algore's weather forecast for recording arts

[AfaraWayland]

at this point there some concerns to think about...

the de-valuing of music as a product.

fart on the artist perspective here for a sec, think about whats happening to the distribution, control, and pricing of music. music is becoming cheaper, and distribution is no longer soley controlled by labels.

A lot of people see this as a good thing.

the forecasters of doom suggest that in the future, the value of professionally produced music will be gone, replaced by home hobbiests, and endevouring artists, with home recording setups.

the barriers to entry into music production will be so easy and cheap that everyone can do it.

and everyone will.

this will lead to a surplus of music. a lot of crappy music, yet some good music also.

the encentive for those of us who wish to work in the arts of record production and studio ownership, striving to attain a level of recording/production excellence on par with the greats of yore, as well as the manufacturing of high end audio gear, the existence of high class studios, and even the label system/current music business model will be all disappear.

In the future, [the way a lot of you want it-mind you] People will not want to pay for music (the supply is great/the value low). Artists will be forced to provide their music for free, or forced to confine their creativity to a hobby, rather than an income.

you people want a sociallist music society?

I don't. I started doing this not so I could have a cool hobby, but because I want this to be my job.

I don't want to see professional music disappear.

---

SO let me encourage you guys on this forum, whatever you are doing in music production right now...GIVE IT YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST!

Do not settle for 'smart enough,' or 'good enough'.

Keep on learning and practicing.

Only by our striving to learn more and more about what we are doing can we ever delay the day that nobody around will be a professional recording arts person.

Everyone in this industry right now has a chance to make a difference.

[brandondrury]

I'm going to bring in a movie analogy for a second.

Method A
I watched the making of the The Lady In The Water or whatever it is. They needed a certain apartment building for their story. They couldn't find one. So..THEY BUILT IT!! They built an apartment building that has at least 60 rooms. They paid a powerhouse crew to build it in 8 weeks (imagine the overtime!!). They shot their movie exactly like the director envisioned. One of the movie was over, they tore it down. (There was no need for an apartment building in that location, I guess). This was a real deal building. It wasn't made out of plywood. They had giant cranes putting huge steal beams into the ground.

Method B
Now think about the last time you were recording in electric guitar in your house and the intonation was off on the guitar. You say, "Dude, did you get your guitar setup recently like I asked?". He'll say, "No, I didn't have the time or money".


One of these methods is an absurdly expensive way of realizing a person's creative vision. The other method is an absurdly effective way of ruining a person's creative vision.

I'm not saying that music recording has to be so ridiculous that you spend billions on a record. You don't have to be that over the top and, in fact, some limitations are great for the creative process.

However, there is a clear difference betweent mentality of a talented person with a big budget behind him and the proper tools to do the job verses an underfunded home recording project.

Overall, I don't consider the fall of the big boys to be a great thing.

Brandon

[AfaraWayland]

yeah,

my impetus for writing this came from the "can we ever be this good," thread, along with recent reports of slumping Cd sales for the industry, 16-20%, and a few blog articles I've read about the proposed future of the recording biz.

I guess my point is that the folks like us who are entering into recording arts should strive for the best. Exactly like you (Brandon) mentioned in the thread mentioned above.

The only way that I see professional music production continuing with a sense of similarity to what it has been in the past, namely the attitudes and ways of our mentors and idols, is if we as a new generation of audio production specialists refine our skill to the same level of dedication and perfection as the greats of days past.

I agree about the financing thing. I don't have a professional grade budget, nor do I have professional grade gear.

But,I'd like to think that I have an attitude that compares with those out there who do.

The idea is to strive, even with the limited means we have, to make the best contribution we can to artistic or commercial music.

Stevie W. said that music's not a thing life will quit.

In the future, it's our part to make sure artists like Stevie have a dedicated group of professionals behind him to make his creativity ubiquitous.

