Histo has spent the first half of the year building a studio and recording the next album. It seems so inconsequential next to everything that is happening in the country and the world, but we still have the desire to create and want to share it with people.
Gear
It’s difficult internal struggle to spend money. And lots of music stuff is expensive, so we’ve done our best to put together our studio on a budget. Here is what we’re working with and some side stories about each piece where it makes sense. Thanks to Phil Young, Dana Telsrow, and Adam Hawkins for their gear suggestions along the way.
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Shure SM57 - stingy to the point where there is only one in the studio. Need at least two more.
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Shure SM58 - classic.
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Shure Beta 58a - got this for a great deal at Bob’s Guitars in Cedar Falls when passing through on tour. Like the sound a bit better than the SM58.
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Shure Beta 91A - between this and the Beta 52a, seemed like there was more positive to say about the 91a and I once saw an engineer throw one across the room in anger and it still worked so I figured I’d get it for that memory alon.
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Octava MK-012-01 - between these and some other Small Diaphram Condensers and found an old set of these on Reverb for a good deal. I like them.
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AKG P420 - tried this out in the store and really liked it. So I found one really cheap on Reverb and ordered it. On the tracks there was this really bad buzz that seemed like grounding so we picked up a new one from the store and no buzz. The whole interaction with the Reverb seller is too long to put here; had to pay return shipping and ended up keeping the new one because there weren’t anymore on the used market. Now I’m not really into the mic that much – Large Diaphram Condenser doesn’t really work for my voice – but it’s still decent. On instruments it sounds pretty good.
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Scarlett 18i8 2nd gen - I bought this 7 years ago. Focusrite always comes highly recommended online but I’ve never liked this as much as I remember liking a Presonus Firepod that was used to record the Coagulated Demo back in 2007.
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MOTU 8pre-es - Recent purchase to replace the Scarlett 18i8. Wanted something that could be used for preamps in the future and that direct pass-through. Thought long and hard about getting a Presonus but figured it was a worthwhile investment in something a step up but not going wild. It’s been good so far.
Made the desk legs out of leftover oak Don had from building a dining room table and the previous owner left some old table top. The monitor stand with rack mount is just lefter MDF/Plywood. It ain’t pretty but it’ll do.
Music
There isn’t music to discuss yet but we can say the studio is getting lots of use. For now, check out the Recipes section for some things that we’ve been enjoying while the music is still cooking. If you haven’t listened to the latest instrumental track Nebulous Sevenths please check it out on our Bandcamp.
As I read this I hate hearing my words in my own head. Hope you chose to read this in your own voice and not mine.