[5 guys named Lars]

One of the consequences of the lockdown ending & the studios opening here is the increase in demand & prices. Costs about £200 a day here now.
Its nice to come out of it with a better recorded song but I was wondering if the money could be put to better use for my own equipment.
I have an acoustic guitar, 12 string acoustic, a bass (with amp) & an old Yamaha YPT230. I use Audacity with a microphone.
I would love to know if you would spend a day in the studio or buy equipment (& which).
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.  

[cowparsleyman]

@5 guys named Lars - Fo what it’s worth I’d invest in equipment at home, but it rather depends on space, money, whether you want to spend time learning how to mix and produce , it’s great fun and sooo satisfying...

[PeteS]

I've never used a studio so can't compare but I'm pretty pleased with what I can create.  Guys on here have been really helpful and I have a load of kit updates landing this week.

You could read my thread on Updating my Home Studio because there's a lot of tips from guys like @cowparsleyman in there.  Really helped me focus on what I wanted.

For info, I record acoustic and electric guitars into Garageband, as it just seems more intuitive.  Audacity is brilliant for certain things but it just seems easier in Garageband.

I landed on a good Behringer interface that has 4 in and 4 out but generally I only record one at a time so a 1 or 2 in and out worked great.  I have recorded my vocals and Acoustics through a cheap dynamic mic and I'm quite pleased with the sound, really looking forward to seeing how the new condensor mic sounds when I can try it. 

And on cost, your £200 an hour would soon kit you out.  My interface was £99, mic £90, Monitors (second hand Eris E5s) £95 so that and a few cables and you're well on the way.

Have fun!

[5 guys named Lars]

Thats brilliant @cowparsleyman & @PeteS..thanks a lot. Yes, read the thread on the Home Studio & lots of good tips. Think I`m going to start with getting a Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD interface & then a condenser mic. Don`t think I´ll need the monitors yet as I`ve a decent pair of headphones. Tempted to buy an electric guitar tonight but my girlfriend will kill me so bought a tambourine instead. :/ Thanks for the help guys..much appreciated.

[cowparsleyman]

@5 guys named Lars @PeteS  you maybe pleasantly surprised with how your condenser sounds, do the scratching your eyebrow test...

[cowparsleyman]

@5 guys named Lars - but the e guitar, sod the girl it’s only rock n roll, who hasn’t gazed more lovingly at a strat or les paul than your bird?

[5 guys named Lars]

@cowparsleyman Very true. But have you heard me play a Les Paul? I make it sound like a Les Dennis. I won't make a joke about playing my girlfriend. 😁

[cowparsleyman]

@5 guys named Lars - is that a photo of your bird?....buy the gibson...

[PeteS]

I’m not sure my wife has forgiven me for the Faith acoustic I bought.  I think she thought it was about £250 but being a fool I left the invoice lying around and she saw the £700 cost.  My justification of well it was reduced from £865 fell on deaf ears.

[5 guys named Lars]

is that a photo of your bird?....buy the gibson

Yes, but you should see what she can do when she takes her teeth out. 

[cowparsleyman]

I’m not sure my wife has forgiven me for the Faith acoustic I bought.  I think she thought it was about £250 but being a fool I left the invoice lying around and she saw the £700 cost.  My justification of well it was reduced from £865 fell on deaf ears.

Leave a couple of Lowden and Burguet catalogues lying about, that should do the trick...

[adamfarr]

Studio time must be really nice (never had any) but unless you also hire a producer won't you still be doing most of the work yourselves?

You should be using a DAW - at 60 bucks for Reaper and a little learning time you'd turning out stuff that is hard to distinguish from studio tracks.

[cowparsleyman]

@5 guys named Lars - So you've been in the Studio, know how it works, see the roles of the mixing engineer, producer, Artist...so doing all that at home to that quality is a big deal, 200 bucks a day might seem good value, it also focuses one's mind to what is needed, but it also is quite stressful if you don't have a deal behind you paying for their time.

There is an investment behind doing it at home, but a long term view helps, as it takes quite a while to work out what each component does in a digital workflow.

If you enjoyed your experience in the studio, and like me, I loved watching and asking the pro's for tips, then doing it at home is a good choice, plunge those £200's into your control room.

[5 guys named Lars]

@adamfarr Yes, studio time is great & its superb to play instruments I`ve never tried before but it is frustrating working against the clock & an expensive way to make mistakes .It sounds like Reaper is the next step up from Audacity at home so will try that too. Thanks Adam.

@cowparsleyman Yes you`ve read my mind & you`re absolutely right. I will do. Was nice in the studio to get immediate feedback on a song from someone else but me,  but now I can do that through this forum now so its happy days. Cheers Rich.

[PeteS]

I think there’s a lot of choice on Daws.  If you have a Mac the GarageBand is great. If you buy presonus kit then it comes with Studio one which is apparently very good.  All other kit comes with stripped down versions of things like Pro Tools that are very good but try to tempt you into buying the full version. 

I’ve never looked at Reaper so can’t comment but if 60 dollars gets you a full version then it has to be worth a look.

Personally, as a Mac/GarageBand user I’m tempted by Logic Pro but I’m not sure what I’d get from it!