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.

Which would be the most interesting to you, to compliment the cheat sheet binder? I know some of you probably want all of these... but pretend you can only pick one :) Brief explanations: - Gaming mousepad would be a large 31" by 12" mousepad that takes up your whole desk - Regular mousepad is self explanatory, probably 9.5" by 8" - Poster would be standard size, roughly 24" by 36" - Plugin would be the digital cheat sheets but in plugin form, so you add it to a plugin slot to easily pull up the cheat sheets, maybe with some additional features like clicking on certain things to pull up the relevant video, or clicking on frequencies to hear them etc

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?

Will Logic run on a 2013 iMac? I can get one cheap. Or should I bite the bullet and get a newer Mac?

could not stop watching this interview. So fantastic- writing, producing, recording. Loved all the influences and the “almost copying Neil Sedaka”Billy is a product of the musical intelligence of his time- referencing multiple sources of music.A great reference for anyone growing into their craft https://youtu.be/Q1Bebf3Y2rk Also interesting that he used session players for pop stuff and a virtuoso pianist for his classical stuff. Anyway- treat yourself and watch this.