Help Me! I'm so lost

[NotInTune04]

I'm currently a Junior in Highschool, and I have a lot of interest in recording and how a studio and the equipment in a studio works, and I'd even like to open my own studio one day, theres only one problem, I'm totally lost. I would like to take classes in college if I can find a college that offers a sound engineering course (I live in South Carolina, and am most likely going to have to go to school in-state), but my major problem is I really have no experience in recording, I just don't have the money to even buy simple equipment to start with, so my major fear is that if I get into a college that offers the classes I'm looking for, I'm going to be totally lost while the rest of the students in class know more than me because they've had more experience than me. Can you maybe give me some pointers on where to start?

[joel hamilton]

If you really love recording, this will work itself out.

Get ANYTHING that records and start recording.

Read a lot, then forget it all once you work at a studio.

I always loved to record sounds, even on a reel to reel with a mic I stole from school in 1981.

[pandafresh]

well the age thing is a killer. most places will not take on an intern who is under 18. otherwise i'd say go get an aftershcool internship.
next to that. ask you parents if they know anyone into music [aka recording]
that actualy worked for me when i was really young. my parents knew someone who was into the thing i was interested in. i didnt get like an intership or anytyhing like that. but occasionaly i could go over and sorta see stuff in action. sometimes being quiet and listening and watching can be better then doing.
oh! and get a subscription to tapeop!!! its free and youll learn more from tapeop then from all the other recording mags imo [other then gear lust]
and my last advice. hang out with all the music kids at your school. i had all metal head friends in school. i couldnt stand metal. but i'd hang out in their basements cause there were drums and amp stacks and all that.. and at somepoint someone finally got a 4 track.. and so we'd hang mics fro the celling and record sounds.
just put all your energy into it..

thats my advice.. if you want to do it. you can make it happen

-trevor

[analogcabin]

All joking aside. Start with a pair of cheap (and I mean cheap) microphones, and a cassette deck. Way under $75 for all three pieces, and start recording music, spoken word stuff, local bands, sounds.......anything. Put the word out to friends & relatives, they'll throw you old hi-fi gear and anything with a cord attached to it.

Go to the library and check out any audio books they may have. The same rules apply to all methods of recording. Capture sound, manipulate it and store it. It doesn't take buckets of cash to do that. The gear will make its way to you as you keep honing your skills. Put off the computer gear for a while.

enjoy

[soundguy]

hey man-

right before I got to Jr. High, I managed to save enough loot to get a tascam porta 1 cassette four track and an SM57 microphone. You can do that today for probably under $200. I think with those two things for the first two years or so, I completely learned the total foundation for everything I do today. Nobody taught it to me, I just had to figure it out.

FORGET EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET.

I cant begin to stress that enough. We all tweak on so much little finite shit, which is great when youve been recording for 15 years, but it is overwhelming and not particularly relevant to someone in your shoes. Just sit down with your tape machine and your mic and record and record and record and record. I reccomend isolating yourself from the Mis-information Superhighway, making your own mistakes for two or three years, figuring out your own solutions to the problems you run up against and creating your own language that you can refer to when you need to feel comfortable when the reels are spinning. If you are able to do that, by the time you get to a situation where you have a class to sit in and learn, you'll be completely prepared to absorb the technical end of the schooling because you will have the practical foundation to apply it against, so it will maybe be a bit easier to make some sense of it all.

Dont worry about getting an internship working at a studio. Dont worry about breaking some "rule" that someone told you you had to follow. Just RECORD. You'll work out the details later, just get recording.

And buy all the Led Zeppelin records and listen to them even if you dont like the music. Good sounding recordings that will always give you something to work towards if you are recording rock, even if you want to sound like the white stripes.

Welcome to the fun club.

dave

[rhythm ranch]

Get ANYTHING that records and start recording.

Amen!

I started recording on those GE portable cassette recorders and the dictaphone at my mother's law office.

