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I have been reading it.

That was a comment on how off-topic it has gotten.

Affordable home recording gear and the Internet have allowed the punk rock do-it-yourself ethic to become pretty much universal. I am certainly not going to say that's a bad thing. D. Boon once said that what this country needs is a rock band on every corner. I tend to agree.

Skronk wrote:Unless you record other bands, I don't see the need for going all out. If I want a complete package, I'd buy time in a studio. But that's just me.

Music is a huge part of my life. I'm very very self-critical and rarely "put anything out," but I work a lot on music and literature. I have dozens of notebooks and miles of tape of just me fucking around with songs that will NEVER EVER EVER see the light of day. I've got modest home studio set up, nothing fancy; TEAC tape machines, big Tascam mixer, hardly any outboard gear, decent microphones, none of which cost me over a hundred bucks. I'm learning still, constantly. Familiarizing myself with calibration, etc. etc. These machines are not fancy but they make good quality recordings, which is enough for me and the occasional friends' bands who need a cheap, quick demo for whatever reason.

I spend most of my expendable income on recording equipment, because even if I have a thousand reels of shit I'll never use, that shit will sound good. I want to have good recordings so I buy good equipment when I can afford it. I have aspirations to build a "studio-quality" home studio when I can afford it, but I'll probably end up recording mostly just myself. Because I want good product.

Studios are definitely not as "necessary" as they used to be, because home recording equipment is becoming so cheap and good quality can be had very cheaply. But bullshit hack engineers are the ones who are gonna suffer from that. Engineers have either a NAME (Rock, GGGarth) and/or a TALENT (Bob and the Electrical Staff) when it comes to putting shit on tape. As long as engineers rip those guys' methods off, then we're all okay...right?

Well, it's not about them ripping off talented engineers, but there's something to be said for a real studio. For now, I only record at home, with everything hooked up to this box. The pre-amp, the mics, the mixer, everything goes through the computer. If I had money to spend, I'd either invest in better gear, better amp, but where I'm at now (broke) I can't go crazy. The stuff I have sounds decent recorded at home, but I'd still want to support studios, like EA, with my business.

I want the opportunity to record, and work with an engineer, and I want that service to be around for future generations.

I think the problem lies with these polished, shit-heel records, that get produced at top-of-the-line home studios, where the label can cut costs by only using pro-tools and some gimmicks. If I wanted a studio that only works with pro-tools or some other program, I'd stay at home and record it myself, and not get into debt with the label.

I'd like to just interject - I find it interesting that older bands don't market themselves via the internet. I guess I should say re-market themselves. I'm going through it right now, and I find it very odd that once many artists have set their minds on how they'll market their work - it doesn't change.

Most of the gravitational pull of a major label is the ability to get the music out to the stores, and pay for print ads. Indies have had very little in the way of pr, simply because most of them were hand-to-mouth organizations, so the artists have had to rely on zine press, press te**o*ism, and the good ole schmooze.

In the last 10 years the internet has created a forum that does and end-around on the whole fucked-up situation. Why not re-evaluate your tactics and look to the internet for a 'second era'? Sure, there are tons of crap sites for old bands, but are they really being used to market and sell the music in a way that rivals major labels? Nope - not really.

And who is it that builds sites? Hmm. Aren't there like 1,000 web designers that visit this site?

Majors should be dead by now. An indie based on the internet should be able to deliver a product at a lower price and a higher quality and have some scratch for a print advert or two.

A band should be able to approximate an indie. Fuck a manager - get yourself a web master.

Oh and,


























slintcocorosiehitler

New topic/new post:

...and why the fuck would someone trust anyone other then a respected engineer who's work illustrates the breath of their ability (read: a few good records under their belt)? I just don't get throwing away the effort of recording with someone you don't fully respect.

To me personally, formally recording a song says, "This is the song." That, imo, kills or stops the evolution of the writing process. Why would I trust that to some hack with the same gear that I have after I dl Audacity and buy a few 57s and 58s.

I'm just a aged cockbag, so please ignore my old-guy rant...

Darryl_P wrote:

rocker654 wrote:

Steve V. wrote:I feel like there has never been a worse time in music than right now.

I wholeheartedly agree. It gives me no pleasure to say that, either.

You guys are so wrong that it gives me actual physical pain!
Music is just as good now as it has ever been, it's just harder to find something more worthwhile because of the sheer amount of music that is being put out.
Even though we do have to sift through this bad watered down music to find the good things, the fact that ANYBODY can put out a record now is amazing. The older generation showed us that no matter who you are, you can do something great, you don't have to be a rock star to make an album. Now we know that, we're doing it. We're all putting out albums.

If the state of music, and thus the music industry was the same as it was as little as 15-20 years ago then a huge number of the people on this forum wouldn't be in bands or listening to the music we do.

I'm grateful that anybody and their grandma can put out a record, because it means a lot more good music is getting made. Imagine all the people and their grandmothers that couldn't have put out an album 30 years ago, not matter how good that album would have been simply because they weren't aware that they could.

