Tales about downsizing

[kayagum]

Delurking....

I wanted to start a thread about hearing real-life stories about downsizing your setup. I'm less interested in the specific gear, and more about everyone's experience of going from outboard to ITB (in the box, whether it's workstation based, laptop based, or even tablet or phone based).

Did it work? Was it a revelation? Did you regret it? Were you more productive? Or less? Was the minimalism worth it?

Perhaps most importantly, did you stick with it, or revert back to OTB?

Also, any stories about making your rig more portable for remote or live work would be fun to hear.

I've always had a hybrid setup of some sort, and I want to review my current situation and see if I should rethink how I'm set up. I'm more interested in workflow descriptions than gear catalogs. And I have a few potential upcoming projects in mind, so this is a good time to take stock.

Fire away!

[fossiltooth]

I now do more than 50% of my mixing on a laptop, set on a standing desk in front of a couple of pairs of speakers that I love.

I never thought I'd say it, but I've never been happier, and the results are fantastic. It's become all about music and taste and aesthetics and not about gear. Maybe I'll buy a fader pack someday soon, but otherwise, I'm pretty thrilled.

That said, sometimes I'll still mix on a console, and when I'm tracking I do like to have all the fun, inspiring and vibey toys around. But these days, I let the studios own most of those things. I just bring my brain and my ears and a hard drive. There are so many great studios out there already with so much great gear, and most of them aren't booking nearly as many days as they'd like while the industry continues to recover.

Sometimes I'll bring some mics or a compressor too, but most of the time I don't need to. If it's a remote situation off in a cabin somewhere I'll bring my pres and other stuff as well, but I haven't done one of those in about a year. Would be fun to though!

Does any of that count? I've definitely paired down, and for me, gear envy has become a thing of the past. The world is just swimming with great-sounding gear these days. That's rarely the missing link in this day and age.

[standup]

I'm interested in this because of an upcoming move. I'm going from a house with a snake running down the stairs to the living room to a house of unknown size where my space for recording and music stuff will likely be much smaller. So... looking for stories as well.

[T-rex]

I just did this and posted my story not too long ago. Short version (since you said you were interested in the gear): I had a modded ghost console, 2 hairball 1176's I built, a Drip La2a I built, Drawmer 1968, germanium and SCA pres and a bunch of tape op approved gear - effectrons, SW Spring reverb, M2000s, 501 comp, 160 comp, VLA etc. I mixed totally out of the box for the last several years using cubase to edit and as a glorified tape machine.

I needed to free up a room for a new baby we have on the way so I decided to go back in the box for a while. I sold almost everything listed above including the ghost and bought a used UAD Duo, a Faderport and pocketed a ton of cash. Although I am able to get pretty much the same results with the ITB setup, it sucked from a workflow point of view for me. I really hate having to use the mouse. I didn't dislike it until I had the freedom of a console and outboard gear. Aesthetically that is the workflow I prefer. It isn't right or wrong but had I never gone totally OTB, I probably would have been fine. However having been OTB for several years, I just felt very constrained.

Then I stumbled upon a great deal on an amazingly well cared for Topaz 32 channel board that I couldn't pass up. So I decided to go OTB again but in the most budget conscious way I could. I now have a Topaz 32 channel board, an Overstayer VCA stereo comp, overstayer FET, GA 2256 comp, FMR PBC, FMR RNLA, VLA and a bunch of reverb boxes all for about the price of the ghost I sold.

So to review; I have the same functionality as before but with a bunch of cash in my pocket and the same quality of mixes as I had before. As a bonus, I made a decision to change my focus to good bang for buck gear and tried to buy things I never used before like a VCA comp on the master bus. That took me out of my normal gear induced comfort zone and also change my mixing perspective a bit.

Cons: I miss my spring reverb. It was too noisy to use all the time but it was damn good the rest of the time. I will most likely end up buying a Zerotronics or Demeter before too long. Also, it didn't really solve my space problem, it will be pretty cramped in the new room, but that is a compromise I've decided that I can live with.

Pros: I have an amount of money invested in the gear that is more in line with the amount of work I perform.

