Im sad..

[vespiz]

I'm going to actually suggest something to spend that $400 on:

Acoustic treatment!

That is, if you haven't already made some.

And I do mean made, because you can DIY 'em on the cheap and if you make them properly, this is the kind of stuff that improves your work and you can take them with you, if you need to move out.

Some links to get you started:
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studio-construction-acoustics/

Other than that, keep studying this recording/mixing stuff.. it takes time to get anywhere (wherever that is..). And the funny thing is, we never seem to get there..

 

[Jind]

When I was 17 I was working in a fast food restaurant, just getting ready to graduate high school, spending all my money on records (yes, this was still in the days of vinyl) and could not save any money.

Your doing well my friend - it will get better, but you have to put your situation into perspective. Many of the people posting here are several years older than you are or in my case many years older than you. I've had a great job for the past many, many years and my gear is still nominal, but that's out of choice as I'm one of those musicians using this technology to capture his ideas, not to produce others. You can see by my signature that my gear is modest, but i have enough to make good sounding recordings. quite frankly I probably have more than I need, but once again - I now have a good job that pays me well enough to buy what I want rather than what I need.

You will get there. It will take time to build up your studio one piece at a time. The best thing you can do is research the best bang for the buck investments, look for deals, buy used if you can, don't buy items that you don't need (well at least not yet), get what is required first. Figure out the order of what you need to build your craft. You can't practice getting better unless you have the basics. PC, DAW (you can learn on a free product if you have to), Interface, Instrument, Mic, good Headphones (you can learn to mix without monitors); that's all you need to get started - outboard gear and such can come later.

Get as good as you can with the gear you have - if you master your existing gear then it is time to move forward, I've been doing this by myself for a long time and I'm still learning the tools I have. I have not moved beyond Sonar because I'm still finding methods and tools and secrets to getting better recording from it. I've resold anything I have outgrown - I'm not a collector of gear - if I get something new, I tend to sell something old.

You can do this - I can tell you have a passion for it - you want to do this. It's just going to take time. Come hear, ask questions (always search first), be respectful and people will bend over backwards to assist you, to advise you. While this can be a scary place to some, be smart, be thoughtful, and people will help.

Sorry for my long post - getting started in this can be overwhelming - I've been there.

 

[Ermz]

At your age I didn't even have monitors.

 

[Line666]

so I'm a year older than you? weird shit

What's wierd about that? Do I come across as some crotchety old man or something?

 

[Jind]

Haha, I thought I was the only guy around here who was of legal driving age and no car.
I'm 21, still no car, although hopefully will have one in about 18 months time from now.

Take your age and multiply it by 2 and you will arrive at my age. I have a wife, 2 children, a house (a mortgage), two dogs, 2 cars (no payments - yay!), a good job, and a love of music. I'm old but not crotchety.

Age is relative - it's all in how you live your life and how you feel. You can young and wise and/or old and stupid, I tend to consider myself middle-aged and experienced (my goal is to be wise, but I'm still working on that one.)

 

[GarethSE]

Well, you're a year younger than me and your gear list is already much much better than mine, guess that means I should be really depressed

Quoted for epic truth.

 

[Everybody]

Well guys, I am honestly very suprised to see this much feedback this quick from everyone. It is nice to hear your stories from when you were my age, and it makes me feel more normal. It also very nice that some(most) of yall can relate with how Im feeling right now and tell me how you overcame it.

Im one of those people that have been coming here for a little while but not posting to much because Im afraid of getting bashed or whatever, but seeing all of you share your experiences with me and give me outstanding words of advice really makes me feel like im with a group of "brothers" here. And I have nothing to be afraid of as long as im serious about what I post (and if I promise to use the search function first)

I really wish I could explain to everyone that posted here how thankful I am for your kind and uplifting words...i really really appreciate it.

Your all right, Im not going to waste time I could be spending on my craft looking at $2,000 preamps and $3,000 plugins that I will not be able to afford for a long time....and that I dont really need to progress right now. Hell I probably wouldnt know what to do with it. I think its just the thing of, you want what you cant...afford haha.

