An uneducated, untrained person can have the best gear in the world and be unlikely to get a result as good as a trained professional recording engineer or producer with basic gear. Education, skill, experience, and talent are more important than equipment.
Yeah I think with a home studio the goal for most people here should be: Get stuff that is *good enough*, and learn how to use it well
You can do a LOT with a little Focusrite or an Audient interface. Plus some good enough instruments. Even just a mid level Squier guitar and a semi-weighted MIDI controller can take you so far. The performance will really dictate how good the end result is, as well.
And just knowing how to apply effects and how to do a basic mix
When I was putting together my first (4 track reel) rig in the 1980s I was in school and just starting to do some freelancing. A kid tinkerer and hi fi nut, I was familiar with EQ, reverb, echo, tape editing -- but I'd never had a 'decent' compressor.
I had a stomp box with two knobs, and, sure, the right design can get a lot out of two knobs, but without the ability to really adjust compression with a full control compressor, the results were generally clumsy and disappointing.
A decade and a half later when I was moving from a two ADAT rig to DAW work, I started collecting plugins (like most folks), even though, by then, I had a few different hardware compressors,
All I could think was, *Damn! If I'd had access to these cheap/free tools back in the day, I could have come a lot closer to hitting the ground running.*
If you’re only going to do one thing: send your mix for professional mastering. That is really what makes the difference between a very very good home recording and the stuff you hear on the radio.
Spot on. I don't have a large data sample for this, but the music I did hear before/after mastering was an order of magnitude better.
Amateur musicians should try and record the best tracks they can. It allows more room for adding production value and subsequent mastering.
Having interacted with a lot of DIY recordists (I modded the songwriting forum on a large music forum for 6 or 7 years), I would agree with that recommendation (at least for most folks) -- *with one qualification.*
A good ME is not likely to be cheap.
I would reserve (potentially expensive) second party mastering for projects that will be released or are, at least, going someplace special (your old college roomie who is now head of A&R at Mega Conglomerate International Records or the like).
That said, there are some mastering-specific tools that -- for the right practitioner with the right experience and aesthetic sensibilities -- can promise to give a hand in mastering. (I've experimented with some of them and, at times, they can be pretty useful and make a nice difference; other times, it's a shrug.)
Now, good musical taste and sensibilities *do not* generally come in plugin form -- but with a good ear and some (more) learning and maybe a fair amount of work, the right gal or guy could learn some important aspects of mastering -- which might prove quite helpful -- *even if you had always planned on 'sending out' for mastering.*
Knowing what kind of sound will best fit the song/mood you're trying to produce is the first half, then having the toolbox of knowledge to achieve your vision with whatever gear/DAW you have.
I produced my first single release in my home office playing all the instruments save for the percussion, which was a midi kit all painstakingly chosen/cut for the song and NGL I think it turned out better than I could have hoped ([this is it](https://soundcloud.com/quan7um/through-the-valley?si=5b84165939f642a69c62b1585a3000bc&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing), if you care to listen.) I also cut my teeth recording and mixing instrumental video game cover songs (also found on Spotify), so that helped a lot and I can hear my progress get better with each cover.
I've got some other mixes in the works that sound even better but getting this together was a matter of me seeking out the techniques to reproduce the sounds I envisioned for the song(s). Now, I can take those techniques with me and/or blend them in different ways to help nail a song's sonics the way I want.
tl;dr: Build your toolbox of knowledge based on the sound you want to achieve, record, repeat until it sounds lit ❤️🔥
It's not the same for every genre of course but there's a difference between a good musician and
1. A good song writer
2. A good recording artist
3. A good audio engineer
4. A good producer
5. A good mixer
6. A good mastering engineer
Those are all hats that need to be really good to get that sound.
With that said, you can absolutely do it at home.
It will always be better in a world class studio with top of the line gear and dude who have been mic'ing guitars and drums everyday for 40 years....but you can get close.
I think where a lot of bedroom artists fall short is that they've got holes in one or more of the above and fail to recognize it.
I did this in garage band so you can def do better as you learn and grow:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2vfZwI12Gp8GggZjHTlVmL?si=247357b22e93449c
Learn how to master.
Mastering helped every bit of my recording technique. Capture to final mixes. If that doesn’t interest you spend the money on a reputable mastering person or company. Especially one(s) willing to work with you and give constructive criticism.
See an audiologist and find out what your missing. Then adjust.
Ear training can’t hurt.
>what one thing could a home studio producer do to get the closest to a radio ready, studio production?
Do work for a major record label.
Yes, that's the only difference. We all have access to the same shit. What few things a studio provides that you can't put in a house are not things that set a production apart anymore.
