How much to invest in your set up.

[mks]

There is some great 90's gear out there for peanuts.

This is how I pretty much built my studio. As I mentioned in the budget gear thread, I've been working with this concept I call technological detritus. For instance, the Akai S5000 sampler that I bought in the late '90's was the single most expensive piece of electronic gear that I have purchased coming in at $2000. Now that thing is only worth about $300 or so.

I can't even imagine how much money I've sunk into gear, but it's what I do so I'm cool with it. And it wasn't all at once, I built it over a period of YEARS.

Here was my studio in Seattle a few years ago:

[_Agu_]

^That looks wicked

[Ema_geodiV]

There is some great 90's gear out there for peanuts.

This is how I pretty much built my studio. As I mentioned in the budget gear thread, I've been working with this concept I call technological detritus. For instance, the Akai S5000 sampler that I bought in the late '90's was the single most expensive piece of electronic gear that I have purchased coming in at $2000. Now that thing is only worth about $300 or so.

I can't even imagine how much money I've sunk into gear, but it's what I do so I'm cool with it. And it wasn't all at once, I built it over a period of YEARS.

Here was my studio in Seattle a few years ago:

dear Santa.....

[mks]

Ema, from what I can tell, you are in your first few months of producing.

Like I said, this took years to build. This is what the long game looks like. Dedication, perseverance and figuring out how to put shit together.

When I started, it wasn't an easy task to produce. You couldn't just get some cheap laptop and some pirated software and get started.

I had to search out and acquire a very basic setup and I worked with that for years. Once I was able to afford a decent sampler, things moved quickly as I had already spent years practicing on a very limited setup.

technological detritus

I'm trying to give you clues here.

[mks]

Like seriously, think outside of the box...

[fragments]

Ema, from what I can tell, you are in your first few months of producing.

Like I said, this took years to build. This is what the long game looks like. Dedication, perseverance and figuring out how to put shit together.

When I started, it wasn't an easy task to produce. You couldn't just get some cheap laptop and some pirated software and get started.

I had to search out and acquire a very basic setup and I worked with that for years. Once I was able to afford a decent sampler, things moved quickly as I had already spent years practicing on a very limited setup.

technological detritus

I'm trying to give you clues here.

Guru level device here : )

[mks]

Guru level device here : )

Advice?? Device works too though.

[Ema_geodiV]

Ema, from what I can tell, you are in your first few months of producing.

Like I said, this took years to build. This is what the long game looks like. Dedication, perseverance and figuring out how to put shit together.

When I started, it wasn't an easy task to produce. You couldn't just get some cheap laptop and some pirated software and get started.

I had to search out and acquire a very basic setup and I worked with that for years. Once I was able to afford a decent sampler, things moved quickly as I had already spent years practicing on a very limited setup.

technological detritus

I'm trying to give you clues here.

It's been a year now actually thanks for sharing that to me I'm just actually jealous and I hope someday I can achieve something like that too.... not the whole equipment itself but that doing what you love in life thingy

[fragments]

Guru level device here : )

Advice?? Device works too though.

Which is the guru level device though?!

[legend4ry]

Thats a great home studio MKS!


And oh look Production.

We've actually had a discussion .

[fragments]

Thats a great home studio MKS!


And oh look Production.

We've actually had a discussion .

Don't jinx it

[nowaysj]

I think my monitors are decent enough just that they're a knock off brand and probably not something that is sold globally and therefore impossible to recommend - is all.

But yeah I think room treatment is worth thinking about if I had the p.

Based on things you've said, and the sound of everything I've heard from you, I think your monitoring is too bright, or you are extremely sensitive to high frequency. I am NO mixmaster, don't even really even get to that stage of song making I do working mixing, but not sweetening mixing, I've got shit monitors, and even shittier acoustics, my ears are so fucked I can't even begin to tell you, my hearing is getting worse by the week... But still. Your mixes really piss me off. I really enjoy your music, your mixes always frustrate me. And to further clarify, I'm not like a mix person, f all that business, that usually sounds like snobbery to me, and like there is an ideal mix. F that. I honestly think you're hearing something I'm not hearing though.

Like next project before you get started, name the project nwj is a dick, and put a quality eq on the master with a high shelf, and pull down like 4db around 1.5k or 2k and up. Just make a track like that. Work in that environment. Do the whole project, mix it, master it, then turn off that extra nwj is a dick eq, then render that. I really wanna hear that. Really bad.

