Advice on next steps to move setup forward

[nicholasdover]

I’m considering what my next step should be gear-wise: I run a single room setup for a living, I use Reaper through Orion 32+, I have a good set of mics I like now that work in my room for the kind of bands I record, and I’ve been really enjoying the results I get using a pair of CAPI VP28’s in line mode on mix buss after an SSL 4000 clone buss compressor - I’ve always felt my mixing was not quite right but I finally got a nice call from a good mastering house after I’d sent them an album last week saying “good job on the mix!” so that’s reassured me that my approach is going in a good direction. Yesterday I threw together a track where every element went into one of my VP25 mic pre's but then each through a VP28 in line mode for extra tone shaping and really loved the overall sound once drums, bass, piano, 2 electric guitars and an acoustic were all in there - no EQ or compression, just Airwindows Console 5 and Acustica Taupe on every channel, and I love the way it sounds. I never thought I’d be able to just enjoy relatively pure results like that from my room without processing, but I’ve been tweaking the room treatment and might just be there (for now). I do a lot of “full band in one room” recording: jazz, experimental, blues, songwriter stuff - no EDM, metal, or classical so far.
Sorry I’m being long winded, but I just wanted to lay out “where I’m at”. So I feel like logical next step if money were no object would be a fairly coloured and well maintained console (I don't want to have to fight unreliable gear) and a high quality multitrack tape machine - records I like almost always use that setup and as I say, apart from a rack of good pre’s and a nice room, those are the things I’m currently “faking”. But money is an object, so I’m considering a pair of CAPI VC528’s to mix and wherever possible, track through - I believe the extra transformers and ability to attenuate my pre’s would be like I imagine a good console to deliver. Also I was thinking a pair of CAPI BT50 EQ’s for tracking and mixbuss. The money adds up fast with that approach though - quite a serious outlay per channel. So should I aim to get a console? CADAC J type here in the UK are available at £5k for a 16x4x2 kind of setup, but then that’s a transformerless design and I think what I’m enjoying about stacking CAPI’s is the iron. I do find myself having to explain why there’s no console in my studio! Tracking through a tape machine to DAW (taking from the REPRO in the way in so just for sound, no syncing issues) would also suit my workflow (I’m not skilled enough to actually run a tape session) but I don’t know what model would be appropriate for that to be affordable and pro enough (available in UK) to not risk ruining client’s work - I’m happy to mess with cheaper tape machines for my own stuff, but I feel quite different when they’re paying. Finally, for about the same money as a console I love the look of Thermionic Culture’s Fat Bustard tube summing box with tone shaping stuff on there. I just can’t quite tell what would help my business most, improve my work most, and integrate into my workflow best without the learning curve messing me up for too long.
That’s a lot of writing, sorry…
I guess I just wonder if this is a junction lots of people get to and could do with help focussing. I do have work but could do with a bit more so if there’s a marketing value to getting a console/tape machine I don’t know how much if at all I should factor that in.
Cheers
Nick
www.canyonsound.co.uk

[Nick Sevilla]

Some tips:

Avoid just buying a tape machine to "run it in repro".

Question: What do your clients want to see in your studio? That is what you do need to buy, to keep them coming in.

If you want a "sound" that you do not currently have, you should try going to other studios and both seeing what they have,
but more importantly, listening to their results with that gear you do not have.

I have heard horrible records come off of a classic Neve console, and amazing records come out of a semi pro Yamaha console.

It is always going to be you, the driver, and not the car, in the end.

[nicholasdover]

Thanks for your thoughts Nick
I think clients expect to see a console but having said that, they don't seem to mind my explanation that my CAPI stuff is a replica of blah blah blah from America ("Oooooooh Ameeeerica?!!"), and I think I get a nice connection going with the people I have in once we're working and getting sounds up. The reason people DIDN'T book me is probably quite a hard answer to track down, right!? I don't think I'd be able to call someone up months later who came in for a chat/look at the place, never booked and ask "what made you go elsewhere?"!
I made a new plan today for gear that is financially sensible and also do-able in stages. It'll look good in photos and I can say "valve EQ's" in blurb which wins hearts and minds...
UK company AML make Pultec EQP-1A kits so I'm going to make a pair for tracking and mixing. And JML MAC 2 channel opto comp. And CAPI VC528 and VP26 pairs. I think sonically speaking, actually unifying my front end and going mostly API sound is going to be in line with my sonic ideals - I do have a sound I'm going for a lot of the time and more and more I like the way my initial captures are coming across. I don't really have a studio within reach that has a setup I know I consistently like the output of - they're all in Canada and US!
Cheers

[losthighway]

I think there are a lot of avenues you can go down in terms of what element of your sounds, or tools you can use to solve various problems- would be the most beneficial. This is always a head scratcher for all of us. To the point that I've noticed the TOMB has become less product specific in discussions which is totally wiser, but not as satisfying when you want to read that there's a golden ticket at a bargain price that's gonna change your world as an engineer.

