Just follow the rules, fellas?

a reply to: CovertAgenda

Thanks for your kind response. The acoustics in my room are okay. I've some bass traps and gobos and the room is setup in a "live-end/dead-end" scheme. Some of the bass traps are corner/wall/ceiling mounted, and others are movable so I can make ad hoc "booths" depending on the source. It helps a lot with the major problems at 300 Hz and below that are inherent to all small rooms. It's not perfect, but it's perfectly acceptable, considering I planned beforehand to create the impression of space after the fact through artificial reverbs. Though the building is billed as a rehearsal studio, several well-known national acts have managed to record albums there.

I checked into a couple alternative spaces, including a community theatre, an office building, storage units, an elementary school, the basement of a retail store, etc. The main reason it's hard to convince someone to let me rent is their insurance - just a fact of life I guess.

I would love to be in the sort of environment to take advantage of location acoustics like stairwells, etc. That'll have to wait until my next project, when (hopefully) there will be more hands/brains going toward creating the final product. My engineering skills are pretty basic...I've basically learned what I need to know to create demos completely by myself (I'm mainly a writer, and everything I've learned in engineering is in service of that). That creates some fairly concrete limitations, which is actually nice because sometimes having fewer options makes it easier to make choices and get stuff done, rather than hem and haw over sonic details - something my ears are ill-qualified for in many situations anyhow.

You sound like you have some sort of musical background...are you an engineer?

a reply to: and14263

But then I would lose my deposit! Otherwise tempting, though. Believe me. Thanks for your kind response.

a reply to: MiddleInitial
Mate, sounds like you are onto it are doing fine anyways!
Just to clarify for me, your 'room' is more or less 'yours' and not shared with others? Hence the rental agreement, and your own gear and acoustic treatments etc...? When I had to hire rehearsal rooms (last century lol) it was more of a 6 hour block in the room with a small PA and fridge etc, in a complex of 4-8, normally attached to a music related service (music store/pa rental/etc) in some industrial area..... so more ad-hock rather than a permanent arrangement.

Don't get me wrong, good stuff has been recorded in rehearsal rooms etc, but I say there is much more leeway with 'rock' music etc, that is amplified, close-mic'd, and/or DI'd, in order to minimize bleed etc, but with your acoustic stuff, the more pristine the recording, the better the mixdowns will be, and the more controllable any added effects will be.

At the end of the day though... there is no right or wrong....just do what sounds/feels right to YOU.
Its those sounds in your head that you want to bring out.
You will never please everybody...so just please yourself...

Me? a SAHD (w4yob) with music more as a hobby now, own studio etc.

I don't want to take over your thread, so feel free to PM me if I can be of any assistance, or if you need to bounce ideas etc.

a reply to: MiddleInitial I do indeed. Last weeks I was finishing a novel, while my wife began a conversation which I knew will grow very easily to scandal. And nevermind I am not afraid arguing with her, this would destroy my evening and the book's end. So I evaded the talk. Also I have a place in the courtside to relax. It's quite and nice. Yet the two of my closest neighbors are absolute retreads. I do some blacksmithing there, and on several occasions I had to "discuss"few topics of neighbor's business with them, after which my desire for smiting was always diminished. So I kinda get your pain. Usually communication is no wrong, but when it has to much "wind" inside, it can stir your bucket with cookies.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Nope...not in Detroit.

I took your advice and took a break on Saturday. Well, I took a break from tracking for my project. Instead, I put in a couple hours of production work for another project for which I am mainly wearing the "producer" hat. (If ever there was a time to take quotation marks seriously, this is it.)

I went in to the studio tonight all fired up to speak up about the quiet hours, and guess what? Quiet as the DMV on Sunday. It was nice.