[thesilentdrummer]

I think part of the reason for less than satisfactory recordings is the overall competitiveness and exclusiveness of the industry. I read somewhere (probably even here) that there are fewer people certified in accustics and recording engineering than there are of nearly any other profession. With that exclusiveness, those professionals are only going to work with the best they can find. Several years pass and now recording equipment is becoming affordable, affordable enough for people who wanna have fun over the weekend recording their or their buddy's band. And all was still good in the balance of music. Coincidentally around this time, there was a change of music. NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and Brittney Spears were the dominant forces in music. Around this time, there were some very smart people who start to discover that they could open their small home studios to area bands and charge for their work. However they would attract local bands that aren't quite up to professional grade because these studios could offer a reduced price. this worked fine until the Backstreet boys and NSYNC broke up and Brittney spears started rehab. At this time, the music industry was in shambles, and the were struggling to put out some decent music that would sell. There were some Hip hop type songs that were doing quite well. In fact, they were number 1 favorites. "there we go" the record companies said. "we Have found our formula!". This is when Home studios started pumping out really professional quality CD's. Contrary to that,however, were complete idiots who thought they could record their own bands or friends by just pointing mics at instruments, tracking, and sending the Sounds out to be copied. Also, the decline of the popularity talent that the big boys have recruited has failed to appease more "traditional" musicians. The big boys are throwing out mechanical music.

All of this has caused the release of less than great music. We now have an opportunity to hear the crap, in addition to the rap/hip hop mechanism (did you know the c in rap is invisible?). I listen to what I recorded a couple months ago and realize how really bad it actually is. But between then and now, I have read soo much stuff on recording, the techniques, the mixing process, how to take advantage of what I have. I have heard some good mixes and bad mixes, and have found flaws in my technique through this review. Then when I go through the rest of life, I hear my favorite recordings. I hear how they sound, and I don't get jealous, but accept in my current state, I will never be that good. With that out of the way, I can try to do the best I can to put out the music that I love, even if it is just so I can relive the glory moments with my songs, show off to a couple of friends, or immortalize my friends band sound into my music collection. While most people are content with 64Kbs mp3 files, I can't listen to music to this (I am a little OCD in the sense that all my MP3's are in 192Kbs format). I am not ready to accept less than the best I know that I can do. There are people that just record to give the listener a sense of the music. I don't want to be one of those people that give you a sense of my music. I want to make a recording that really captures the essence of a bands awesomeness. I wanna record a song energized, so immersing that people will pee their pants at the shear mention of the song's name. I even wanna record song with enough performance in it that I can make someone cry, even if it is just one person. the comforting part of this is that I know there are people out there way more dedicated than I am. These are the recordings I want to hear. And if I could say one thing to them, it would be this: thank you. Thank you for caring about the power of music.



Sorry about the long post. I am just really into this topic.

[AfaraWayland]

no,, thank you for your participation!!!

[brandondrury]

I read somewhere (probably even here) that there are fewer people certified in accustics and recording engineering than there are of nearly any other profession.

well "certified" is meaningless. You can be a certified electrician (it means you are safe) but I don't think that Paul McCartney or James Hetfield are "certified" songwriters. Audio engineering is the same. It's an art more than a science and therefore it's tough to pass a test. Acoustics is obviously a science, but even that comes under debate on the highest level when it comes to creating music.

Then when I go through the rest of life, I hear my favorite recordings. I hear how they sound, and I don't get jealous, but accept in my current state, I will never be that good.

Well, you may never be that good, but I'm not stopping until I crank out a socially significant record.

recent reports of slumping Cd sales for the industry, 16-20%,

When accounting for download revenue, the article I read said that total music revenues were down 11%, (but yes, cds are down 20% according to the article).

Brandon

[AfaraWayland]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

well "certified" is meaningless.

yeah... i got a 4yr degree in recording that ain;t worth spit. So do the hundreds of folks graduating from these schools every year.

[Futant55]

I'm gonna kick ass no matter whats going on with million dollar studios. Having a $10,000 studio is more my goal. Even if it came to having a recording setup up in every household the cream will still rise to the top. The true artist will persevere, although being rich is something you can't expect, but something you can hope for.

[thesilentdrummer]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Well, you may never be that good, but I'm not stopping until I crank out a socially significant record.

I completely agree with that. I think that even though my abilities are lacking now, I want to keep trying until I am so good that my work is indistinguishable from professional "Big Boy's" work. I can't think of a good analogy, but I am not about to be satisfied with less than great mixes.

[brandondrury]

I'm afraid that even with everyone taking the attitude of wanting to do great things, it's still going to be very tough to pull this off.

On my first producing gig, we had enormous problems with guitar tuning. On a demo, we would have just left it and not thought much about it. Well, it would have been really nice to have a real guitar tech come setup the guitars. Unfortunately, this was a luxury that we could not afford.

Things like this are always going to be an issue in the home recording world. I'm not saying that a person can't get around them, but it's a real mood killer when the guitars won't stay in tune.

This is just one example of how a real budget avoids an entire avalanche of problems.

Brandon