hello everyone....!
right, here goes - i have a decent set-up here at home; akai, nova, 101, couple of synths, drumstation, etc. i sequence and record audio on my beloved (but sometimes HIGHLY BASTARD IRRITATING) pc.
here's my problem. as anyone out there using audio and plug ins, etc, will know, it's amazingly inspiring in terms of creativity, but i have trouble with eq and getting mixes sounding decent on more than a few systems. there i am, getting the drum track chugging along happily, then - bam! - i know, i'll record this into audio, and put this effect on it, etc. the problem is that i'm very often reluctant to record things because my eq'ing and final mix skills are minimal. i'm always thinking yeah, sounds shit-hot through my krk monitors (i know, i know, piss ant bass response, etc, stop fucking shouting, will you?) but play it through anything else, and hey - IT'S A TOTALLY NEW REMIX BY A DEAF SOUND ENGINEER!
SO........
i worry that much about making commitments to recording stuff that i find it extremely hindering to creativity. i ususally set the levels of what i want to record as high as possible, record it flat and go from there. but then, if the sound needs this freq. rolling off, and this one added, it means eq'ing individual sounds on the pc which is Pain-in-the-arseville, Tenessee.
maybe my main problem is a total lack of understanding when it comes to recording through nearfields, keeping everything flat and so on. i actually managed to get a track sounding good on a lot of systems not too long ago, but the method i used to achieve this was fucking ludicrous!! it involved recording what sounded good in my 'studio' onto dat, taking the dat into my bedroom and running it through my hi-fi to see what adjustments needed to be made. TOO MUCH BASS!! ok, roll some off....try again. MORE TOP END!! do that, for fuck's sakes - NOT ENOUGH BASS, TOO MUCH LOW MIDDLE!! etc, etc.
i really don't want to continue with this way of working, i even tried lugging my hi-fi in here and mixing through it. surprise, surprise, it sounded shite in my car!
i'm not expecting to have instant results or anything, but it's just always in the back of my mind that when i'm recording this and that into audio, that i might be just creating extra work for myself later.
also, some people say 'have every sound in it's own frequency range, so it has it's own space', others say this is nonsense and to just trust your ears! well, i haven't got a clue about frequency ranges and how to get things sounding spatial and balanced through the sole use of eq, but on the other hand, if i trusted my ears (when it comes to these monitors, at least) on this system alone, i'd be fucked!!
guys, help me - please.
i have an amazing passion for electronic music but i ALWAYS get seriously depressed when i record a track, it sounds shit, and i feel like i've wasted a lot of time and energy. as you all know, this kind of music (dance, etc) is totally sound dependant; fair enough with guitars and more natural instruments...it's going to be the same song on someone elses guitar, piano, etc, but if i sample THAT sound, that's the one i want to hear!
perhaps i should stop crying like a little girl and just write a tune, take a cdr with all the individual audio tracks to a pro-end studio, bung 'em some cash and hope they can save the day.
:-(
yours, dc!
(p.s. how fucking long is this message??!? sorry!)