The main problem in face when I have nothing else to complain about is perfectionism while tracking. I was doing basic tracking for a song that's carried mainly by a baritone acoustic guitar. Not sure if you've had a chance to play one, but they're neat. Mine is finicky, both in tuning and dynamic range, which makes it a bit of a chore to track with. It's also not my main instrument, and the heavier gauges of the strings throw me off slightly unless I've been playing it a whole lot, which results in my rhythm suffering just slightly. So I spent six hours doing takes of the same part, and I don't think I'm going to keep a single one.

Is that normal?

a reply to: JDeLattre89

Sorry it took me a couple days to respond. I do appreciate your kind response.

It would send a hell of a message if I "pro-rated" my own rent! If I wasn't such a milquetoast, I would seriously consider it.

I went in to the studio tonight and it was perfectly quiet, and I even showed up a couple hours earlier than I typically would. It was such a pleasant surprise. Next time there's a problem, I'm going to schedule a sit-down, face-to-face chat with the manager and get it ironed out for good, even if that ultimately results in me having to move out. It's just not worth the frustration.

a reply to: MiddleInitial

Its beyond normal...you sound like my twin brother on some things...and I dont have one! But, I can relate. So stop it and let me throw you a fish here, ok???? Ill throw some stuff at you, hopefully youll find useful. First...what do you define as a baritone acoustic? Ok...moving on.

Ive been(... still am though, no so much anymore) an Associate Producer/Arranger with a well known, internationally acclaimed recording company and studios worldwide...tracks for hits, albums, movies etc. I will leave them nameless, because it digresses from my points...hopefully some you can use. Additionally, Ive been a guitar/keys instructor of all styles since 1972.

You sound(sorry, no real pun intended) very structured. That can be bad. We need to get out and away from things to gain perspective. Ihr, one week, one car ride or long walk...it changes the perception and composing factor of your work.

I go back over stuff Ive done in like 1974, 1988, 1996 and 2000...and I always...ALWAYS...find something I could do better, shouldve done differently..or even not at all. That goes with leads, chord progressions, harmonies, keys and Im a big fan of modulating up a key mid-song because it tends to raise the anticipation of the LISTENER. But, thats just me.

Bottom line is...you can never be satisfied enough...Whether today, come back tomorrow or 20 years from now...its the BREAK IN THE CONTINUITY of you working and listening to something SO much, thats when you tend to start gaining perspective: some-things a good thing, sometimes bad. So...like your rehearsal studio...it can be good and a positive thing to "force you out into the night" so-to-speak.

6 hours on one or two tracks is way long...not incorrect but different for every recorder...like trying to get something perfect that really CANT be because perfection takes time, repetition and time AWAY from recording to gain perspective. You'd be surprised. Best advice I can say on what you wrote was that it appears youre trying and trying and trying to get something right...that really? 10 years down from now, youll listen back and say.."Woah! I shoulda done this like....".

In other words? A musician is generally never completely satisfied...and if youre doing it all pretty much alone...thats a hard, hard thing to achieve. Even the Beatles were never satisfied and 30 years later McCartney was still saying.."I wish I wouldve...." on some of their greatest hits. So where does this leave you (and me..Im thinking of going back into for some more tracks myself soon-dont know)?

You/me/everyone else... can never be completely satisfied...and the harder you stay on one thing hour after hour? You dont gain perspective...you lose it. Get up, out and away from what youre doing. Go to a different song completely. Work on something else...even break for a walk or a listen to different types of music for a couple minutes...then go back. The idea is to gain PERSPECTIVE..hear it differently. Take the $$$ factor out of the equation ("I paid for this time and I gotta hurry up and get this done"). True...but its not to your advantage to hurry, you know?

Nothing will ever be just perfect, because the world...especially the musical world...isnt. And thats how it is. I wish you lots of luck, and Ill answer anything you might want to ask...just send me a p.m. message here and Ill get back...(thats if I havent thrown you completely off-track!) Pun intended!

Well? Constructively speaking...thats the general idea. Get out and away when working. Multi-tracking, composing and playing all yourself...can drive you crazy....and it really, really, really messes with your ears.
Looking forward to hearing some of what youve done in the future!

Good luck, God Bless...and happy tracking!


MS