(Transcribed from a post on the Gearslutz Audio Forum, 03/30/2013)
Great to see so many kindred spirits here.
Since the late 1960’s, I’ve had aspirations to own a recording studio. Even before I began playing guitar in bands I remember getting a charge out of recording sounds on a miniature reel-to-reel tape recorder. It didn’t really matter what at the time, whether it was birdsong, a passing train, or my sister playing accordion, I was just captivated. When the tape recorder finally broke, I took it apart to see why – or at least to see what magic was inside.
Later, bands like the Beatles, the Byrds, and the Rolling Stones opened my eyes to a whole new world of coolness. Throughout high school I loved playing the guitar and found others to join in. We were all mostly self-taught “musicians” learning and developing our craft by jumping in and doing it. Fake it ‘til you make it – own it once you’ve grown it! But things did get better by degrees until I now feel competent (or better) on my instrument, and developed a sense of what it takes to make a song work.
Recording-wise, I’ve now been capturing sound in one format or another for the last 30+ years. I worked my way through the early “pro-sumer” TEAC/Tascam multi-track reel-to-reel recorders. First on a four track (3340S), then 8-track (80-8). (Arguably, these machines were the first to enable something you could call a home studio.) Affordable digital became available to guys like me with the Alesis ADAT, and I had one of those for a while. The point is, I’ve always had a passion for the thing.
Now is no different except that a decent day job has allowed me to build my kit far beyond what I could afford in the early days. I have a purpose-built space in my home where I can make noise at will without disturbing anyone, and just like I learned to play music just by doing it, I’m developing my recording chops as I go. I read as much as I can about the subject (thanks, Gearslutz) and take every opportunity to improve. And the mixes are starting to sound pretty decent – even to my critical ear.
Why do I do it? Hell if I know! Its just the way I’m built, I guess. I NEED to create stuff — and recording, building a studio, and playing music is the most satisfying way I’ve found to do that.
Cheers,
Michael
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