Jimmie":179syw8l said:
Michael, welcome and thank you for gracing us with your wisdom and willingness to share.
Despite the advancements in recording technology, it seems the best tried and true means of capturing sound, still relies on Vintage large condenser mics like the Neumanns and 70's era pres or their clones like the Vintechs. James really opened my eyes in video-documenting his latest recording project yet I feel both blessed and at the same time, cursed. Blessed because I better understand what it takes to create a sonic gem, and cursed because to acquire these vintage pieces to capture sound, requires really deep pockets and a lot of luck that your hard earned cash isn't unwittingly purchasing a "vintage" U87 Neumann and it showing up at your door with a K-67 knock-off fresh out of China.
For desperate Recording Engineer wannabes such as myself, aside from the Vintage pieces, what would you recommend if left to aquire gear made post Y2K from mic to pre to DAW like ProTools HD?
Thanks Again!
Jimmie
Hello Jimmie
I only used an LA2A once, same with a Pultec EQ, and only used Neve pre-amps a couple of times, when the studio had a Neve console for tracking. I don't have any "vintage" microphones or pre-amps in my studio, but I have a lot of modern gear, like Chadler, Soundelux mics, Lucas mics, CraneSong, LaChapell etc. etc. I had three vintage U87s, sold 'em all, didn't like them, but you would have to pry my Lucas CS-1 out of cold dead hands
I think the "old" stuff is really overrated and there is a lot of great new stuff out there, where you still can get parts, should it ever break and you can talk to the people that built it. All the hype about: this sounds just like ........... (insert old equipment here), doesn't work for me. Mic pres are the most overrated items in a studio right now. I do comparisons during my workshops all the time and I have come to the conclusion that I could make a great record with almost ANY set of mic pres. We used to record with MCI 500 consoles, those mic-pres are nothing to write home about, actually sounded pretty dull (until the John Hardy replacements came out), but we made great records on them, sold millions of copies. If you move your microphone by as much as half an inch, you make much more of a difference than changing mic pres. There is certain stuff I like, because it fits my taste (like the Chandler stuff, Royer mics etc.), but I could not speak for you, your taste is most likely different than mine.
In terms of the different DAWs, again there is not enough of a sound difference to pick one over the other (it is all based on the quality of the converter anyway), so I would go for the interface you like the most. I like Steinbergs Nuendo, so that's what I use.
When we did projects in the "olden days", we picked a studio mostly for the
vibe as long as it had gear that worked and then we just used what we had. That was the beauty and it made those records special, the vibe that is.
I think what should be acquired (and I am speaking in general terms here) is the experience and ears to deal with what one has at hand, learning about the principles of recording before running for the gear.