My oldest client has betrayed me by trying to record at home

[Family Hoof]

What's worse is she's recording for her side of split record with a band I just recorded here. There's going to be a huge difference in quality! Out of all the musicians who think a studio is just a bunch gear and wasting money, and that they can do it better themselves, this was the last band I'd expect that attitude from. To add salt to the wounds she has asked me several times for gear advice (knowing that all the gear I own is cheap crap), but never for advice on technique!!! Maybe I'm overreacting. We'll see...

Has this happened to any of you?

[eeldip]

no... since i am one of those people that record at home...

[cgarges]

Sure. It's happened. It's a bummer, too, but it's only going to happen more and more. I can't compete with "free."

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[eeldip]

Sure. It's happened. It's a bummer, too, but it's only going to happen more and more. I can't compete with "free."

well, its not really free:

instead of musicians spending money on getting nice instruments and spendin time rehearsing and then periodically throw down some tour money for recording, we are spending all our money on instruments AND recording gear, so now we can only afford crappy versions of both. then instead of plunking down money and recording a record in 3 days we are lazily working on records for years.

maybe its just me.

[Slider]

Yeah it happens.
They usually come back though.
Or at least hire you to help them cut basics, or mix.
More and more of my business is mixing tracks recorded at home.
I've become pretty good at fixing them up.
Every kid has a home studio now, so the best bet is doing consistantly good work.
Then there's a good reason to spend the cash hiring you.

[spankenstein]

I got into recording because all of the people I had recorded with that were in my budget were not able to provide me something I was proud of. They'd have decent setups in their hosues or even commercail spaces but they didnt' seem to care and never made anything good. I was almost always more happy with my 4-track stuff and decided I should start recording. It's taking quite a few years to afford what I haev (which isn't much) and I'm a million times more happy with what I do. People that were in bands with me come to me now because it doesn't suck that bad.

I did recently have a friend do the same thing. He called me and was going to back in town for a couple weeks and wanted to talk to me about recording. I thought that meant he wanted to record. He's a singer/songwriter so it's easy and would have been cheap for him, if nothing else with him it was a chance to hang out with a friend donig some music. All he wanted was to know how to record with his computer :-/ It happens. It seems like a good deal, really it does, but these people aren't going to focus on it and eventually they will come around and go to someone that thinks abotu the recording other than "saving money".

[Zeppelin4Life]

well prices only are getting lower for home recording. I dont think people realize how time consuming it is though. they think," oh,ok. lets plug in a mic and itll be perfect."companies are making more money selling cheaper products in vast numbers and the pride in the big professional studios seems to be going down in flames. Perhaps it will change sometime, but it doesnt look like that. but it's not like we are helping it. with (most) people on this board recording at home anyway, its only part of the processes. Cello studios and Hit Factory NYC just closed and NAMM ended a few weeks ago with hundreds of new items for the home recording guys. Its gotta tell you something

[cfMC]

instead of musicians spending money on getting nice instruments and spendin time rehearsing and then periodically throw down some tour money for recording, we are spending all our money on instruments AND recording gear, so now we can only afford crappy versions of both. then instead of plunking down money and recording a record in 3 days we are lazily working on records for years.

while I dont doubt the validity of this in the least, I'll point out that there is another side: some people who had no intention of trying to run a working band, or put all their savings into studio recording, who have gotten back into music & recording simply because the technology has come around to make it high quality/low cost. so maybe there is hope for studio owners in that some of these folks, who wouldnt ever have been their clients in the past, might get so tweaked from their modern-recording forays that they get around to deciding they would indeed like to go to a real studio, be it for professional advices or better equipment or even just access to a more acoustically sound environment. maybe those big-frill aspects are what studios need to emphasize, knowing that there is so much DIY out there now

[tonylamont]

I agree. I have a basic home setup for overdubbing, and I'm going into the "real studio" way more than I used to, albeit only for basic tracks/mixing. The difference is I can now constantly work on my own material without having to have a band together and spend forever getting material in shape to record. Without being able to record at home, there is no way that I could make records on a consistent basis and still have a day job and stay married.

