3 ms·

Can you give an example of a band that recorded a CD for $3K? I'm curious what that sounds like.

ChuckMcM 15y ago
I was looking for the web site, but a couple I know who sing typically folk songs put out a Christmas Album on CD and it cost them less than $5K for a production master and a bunch of copies of the CD.
zinkem 15y ago
What people can do and what they do do are a little different. I can't think of anyone who stopped building their rig at $3k, but it's possible to produce demo-quality records with a $600 computer, a nice A/D/A converter and software like Reason, or Ableton. All of which can be purchased with $3k. I personally own about $10k of recording gear and instruments, and I've never made a penny off any of it and don't regret the purchase. That aside, the guy who recorded the "Owl City" records started out by releasing tracks from his parent's basement while working at Coca-Cola. Imogen Heap I think started off on home recording gear and recorded her entire first album herself. Also check out YouTube for Ronald Jenkies, that will give you an idea of what you can accomplish with a modern workstation, which will run you $3k new, decently equipped. Edit: It has also occurred to me that if you're a band, and you can perform your music well (everything in 1 take), you can probably buy enough studio time to get a good sounding album for under $3k. I can't think of any specific music this applies to, but a great deal of grunge music in the 90s was recorded in this kind of a scenario.
markeroon 15y ago
I may be wrong, but I recall that the first Arcade Fire LP (Funeral) was recorded very cheaply. It's a very unique sounding record, in a good way.
HunterLM 15y ago
Nirvana's 'Bleach' was famously recorded for $600 in a really cheap Seattle studio. Not the best sounding record but when you have no money, you do what you can.
MostAwesomeDude 15y ago
http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Infallible/dp/B003UPU3T0/ http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Infallible/dp/B003UPU3T0/ Recorded as a favor from a studio owner. Sounds pretty decent, I think!

I was looking for the web site, but a couple I know who sing typically folk songs put out a Christmas Album on CD and it cost them less than $5K for a production master and a bunch of copies of the CD.

zinkem 15y ago

What people can do and what they do do are a little different. I can't think of anyone who stopped building their rig at $3k, but it's possible to produce demo-quality records with a $600 computer, a nice A/D/A converter and software like Reason, or Ableton. All of which can be purchased with $3k. I personally own about $10k of recording gear and instruments, and I've never made a penny off any of it and don't regret the purchase. That aside, the guy who recorded the "Owl City" records started out by releasing tracks from his parent's basement while working at Coca-Cola. Imogen Heap I think started off on home recording gear and recorded her entire first album herself. Also check out YouTube for Ronald Jenkies, that will give you an idea of what you can accomplish with a modern workstation, which will run you $3k new, decently equipped. Edit: It has also occurred to me that if you're a band, and you can perform your music well (everything in 1 take), you can probably buy enough studio time to get a good sounding album for under $3k. I can't think of any specific music this applies to, but a great deal of grunge music in the 90s was recorded in this kind of a scenario.

markeroon 15y ago

I may be wrong, but I recall that the first Arcade Fire LP (Funeral) was recorded very cheaply. It's a very unique sounding record, in a good way.

HunterLM 15y ago

Nirvana's 'Bleach' was famously recorded for $600 in a really cheap Seattle studio. Not the best sounding record but when you have no money, you do what you can.

MostAwesomeDude 15y ago

http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Infallible/dp/B003UPU3T0/ http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Infallible/dp/B003UPU3T0/ Recorded as a favor from a studio owner. Sounds pretty decent, I think!