I have found in over a decade of sharing the weird combination of trying to capture exciting music with fidelity and researching and eventually purchasing exciting audio tools (which are often very disconnected experiences) that ONE DEVICE CAN ONLY MAKE A 5% DIFFERENCE. At the very most.

This means hot tube mic, vintage compressor, cool EQ plugin, delay unit... whatever. That fact has been clear when one of my better mixes from a year before is not horrendously lacking in some particular piece of gear I have now.

A few exceptions to this rule:

A step from a crap converter (which are becoming rare these days) to a really nice one.
Serious monitor upgrade.
Room treatment.

Depending on the severity, these moves could be in the 10- 50% efficacy range.

[drumsound]

You've mentioned TWICE that clients wonder where the console is. So... Think seriously about a console, something cool and small/vintage will add the cache that means something on potential client's first visit. When I was putting my room together 13-14 years ago, I was forced to but a new console from the first one I purchased as a buy out of my old boss. At that time, I knew what was around, and I looked at a couple small things, but I wanted that flagship piece, and made sure I had a 7-foot, 32 channel, patchbay included, so it LOOKED like the magazines. (it also sounds great). Now in the DAW world, a smaller, older console would have a similar thing, compared to their buddy's home studio with no console at all.

Consider a 2-track tape machine over a multitrack. Simpler, cheaper and still quite useful.

[losthighway]

Consider a 2-track tape machine over a multitrack. Simpler, cheaper and still quite useful.

As a mixdown format, or something to bounce elements to for color.... or both?

[drumsound]

Consider a 2-track tape machine over a multitrack. Simpler, cheaper and still quite useful.

As a mixdown format, or something to bounce elements to for color.... or both?

I just mix to mine, but I know Mara does a whole presentation on using a 2-track for processing as well. I should probably do some of that.

[joninc]

i'll be the contrarian here....

I really don't think most artists care about whether you have a console or a tape machine.

They come to you because you do great work and people like to work with you - PERIOD.

So many elder statesman engineers whom i respect are moving away from consoles and tape machines for all the $$ and maintenance they require and for the sake of workflow/mix revisions etc. Some are mixing fully ITB or with hybrid setups.

Of course there are exceptions to that and if it inspires you to do better work to have these things then by all means, go for it. Make that your thing to go for a more live vibe and be the next Steve Albini. Put away the computer.

But I really think at the end of the day - people come to you because they hear your work and like it and you have a reputation for being a decent human being. I have friends with very spartan gear collections who do great work. They get gigs because they know how to get the best out of an artist and their gear.

IS there something you could use to improve the quality of your work? Better monitors? Mics? Outboard eqs or compression? a better sounding room?

Spend money on that.

I have a 2 track tape machine and i rarely use it - why? Cause it's a pain to work with and when artists want lots of tweaks and revisions, it adds more headache to the process then it's worth sonically. I have more reliable outboard gear that colors the sound in ways that I like that don't require constant maintenance and are much less finicky to work with.

I have a board - Soundcraft Ghost - nothing sonically special about it at all so I mix via a summing box and outboard gear. The board gets used all the time in tracking for monitoring and printing effects via sends etc... It's really useful to me - but I don't mix on it or use the pres for tracking.

so... all that to say: What inspires you to do your best work?

[joninc]

ps - the fat bustard summing box would be a great addition - Peter Katis mixes though one (with other outboard patched in) and gets incredible results.

[cgarges]

Be aware that if you want a console, but you also don't want something you're going to have to do maintenance work on, your best option is going to be something new or something recently restored. Any console over ten or fifteen years old is going to need frequent cleaning of switches and pots and eventually, replacing caps and chips. If the console you choose is not modular, this becomes a WAY bigger pain. And the more complicated the console (SSL, Neve V or 81 series, for instance), the bigger the maintenance headache. But just be aware that an older console typically does require a bit of occasional TLC. Also, the cost of installing a console is considerably more than just buying the console and putting it in. Just a few things to be aware of if you haven't ever bought and installed a console before.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC