Today we have an amazing FAQ Friday video for you!
Our featured question is:
“Should you upgrade your studio equipment?”
It really depends where you are in your journey. I would always suggest investing in equipment that you are going to keep for life. An SM57 is famous for a reason and if that is your very first microphone, it’s going to be with you for a very very long time.
The one thing that you should upgrade if you have not already is your listening environment. Investing in acoustic treatment to kill reflections is one of the most important upgrades you can make. Along with that, studio monitors
For their price performance, I love the Kali Audio LP6. They sent shockwaves in the industry and, soon enough, the market was flooded and saturated with competition because they just got it right.
When we’re trying out monitors, we are always using Sonarworks SoundID Reference. SoundID Reference ensures that we’re an as accurate as possible listening environment no matter if we’re changing out furniture or putting in new equipment
If you’re unable to treat your room and/or invest in monitors for any reason, headphones are going to be your friend.
Here’s a blog with the best headphones for music production in 2022:
A pair of $100 headphones can be a godsend if all you currently have is a reflective room with uncalibrated monitors.
But the bottom line is – invest in equipment that you will stay with you for a lifetime.
“Does being an excellent musician relate to being a good producer?
When I was growing up, you had to be a great musician. Unlike today, you were not able to edit out mistakes and so you had to get it right on the tape. I had to constantly practice being a cleaner musician consistently.
It’s incredible in this day and age that we can edit and continue to produce until we feel it is right and so much great content is being created with digital technology. This is not knocking production and post-editing. I’m all for it.
That being said, many of the best engineers I have worked with have not been that musical. They could capture amazing songs but they didn’t know a thing about what being a musician.
This, I believe, is on the decline. Today, musicians are learning to be producers and engineers at home and share their work on social media. Producers today need to be able to relate to their artists to help figure out parts and structures of their songs. Producing in this way can help to inspire the artist and that is the magic you are trying to capture during the session.
Be open to all kinds of music.
If you’re not a musician, this is the best advice I can give today:
Learn music, know music, and reference music.
Don’t be bound by periods of music or genre – learn to love and reference everything as that will inspire your artists. You may not be a musician but you can be musical.
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Watch the video below to hear the answer to this, and many more of your most asked questions!
