Home Style

In my grandparents' home was a big tube-filled console record player. Mahogany or walnut, I assume; it was dark but I wasn't into wood back then. Grandaddy would play his Tex Ritter and Burl Ives 78s on it or put on a polka and dance with my sisters.

One could also cut lacquer disks on it, make honest-to-god records. I thought that was about the coolest thing I'd ever seen (and heard).

I guess kids wouldn't think twice about something like that now but I've had a hankering to record stuff ever since. It's been a long journey, from portable cassette recorders in the shower stall to my current more-or-less professional home studio and mobile rig.

The hardest part has been trying not to be consumed by the desire to record, to be an engineer, at the expense of my original purpose: to record my own music. There is a part of me that would love to set up a Decca Tree of M50s in front of a major symphony orchestra! Or even a minor one.

The closest I've come to that is pointing a spaced pair of nice AT4049s at a pretty darn good choir, the Tuskegee University Golden Voices. Probably just as well I didn't get drawn further into that world; I might have been if it hadn't become necessary to step back and dedicate myself to being a caregiver for a while.

These days, recording at home is common -- demos, tracks to take into the professional studio, even completely recorded and mixed projects. And why not? It's freedom.

We hear a lot about the freedom of being able to distribute music digitally now, without need for the backing of big record companies. This is the other side of that freedom, the ability to record without big expenses, without the never-paid-back advances of the record companies. Whether in ones own home or in some small semi-pro setup, it's an increasingly common way to go.

Part of my reason for buying and moving into this old farmhouse where I currently live (on Peanut Road) was to have the space and privacy for my studio. Other things in my life have led to that project being on hold. It will happen, in time, and the equipment is all here, mostly in one box or another!

We've come full circle, haven't we? From the bare-bones set ups of early recording, from Robert Johnson playing in the corner of a hotel room, to huge studios with Rolls-Royce priced (and sized) consoles, and back to the simple approach again. Except the recording equipment is better this time around and comparatively cheaper.

Quite a bit cheaper, in many instances. This should be a boon to 'roots' musicians everywhere, even those who think the 'vintage' equipment their heroes used in 1972 (or whenever their personal Golden Age occurred) was the epitome of recording technology. I like the clarity of modern digital recording myself.

Yeah, yeah, I know, some of my favorite recent releases were recorded with tape and tubes. At least I'm consistent about being inconsistent.

I'm sure there are many of you out there doing 'home style' recordings. Hey, it can be a hobby like woodworking or cooking; no need to take it too seriously. Those who don't have the desire to deal with having their own little home studio most likely have friends who already did. You just know they want to crank up that equipment and show it off!

Ha, writing about this makes me want to do the same. Maybe I'll go get my portable recorder and mess around with it in the living room.

SB June 2011