I’m not about to dispute that “studio magic” can be a beautiful thing. Brilliant production is an art unto itself.
But a big, sexy production usually requires a proportionately good-looking budget—either for buying time and services at a professional studio or building your own studio at home. If you can afford that, great! But if not, there’s an alternative.
Make it Rough.
Use whatever’s available to you to get your ideas across to your listeners. Believe it or not, there are some of us out here who love music that sounds like it was recorded on an old cassette deck in someone’s garage. The songs have to be brilliant, of course, but lo-fi recordings sound relatable, human. Low-quality recording can even enhance your experience of the music—would the Black Keys sound the same if they were produced in a big studio?
If you can’t sound perfect, sound human.
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I just watched the movie “It Might Get Loud,” where Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White all meet together to discuss the guitar and their own musical journeys. In one of my favorite scenes, Jack White scribbles out some off-the-cuff lyrics in a notebook, turns on a reel-to-reel tape recorder, and begins to howl like a delta bluesman into a harmonica mic, accompanying himself on distorted slide guitar. It’s not slick, but it’s real.
That sounds awesome. I love it when artists drop all the trappings and make noise.