If you could go back to when you first start producing

[Direngreyyy]

If you could go back in time to when you first started producing...

What pieces of gear would you have bought first?

What plug-ins would you have discovered sooner rather than later?

 

[schwinginbatman]

I would have bought a Saffire instead of a UX2, started with keFIR instead of LeCab, picked up SSD instead of Addictive Drums, and clearly explained to myself what double-tracking and quad-tracking actually meant.

 

[if6was9]

I bought 2 Firepods and while that was cool I probably would have bought something better like one of the Focusrite units with adat and a Behringer ada8000 instead to get 16 inputs. Would have been able to upgrade more gradually and probably would have had better quality from the get go. When I did upgrade I had spend a few grand to get a full quality set-up like I needed.

I didn't get monitors for literally a few years and now I would definitely have gotten something better than a hi-fi much earlier on. I got adams A7's as my first real monitors and the difference it made to my mixes was much larger than I expected it to be. Kicking myself for not getting something better sooner once I realised it was the reason I was having the same problems with my mixes.

No real plugins I would feel I've benefited from I wouldn't have had starting out, I know what I'm doing with them alot better now and thats where the real difference has been. It takes time to learn how to make a compressor work the way you want it to and EQing is the same, when a mix is being done that's 75% of the tools for the job there and I still use stock/free ones all the time.

 

[Direngreyyy]

I bought 2 Firepods and while that was cool I probably would have bought something better like one of the Focusrite units with adat and a Behringer ada8000 instead to get 16 inputs. Would have been able to upgrade more gradually and probably would have had better quality from the get go. When I did upgrade I had spend a few grand to get a full quality set-up like I needed.

I didn't get monitors for literally a few years and now I would definitely have gotten something better than a hi-fi much earlier on. I got adams A7's as my first real monitors and the difference it made to my mixes was much larger than I expected it to be. Kicking myself for not getting something better sooner once I realised it was the reason I was having the same problems with my mixes.

No real plugins I would feel I've benefited from I wouldn't have had starting out, I know what I'm doing with them alot better now and thats where the real difference has been. It takes time to learn how to make a compressor work the way you want it to and EQing is the same, when a mix is being done that's 75% of the tools for the job there and I still use stock/free ones all the time.

Definately agree about the monitors, the difference is much larger ! good call

 

[MetalSound]

monitors for sure. everything else is not THAT important.

 

[KHE]

decent room-acoustic!

if your room suck, your expensive monitors will never explore their full potential!

 

[guitarguru777]

I would have immediately got into ProTools instead of Sonar. Things in ProTools still piss me off but not having to import Stems anymore saves me a shit ton of time. In addition I would have gotten a sub right away.

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

I would have bought a Saffire instead of a UX2, started with keFIR instead of LeCab, picked up SSD instead of Addictive Drums, and clearly explained to myself what double-tracking and quad-tracking actually meant.

Why the saffire? I just bought a UX1 a couple of months ago and I'm starting to wonder whether the DI makes that much of a difference.

 

[Direngreyyy]

Are you talking about sticking a DI in front of your interface? Apparently the signal is cleaner?

 

[Nimvi]

decent room-acoustic!

if your room suck, your expensive monitors will never explore their full potential!

This times a 1000. For years I kept reading about how much of an impact room treatment would have, but considering that people say that kind of stuff about pretty much anything in audio, I took it with a grain of salt...

I shouldn't have. I've since invested about 350 euros and a couple of days of work in self-made traps, which is really cheap imo, and the impact has been nothing short of dramatic. It still isn't perfect, but close enough that I have no trouble trusting my ears anymore. In fact, whenever I don't trust my ears, it always comes back to bite me in the ass. Just the way it should be.

EDIT: Oh, and I would tell myself to spend 10 euros more on an SM57 that doesn't have a Chinese newspaper in it.

 

[StefTD]

Guitar lessons

 

[Sethis]

If I could go back in time, I'd give more emphasis on the importance of bass guitar in a mix. I used to record pretty dark and low-heavy guitars and my mixes used to get muddy as shit. Of course I had no idea what the problem was back then so I just used stuff like harmonic exciters to brighten it up which obviously made the mix even more crap. Oh, and I would have gotten a decent SM57 as my first mic.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

I would have immediately invested in a better computer, stuck with my JVC (speakers which I still use) learn transparent events and slipping earlier and would have invested in Superior and expansions with better samples. Would have saved me so many shitty Crate combo garage recordings that would freeze up.

When you're at a point at just beginning, your own sound and practice as a "producer" or whatever don't mean shit- it's all about the grid, tuning and loudness for most people. I want to be the guy that can do fast and tight and huge and dirty- but you have to learn the basics first. I learned everything I know from this forum.

If I could do it all over again I would get as good as possible at what everyone one else wanted in my area first- perfect my workflow and THEN if I had the luck to work out of a facility- figure out my own sound.

 

[SethTheGreat]

I would tell myself to wait patiently for 2012 when a magical german-engineered guitar godsend would become available, and I would instruct myself to have $1600-ish sitting in the bank for when that special time came.

 

[Mikaël-ange]

Buying PT HD first instead of staying all those years with cubase.
Going to real studio to work instead of working on shitty place first.
Take a listen with my ear to the hifi world instead of sticking with hyped idea.

 

[Direngreyyy]

Guitar lessons

HAHAHA

 

[Nuno Filipe]

decent room-acoustic!

if your room suck, your expensive monitors will never explore their full potential!

This. I bought the audio technica Mth50 headphones recently and my mixes got better at least 50%. There is no point in trying to mix what you can't hear clearly because of an untreated room.

I forgot to say but I am talking about the low end.

 

[C_F_H_13]

I think if I could back, I'd actually tell myself to buy way less gear. Over the course of the last 12 years or so, I've bought a ton of stuff, and I basically have never kept any of it for more then a few years at most. I'd try and convince my younger self that it's the skillset not the tools that make you great.

I'd also get myself to take piano lessons, and get my theory up to par.

 

[Ermz]

I'd tell myself to jump ship from wanting to be a metal producer as there's scant money or future in it, and that the quality of the genre will widely decline during and after the 00s. I'd tell myself to focus on genres that necessitate recording musicians playing together in a room, being recorded in whole takes. I'd tell myself to make a push toward getting more film and videogame mixing work. I'd show myself that mixing anything which doesn't involve multiple layers of distorted guitars is several orders of magnitude easier, more enjoyable and profitable.

I'd also get myself to learn more about music theory and electronica, leading to being a more well-rounded producer and eventually paving the way for doing my own electronic/industrial music.

I'd get myself to quit JMC after the first year, as the other two were both a waste of time and money. In its place I'd make myself read my own mixing book, so I could fast track through 8-odd years of learning.

 

[Contra Studio]

We'll all these talks of room treatment better pay off. I just dropped 1400$ on it plus redoing my mix room. I it was hard not spending the cash on a Kemper but ill see soon how it goes...