foxwolfen
My turn. 
All want to do is this 24/7 - work takes so much energy from me that most days I have nothing left when I get home. My short term goal now is it build up a portfolio of work: I also do graphic art, fine art, animation and literary writing. My hobby is philosophy and religion (not the worship but academic study of).
I am actually happy to be the Wizard of Oz. I see the Wiz as somebody who turned a disadvantage to an advantage, and in some ways that is me. I am dirt poor. I cannot afford equipment or software. I am using Sonar 6, Cubase 2, and my AVID is circa 2005. My camera is an 80 dollar disposable polaroid with no image stabalization, no zoom, and no manual adjustments for exposure or shutter. The vast majority of software I use is free/open source (like audacity, LADPSA, and VirtualDub).
I came to sonar and music composition late in the game. I was making videos, and had need of music, but licensing costs were prohibitive. I decided to see how hard it was to make my own. I bought a loop based music program for 60 bucks and started to fiddle with it. While it was fascinating and I enjoyed it (and discovered that loop editing is much the same as video editing), I felt like a fraud. To me it was cheating.
So I turned to my (now ex) wife and asked if I could spend some money. Fortunately she supported me, so I went out and bought a Korg keyboard/contoller and Sonar 6. Spent a week learning it, "composed" my very first song, recorded it and posted the results here... on the very same day I joined, in 2008. That song was "Dreaming of Flight".
I can honestly say I have never been rewarded by anything I created like I have been with music. The sheer joy (bliss actually) I experience when at the keys is impossible to describe. It feels mystical. Like it flows from something external to myself. It takes me to a different place, a place I hate returning from (I really do). I have often wondered if there is some sort of "bi-polar" attribute to it. It is a bizzare, manic, all encompassing "high".
But, I am limited. I cannot run the upgrade race. Because of that, my entire goal is to try to appear to be as well equipped as those with money spend. So instead of money, I spend a lot of time. Time learning how to accomplish my goals without the proper equipment, or manually doing the work that can be accomlished with automation and modern tools with one click. In some ways, I do things exactly like you would have with that old Fostex of yours.
Fortunately, I have so much experience with related tools and fields, that the learning curve with Sonar and music production was rather small. And, I will say again that coming into music production as an artist/audiphile is a good thing. It means I have a very well tuned ear (as I love sound, all sound).
But, you clearly demonstrate that to get to the next level, tools will be necessary. I cannot accomplish a mix like yours with what I have. But, tools are not all it takes. There are some (mostly in other forums) with dream suites and still they are not very good. You have shown a clear understanding and ability that makes the tools you have shine in a way few others can. If I can get close to what you can do, I could probably die a happy man (probably not as I am never really satisfied with anything I do, but I digress).
And I am not blowing smoke up your arse either Danny. There are a few people here that I admire, whom I use for inspiration. People who show sheer compitence in their work, people with amazing gifts of talent, creativity... people I chase. You are one of them. Simple recognition of ability.
What makes me your friend though is not your work. What makes me your friend is that you participate here in the song forum. I admire those who take the time to listen to the hard won efforts of the others here. I suppose you could describe it in one sense as: this is the "give" where the rest of the forum is the "take". It requires a bit of a commitment (more than any other area of the forum) on the part of the listener, and I do not take that lightly. IMO it is the folks that hang out here that are the best of us.
Cheers
Shad
Awesome post Shad! I like when you come out of your shell a little. Hahaha! Rubbing off on you a little am I? LOL! :) Seriously, that was a great read and I can totally relate. Truth be told, most of the stuff you hear from me is on old gear that you can get cheap, honest. I just bought a new studio about a year or so ago that is loaded with top notch stuff. I have NEVER used it one time on myself other than testing.
The stuff in my main studio is all old, but good old stuff. I use a few Layla 24/96 soundcard. Old as dirt, but a great card. I don't use any mic pre's at all other than the ones in my console. At my new studio we have a Tascam DM-4800 which is a killer console. Here at my main studio, an old Mackie 32x8 which is a dinosaur...but it works. I also have one of those in my little man cave at my house. No major mic pre's, no big compressors or outboard gear and heck, I don't have any super great mics here either because I don't do much tracking at this studio anymore. We do all that in the new place.
So the stuff I've shared here so far has all been on very moderate gear that you can buy dirt cheap these days. The only things worth anything are my computers, my software and my UAD cards really. So I either record from the main studio or my man cave which has nothing. Mackie 32x8 right into a Dell Inspiron with a Realtek. So I know all too well what it's like to make the best out of what you have. Heck, I still have an old Korg M-1 that I use as a midi controller and even use the built in sounds once in a while. LOL!!
So in a sense, we share the same principals really. It shows we really don't need super fancy bells and whistles to get good sound...or at least what we can call "good enough sound to get our points across" ya know? I can totally relate to the whole music taking your to another place thing. To me it's such a hard drug habit to kick, you just can't turn it off and on like a TV. The down side of it is...when you do it all the time like I do, sometimes you don't feel like doing your own stuff. It's sort of like being a PC repair man....you work on them all day and then when you come home, the last thing you want to do is even check your email. So there are definitely lots of pros and cons to it all.
It's pretty much the same if you sign a record deal. Though I've never been a star, I've seen a bit of success over the years with my album releases. It's nice to make a few bucks from it and enjoy the ride...but then things change. You wrote because you loved it and it just flowed out of you. When you do it for a paycheck/survival, deadlines come into play. Record labels mess with you, it just becomes a totally different animal. I do love it because I love to tour and play live...but the whole studio album thing and all the deadlines that go with it, give me a migrane.
I feel the same as you do about people posting comments on the song forum. I really do try my best to be active when I can. Certain people I know want to hear what I have to say, so I try to go all out for them. Others...well, sometimes I just don't say anything at all because I don't feel right. I can't just say "nice job" when I'm hearing things that are wrong. Some people don't like to hear negative stuff about their babies even if you do your best to deliver it with the utmost respect. So I sit out on those, but I'm always listening. :)
So you keep on posting, and I'll keep on listening. If I can ever help you get closer to that goal you're after with my comments, I sure will try. So there's never a need to chase. I'm right here...feel free to mail me, pm me or pick my brain if you need to. :) Thanks again for the kind words and the correspondence. :)
-Danny