Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of davetron5000

February 25th, 2010 - Sam Greene over at AudioPropellor suggested I missed some points when writing the original “Minimum Gear, Maximum Impact” post almost 2 years ago, and he’s definitely right. That article deserves a little refresh so I thought I’d post a few more ideas on the subject.

Of course, the biggest improvement to any set up is you. This does not necessarily mean that you need to go to school and get a fancy engineering degree (although that may help some people), but it does mean that if you aren’t going to be taught by others, that you must actively teach yourself. This happens by (a) getting experience by working on a lot of projects, and (b) by realizing that you will always have something more to learn or improve in your own skillset. Once both of these fall into place, you will get better guaranteed.

When I got out of audio engineering school, I wasn’t in the least bit prepared for the real workings of a production studio. Sure, I knew how to technically use gear, but that’s not what people are looking for when they hire you; they’re looking for your own artistic magic, and experience. Both of these can only come from continuous stream of new projects, and working outside your comfort zone.

In my particular case, it was working with a different artist everyday, in totally different genres; writing, producing, recording and mixing for each in a completely different way. It was production boot camp, and if you aren’t as fortunate as I was to fall into such a situation, then you must take the initiative and jump into the pit yourself. I certainly am not the best out there, and that realization is what drives me to get better everyday.

I don’t know if I’ll ever catch up to my idols, but as long as each project is better than the last, then I know that I’m making progress. Hearing your progress is one of the most satisfying feelings. I’m no longer embarrassed of my old projects because it was part of how I developed and a testament to the work that I’ve put in. Go on, take a listen to your old stuff and then listen to your recent stuff. Proud of yourself? You should be!

Ok, enough of the improvements that you can’t buy, and onto something that you can, for all you gear junkies out there. The best thing you can buy to improve your set up is acoustic treatment. I didn’t mention it in the original post because I almost take it for granted. Now, I’m certainly not an acoustic expert (although I like to read up on it) but I know that the listening space of your monitors can have a much bigger effect on what you hear, than the difference between a great set of monitors to a crappy set.

Sure, the crappy set may not have the best frequency response curve, but having a poor listening space could mean that frequencies get filtered or, even worse, canceled out completely. Luckily, acoustically treating your mixing space doesn’t cost much money. The improvement you’ll get will be almost unbelievable if you’re listening in a crappy space. A 2 thousand dollar monitor system in a crappy space will sound way worse than a 500 dollar set in a decent acoustic space treated with 500 dollars worth of materials.

One other thing I’d like to touch on is about getting the best gear possible in your signal chain. In my previous post, I said that instead of getting lots of different gear, that the best way to make your set up sound as good as possible is to get the cleanest signal into your DAW. This means a good microphone, good cables, a good preamp, and a good interface. I want to amend that idea with the phrase “the best you can afford”.

No matter how good your gear is, it should not prevent you from making music. You should not hold off on recording a song just because you don’t have the greatest pre-amp yet. For some of you, this may be common sense, but even I was guilty of this when I first started out. Get the best pieces of gear for your core signal chain, and then you can upgrade later. Gear should not impede your progress, but should aid it.

In summation, the biggest bang for the buck in improving your set up, is improving yourself. That can either cost nothing if you read the various free online resources, a little if you invest in some online training like the kind my friend Joe Gilder over at HomeStudioCorner offers (I’m not an affiliate for it, I just think it’s a solid course), or a lot if you decide to go to a full on audio engineering program. Secondary to that is to get a good listening space. Tertiary is to get as good gear as you can afford, but not to let a lack of good gear stop you from creating music.

Now go make some music!