Is it me or my gear? Countless recordings and live performances have used SM57 / SM58 $100 If you can't get a respectable capture into one of those mics. It's not the mic. Headphones -- unless someone is paying you 'I can retire now' money. You probably just need some basic cans. $200 Monitors -- Don't fall for the YT vids. Learn the monitors you can afford. I have heard killer mixes that were done on 6x9 speakers a guy ripped out of a car. He was a real musician / engineer. He had passion. 'All input devices (preamps - Audio interface) are the same'. Kinda. These days the cheap stuff is so good that if you don't push it most can't tell the difference. The thing is if you want character you want to push the pre so the expensive stuff wins. BUT .. you can go clean and then distort in the box. So... is it you? or your gear? Guitar finger squeaks ... I'm sure there is a plugin for that but TomoFugitaMusic can fix that for you. You won't like the discipline and neither did John Mayer. So what is my point? The best advice I have ever gotten, and it always seems to come from many respectable professionals. Stop spending money until you have something that you know for a fact will make a difference OR you are building a collection OR money is simply not an issue in your scenario. The thing you buy, even though considered better, might make you sound worse. Why? because you put a better mic in your less than adequate room because the new guitar amp is super responsive and your technique is inadequate because -- and this could be an expensive good thing -- oh, I thought I was ok but I have work to do. The ENTIRE WORLD is awaiting your new music that is raw, real, and creates an emotional experience for them.

I know nobody around me actually understand what it means to me. It's not a hobby on weekends, it's actually a discipline now. If I discovered something dope, there's no one to share my happiness with, if I'm struggling, there's no one to talk to. I'm not saying it's so dramatic. Nobody's telling me to quit or that it's stupid, but it's just these quiet blank stares. After my vacation this year I realized it much much clearly, there's actually no one who understands why it matters to me. They know my focus on music production, but they avoid this topic completely. Oh well... and on top of it, eh...I can't share any of this with my father who's been constantly disapproving everything I do in life. So... this place is the only community I have. But how about you? What is your situation with your surrounding? do you feel someone understands what you're doing and why? What's your story?

I recently upgraded from headphones to monitors, I’ve ran REW and have ARC running but still need to address a few reflections points and corners that collect the lower frequencies. I’m interested in learning from your experience and advice when it comes to buying panels and traps vs. diy projects. It’s my understanding that GIK has the best prices for readymade (please correct me if I’m wrong) which is what I’m leaning towards being that I would rather spend time in the studio than in the workshop (plus my shop skills suck). But I’m interested in your experience either way - what was your biggest take away or lesson learned? What would you do differently?

https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/roomdiy-free-advanced-real-time-acoustic-modeling-and-room-analysis?utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Find%20Out%20What%20Your%20Room%20Is%20Actually%20Doing%20To%20Your%20Mixes%2C%20For%20Free.%20-%2022563117

What's one lesson you wish you had learned sooner when it comes to music production? Share the advice that would've saved you the most time, money, or frustration!