I’m here to admit something to you all, to finally come clean. I am an addict. My obsessive behavior is tearing professional career apart. Days that I could be working are spent indulging in my destructive. Yes, my name is Hugh and I am a gear addict!
“HI HUGH!”
But seriously I do often think about how much time I could be doing something productive that I spend drooling over the next mic. Sure it’s important to stay updated with the latest technology, but you can’t put the pre-amp before the performance. In other words don’t allow the fact that you can’t afford or don’t have gear allow you to stop making or recording music. The Beatles recorded their second album with just two tracks of recording. Albeit two tracks of recording through an EMI desk with beautiful microphones but still, I can’t remember the last time I recorded a drum kit with two microphones, let alone an entire band.
These days there is an absolute plethora of gear to check out and it’s all just a mouse click away. But take a look at the piece of gear sitting on your studio desk, the one that you bought 6 months ago after an intense period of longing. Is it collecting dust or have you just put it down after a monster session? This is an important question to ask yourself as you are purchasing gear. So often the grass can seem to sound so much better with a brand new mic, until you get there. And then you’re just going to need that valve preamp.
So go and use what you have and use it well. I am in the position – as I’m sure many of you are as well – where I need the gear to get the job to get paid in order to get the gear… The cycle is viscous and real. But don’t let it get you down. There is a reason there is entry-level stuff. Skimp, save and get what you can to get your first jobs. People paying you $150 for a session aren’t expecting racks of 1073’s. There is a plethora of gear available that will do the job well and won’t leave you having to mortgage your house.