I can appreciate all of the answers given so far and would like to add some
more thoughts. I have a small recording studio and have various interactions
with people who have recorded in different places and many have different
philosophies. I know one guy who feels that you can't get anything quality
without having at least a fifty thousand dollar set up. Another guy I know
puts out nice hip-hop tracks with a $300 mic, an outdated version of Adobe
Audition and a trackmaster compressor strip. Neither of them have put out
anything that is about to become a Grammy nominee, but both can use the
tools they have very well. If I get permission I may load a song to drop box
that a guy recorded completely on a Mack book, using the Mac book mic and
all. It would blow your mind.
I like listening to some of Jack Johnsons albums and much of the equipment
they use is vintage and analog, and even though some might criticize some of
the older gear and techniques they use, I really dig something in the sound
of many of his tracks even though it is not your contemporary studio per
say. There are tons of songs in different genres that are recorded in less
than stellar studios playing on the radio, internet and stored on thousands
of people's computers and IPods around the world and people don't really
care what they used to record them. It has to come down to two things for
the most part, the music, and the ability to use your tools proficiently, I
didn't say perfectly, but proficiently. There is a balance in those two
areas, some have to wear both hats of recording engineer and artist, and
that is a difficult juggling act because there is often a mysterious vale
that shadows the judgment, sometimes impairing it so that it is hard to
gauge the quality of our music, or the quality of our recording and we have
to continually keep coming back to the place where we enjoy the music, don't
become a slave to perfection, be ready to grow in new ways, developing your
craft as a person who is comfortable with what they do and why they do it
and last but not least, keep first things first.
Hope that my soap box spill can bring a little more light and help you to
have a broader picture of the why and how of recording as a philosophy, a
gift, and a road, and not some quantifiable answer or a final destination
that depends on the missing link or a magic formula.
