How Music Is Made: An Infographic

[Joyrex]

[LimpyLoo]

[Cryptowen]

Early 90s IDM fan equiv

 

old synth found at second hand shop ->

base model casio sampler ->

cheap digital reverb pedal ->

$10 tape recorder ->

 

$5000 7.1 super hd nulls listening environment

[geosmina]

lol yeah IDM is the opposite

[LimpyLoo]

Early 90s IDM fan equiv

 

old synth found at second hand shop ->

base model casio sampler ->

cheap digital reverb pedal ->

$10 tape recorder ->

 

Well honestly I love gear like this.

[luke viia]

^ me too, and lol @ a $12,000 microphone

[LimpyLoo]

^ me too, and lol @ a $12,000 microphone

 

yeah lol

 

IMO:

 

1) run an sm57 through a $100 interface

2) mimic the frequency profile of said $12,000 microphone with a decent freeware EQ

3) go post a picture of your anus over at Gearslutz

4) master whatever gear you happen to have

5) make choons

6) continually work on your craft

 

the end

[Guest Milkweg]

 

^ me too, and lol @ a $12,000 microphone

 

yeah lol

 

IMO:

 

1) run an sm57 through a $100 interface

2) mimic the frequency profile of said $12,000 microphone with a decent freeware EQ

3) go post a picture of your anus over at Gearslutz

4) master whatever gear you happen to have

5) make choons

6) continually work on your craft

 

the end

 

 

Gearslutz needs more anus!

[goDel]

Haha

So true

[Guest]

1) run an sm57 through a $100 interface

2) mimic the frequency profile of said $12,000 microphone with a decent freeware EQ

3) go post a picture of your anus over at Gearslutz

4) master whatever gear you happen to have

5) make choons

6) continually work on your craft

 

the end

 

 

Woah, I literally shuddered when I read that. I must be losing my teenage lo-fi setup cred.

 

I'm certainly no elitist when it comes to gear, but trying to replace a good condenser mic with an SM57 and EQ? You were probably joking, but yeesh!

 

Really good mics don't need to be expensive. These Advanced Audio FET mics are relatively inexpensive and sound fantastic:

 

http://advancedaudio.ca/collections/fet-microphones

[Friendly Foil]

If you're good at making music, you shouldn't need any of that overly expensive equipment to begin with.

[Silent Member]

Heh, it seems to me that the more high end gear bands end up amassing over time, the less interesting their music becomes.

[jhonny]

Heh, it seems to me that the more high end gear bands end up amassing over time, the less interesting their music becomes.

[joshuatxuk]

 

Heh, it seems to me that the more high end gear bands end up amassing over time, the less interesting their music becomes.

 

 

That's Daft Punk in fucking nutshell. They get the best equipment, studios, and session players and they end up making what sounds like Steely Dan b-sides and disco interludes from a 70s musical. The fact that someone as bland as Deadmau5 has modular synths is hilarious to me. I know there are plenty of other examples but they just come to mind immediately. I could same about the Chemical Brothers too I suppose (though I still think they're fairly good even now), they went from an old sampler and PC played through a home stereo system to having this:

 

[Guest jasondonervan]

[joshuatxuk]

LOL

 

Inbox Planet Dust.

[DerWaschbar]

I feel like the anti-expensive gear ideology is as absurd as the expensive gear one. Obviously you don't need expensive stuff to make good music. But also, no matter how much you EQ a $100 mic it's not going to sound the same as a $12,000 one.

And the implication that expensive gear somehow makes for bad music, by saying that some musicians get worse because they get 'better' stuff is ridiculous. Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, NIN were all pretty average to begin with.

There's loads of great music being made on high end stuff as well as cheaper stuff.

[LimpyLoo]

 

1) run an sm57 through a $100 interface

2) mimic the frequency profile of said $12,000 microphone with a decent freeware EQ

3) go post a picture of your anus over at Gearslutz

4) master whatever gear you happen to have

5) make choons

6) continually work on your craft

 

the end

 

Woah, I literally shuddered when I read that. I must be losing my teenage lo-fi setup cred.

 

I'm certainly no elitist when it comes to gear, but trying to replace a good condenser mic with an SM57 and EQ? You were probably joking, but yeesh!

 

Really good mics don't need to be expensive. These Advanced Audio FET mics are relatively inexpensive and sound fantastic:

 

http://advancedaudio.ca/collections/fet-microphones

 

 

Oh god I just shuddered reading your misguided post. You were probably joking, but yeesh!

 

I have two decent mics. I have an SM7b (speaking of gearslutz) and an MXL 990 modded to Michael Joly-esque specs (recapped, basket ripped out and capsule swapped with RK-47).