[sir hills]

I've gone through several downsizes in the last 8 or so years, mostly forced by moves to smaller spaces. At the peak I had a couple different 1" 16 track tape machine/console/2 track tape machine setups & a few pieces of outboard. About 10 years ago I decided to investigate the DAW realm & integrated that in to my setup/work flow. I then moved from a 2 room space in Brooklyn to an attic in Pittsburgh & started the downsizing process. I was helping a friend finish out an industrial recording space & he bought/integrated my larger format gear. I also started doing more work on personal projects around that time so the setup went down to a desktop PC paired with an 8 channel interface, a few solid external pres, a stereo spring verb & a handful of solid mics. Most of the music I was working on for other folks was odd rock bands & psych/folk stuff that friends were doing. Over the first change, when the tape machines left, I felt my workflow slow. I also found myself compensating with eq or compression itb trying to get closer to the sounds I had been getting with the tape. Through this I learned that my mic placement needed work & started thinking of ways to keep things flowing. Things like strictly using the DAW like tape, preferring to go for "the" take & trying to keep things as live & in the moment as possible. Mixing was another beast of endless twiddling, tweaking & feeling unsure. Over time I got better at trusting my brain & ears, got better with placing mics & found a comfortable & smooth workflow. That said, I did have a few tape machine & console maintenance nightmares over the time that I owned them & before I had a DAW...a couple that stopped sessions in their tracks. That, I do not miss! Now, I know I can locate & borrow an interface within an hour & be back on track should mine go down.

After that I had another move, this time across the country to a smaller room & in a city where I knew no one & purged a few more pieces of outboard. I made a solo album & continued learning more about the DAW realm, experimenting...sometimes good, sometimes fail but always learning something. Shortly after the move I ended up getting a couple big location jobs, one of which lasted a year, so I invested in a laptop & started a small location recording business. This led to meeting a bunch of local musicians & a producer/engineer who still hires me out to assist on larger sessions or engineer sessions he's producing/playing on. I also started getting more long distance mix work & started building up a 16 channel location rig with various higher end outboard pieces that I could further my front end with & pieces I could utilize at mixdown. This went well & just over the last year I started getting some odd clients, folks who didn't pay, jerks & usually these people also made awful music. I've always tried to go at it from the standpoint of trying to make whatever I was working on sound like the client wants & try to make it sound good & interesting to me too. Always a challenge & throwing in these deadbeats took a lot of the fun out of it. It got my gears turning & then, just a couple months ago I started having some odd health issues that directly impact my ability to engineer. It's all made me question what I'm doing with life & in the music business. When it comes down to it...I love making & recording music, doing it with other folks & helping those whose art I can get behind/feel like I can bring something to. I currently do audio engineering professionally for about half my income. The other half comes from private carpentry jobs & art installations. At this point, I'd rather take on another carpentry job than an audio client who's personality or music I feel nothing for. The more I considered my options the more I felt the need to once again take a step back & downsize. Most of this is to be prepared for the potential unexpected health stuff. I had a small amount of credit card debt that I wanted to get out from under & in the event I had to take time off from all my jobs, I want to be prepared to pay bills. I sold the gear I needed to, paid debt off & am working constantly putting money back for a safety net. That alone is a huge relief. My setup is now back down to 8 channels, a handful of nice pres, mics & a few outboard comps, eq's & effects I couldn't live without. DAW technology has progressed SO much in the last few years & I feel quite comfortable mixing itb with several different DAWs & a handful of plugins. I feel great about my current setup, it sounds good, does everything I need & works solid. Another big factor in my most recent downsize is that I know a few folks who run studios in town, all have different gear than I do & larger spaces. I would be thrilled to bring business to them should I have the need. Whether it be me bringing in a band for basic tracking or, if I am unable to work a project, recommend their space/services.

I guess for me, downsizing has been more or less forced but refreshing every time. BUT, if your gear is paid for, you have the space for it, don't mind maintaining it & know how to get the best out of it...why change a good thing? If I had never moved or moved to a space that could house all the big analog stuff I would've likely kept it & continued to build off of it. It was an investment & though I might not have made a ton of money from selling off stuff, I did get returns in work & knowledge. Suppose it all just depends on our immediate & future needs.