I agree there's nothing like having a really tight band that can go in and make a great record in a great studio in two weeks. But there are a lot of people who don't have that luxury who are now making records. I think it's safe to say a lot of these people weren't doing so 5 years ago. Granted, a lot of them never use a real studio at any stage. But as your ears develop, it becomes pretty clear that a real studio is indispensible for certain things (e.g., getting high quality drum tracks, mixing using a good board / quality outboard gear, having a good engineer involved in mixing, etc.)

Thus, I'm not sure if home recording is bad for studios on the whole. But it seems incumbent on studios to have some stuff that most hobbyists don't (both gearwise and skillwise).

[The Real MC]

Easy, don't jump to conclusions. Maybe she's recording demos with the intention of having a finished product ready for a real studio like yours.

[cgarges]

I have a basic home setup for overdubbing, and I'm going into the "real studio" way more than I used to, albeit only for basic tracks/mixing... Thus, I'm not sure if home recording is bad for studios on the whole. But it seems incumbent on studios to have some stuff that most hobbyists don't (both gearwise and skillwise).

I think you're an exception. If this were predominantly the case, commercial studios would be thriving right now.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[bobbydj]

They are. In my city there are more recording studios than ever. I mean EVER.

[tonylamont]

I think you're an exception. If this were predominantly the case, commercial studios would be thriving right now.

You're probably right. But the more home recording I do, the more I notice the limitations of the process and the things I can't do at home. I do think the process of home recording should really educate one's ears. At that point, it becomes clear that some things are tough to do really well at home.

However, on the other side of the coin, obviously there are lots of people who record drums in their living room through a Mackie board, mix in the box or whatever and are either (1) OK with or (2) oblivious to the sonic limitations of the results.

[/quote]

[wirerecording]

Obviously this is happening everywhere on a large scale. Come on, the old recording studio scam is taking a much needed hit. Our industry was raised on fat budgets and high costs. In the old days studios were the exclusive domain of wealthy folks who could afford the equipment. Musicians had to play the studios game(often a total rip off) or miss out. Folks that didn't know or care about quiality had to pay the same as those who did. Well computers have leveled the playing field a lot. Now more than ever business is driven by people, not gear. If clients really don't care about quality, why should they have to pay for it? Sure it makes it a lot tougher on studios, but I feel we should have to earn our money, not just be entitled to it. I certainly do not mean to discredit anyone's skills here, everyone loses clients in the manner you described, but clients really are not obligated to us. I opened a studio 4 years ago after 15 years as a freelance. I have to work like crazy to make the money that just rolled into studios I worked out of 15 years ago. However I feel that my studio is much more focused and a far greater value for the $$$ than most studios were 10-20 years ago. The "market adjustment" is serving a purpose, it is makeing our little wing of the music business more responsive and efficient. Whenever there is as much excess and corruption as there has been in our business someone will pay a price. Unfortunatly most of the studio owners who benifited from the old system have their money. We are the ones left having to deal with their shit...(I must stop now, as I am about to go off on a political rant)

stuart sullivan
wirerecoridng.com

[rolandk]

You have to develope a very thick skin to be a musician and/or engineer. When there are several options in a given situation people are gonna do what they think is best and someones feelings are going to get hurt. You just have to roll with it.

My band is in the midst of our next cd which I tracked most of, and on those songs we'll probably use my mixes (but maybe not). We have several options and how we go about finishing it up is a touchy subject for me because my pride/ego/competitive nature can sometimes get in the way of making an objective decision and putting out the best record we can.


The whole recording at home vs. a pro studio thing:

Doing at least the basic tracks in a pro studio is still a very cost effective move and will yield the best sound quality. If the band saves up gig money and splits the rest, its not that expensive to go in for a couple days. You need engineering skill, decent gear and a good sounding room to make a great sounding record and that takes a lot of time and money to develope. Hopefully in time home recording people will realize this and go back to the pros more.

edit- as a 4 year home recordist, now when I start thinking about purchasing that $3K mic, $2K pre (or whatever ungodly expensive piece of gear), I conclude it would be much more cost effective to just book time in a studio where they already have it and more.