 

But I would have no problem if my only mic in the world was a 57. Sometimes Gabriel Roth uses a Radio Shack dynamic as his one and only drum mic, and there's a reason why he does that.

 

And the reason is: Vibe is king. Vibe is infinitely more important than frequency response. Who gives a fuck about frequency response? Who said that accurately capturing a source should be the goal? It's certainly not my goal.

 

The reason you shuddered when you read my post is because you have different values and priorities than I do. I don't care about the shit that people on Gearslutz care about. And it took me way too long to realize that. Never once has sound quality determined whether I liked something or not. Simply never. I love those Misfits basement demos. The vibe is awesome.

 

So yes, throw a 57 up over a kit, play it well, make it feel like Tony Allen, jam 80hz up 10db and slam it through your best freeware compressor, then HPF at 30-50hz, cut 350-400hz for clarity, bump 3-4Kz for some presence and maybe some 6khz to make the hi-hats dance a bit and then call it a fucking day. Or just leave it flat. Who cares. If you played it well and made it feel good then it simply won't matter. Not to me, at least.

 

IMO get the best-sounding gear you care to pay for and just never ever think about it again. But instead master what you have and that itself will do more for you than buying the nicest gear on the planet.

[LimpyLoo]

I feel like the anti-expensive gear ideology is as absurd as the expensive gear one. Obviously you don't need expensive stuff to make good music. But also, no matter how much you EQ a $100 mic it's not going to sound the same as a $12,000 one.

And the implication that expensive gear somehow makes for bad music, by saying that some musicians get worse because they get 'better' stuff is ridiculous. Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, NIN were all pretty average to begin with.

There's loads of great music being made on high end stuff as well as cheaper stuff.

 

I'm not anti-expensive gear. I just don't care about the quality of gear. I buy nice gear when I can, but I have alot of rubbish gear that I love dearly that makes beautiful music.

 

But I am anti-audiophile. I think people who shudder at the thought of using a 57 have their priorities backwards.

[LimpyLoo]

BTW

 

paranerd I dig your choons but your shit is definitely somewhere between mid-fi and lo-fi so I don't understand your stance on mic quality, mate.

[Guest]

So that's how it feels to be on the other side; seen as the elitist gear head!

I pretty much agree with most of what you said. I was smiling and nodding the whole time I was reading. It really doesn't matter on the gear being used at all! I've always felt that way about the creative process.

My 'shuddering' wasn't a criticism towards you, it was more of a realization about how my aesthetics have changed based on how I mainly work with audio in post-production now. If someone had said that they recorded a voice over for an hour documentary with an SM57 and just EQed it to make it sound rich and full, alarms would be going off in my head. Hey, maybe it sounds OK, but the standards I've been accustomed to are standards for a reason and I've become very picky about sound quality. It's my job and I have clients than expect a certain product. I can't mix dialogue for a feature recorded on the internal iPhone mic and look at the director in the eye and say "The gear doesn't matter as long as the art is pure." I'm not saying that iPhone quality dialogue can't have it's charm in some creative way, but generally it wouldn't work.

My creative audio endeavors are completely different. The crappiest broken gear can give much more rewarding results than the most pristine gear. I've done most of my own music in Rebirth and BuzzTracker. So my stuff is made on 'lo-fi' software in that BuzzTracker is free and Rebirth is a 15 year old application for $14 on the iPad. And I'm glad you dig it, thanks!

My post wasn't to offend my any means. I was trying to be helpful by pointing out that there are $300 dollar mics that give that $5000 quality if you really need it. If you're getting awesome results with an SM57 for everything, great! I'm sorry you assumed that I was being snobby with my reply when it really wasn't my intention. I grew up during the lo-fi scene with Eric's Trip and Sebadoh. I started out with a cassette 4-track, radioshack mics, an HR-16, and a Pentium 1 with Rebirth, VAZ, Rubberduck, Hammerhead, BuzzTracker, etc. I have an affection for all that 'crappy' gear and would never say that good music can never be done on cheap gear.

[LimpyLoo]

So...is this where we kiss?

[Guest]

So...is this where we kiss?

 

Will there ever be a more appropriate time? Strike while the iron is hot!

[oscillik]

^ me too, and lol @ a $12,000 microphone

when I was in college studying Music Tech, we had a Neumann microphone that the college bought. But I don't know why, because no-one was allowed to use it due to the fact that it cost £15,000 at the time.

 

trufax

[LimpyLoo]

 

^ me too, and lol @ a $12,000 microphone

when I was in college studying Music Tech, we had a Neumann microphone that the college bought. But I don't know why, because no-one was allowed to use it due to the fact that it cost £15,000 at the time.

 

trufax

 

 

"Can I use that microphone?"

 

"Neu, mann."