> Frankly, I think there is too much emphasis on the > production quality of music these days anyway. I would > like to hear a lot more music with second rate audio > quality and the highest levels of originality, soul > and character. Who would claim that Pet Sounds is the > pinnacle of audio engineering artistry? No one, but > it's a thousand times better than most of the slick, > professionally produced stuff being put out today. > There's nothing wrong with excellence in production > quality, but it shouldn't be perceived as a > prerequisite for good music either, and I'm afraid it > very much is. I need to figure out what's realistic > for me and my budget and know when to stop worrying > about it. ...Amen... I recently attended a NY Logic Group sponsored "seminar" with mega-producer Bob Power. He didn't spend the evening going over Plug-in techniques or recording tricks. He DID however speak a lot about the spirit or soul of music we create. He said that when he is mixing or mastering an album for an artist, he doesn't actively "listen" to other peoples' music. This leads to insecurity in the creative process. Being influenced by other recordings is great but for him, while he is defining his own sound for an song/album, he turns other artist's music "off"! The point is that we can all really become slaves to the technology and as these posts point to, keeping up with the Jones' as far as this whole "Loudness Debate" goes... I too am on a moderate budget for my music studio and at some point, I always make a concious decision to "close the door" (figuratively) and make sounds with what I got. All the Best in your making music!! Charlie 3:jet