On Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:37:46 +0000, Invisible wrote:

>>> Drifting somewhat off topic here, but today you can buy software and
>>> hardware that lets you use a home PC to do almost everything that
>>> would be possible in a recording studio. (About the only bit you
>>> *can't* easily do is really high quality recording of acoustic
>>> signals. But if you're making synthesizer music like me, that's
>>> irrelevant.)
>>
>> Well, you can do it, but the capture equipment can get fairly pricey
>> (good mics aren't cheap).
> 
> The one thing a recording studio does better than a bedroom is... well,
> recording.
> 
> Good microphones aren't cheap. Nor are soundproofed rooms with flat
> acoustics. And rooms big enough to fit musical instruments in? Well...

Did I mention that I have some experience in recording?

Yes, good mics aren't cheap.  Nor is an appropriate place.

Similarly, when writing, a good editor or technical reviewer isn't cheap.

>> Not quite the same as music production, sure.  But we do have one guy
>> in the group who used to do broadcast-quality radio recordings (so he's
>> taught us a few tricks of the trade) and I have a little background in
>> sound systems myself.
> 
> I'm sure most of it is fairly easy if you actually know what to look
> for.

Well, either it's easy or it's hard.  The reality is that it's easy or 
hard depending on one's experience and expertise.

>>> The difference, of course, is that me twiddling with the equaliser
>>> knob is no match for a professional mix engineer who knows WTF he's
>>> doing. And if you listen to the music I've made, you can tell it
>>> doesn't sound very good.
>>
>> Well, I've listened to it, and I thought it did sound good.
> 
> Good, yes. Fantastic? No.

First rule of getting people to think you're good at something:  Don't 
tell them you suck at it.  Let them form their own opinions.

I've been reading a good book (several, actually, but one in particular 
that's relevant) about giving presentations.  The target audience for 
this book is lawyers presenting in court to a judge or jury, but many of 
the points being made are more generic than for just that audience.

One of the points made was "It always seems worse to the speaker".  Your 
audience doesn't know what you missed or didn't say, because they haven't 
heard it.  So if you don't tell them "I meant to say 'x' and forgot", 
they don't know.  So don't tell them.

Something similar applies here, Andy.

Jim

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