Brandon Drury and RecordingReview.com

[brandondrury]

Drago and I were discussing my methods via PM. I decided to make it public to get more feedback from the entire Recording Review community.

Originally Posted by drago

If you don't want to mislead people on this site, may I suggest not posting extremely flawed shootout topics trying to convince others than plugging 57 into a firebox is going to give you comparable results to plugging a 121 into a preamp into a mytek converter?

Sure you can make suggestions!

You are insinuating that I'm biased. I'm not sure I would go that far. It's not like I've tossed my Vintech, Soundelux, Royer, and Mytek gear on Ebay. If there wasn't any point to this gear, I'd sell it and take me a vacation to Italy or put a down payment on a non-shitty house.

I don't think I'm biased, but I do think I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed by the fact that I'm still struggling. I'm pissed that these are the best mixes I could come up with even with all the fancy, expensive shit I've made huge sacrifices to buy.

The gear that I do own helps.....some. But then when I dick around with scratch tracks from a SM7 into a Firestudio stock preamp/converter and it sounds better (sometimes) than a U99 / Vintech / Distressor / Mytek chain I have to say "What the hell?". It doesn't always happen, but it does happen!

The idea behind my "shootouts" is to give a fair example of what one could expect between the various gear I own. It's not intended to be the Holy Grail of shootouts. It's me doing it and X Hero Producer or robo engineer in perfect circumstances. If you want that, write a $50 check to Lynn Fuston. It's already been done.

My goal is to inspire confidence in guys recording at home. In home recording, hobbyist land the big boys on have made the little guy feel like he will NEVER record anything worth a shit until he steps up to API, Neve, SSL, etc. This may not have been the intention, but this is one result.

When I started, I was made to feel that my converters and preamps were inferior and that is why I wasn't getting the results I wanted. It didn't force me to look nearly as hard at my amp settings, drum tunings, and all the things the big boy spend a majority of their time doing when they are actually working.

The other problem is when a guy who doesn't make much money really shells out the big bucks and then only hears the slightest difference that no client would give a shit about, it's very confusion.

I think that my personal feelings are tossed out when I post the wav files and mp3s. The audio stands on it's own two feet. In every situation there is always something I could have done differently or more comprehensively and in almost every situation there is always someone who says "Well, if you used X instrument THEN you would hear a HUGE difference". I don't necessarily disagree, but I have to wonder why there wasn't a huge difference this time around.

More importantly, almost all the differences are subjective. I think the M80 vs 1272 metal guitar shootout was good for this. The M80 is smoother and not as aggressive as the 1272. So which one is better? I know which one is supposed to be better, but "supposed to" ain't gonna pay the bills around here and it isn't going to get me any closer to my goals. Clients don't care about "supposed to".

You've heard work I've done and I've heard work you've done, Drago. Neither one of us is "there" yet. Some jerk (not really) posted a mix he had done using a stock Soundblaster card. It CRUSHED anything I've ever done and it CRUSHED the one mix of yours I heard. How do you account for that? Luck? Superior natural talent on his part? Lack of talent on our parts? What about the gear? His cheap, cheap, cheap setup should not have sounded that good!

I think the differences in mentality about this high end gear shit come out of necessity. In order to survive in your land, you MUST have faith in the gear. You'll be ridiculed if you don't. Why not? You aren't paying for the gear. You just need to get the job.

For those of us who have to get buy slugging it out on the low road (non-recording school, non-intern, and only local bands) we have to think about $$$ every step of the way.

I don't think high end gear is the answer to all of our audio problems. I think I'm living proof of that.

Brandon

[zildjohn01]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

But then when I dick around with scratch tracks from a SM7 into a Firestudio stock preamp/converter and it sounds better (sometimes) than a U99 / Vintech / Distressor / Mytek chain I have to say "What the hell?".

Why do people think money can solve all their problems? It can't! Moving the mic half an inch or picking a different gauge of strings will do WAY more than expensive gear. (or so I've heard) I know no guitar will make my playing sound better or no mic will make my singing decent. I'm hopeless even with the best gear in the world

Originally Posted by brandondrury

My goal is to inspire confidence in guys recording at home.

Done. Thanks

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Some jerk (not really) posted a mix he had done using a stock Soundblaster card... What about the gear? His cheap, cheap, cheap setup should not have sounded that good!

That's nothing. Once someone does it with an AC97, *then* we'll need to step back and answer that question

EDIT: link?

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I don't think high end gear is the answer to all of our audio problems.

Me neither. You gotta learn what you're doing and practice before the gear will help you. What's the point in turning boomy, muddy, harsh shit into boomy, muddy, harsh, sparkly, expensive-sounding shit?

[zildjohn01]

Thanks for all the discussion, guys. It was pretty intense, it opened my eyes to a lot of things I never thought about before.

BRANDON: Don't let anyone discourage you from doing more shootouts like these. It really does help people (including me), and the ones who don't want to listen don't have to. I love the fact that you put time into your site instead of just kinda letting it run itself.

[sergio]

I want to hear the Jerk mix!

[Vulconizer]

Originally Posted by sergio

I want to hear the Jerk mix!

Lmfao! Sergio, I think I'm gonna put that in my sig line for a while.

[Vulconizer]

Sure, some of the stuff mentioned here is subjective. Hate to say it, but music is a highly subjective subject, in my experience.

What's really cool though is the main idea seems to be that: If you ask questions, experiment some, and practice a lot, you can make progress towards better mixes. You can do this with whatever gear you have.

Yeah, it would be nice to have an unlimited budget to buy every piece of high-dollar gear out there. I don't think it would be a good idea though, not until you get the hang of making the most out of what I see as the real important parts of the process: Having a good acoustic space, getting the source to sound right in that space, and then placing a mic in the right spot to capture it well.

The more I do this thing, the more I think those principles are what should be worked on first. The gear can come after when you'll get more out of it, I think.

[sergio]

No problem Vulco.

[PeterPav]

This is very interesting and highly controversial. I'm always amazed at the gear and instruments used on alot of my favorite stuff. In fact equipment manufacters must love it when they can say "This history making peice of art was made with our peice of crap." The Beatles did shit all the time on less than state of the art gear. Its truly the content. I was recording a drum setup I had, fussin and fightin with the kit and the mics and so forth, when a really great drummer came down to play, you know the rest. The sax player from Hall and Oates played on a tune we did and I dont think I could've made him sound BAD. Likewise, somethings cannot be made to sound good. No matter what lipstick they're wearing.
Pete