A quick search for "4 track" on eBay resulted in quite a few inexpensive options: eBay 4-Tracks

[Kilroy]

Hey man, i am a senior in highschool and have been recording on my computer. At first with a shitty behringer mixer with some crappy mics directly into my computers soundcard.

I can't afford any really good stuff, i have a tascam us-428 and some mics but i make things work because in love to do this shit.

You should check out the music department of your school and get involved while you still can, maybe some teachers have advice for recording and maybe even some connections at a studio so that you can intern. I got an internship at a local studio which does a lot of hip-hop shit which isnt really fun, but i am recording so i love it.

[coles4038]

I agree with what everyone has said.

I would add that you might find one of those really old mono reel to reels from the early 60's. Like a 3M machine or that brand... Revere, Sony, Akai, etc.

It looks like a box that could be either a Regular 8mm movie projector or a portable turntable, yet when you open it up it's a reel to reel.

You would be amazed how much fun those are. Usually the only thing to go on those is the rubber band inside. So.... at the store plug it in. If it runs there and it's $10 it could be just the gadget.

About schools... Well, there's North Carolina and those universities. The State University system in South Carolina must have recording studio in them too. That could be a way to approach it. Have your folks call the schools for you, or call them yourself. They will be impressed by that.

Check the town that Dave Matthews is from. (S.C.) I bet they read books, drink coffee and listen to music all night and day there. (and they'll have recording studios and a college too)

[trashy]

Everybody has given you good advice; listen well. Here's mine, take it or leave it:

+Start recording today on whatever you have - don't worry about buying anything. Got a boombox with a built in mic? Fine. A camcorder? Okay. Got a tape deck for your home stereo? Great! Just record. Early and often and late and often. Record everything, all of the time.

+Don't worry about whether you will know too little about recording to go to school to learn - that's what school is for. When you get to college you will be totally blown away by how ignorant your classmates are. That whole "preparing you for college" line your teachers feed you is total bullshit - I know 'cause I teach high school. Most college freshman couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. I kick myself at least once a week for chickening out of electronics courses because I thought I'd be swimming with pocket-protector-outfitted sharks.

Um, I'll think of some other stuff later, but either way good luck!

[cgarges]

FORGET EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET.

Except this:
Where in SC are you? I'm in Charlotte and make my living freelance music engineering and playing drums. PM me for my phone number and give me a call.


Hey Coles,

Dave Matthews is from South AFRICA. He got the band together in the Richmond/Newport News area of Virginia. You may be thinking of Hootie and the Blowfish. I think they all met at USC in Columbia.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[heylow]

Some great replies...especially the stuff said about not believing everything people tell you about "the rules" and listening to great recordings to help refine your ear.

Get yourself a Tascam 4 track, an SM57 and an EV635a to start with. If you get that far and work it a while, pick up a cheap compressor like the DBX163x or an RNC.

Read everything you can get your hands on...this board and every other one you can find. Read it all and try it all....throw out what doesn't work for you and keep what does...try every fucking thing that comes to mind whether or not it fits into somebodys idea of "the rules"...after all...half the shit the Beatles (well, Mr. Martin) did for those classic records was against the rules...literally even.

DO learn about phase issues and try to learn about the way things work...things like mic patterns. These things will go a long way to teaching yourself what to do. I mean after all...if you know how a tool works, it easier to make it work FOR you.

Also...if you have buddies who record regularly, try hanging out and helping them out. Watch and learn.


Stick around and READ!!


heylow

[soundguy]

which brings up the question:

which is worse:

Hootie.

DMB.

life sentence at Angola...

dave

[joel hamilton]

Come up to NYC. You can sleep on a bench near the studio, I am sure the rent is pretty low.

[soundguy]

interning at a NYC studio

or

life sentence at Angola.

shit...

dave

[Flight Feathers]

the first multi track recording i ever did was with 2 cassette decks. i plugged my bass right into the mic jack and hit record. then played that into the left cannel of the 2nd deck and over dubbed onto the right channel. then played THAT back into the first deck's right cannel and overdubbed on the left. and repeat. wish i could find those tapes..