My apologies. (I should just sig that)

[Ema_geodiV]

uhm fragments, What does your set up looks like? you can just describe it I'm just curious

[hubb]

Well yes and I've said so a couple of times I hate high freqs and have an ear injury ...



taken into consideration ofcourse !

[AxeD]

Thats a great home studio MKS!


And oh look Production.

We've actually had a discussion .

Hah wub! Put that in your trunk and shut it!
Balloons are falling from my ceiling right now.

[fragments]

uhm fragments, What does your set up looks like? you can just describe it I'm just curious

In the interest of keeping things on topic...I won't force these pix and gear list on anyone...

Pictures:

[+] Spoiler

Recent pictures of my new setup. Still getting things sorted in these pictures. We ditched the guest bed and I took over most of the spare bedroom. I <3 woman for putting up with my crazy music shit...

Hardware list:

[+] Spoiler

Synths/Samplers/Sequencing:
Arturia MicroBrute
Korg Volca Keys
MeeBlip Anode
E-Mu Proteus One
E-Mu ESI 32 Sampler
Korg ES-1
Korg ER-1
Boss SP 202
Clavia Nord Drum MKI
M-Audio Trigger Finger Pro (for sequencing)

Signal Processing:
FMC Really Nice Compressor
Joe Meek MC2
Joyo Analog Delay Pedal
Rogue Analog Delay Pedal
Zoom CDR Multi Stomp
OTO Biscuit
Korg Kaoss Pad 3
Electrix Filter Factory
Electro Harmonix 256 Vocoder Pedal

Other:
SoundCraft EPM8 Mixer
Behringer PX3000 Patch Bay
Some budget Numark DJ monitors

Didn't list the bits I use for ITB stuff.

[hubb]

Fragments

I would move both sets of monitors at least a foot away from the wall there if I was you.

edit
Maybe not even that, just the length of the monitor standing up away from the wall

[Mad_EP]

I figure over the 14 years that I did electronic / hiphop / sound design....


I probably spent about £10,000 on a desktop and 2 laptops + midi controllers + software + extra bits, etc....

I certainly have earned much more than that sum in the same amount of time from those endeavors - and that isn't even including the fact that I also earned dough from graphic/web design using the same computers.... so even if that wasn't worth it (which obviously it was), I still would have needed a computer during those years anyway... so really, it all paid for itself...

...BUT

1) I didn't buy it all at once. I started while in school and using the school's gear.... and many of those tracks wound up on records that I received upfront advances on.

2) Advances... yeah, I don't even know if those exist in underground records any more.. I think I was on the tail end. Getting a big chunk of change before the record was even out was really nice.


I've pretty much retired from beats... so I don't think I would invest much more seeing that I can do almost anything I want to do should the mood strike.... That said, I still am a full-time musician. If I had disposable income that wasn't being siphoned off to sheet music, repairs to my cello, or just buying records all the time... I would probably get into collecting gear.... but for me, it just isn't my thing.

[fragments]

Fragments

I would move both sets of monitors at least a foot away from the wall there if I was you.

edit
Maybe not even that, just the length of the monitor standing up away from the wall

Thanks. Yea. I know its not ideal. I'll see if I can get away with taking up a bit more space...to move the monitors away from the wall I'll have to move everything that much further : )

[Ema_geodiV]

uhm fragments, What does your set up looks like? you can just describe it I'm just curious

In the interest of keeping things on topic...I won't force these pix and gear list on anyone...

Pictures:

[+] Spoiler

Recent pictures of my new setup. Still getting things sorted in these pictures. We ditched the guest bed and I took over most of the spare bedroom. I <3 woman for putting up with my crazy music shit...

Hardware list:

[+] Spoiler

Synths/Samplers/Sequencing:
Arturia MicroBrute
Korg Volca Keys
MeeBlip Anode
E-Mu Proteus One
E-Mu ESI 32 Sampler
Korg ES-1
Korg ER-1
Boss SP 202
Clavia Nord Drum MKI
M-Audio Trigger Finger Pro (for sequencing)

Signal Processing:
FMC Really Nice Compressor
Joe Meek MC2
Joyo Analog Delay Pedal
Rogue Analog Delay Pedal
Zoom CDR Multi Stomp
OTO Biscuit
Korg Kaoss Pad 3
Electrix Filter Factory
Electro Harmonix 256 Vocoder Pedal

Other:
SoundCraft EPM8 Mixer
Behringer PX3000 Patch Bay
Some budget Numark DJ monitors

Didn't list the bits I use for ITB stuff.

That looks nice as well!


My set up

[+] Spoiler