Thanks guys!
Zach

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Shit, when I was 17, I remember soldering some connections together for a pair of tape decks so I could overdub! ....and that was with a shitty $10 mic from Radio Shack. You guys have it soooooooooo easy these days.

We didn't have amp sims either. I had to play & record something similar to this:

'cept mine was 85 watts & sounded terrible.

When I got to college, I moved up to one of these & thought I was doing good.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

We didn't have amp sims either. I had to play & record something similar to this:

'cept mine was 85 watts & sounded terrible.

Haha, I had this:

I bought old beat up guitars...repaired and tuned them and traded them for the next better but defective guitsr...repaired and tuned that and so on...
that's how I actually got most of my gear....
through trades like that I got my first tubeamp /must have been around the time when I was 17)...a London City plexi-copy and a crappy 2x12.....damn, that was so fucking great back then, I was a fucking hero

 

[narcossintese]

When I was 16 I remember recording my first song with a buddy. We used a guitar amp similar to this Gorilla on Glen´s post, a Stanner bass amp that gave me an electric shock everytime I touched the on/off switch, and a drum loop from a Zoom multi fx pedal. Everything mic'ed from a generic pc mic direct to a SoundBlaster soundcard on a freeware program called GoldWave. I still have the MP3, always give me good memories.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

I would have killed for a Crate back then... The Gorilla was beyond awful.


I've still got a tape from my very first band at 17.... basically a tape machine at the back of the jam room. ...and NOBODY is ever going to hear it. Makes Brokencyde look like Slayer

 

[Everybody]

hahahahaha

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

These were my weapons of choice (my MG10 didn't have an emulated line out, though):

I think I was fifteen, though. At seventeen I had already moved up to plugging my guitar straight into the line in of an integrated sound card and monitoring with a an old Pioneer home stereo system

 

[updog]

What's wierd about that? Do I come across as some crotchety old man or something?

don't worry about it, you don't... But by your posts I've seen, I thought you're about the same age as the other Sneapers that have been here for a longer period of time. It definitely doesn't make any difference, I was just a little surprised.

 

[updog]

Dude I know this little device all too well... It was even the exact same model, I think. This is when I used the eJay programs to "make" music. Anyone ever used those? They're just pre-made techno/hiphop loops you put together inside a program. That wasn't when I was 17 though, I think I was like 13-14.

 

[Ermz]

This thread has become truly \m/

Here's what I originally packed:

Made for some great tracking via the exact same model mic Jarkko posted.

...and yes... I made a trance track or two in 'Dance eJay' !!

 

[updog]

oh yeah... I had Dance eJay 1 & 2, Techno eJay, Hiphop eJay 2, some other Hiphop eJay thingy... I always wanted the Rave eJay, I thought it was fucking brutal.

And also, my first amp was this thing... The name couldn't be more ironic:

 

[drew_drummer]

Well guys, I am honestly very suprised to see this much feedback this quick from everyone. It is nice to hear your stories from when you were my age, and it makes me feel more normal. It also very nice that some(most) of yall can relate with how Im feeling right now and tell me how you overcame it.

Im one of those people that have been coming here for a little while but not posting to much because Im afraid of getting bashed or whatever, but seeing all of you share your experiences with me and give me outstanding words of advice really makes me feel like im with a group of "brothers" here. And I have nothing to be afraid of as long as im serious about what I post (and if I promise to use the search function first)

I really wish I could explain to everyone that posted here how thankful I am for your kind and uplifting words...i really really appreciate it.

Your all right, Im not going to waste time I could be spending on my craft looking at $2,000 preamps and $3,000 plugins that I will not be able to afford for a long time....and that I dont really need to progress right now. Hell I probably wouldnt know what to do with it. I think its just the thing of, you want what you cant...afford haha.

Thanks guys!
Zach

Your gear is quite a bit better than mine, in some key areas.. and I'm 25 with a full-time job in the music software industry!!

Don't sweat it mate... you'll get what you want if you apply yourself in a proactive manner.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Everyone gets bummed sometimes, but they key is learning how to channel that depression into motivation. Sounds like you want something - so go get it. Find a way, and make it happen. Easier said than done, but don't let the challenge get to you - embrace it - you'll be way better off for it.

And for the record - my first amp was a Crate GX series, with an 8 inch driver.