Needing some guidance: Self-record again?

[SnoSkiDrew]

Hey all,

I am in the middle of a little dilemma and am really hoping to get some thoughts from the wise members of this forum. I have been writing and performing for years, but I have never been able to afford to produce a "real" record (that is, full band..pro studio.. full length cd). I have recorded 3 CDs using my own equipment, with each effort getting better, but still a definite "amateur" sound, even with my best efforts at taking my time and getting mic placement, performance, post, etc.. done well. The latest example of my recording skills can be found on my myspace page (link in the signature below), just as a reference point.



I inquired with an acquaintance this week to see how much it would run me to record about 5 songs with a full band, and needless to say, I can't afford that. He did, however, offer to record "as many songs as possible in a day with acoustic and vocals" for a very fair price.

The friends I have lined up to help me record are all extremely talented, and would definitely do a great job for whoever the engineer is, be it me or someone else. Part of me wants to take advantage of finally having at least a professional sound (though minimal instrumentation/features) while part of me wants to take advantage of the generous friends I have and try to self record again.

While the benefit of self recording is that it is free, and that it is flexible time-wise, allowing me to get several talented musicians on board, the big downside is that there's no guarantee that the album itself will sound better than an ugly mess. On the other hand, if I were to do a solo project, I would have a pretty bare final product.



In short, what would you choose? Take advantage of the better sound quality/recording but less instrumentation, or take my chances and record my friends and I, but risk(essentially guarantee) another amateur sound?

Please use the link to my myspace below to get a gauge of my recording capabilities. Specs FYI for my home studio are Rode NT1 into MAudio Mobile Pre USB, into GarageBand.

[rick-slo]

Your sound is pretty good. It just needs a little more polish. Send one of your recordings to a mastering engineer and see what he can do for it. It may sound good enough to you that a possibility could be doing self recording and mixing and having a mastering professional finish it off. You could perhaps even have a pro step in and do some of the mixing. It will cost you but not nearly as much as studio time and a hired band.

[SnoSkiDrew]

Hiring a mastering professional is an interesting idea. I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks!


Anyone else with some thoughts?

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by SnoSkiDrew

Hiring a mastering professional is an interesting idea. I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks!


Anyone else with some thoughts?

You might also hire a mixing engineer. Take your raw tracks to a studio to be mixed by an expert with better gear, etc. Then mastered. Or you could do a partial recording at home/in the studio, overdubbing only those parts that you think either would benefit from the better gear or sound at a studio, or the parts that stand out. Maybe that'd be the acoustic guitar, maybe the vocals. Whatever. You don't have to record everything in the same place, so do some at home to save some money. Just be sure each track can be saved in some standard format, 24 bit wav or aiff and that all tracks are complete and in synch.

[SteeleString]

Money always seems to rule, doesn't it?

What is your time frame and ultimately what is your goal? For me, those two questions would dictate what I'd do next in your shoes.

You can definitely produce "professional" recordings yourself, but it's going to take a bit more effort and understanding of why your recordings sound amateurish. It may not be the reasons you think. Personally, if I don't think I can record professionally on my own, then I'm not bringing in friends until my skill-set and equipment is up to par.

As suggested, you can always send your recordings off to be mastered, but that won't always turn out the way you hope either. If you can afford to get to a professional studio, and you like what's been produced there, it might be worth your time just to do a couple of songs--fully produced to your satisfaction. If it turns out, you can always go back as you can afford and complete an album.

Just a couple of thoughts....

[Bob1131]

Gary's question is important, here; "ultimately, what is your goal?" If your goal is to make a CD for sale, then a professional studio is well worth the time and money. However, if your goal is to make something for friends and fans, then keep working to improve your home recordings.

I listened to your songs on MySpace, and from a recording perspective "28" is better, so your "engineering" skills are getting better. The fun in, or in some cases the problem with, home recording is learning new skills. Recording requires different skills than playing and singing, so you have to start thinking like a recording engineer to improve your home recordings. And if you are going to layer in other instruments yourself, you will quickly discover how much your timing may shift, so you may have to use a click track to get things tight.

It might be worth the price of the pro studio just to learn some of the techniques they use, and then try to apply that experience at home.

[SnoSkiDrew]

Bob and Gary,

Thanks for the suggestions. My goal is to make a CD of about 5-7 songs (minimum of 5 if possible) that I can sell both on iTunes and at concerts. In years' past, I have been a bit hesitant to sell CDs just because I wasn't the most proud of the recording quality, so I think the pro route may be the way to go. There's a quality that professionally recorded songs have about them... my best attempt to describe it is that they seem to do a great job of making the vocals/instruments clear, but not sounding like they're right in front of your face. I don't really mean reverb usage, I just mean that they have a nice "space" between the listeners' ears and the instrument/voice, and don't lose quality/volume while doing it.

Like you guys said, I can definitely watch what they do and how they do it, picking up some tips for my next self-recording job.