My Most Valuable Piece Of Recording Gear

 What's The Most Valuable Piece Of Gear You've Ever Purchased?

If I told you my most valuable piece of gear I've ever bought was a Digidesign 001 you might laugh...but let me explain.

For most of 1999 I was on the road in a van.  As 2000 started I was home, tired and frankly, a little sick of drums.  I wanted to learn to write songs, sing, play guitar and make a little record.  Serendipitously Digidesign had just released the Digi 001.  2 cheap mic pres and a light version of Pro Tools.

I spent a good year and a half learning cover songs, writing music on my own and with others, practicing guitar, trying to sing and I even played some open mics.  I ended up with a 7 song EP (no you can’t hear it…maybe someday).  It was also my first venture into recording drums.  One SM57 and one Beta 58.

Little did I know but this piece of gear would change my career.  It opened me to listening to songs a differently. I began to listen to overall production, layering and tones of instruments and rhythm.  Dissecting guitar, vocal, keyboard and drum sounds. Listening to lyrics for meaning, metaphor and rhyme.  Exploring song form which in turn helped me learn songs faster for recording sessions as a drummer. Listening outside of my own drumming perspective… in live and recording settings, to hear “what’s good for the song…not just the drummer”.  

It was also great as a practice tool...studying where I was putting my kick and snare for grooves and hearing the balance of how I played under microphones.

This lead me to eventually get more mic pres, drums, microphones, etc.  But this initial spark  was my beginning to understanding drum tones more to make educated choices. Now when I hear a song for the first time I know immediately what will sound “right” or know how to approach it sound different than one might expect.

The Digi 001 was replaced with more high quality gear but I’m not sure I can pinpoint a more “valuable” piece of gear I’ve ever owned.

This relatively cheap purchase put me on to the path I’m on now.

Start small, start simple. Know your gear and what it can do whether it’s cheap or expensive.  

Blair Sinta
Introduction To Recording
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