here.

Nice gear is nice. 

But it doesn't make bad music good and it never will.

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I agree with that 100%

[Anderton]

I remember people getting into heated Synclavier vs. Fairlight arguments.

The gear I bought around that time, which was not related to Synclaviers or Fairlights, still works

The positive side of not being a gear snob!

[MarkydeSad]

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Anderton wrote:

I remember people getting into heated Synclavier vs. Fairlight arguments.

The gear I bought around that time, which was not related to Synclaviers or Fairlights, still works

The positive side of not being a gear snob!

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Pardon my ignorance, but what are Synclaviers and Fairlights? 

[blue2blue]

If you have to ask, you probably would not have wanted to mortgage the house to find out...

[ElectricPuppy]

Heck, I've got gear I bought over 25 years ago, and it wasn't even the best stuff then, either.    But I've also got a couple of really good pieces, and I can attest that it hasn't improved my abilities even slightly, my crap is still pretty crappy!

[Ernest Buckley]

I don`t own a lot of gear but I am very picky with what I do buy. Does that make me a snob?

I audition everything and if I don`t like the sound immediately, I`ll return it. 

I also don`t understand the need for more than 3-4 mics. I know studios that have dozens of mics... makes no sense to me unless you`re recording an orchestra or something and even that, I`ve recorded with 3 mics!

[MarkydeSad]

I only have one mic, Ern

[Ernest Buckley]

I should have mentioned drums too... drums need an assortment of mics. But seriously, most of us can get by with an SM57 and a nice condensor. 

[UstadKhanAli]

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MarkydeSad wrote:

Are you a gear-snob?

I'm not. I'll buy any old crap 

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No.  I never have been.  And I just don't have time for that crap or anybody who's really into that.

[UstadKhanAli]

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Ernest Buckley wrote:

I don`t own a lot of gear but I am very picky with what I do buy. Does that make me a snob?

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No.  That makes you discerning.

Copping an elitist "You can't make a decent recording without <insert specific item here>" is a snob.  And what's funny is that this very sort of statement also tells everybody that you're not a really great engineer if you can only make decent recordings with specific kinds of gear.  A really great engineer is someone who is flexible in a variety of settings and gear.

[bookumdano3]

Fairlights- Synclaviers-Emulators.....well....I've got a Mirage and you don't... nee ner nee ner nee ner

[Anderton]

True gear snobs believe that superior gear makes them superior people...and they get to define what "superior" gear is, because they're superior.

Also, I'm not sure if this is part of the deal, but it seems gear snobs don't actually make music. Instead, they theorize about the gear needed to make superior music in internet forums.

[philbo]

It'd be tough to do a 5 piece band, each with instruments & vocals with 3 mics. Just sayin'

[MarkydeSad]

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Anderton wrote:

True gear snobs believe that superior gear makes them superior people...and they get to define what "superior" gear is, because they're superior.

Also, I'm not sure if this is part of the deal, but it seems gear snobs don't actually make music. Instead, they theorize about the gear needed to make superior music in internet forums.

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Speaking of which, I have a brand new track in the offing. It contains just 4 chords

The lyrics came to me as I was driving around at work. I had to park the car so that I could write them down 

[Ernest Buckley]

Philbo,

When I said 3-4 mics, I was referring to guys like Mark and myself who are songwriters. 

A friend of mine owns dozens of mics but he is also a professional sound engineer,  he also plays drums and has a drum room, he also produces lots of records and does live sound so he actually needs lots of mics. 

There are guys out there just buying gear that they feel they need to own for "respect". Go to GS and check out some of those studios and ask them how much they actually make running their studios. Most of those guys have serious G.A.S. and don`t make $$$ to support their "habits". 

[UstadKhanAli]

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philbo wrote:
It'd be tough to do a 5 piece band, each with instruments & vocals with 3 mics. Just sayin'

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Bah!!!  Have 'em gather around this bad boy, and you don't even need three mics.  Just sayin'.    

http://www.holophone.com/products/overview2

[UstadKhanAli]

I just wanted to say that I have the amazing and expensive ________ mic preamps.  And if you don't have _______ mic preamps, you have no business even looking at your recording setup.  

I mean, maybe you have something that's good for dictation, I'll give you that, but it really says a lot about your lack of taste that you don't have at least one _______ mic preamp, which just shows that you're not serious about recording.  

And yeah, I'm talking to you.  And you.  And you...you're not off the hook from this either just because you have to work three jobs to make ends meet.  

[Lee Knight]

Snobbery, of any kind, is entirely based on insecurity. Of making choices based on how we believe others will perceive and in turn judge us. I own API pres that I use because they sound great. But you know what? I won't hesitate to use the Digi pre in my 002 if I need to. Or bust out the old Mackie and tap some of those pres. 

But I really have grown to love the reliability, consistency, the closer to God feeling I get from plugging into the API. Is that snobbery? No, that's my personal experience. I can make those 002 pres work thank you.

I bought a CAD Trion 8000 tube lollipop style mike based on an audition on the NAMM floor a few years back. I love what this mike did. But in my studio, the shortcomings of both its design and build were apparent. It's sibilant, it's boomy. Not fat and exciting like it seemed on the convention floor.

I use my RE20 instead for vocal. Snobbery? Nope, personal experience. After spending time trying to EQ some CAD tracks into a usable vocal, forget it. I wanted it to work for me. It doesn't.

So, you have the Gearslutz kids spending thousands on this and that and then compensating for a little dick by sharing their insight into the proper gear needed to be a man, then you have guys tracking albums through an 002 and some extra bits. 

Who are we buying for, the forums or the music?