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brandondrury

10 Reasons I'm Not Going Portable With My Studio Anymore

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brandondrury
, 07-24-2011 at 11:39 AM (2851 Views)
Why I'm Sticking To The Studio

1. I seemed to have smashed in the part of my brain that accurately estimates the amount of time it takes to pack up for a gig elsewhere.

2. I seemed to have double smashed in the part of my brain that can accurately estimate the amount of time it takes to set back up

3. I always seem to forget just how smashed up GEAR gets on the road.

4. When I'm engineering, I can't hear a damn thing.

5. Great rooms are hard to come by.

6. Taking advantage of good, NOT GREAT, rooms is fun. However, in most cases, I can't hear what the hell I'm doing!

7. Because I can't hear, there is this anxiety that kills me. I always feel nervous working in an environment where I can't hear anything.

8. For projects serious enough to utilize good rooms, I still seem to use sample layering on drums.

9. I can't remember everything I need. PCMAI cards, adat lightpipe cables, that one tube mic connector, that one power supply. There is always something that I have to do without.

10. I hate people. There are always additional people who want to see the magic of recording. These people give off heat, make noise, and are rarely a candidate for the cover of Maxim.
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  1. IMF OnSite Recording's Avatar
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    I agree with you completely. The last band I recorded was in an old mill building in the winter. I would always forget at least 2 things that were key to the session. Like, the rca\tsr cable that hooked up the headphone amp, or that really long speaker cord so I could put the cab as far away as possible so I could sort of hear what I was recording. Things start sounding good there and I bring it home to mix and I'm like "WHAT THE HELL DID I DO THAT FOR!?" And you're definetly right on the packing and unpacking. Everytime I swear I thought I could make it more time efficient, but each time I was reminded that my miscalculations were very obvious. Amps, power amps, mixers, daws, it really was horrible lugging everything around.

    I did think of making a portable mini studio on the side though... hence my user name "OnSite".
    Here is what it would consist of.

    Drum Triggers
    A pair of good condensors (sm-81's or something...)
    Guitar Pods\ Emulators\ Simulators\ Whatever else you call them
    DI's and maybe a nice little preamps for bass
    Headphone amp


    Everything would be pretty much digital. Effects\Dynamics Processing\Samples.
    It would definetly have a polished cookie-cutter sound to it - which in most cases I HATE. But I don't know... I'm a bit torn on the issue of having a portable division of a studio.

    My goal is to be able to carry it in one of those airline back packs and use my hands for the 2 mic stands. 1 Trip deal.

    I think I could pull it off... but before I spend $1500 on a laptop - I will be subject to the temptation of spending $1500 on building my own i7 2600k 4U rack DAW. Which would be several times more powerful than any i7 laptop.
    Updated 07-25-2011 at 09:32 PM by IMF OnSite Recording
  2. alexmcginness's Avatar
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    K.I.S.S. get two zoom r-16's and a large memory card for each. Go do your live recording. Take the cards out and drag the files into your DAW when ya gets home and mix. Man....you guys like to complicate things. :-)
  3. paul999's Avatar
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    I swore off portable recordings this year and ended up with quite a bit.LOL For portable recordings I estimate my time, plus charge 10-15% of the value of the gear I'm bringing for wear and tear. I have proper road cases and my lunch box works awesome for this. 500 series gear is incredible for portable work.

    I expect that I am going to be working blind so I need to work "safely". If I am doing live sound as well the recording is secondary.

    I view it as a step down and more expensive for the client but capturing the magic of live is what it is about. If someone is expecting a better sound moving out of a dedicated space your intimately familiar with they are on crack. That is not the reality.

    This is where the solo button shines. The best you get is that you do a sound check and then listen to each track soloed after you record sound check.

    When someone ties both hands behind my back and takes me to a different location I charge extra. Okay this sounds like brutal prostitution. IT IS. You have to be a better engineer in this instance.

    Remember you did all this extra work so that the drum overheads and the room mic's capture something different. Thats it. Close mics on drums play by the same rules they do at your studio and they still need all the same help and amoral support.
  4. IMF OnSite Recording's Avatar
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    Yeah, I always do a small piece of a song as a sound check and listen after as there is so isolation whatsoever when you go nomad. If you want to go nuts, geta big van or a decent trailer and have a control room in there
  5. paul999's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by IMF OnSite Recording
    Yeah, I always do a small piece of a song as a sound check and listen after as there is so isolation whatsoever when you go nomad. If you want to go nuts, geta big van or a decent trailer and have a control room in there
    I have a travel trailer for this. I works like a charm I have 2, 150 snakes. Obviously I can only do this when I am recording only. You can't run F.O.H from a luxury trailer outback.