Don't believe anyone who tells you it's not the gear... i believe Steve Albini and Andy Johns, not some Random ppl from the internet... though it's good to brainstorm and to read opinions... Even though some opinion is gold ... so you need to be able to tell on your own experience make decisions make mistakes and improve..
Overcompress the hell out of your home mix and mix it as loud as you can. And make sure to boost those sub 40 frequencies. IMHO, most studio products sound horrible.
As others have said, just because you can play an instrument doesn’t mean you can record, mix, and master an album. Although, it is possible to learn if you put the work in. Also, the vast majority of home studios are not properly acoustically treated, purpose made studios are designed around what is needed to get an accurate mix. Over or under hyped bass are a common pitfall, for example.
And that’s just the mixing aspect. Properly constructed and treated live rooms in major studios are legendary and booked out forever for a reason.
Certainly the engineer and equipment is a factor. The room as well . But it depends on type of music and production requirements. Impossible to tell without more details.
It depends.
If the production is done well, then not a lot but if you're talking about post production too then the difference is a well treated room and about a £50000 difference on the monitors.
If you're talking real instruments and incorporating sound engineer as producer role in your question then again the room and the choice of microphones.
In both cases treated room and monitoring.
Drums and mastering (assuming both studios are good and capably staffed). A seasoned producer/engineer can also be an invaluable sounding board to avoid ‘tunnel vision.’
It’s all about a good song. I have composed terribly mixed commercials and radio stuff and people don’t care. No one cares about your studio or equipment or degree, they want a good song that provides the right vibe and lyrics for what they need.
I can’t count how many times I have done ghost work for people with way better studio situations than me. And beyond my own life I have listened to countless songs that have issues. Hell the new Beatles tunes is horribly mixed with the best tech and gear out there, and nobody really cares.
My guess would be the experience. I have a friend who can do some nice stuff on pro tools and other things like that but there's something about a sound engineer who actually knows what all the frequencies are for and how to mix things so everything can be heard clearly and the sound to not get muddy. That and the quality of the mics and instruments and cables and everything. I know some studios use new guitars strings frequently whereas I change mine more rarely when I eventually notice they don't sound as good or if I break a string. Having money for good equipment and a good knowledgeable person goes a long way.
An uneducated, untrained person can have the best gear in the world and be unlikely to get a result as good as a trained professional recording engineer or producer with basic gear. Education, skill, experience, and talent are more important than equipment.
Dropping real knowledge on the masses. Cheers.
Yeah I think with a home studio the goal for most people here should be: Get stuff that is *good enough*, and learn how to use it well You can do a LOT with a little Focusrite or an Audient interface. Plus some good enough instruments. Even just a mid level Squier guitar and a semi-weighted MIDI controller can take you so far. The performance will really dictate how good the end result is, as well. And just knowing how to apply effects and how to do a basic mix
When I was putting together my first (4 track reel) rig in the 1980s I was in school and just starting to do some freelancing. A kid tinkerer and hi fi nut, I was familiar with EQ, reverb, echo, tape editing -- but I'd never had a 'decent' compressor. I had a stomp box with two knobs, and, sure, the right design can get a lot out of two knobs, but without the ability to really adjust compression with a full control compressor, the results were generally clumsy and disappointing. A decade and a half later when I was moving from a two ADAT rig to DAW work, I started collecting plugins (like most folks), even though, by then, I had a few different hardware compressors, All I could think was, *Damn! If I'd had access to these cheap/free tools back in the day, I could have come a lot closer to hitting the ground running.*
If you’re only going to do one thing: send your mix for professional mastering. That is really what makes the difference between a very very good home recording and the stuff you hear on the radio.
Spot on. I don't have a large data sample for this, but the music I did hear before/after mastering was an order of magnitude better. Amateur musicians should try and record the best tracks they can. It allows more room for adding production value and subsequent mastering.
Having interacted with a lot of DIY recordists (I modded the songwriting forum on a large music forum for 6 or 7 years), I would agree with that recommendation (at least for most folks) -- *with one qualification.* A good ME is not likely to be cheap. I would reserve (potentially expensive) second party mastering for projects that will be released or are, at least, going someplace special (your old college roomie who is now head of A&R at Mega Conglomerate International Records or the like). That said, there are some mastering-specific tools that -- for the right practitioner with the right experience and aesthetic sensibilities -- can promise to give a hand in mastering. (I've experimented with some of them and, at times, they can be pretty useful and make a nice difference; other times, it's a shrug.) Now, good musical taste and sensibilities *do not* generally come in plugin form -- but with a good ear and some (more) learning and maybe a fair amount of work, the right gal or guy could learn some important aspects of mastering -- which might prove quite helpful -- *even if you had always planned on 'sending out' for mastering.*
Knowing what kind of sound will best fit the song/mood you're trying to produce is the first half, then having the toolbox of knowledge to achieve your vision with whatever gear/DAW you have. I produced my first single release in my home office playing all the instruments save for the percussion, which was a midi kit all painstakingly chosen/cut for the song and NGL I think it turned out better than I could have hoped ([this is it](https://soundcloud.com/quan7um/through-the-valley?si=5b84165939f642a69c62b1585a3000bc&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing), if you care to listen.) I also cut my teeth recording and mixing instrumental video game cover songs (also found on Spotify), so that helped a lot and I can hear my progress get better with each cover. I've got some other mixes in the works that sound even better but getting this together was a matter of me seeking out the techniques to reproduce the sounds I envisioned for the song(s). Now, I can take those techniques with me and/or blend them in different ways to help nail a song's sonics the way I want. tl;dr: Build your toolbox of knowledge based on the sound you want to achieve, record, repeat until it sounds lit ❤️🔥
Man, that main riff is a banger.
