Conventions

I'm hardly attached to the music production community. I haven't produced much commercially, and rarely have I done work for anyone but myself. I've never had much money or resources for equipment, instruments, software, or lessons generally considered to be standard to be able to produce anything of worth. I haven't constructed a sound-proof booth or covered my walls with eggshell mattresses. The sterile studio environment is foreign to me and when I have had the opportunity to work in a professional studio, I'm alienated by the inorganic plateau of solemn functionality.

I am without conventions, but full of convictions. I'm not entirely sure what the status quo is. I'm so removed from the forums and professional training that I can't judge my own standards. Nevertheless, I find myself passionate about certain aspects concerning studio recordings.

There's a propagated notion of professionalism stemming from a set apart studio complete with booths, diffractors, cable snakes, control rooms, anechoic chambers, $3,000 microphones, monitor speakers, Pro Tools, and haughty engineers. Natalie had a co-worker who was a member of a band. They were watching a show at work where a band paid a few thousand dollars to record a demo. Natalie, being my wife, expressed shock at what they were paying. Her co-worker supported the characters though, saying, "That's a reasonable price to record a demo at a studio. They have the equipment, experience, and environment."

I'll start with my greatest pet peeve first: why are you trying to remove all sound from a recording? Why is it best to record in a sound-proof booth? Is that how you normally listen to music you're playing, or even music you listen to? I normally play and listen in rooms full of stuff. If I didn't like how it sounded, I wouldn't keep playing/listening. I'll never construct a studio that's just a studio because I like organic, life-like sound too much. Music sounds best in life. I'm not arguing that you should invite a crowd of loud teenagers to your recording sessions, but music is sound, sound is air pressure waves, and that requires air. What's wrong with the air you live with and breath? The air is already surrounding the possessions, people and music you love. It won't let you down. Please note that this only works if you have stuff in your room/house. If the walls are bare and there are no carpets, you won't get much that you'll like.

On the subject of equipment and experience, at-home multi-track recording is more accessible than ever. Even if you have a crappy microphone that buzzes, you can start to gain experience. A couple of my favorite recordings happened to be on the worst microphones possible. I thought I was laying something down for fun but I became pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed the results as recordings apart from quality. You may also be interested to find that with a little sleuthing, you can make buzzes go away. Touch different parts of exposed metal on your equipment, or expose metal. See if the buzz goes away. My latest recordings have been made with one end of an alligator clip biting my tungsten ring and the other clipped onto a specific part of the guitar. Problem solved.

Being so removed from the community, I don't know if there are any movements in support of leaving the studio and making the world your recording booth. I know amateur music recording is at an all-time high, but I think it's generally done in the direction of making closets and spaces at home more studio-like. I hope to continue developing this idea as I explore recording techniques that have so far been ignored.