It used to be a complete exciting experience to buy a record (vinyl). the creative, technical and artistic process took a long time, the excitement of new music made people stand in lines to purchase records… you had to have the record, otherwise you’d end up listening to a badly hissed home recorded tape, and you’d be too embarrassed to brag about that to your friends! Peopled cherished and loved the artists and their music, people used to listen to what their music said, it was part of their lives…Currently music is noise, background noise, it doesn’t matter who’s singing, it really doesn’t matter if it’s a repetitive vulgar chord and lyric, it doesn’t even matter how good musicians perform, its just about who sells more and for the ones who buy: who has more storage memory for millions of songs that they will never have enough time to listen to!

Technology is great, it is so nice to have tools that allow musicians to create, tools that let ideas to flow and come to sound as fast as being thought, but the music industry currently has more tools and updates than ideas; catching up with every little adjustment.
Versions and updates becomes the rat race of the modern studios; obsolete month old tools. Every time a new version is released, you need to re-purchase plug-in packages, you need new hardware, you need new OS, you need this and that… it’s almost impossible to be up to date.

It used to be those good old days when recording took some time due to its complex processes; the results were the sum of creative challenge and dedication; you spent some good time at the studio and had so much to do that time was never enough. The only real downside of analog and tape was that it took out lots of time and slowed down the creative flow. I definitely don’t miss editing tape… It was cutting and pasting for real! Hiss was a problem, but never an obstacle.

No matter how cool new apps and programs are and how affordable they become, any monkey can record…but few of us are privileged to have a good set of ears, passion and love for what we love the most: sweet sound on a great song!

Digital and analogue gear will always need each other, you can have the most advanced HD set up, but if you don’t have a modest well placed Mic… and you have no idea what dynamics, limiting, compressing and EQ is… you should have better made payments on a flashy car.

Dreams should be just dreams for the ones who don’t want to get their hands dirty with hard work.

Peace.

I recorded for and in my own personal delight in facilty for so long. Back then, PODs, plugins and samples were the norm (I couldn’t possibly get an ampt to 1 in an apartment complex). But since putting up a commercial recording studio facility, my investment money has gone to good old analog gear. top of the line preamps from great river, API, universal audio, focusrite… converters from Apogee… and processors from Pendulum Audio, Purple Audio, TC Electronic, Eventide, Lexicon, Aphex, Presonus. I have the SSL plugs for my PT LE 7 based rig but nothing beats getting a signal right at the source with simple and basic mic placement - the best and most transparent EQ of all.

well, it’s a stuggle everyday anyway. We Audio guys shouldn’t sweat it. Majority of the musicians can’t play anyway. We’re just recording crap most of the time, right? Agree?

I believe Sony abandoned SACD for want of a large enough buying audience. Plus the fact that the only affordable DSD recorder, the Tascam, those discs cannot be played back on anyone’s SACD player.

What all of this decent, inexpensive gear should be doing is making the first few weeks of American Idol so much less painful. Can’t these wannabees pony up for a $69 Behringer mixer and an Sennheiser 835 and listen to what the rest of us have to endure, BEFORE they embarrass themselves on national TV? These products are inexpensive practicing tools that even anyone who sings at church should own. The truth is most people do not sound good singing in their shower. I know the reverb is great!!! LOL

I guess they really need more pairs of shoes, $50 pre-ripped jeans, and a $5 latte. And now Elton John wants to do hip hop? Do we need hi rez for this? Probably not.

And who cares about some knucklehead calling himself a mastering engineer? If a shitty mechanic opened a shop and did bad work, how long are they really going to last? And if someone is dumb enough to take their car there, they deserve whatever happens as a result. That’s called being a dumb consumer.

It’s all about entertainment. We’re all in the business of selling to the masses. And ultimately, their tastes determine what we in the audio industry do. And it will never be the other way around. Yes, people used to buy big expensive hi-fi systems. (You know, the ones with the Bass Boost button that threw everything out of phase. Gotta love the good ole days!) Now they want 5,000 songs in their pocket. Tastes change. Figure it out.

Technology should be used for creative applications as a tool to help the overall process. Not as a crutch to help the lack of knowledge and work ethic.

The Bravery recored their debut album at home with an iMac G4, DP4, stock plug-ins and, literally, a 1/4″-to-1/8″ adapter. They’ve sold 300,000 records in the US. This is just one example. But I do believe this qualifies as “…household-name superstars emerging from those roots… ”

Hugs and kisses, big guy.

R