Oh, and guys, keep these "miserable predictable list" coming, I just download about a gig of music that I've never heard before and now really love.

I literally can't keep up and can't afford to keep up with the amount of good music coming out, it's insane.

Recently I've gone to invest in-Dinosaur Jrs newbie, Fucking Champs, Melt Banana, Battles, Neurosis and Shellac to name but a few, that's in the space of a few weeks. Music right now is amazing, but my wallet is fucked.

Steve V. wrote:

Skronk wrote:Unless you record other bands, I don't see the need for going all out. If I want a complete package, I'd buy time in a studio. But that's just me.

Music is a huge part of my life. I'm very very self-critical and rarely "put anything out," but I work a lot on music and literature. I have dozens of notebooks and miles of tape of just me fucking around with songs that will NEVER EVER EVER see the light of day. I've got modest home studio set up, nothing fancy; TEAC tape machines, big Tascam mixer, hardly any outboard gear, decent microphones, none of which cost me over a hundred bucks. I'm learning still, constantly. Familiarizing myself with calibration, etc. etc. These machines are not fancy but they make good quality recordings, which is enough for me and the occasional friends' bands who need a cheap, quick demo for whatever reason.

I spend most of my expendable income on recording equipment, because even if I have a thousand reels of shit I'll never use, that shit will sound good. I want to have good recordings so I buy good equipment when I can afford it. I have aspirations to build a "studio-quality" home studio when I can afford it, but I'll probably end up recording mostly just myself. Because I want good product.

Studios are definitely not as "necessary" as they used to be, because home recording equipment is becoming so cheap and good quality can be had very cheaply. But bullshit hack engineers are the ones who are gonna suffer from that. Engineers have either a NAME (Rock, GGGarth) and/or a TALENT (Bob and the Electrical Staff) when it comes to putting shit on tape. As long as engineers rip those guys' methods off, then we're all okay...right?

Don't take offense if you please, because I like propagandhi, but I don't understand how someone can suck the dick of such an average band then claim that modern music is generally toss?

I feel like we all need to be a little less scared. I've made the past three albums I have been on. Its been awesome, but it leaves me with a motivation to record with someone else, with better stuff, and more experience (here a slightly more professional engineer (mike lust) gets paid).

Most bands that exist in a home studio and on the internet don't really exist much at all. You won't have to weed through them cause you'll never fucking hear them. The road seperates the artists from the lameos. If anyone is doing something for the wrong reasons I am sure the road will send them crying home when they realize NO ONE CARES. You have to make people care one person at a time by being really good. A webmaster can't do that for you.

As for new stuff that rules, well everyones got there own cup of tea but I find new albums from Low, Wilco, Feist, Elliot Smith, Blonde Redhead to all be satisfying and enticing to various degrees. If your only into aggro, it gets tough (there is only one Black Flag), High On Fire, Converge and Mastodon seem to be consistantly putting out rockin stuff.

sphincter wrote:

Steve V. wrote:

Skronk wrote:Unless you record other bands, I don't see the need for going all out. If I want a complete package, I'd buy time in a studio. But that's just me.

Music is a huge part of my life. I'm very very self-critical and rarely "put anything out," but I work a lot on music and literature. I have dozens of notebooks and miles of tape of just me fucking around with songs that will NEVER EVER EVER see the light of day. I've got modest home studio set up, nothing fancy; TEAC tape machines, big Tascam mixer, hardly any outboard gear, decent microphones, none of which cost me over a hundred bucks. I'm learning still, constantly. Familiarizing myself with calibration, etc. etc. These machines are not fancy but they make good quality recordings, which is enough for me and the occasional friends' bands who need a cheap, quick demo for whatever reason.

I spend most of my expendable income on recording equipment, because even if I have a thousand reels of shit I'll never use, that shit will sound good. I want to have good recordings so I buy good equipment when I can afford it. I have aspirations to build a "studio-quality" home studio when I can afford it, but I'll probably end up recording mostly just myself. Because I want good product.

Studios are definitely not as "necessary" as they used to be, because home recording equipment is becoming so cheap and good quality can be had very cheaply. But bullshit hack engineers are the ones who are gonna suffer from that. Engineers have either a NAME (Rock, GGGarth) and/or a TALENT (Bob and the Electrical Staff) when it comes to putting shit on tape. As long as engineers rip those guys' methods off, then we're all okay...right?

Don't take offense if you please, because I like propagandhi, but I don't understand how someone can suck the dick of such an average band then claim that modern music is generally toss?

Average? I think not.

Modern music generally being a toss...well, yeah. But I'm not dead set in that assumption.

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
Television – Marquee Moon
Beatles – Rubber Soul
Elliott Smith – XO
Daniel Johnston – Hi. How are you?
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Radiohead – OK Computer
Deerhoof – Apple ‘O
A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders
This Heat – Deceit
Ornette Coleman – Science Fiction