Jack Joseph Puig - at 0:45:
“…For many years, I’ve chased all kinds of sounds, and, and I’ve been on both sides, you know, I’ve been the guy thats like, look, equipment doesn’t really matter, and then I’ve been the person that’s rolled in all these racks of equipment you see behind me.”
At 1:63
…“What I want to talk about today is ‘does equipment matter’ or ‘does it not matter’?”
Of course equipment maters.
They are tools to get the job done.
But they are nothing without skills and knowledge.
And a good ear. Thats probably the most important piece of equipment. Look after your ears.
Then its just working within your budget and leaning the gear you have and upgrading when you need to or are after a particular piece of gear for a particular reason. Thats the sensible way…
But most of us buy shit without really needing it.
I think that’s true. But have you ever met someone with an outstanding ear that had jack shit for musical instincts? I’ve met some pianists that could light the room up with all kinds of quick finger pyrotechnics, but at the end of the day sounded like a bad midi computer sequence from the 80’s, just with the bpm bumped up to 200. I’ve met live sound techs with a great ear and excellent knowledge of acoustics and physics that had no business running a front of house mix for a pro band.
What I have noticed is that people who have the natural genetic musicianship to do this job well often develop the ear as a means to deliver the artistic package. But people who develop their ear for ears sake, really don’t get any further than an operator who spends all day learning key commands, but can’t mix either. At times I’ve believed anyone can learn this stuff. And that everyone can grow in this area. Then again, I’ve run into adult piano students who literally were not going to get any better than they already aren’t.
Which is perfectly ok in my opinion, as long as you don’t fool yourself into thinking its doing anything for you its not. Or giving you some magical edge.
I can’t tell if the home recording community is getting smarter or stupider when it comes to buying the wrong stuff. The live sound community has generally not been as bad as the recording guys. And believe me, they think twice when accounting for the size and weight of stage equipment these days. The real big studios like Disney, Sony, Technicolor, and Universal seem to have trimmed down quite a bit. The medium sized ones like Oceanway, Abbey Road, and Eastwest…I’m not sure. They have the cash to waste on stuff, but they already have so much junk, its hard to imagine what more they actually need.
I researched a couple of years ago and bought an art pro vla2 duel chanel comp. and an spl goldmike.
I bought them second hand on ebay…
Just sold them for more than i payed for them .
Same goes with my novation controller, sm57 and synths.
Only thing i lost out on was my blackstar amp which was a 1 watt studio version so a niche meerkat.
Daft thing is i didnt finnish recording and mixing one song due to work/life commitments.
The money is paying for a family holiday before we sell up and move in with my folks.
I’m glad i bought it as i had a perfect bespoke home set up suited to my requirements. But i didnt need it.
From now on its, laptop, headphones, interface, waves and boz digital.
I don’t bother with gear, for the most part, it doesn’t interest me. I have the basic essentials, but I never buy anything extra or unnecessary. The thought of all those superfluous switches and dials makes my blood run cold, I can’t think of anything less exciting. It’s all a marketing exercise IMO. My friend runs a professional recording studio, he uses Windows 98 and Cakewalk 8. I don’t hear any of his customers complaining about that.
I just bought an LDC to replace my one-and-only LDC, a sick-and-dying SE. The new one is a second hand Oktava MK 319 that cost £100 and I can’t fault it, so why would I need anything else?
Either I am wrong, and therefore should go out and buy a load of gear; or I am right.
To say gear doesn’t matter would be strange. I don’t see many people making recordings by rubbing a stick in the dirt. The gear you need matters, the gear you don’t need doesn’t matter.
You certainly don’t need every piece of gear out there to be “pro.” You need whatever gear that will make your job easier and increase your productivity.
If you are doing this as a hobby, it’s all one big gray area. Buy whatever makes you feel happy. If you are doing this for a living, it’s a bit more cut and dry. I would make less money if I only had one computer screen because I’d be less productive. Therefore, I need two computer screens.
I would like a full sized midi controller at my desk, but 90% of the time it would be getting in my way. Therefore, it’s not something I should get.
If anyone who is not your client ever tells you that you have to have X piece of gear, keep in mind that unless they are giving you money, their opinion on your gear means nothing, unless you are suffering from lack of confidence.
That’s a strange way to put it. Right about what? That you don’t like buying stuff? I guess there’s not really any arguing against that.
I didn’t say that I don’t like buying stuff, so I don’t understand why you are asking that question. The point of my post is that other than basic essentials, I don’t consider gear to be an important factor.
Yeah, I got your point, and agree with your point to some extent. I was just poking fun at the “Either I’m right or I’m wrong” conclusion.
Outrageous. From a mod too. Only a brave few have poked me and escaped unscathed.