We set out years ago with a Tascam PortaStudio 2, a few Maxell XLII-S cassettes, an SM57 microphone and a handful of cables. Those days were filled with energy, fun and some awful sounding recordings. As they say, a great performance captured with poor sound is still a great performance, but that has only been true a handful of times in the history of recording music. Sure, most listeners are not music critics, but to be competitive in this industry, good production is more of a “need to have” than it maybe should be.
There is an insane amount of information available about the recording, mixing and production processes. We spent the first couple of years learning what not to do. This list includes gems like “don’t expect to fix it in the mix” and “don’t buy a boxful of shitty Chinese condenser mics off of Craigslist for $200 and expect to get a studio-grade sound” and many others. After transitioning to digital — which offers incontrovertible advantages — we realized all of the music that we loved had a distinct analog sound: full, girthy and musically organic. We tried like hell to get that sound out of the computer, but could never get it right. To get closer, we moved to what people call a “hybrid setup” — a mixture of digital and analog gear. So far, this has given us more of the sound we’re looking for. There have been some tough lessons during the process, but we believe that pain has resulted in better songwriting, recording and mixing. Our advice: buy less — but better — gear, get your sound right while recording and use reference music all the time during mixing and production.
Take a listen and let us know what you think.
Gotta go… rock-n-roll waits for no one.