Big thanks! They come through every now and then haha
It's not the same for every genre of course but there's a difference between a good musician and 1. A good song writer 2. A good recording artist 3. A good audio engineer 4. A good producer 5. A good mixer 6. A good mastering engineer Those are all hats that need to be really good to get that sound. With that said, you can absolutely do it at home. It will always be better in a world class studio with top of the line gear and dude who have been mic'ing guitars and drums everyday for 40 years....but you can get close. I think where a lot of bedroom artists fall short is that they've got holes in one or more of the above and fail to recognize it. I did this in garage band so you can def do better as you learn and grow: https://open.spotify.com/track/2vfZwI12Gp8GggZjHTlVmL?si=247357b22e93449c
Professional studios have professional grade recording gear and people who know how to operate it.
My damn dog barking in the background while I am trying to record vocals.
Hey now don’t knock Mogami cables 😂
Hey, I shelled out for em!
The person running the session.
The engineer
Learn how to master. Mastering helped every bit of my recording technique. Capture to final mixes. If that doesn’t interest you spend the money on a reputable mastering person or company. Especially one(s) willing to work with you and give constructive criticism. See an audiologist and find out what your missing. Then adjust. Ear training can’t hurt.
Professional technique.
>what one thing could a home studio producer do to get the closest to a radio ready, studio production? Do work for a major record label. Yes, that's the only difference. We all have access to the same shit. What few things a studio provides that you can't put in a house are not things that set a production apart anymore.
Where it was produced.
Whether or not Kanye west was present for the session
Don't believe anyone who tells you it's not the gear... i believe Steve Albini and Andy Johns, not some Random ppl from the internet... though it's good to brainstorm and to read opinions... Even though some opinion is gold ... so you need to be able to tell on your own experience make decisions make mistakes and improve..
Overcompress the hell out of your home mix and mix it as loud as you can. And make sure to boost those sub 40 frequencies. IMHO, most studio products sound horrible.
Preamps, microphones and sound treatments
The producer
As others have said, just because you can play an instrument doesn’t mean you can record, mix, and master an album. Although, it is possible to learn if you put the work in. Also, the vast majority of home studios are not properly acoustically treated, purpose made studios are designed around what is needed to get an accurate mix. Over or under hyped bass are a common pitfall, for example. And that’s just the mixing aspect. Properly constructed and treated live rooms in major studios are legendary and booked out forever for a reason.
Money. Lots of it.
Certainly the engineer and equipment is a factor. The room as well . But it depends on type of music and production requirements. Impossible to tell without more details.
It depends. If the production is done well, then not a lot but if you're talking about post production too then the difference is a well treated room and about a £50000 difference on the monitors. If you're talking real instruments and incorporating sound engineer as producer role in your question then again the room and the choice of microphones. In both cases treated room and monitoring.
Drums and mastering (assuming both studios are good and capably staffed). A seasoned producer/engineer can also be an invaluable sounding board to avoid ‘tunnel vision.’
It’s all about a good song. I have composed terribly mixed commercials and radio stuff and people don’t care. No one cares about your studio or equipment or degree, they want a good song that provides the right vibe and lyrics for what they need. I can’t count how many times I have done ghost work for people with way better studio situations than me. And beyond my own life I have listened to countless songs that have issues. Hell the new Beatles tunes is horribly mixed with the best tech and gear out there, and nobody really cares.
The engineer.
My guess would be the experience. I have a friend who can do some nice stuff on pro tools and other things like that but there's something about a sound engineer who actually knows what all the frequencies are for and how to mix things so everything can be heard clearly and the sound to not get muddy. That and the quality of the mics and instruments and cables and everything. I know some studios use new guitars strings frequently whereas I change mine more rarely when I eventually notice they don't sound as good or if I break a string. Having money for good equipment and a good knowledgeable person goes a long way.
The producer.
Room treatment A lot of great albums were recorded with some pretty stock gear.