Danny and George both started out self-producing in their bedrooms back home in Huddersfield, but what has all the years of working with basic equipment taught them? The pair come for a chat to give advice for people wanting start their production journey...
What advice would you give to someone who is starting out self producing?
George: Well if I take you back to how I first started you'll understand how you really don't need much. I have an audio interface at home that is basically a small adapter and when I started recording it was all done on a PC that only had a microphone input for desk microphones so the only thing I had was a karaoke mic so I had to adapt it and put it straight into the back of the computer. I had some free software that I started out with and for me, I didn't have any expensive equipment and didn't really understand how to record myself in the early days, to be honest I thought I was a bit of a genius for coming up with it to be honest!
Danny: I first started recording on a Windows laptop, a £20 audio interface and a £4.99 microphone from Ebay which sums it all up really! The key to recording when youre starting out is to just do it and not think about the gear or how you should do it, just do it.
George: Just see what you've already got and you've probably got enough to start off doing it.
Danny: You could get Garage Band for your iPhone and literally just do that and use the mic from your phone.
What kind of equipment do you use now?
Danny: Now I use Pro Studio monitors and KRK Rokit 6's which boost the bass quite a bit so they aren't the best in that sense if your'e going for a different sound but they are a fairly decently priced option. I record it all on my Mac Book Pro 10 because I saved up and upgraded from the PC because I was serious about recording.
George: We have a similar set up as well, the first thing you need is a decent audio interface to plug all your inputs in like the guitars or microphone depending on what you're going to be recording. You can get a decent one from £50 and mine is the first one I ever bought, but it's not essential that it is really expensive because it does really just depend on the quality of the microphone you decide to use. The microphone I have is £360 but you can get industry standard ones for £100 from Shure and that is usually what everyone just uses.
What do you recommend people start with?
Danny: What you need to start recording a song of any genre if you need drums, guitar and bass, get an audio interface and record your bass and guitars through that, literally plug it in and start recording with that one lead and interface. With drums, you can buy a drum software online and you don't even need a drummer, a drum kit or drum sticks, you just need a bit of money and buy some drum samples or there's free ones with Logic but you don't need to have any knowledge of playing drums. With vocals you just need a mic, even if it isn't the best quality but over time you'll know if you need to upgrade depending on the style and genre you are working on.
George: Yeah so basically a laptop, an interface, a guitar and mic cable and any software you want is all you need.
Danny: And where the producing comes in, you just need experience and YouTube tutorials help so much.
Both: Record lots!
George: You just need to practise and record often and as you do it more and more you will get better at it.
Danny: I often look back on what I've done three years ago in terms of recording and they wouldn't even be passed as audible but it just comes down to experience. I'm sure the guy that recorded Adele's album didn't always know what he was doing so honestly just practise!
