Jump to content

If you could upgrade one element of your studio for free, which would it be?


Anderton

Recommended Posts

  • Members

As I'm getting older, it's a bit hard to choose, I found a fantastic Schecter bass in the 80's that I still love, made my main electric guitar body (with Schecter neck) and found a Martin 0-16 NY in the early 90's, have two great mic amps. Also got a Mesa Boogie Mark IV in the early 90's, sent it back to Mesa and had all the syml crap removed so it sounds fantastic and have a small Marshall tube head on a home made cab (4-10"s) for variety. I built a recording room on to my home in the mid 90's, very sound proofed and treated according to F. Alton Everest (I think, it's been awhile). Anyway, the drop ceiling took care of the high and low treble and high mids, and I have low mid, high bass and low bass absorbers in there and it's a great sounding room. I built the long wall not parallel to the other one, ceiling is vaulted so just the short walls are parallel, but I've put all manner of book shelves and CD racks back there (poor man's diffusers).

I've been searching for MY vocal mic for ages and a bud brought down a bunch of different mics, but one just works with my voice (it's a Brauner Phanthera). It's not really flattering, but it's all in the mids. All the ssses and T's and consonants etc are just right. It sounds better on my voice I think than his VM1. Thing is, he's brought other mics down and I buy the same one on ebay or whatever and they don't work so I want THAT mic. I'll sort that out with him one day hopefully.

I'm using an older computer and software, but I use it like a tape recorder and I have this amazing thing called a Tranzport that will control it and let me use a footswitch to punch in like I did on reel to reel recorders so all is cool with that.

Honestly, my room is not heated properly, I wish I had some sort of radiant heat (silent) in there.

As far as gear I'd like to add, I still have an old Roland D-10 which is what I learned how to sequence on, I wish I had something tiny, way less footprint to do my key parts. What's up with that Graphite 49? It looks cool.

I need some 'in my face' lighting to just put on my cue mixer and rack, I'd like some more 'mood' lighting besides what I've got, in other words, I turn off the overhead lights and my mood lighting is not quite enough (the tiny spot lighting on important gear would help, but what about one of those constellation laser lighting things?) I've got some color spots and the outside style lantern lights with the flicker fake fire bulbs which are cool. I'd like to know more about the newer led light bulbs.

Is there a clamp on tuner that takes regular batteries and not those little button batteries?

I'd like to get a cheap but playable banjo and maybe some other 'weird' instruments to help with the creativity thing.

Don't know, but seems like a new piece of gear makes you get your mind in a different place and helps you write a few tunes, what about that toy guitar synth that's out now, Yourock guitar. Is it for real?

I think if we all knew more about all sorts of stuff you may never think about that much, we could help each other out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by claveslave View Post
You must be a masochist. Oh well, to each their own.
Out of curiosity, what don't you like about 'em? I recorded on a Harrison in one studio as a musician, and the sound was absolutely beautiful.

Of course, I've also recorded in studios that used Neoteks and Neves, and they were gorgeous sounding too.

Please let me know about Harrisons soon since Craig is going to be putting in my order next week, thanks.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by Geoff Grace View Post
There's not a single brand of piano that I feel would translate well to a wide variety of music uses. That said, people often turn to Yamaha when they need a piano that sits well in a rhythm section.
That's right, I forgot about Yamahas. They seem that they'd translate well to a wider variety of music uses.

Then again, the best sampled piano libraries these days are often good enough to work well in a mix; and they offer more timbral variety than any single acoustic piano. But when it comes to solo piano or sparse ensembles, the weaknesses of sampled pianos are more easily exposed. For that purpose, I'd rather use the best Steinways I've heard than any other brand. (However, the worst Steinways I've heard are surprisingly bad.)

In short, I think a great sample piano library and a great Steinway would cover most musical situations well.

Best,

Geoff
thumb.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • CMS Author
Quote Originally Posted by UstadKhanAli View Post
Please let me know about Harrisons soon since Craig is going to be putting in my order next week, thanks.
Harrison is one of the few companies that's remained in business since they made their mark with fine sounding consoles in the 1970s. They have a couple of large format film scoring and broadcast hybrid consoles (analog and digital) and a year or so ago they introduced the 950M, a project studio sized console based on their most successful studio analog consoles designs through their most active years.

They also have some other cool stuff, like an 8 channel mic preamp that has two of each of the preamp stage of four different Harrison series consoles. And their MixBus mixing software got some really good reviews when it came out a few years ago. Now that it's available for Windows, I really should give it a try.

Yeah, Ken. Tell Craig to send you a 950M for evaluation. Better warn him that it'll probably take you ten years or so to really explore all that it can do. wink.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by MikeRivers View Post

Yeah, Ken. Tell Craig to send you a 950M for evaluation. Better warn him that it'll probably take you ten years or so to really explore all that it can do. wink.gif
Thanks for the tip, Mike!!!

I love the way the Harrisons I've recorded with in other people's studios have sounded, so I'm hoping that Craig's evaluation console works out.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by Anderton View Post
Better mics? Acoustic treatment? Backline? Monitor speakers? Plug-ins?

Personally, I think I'd go for studio furniture...I have enough stuff to make music, but these fold-up tables are getting kind of old smile.gif
it's funny, I was thinking that when I saw the thread title.

Furniture isn't sexy, but it can make or break the joint.

And I could use some new furniture (or fix up my falling apart {censored}).

I keep saying I'll get to it, but I never do. facepalm.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Better musician and engineer.



Oh... wait... I'm a one man show nowadays.
:facepalm:

Hah! Yeah, me too.

 

But sticking to hardware, I don't have decent monitors. I have live PA gear, or comparison monitors, or handy speakers ... everything except a good pair of reference monitors for mixing and mastering.

 

Then again, I'll also need an ear upgrade with those. My wife tells me I need to have my hearing checked. And my head examined.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Oh yes, the plugin would be perfect!!!
:D

I'm just curious because I have a Baldwin grand, and it really seemed to fit in well with a lot of genres that we recorded. And when I went to record at Track Records a hundred years ago, they had a Kawai grand, and the engineer said it was because it fit in well with a lot of different genres as well. So I just wonder how well a Steinway would. I'm pretty sure a Bosendorfer wouldn't, but I don't exactly play on those every day....or a Steinway, for that matter.

IMHO, with a good player, any good grand piano fits in well with everything.

 

That said, I did once play a super long Bosendorpher, which had those extra keys on the bottom. I played a few bluesy chords, and they just fell flat, as though the piano was insulted.

 

That was a long time ago. I'd like to think it was my inexperience, and not knowing quite how to treat a "real lady".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

1st, I'd go for a locker full of U47's, Telefunkens, and that old RCA ribbon mic I used to see on TV in the '60s.

2nd, improve the acoustics, even though they are pretty excellent as is.

3rd, move all the noise sources into the furnace room.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...