[Brian]

I sorta downsized recently, due to the market downturn being so protracted and me hanging in there too long, the wife has decided that the real me is not good enough and I?ve decided that she?s right, so, I must move my studio out and I did. I moved m studio to a place where supposedly I can get more work. Consequantly I just got booked 3 months out in the town I was in right after loading the van and moving my gear to another state. SO, I have a video monitor, computer, a DAW program, monitor amp, interface, and a decent recorder with 4 channels of great pre?s, and freshly modded pair of NS29?s (worse than NS 10?s but 3 way) that sound very consistent now.
I had a full on studio with tons of everything I ever needed. Took up a whole room unassembled and at least two large rooms fully deployed.
Now I fit on ONE SMALL DESKTOP.
It?s great for post audio for film and voiceovers, maybe some voice and guitar recordings, maybe loop stuff, but, not much else.
The full on studio had great monitors and subs and board and outboard, I miss it. I?ll set it back up in a couple of months either here where I am now or where I moved it too.
Little set up is cool, but, the big one has it?s purpose too. I?m working in two states now. That?s not been done by me in a while and neither has being booked 3 months out, but, here I am again, booked, no complaints.

[kayagum]

I'm starting to think that, based on these stories and other tales, it really boils down to getting a rig that is closest to how you started. If you started in PT, get PT. If you started on Fruity Loops, work with loopers. If you learned on an analog board, at least get a board that has its controls with knobs instead of menus. If your first recording decks were outboard, maybe upgrade, but stay OTB.

On a level, whenever I set up, I always think back to my trusty 1202 into a Porta One studio (and later a Tascam 238s). Even if I'm doing digital editing, I still picture my original rig. I do the same thing on guitar- since my first instrument was the piano, I still visualize the guitar frets as a keyboard more than a fretboard. I've been wondering if I've been missing out on the ITB approach even though I'm still comfortable with what I have (even though my 1202 --> 238s has since been upgraded to a ZED R16 --> HD24 setup).

In other words, the 1st love may be the best one, and the best workflow decision. I'm sure many people are able to move on, but maybe some of us don't have to change.

[ashcat_lt]

I'm starting to think that, based on these stories and other tales, it really boils down to getting a rig that is closest to how you started.

Oh hell no!

My first recording system was a pair of consumer grade cassette recorders and little plastic Boss brand mixer. "Multi-tracking" meant bouncing from one recorder to the other while recording the new track, committing to the mix with each iteration. Not going back to that!

Then I got a Fostex X-26 4-track cassette and an Alessis mixer. If you listen to "Words" and "Lullaby" from Low's Lifetime of Temporary relief boxed set you can hear what a waterfall that setup was. Not going back there either.

In 1995 I was struggling to get anything decent out of a 386 66MHz machine with 4M of RAM running Cakewalk Pro Audio and working on developing a true "virtual studio" where all of the equipment required to record and mix was emulated in software, automated, instantiatiable, and right there. Needless to say, hardware was not up to the task at that point, and other more lucrative projects (internet porn!) came along so I didn't get far on that.

Ended up with a Ghost, an 8' tall rack of outboard gear and a bunch of synth of gear. For a while I actually had rooms big enough to put these things in. And I made some of my favorite recordings with that setup.

But now computer hardware has finally caught up and I was able to ebay off most of the crap from the rack. Still haven't gotten rid of the Ghost - it's sitting in my parents' garage - but pretty much all my gear is virtual and I'm never going back. At home, recording just myself, all I need is the PodStudio UX, Reaper, and a handful of freeware plugs. For recording more than two tracks at once I use a Tascam D2424 as an interface/safety recorder and lightpipe 16 tracks into Reaper. I guess I wouldn't mind having some knobs to twiddle, but I'm perfectly comfortable with mixing by mouse.

Then again, I can remember the days when realtime effects plugins didn't exist and if you wanted to hear what an EQ tweak or effect would sound like you had to tell the thing to start rendering, go have a smoke, and maybe when you came back it would be almost done. So by comparison, my current setup is pretty fricken awesome.