In this video I give you my thoughts on why gear isn't quite as important as you think! Follow me! colindeibertmus... Instagram- / colindeibert Spotify- open.spotify.c...
I agree with your philosophy. Especially the non-linearity between price and performance. One thing to add is the chain rule, i.e. the strength of a chain depends on its weakest link. So spend your money wisely, on all the various links.
Thank you for the advice Colin. These are wise words for people that suffer from GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, or in this case, Gear Acquisition Syndrome). It is so true that today's cheap gear is so much better than decades past. DAC and ADC chips that are as good as the human can possibly perceive can be bought off the shelf for pennies. Size doesn't matter either. Think about the electronics they are putting in wireless earbuds: a Bluetooth receiver, decompression computer, DAC, amplifier, speaker, and battery! Have you ever thought about what is in the Apple Thunderbolt to 3.5 mm analog cable converter. A DAC and amplifier fits into something the size of your pinky fingernail. It will have no perceivable impact on sound quality, and it sells for 7 dollars. I also think if you are just starting out, an entry level to mid-priced classical guitar will be fine. Guitar manufacturing has gotten much better thanks to computer guided wood working machinery. The precision in the manufacturing is super high on even the cheapest guitars. There was an article on NPR about a blind test of violins. In the mix of violins tested was a Stradivari. The Stradivari took last place and the newer violins won out. The violin community was in uproar, so they did the test again, addressing concerns of the first blind test. The Stradivari took last place again. One thing you didn't mention was shaping and using your nails properly. That cost almost nothing and contributes to about 90% of your tone. The most important part of my gear is this $4 multi-surface fingernail file.
I've certainly been guilty of focusing on gear over performance - resolved to buy nothing more and practice a LOT! Very interesting recently to watch a YT video by Gohar Vardanyan where she explains her recording set-up. Really not a mega-bucks gear collection, pretty basic mid-budget kit, but she's a phenomenal performer. Her fairly reasonably-priced recording kit, used at home, has resulted in Grammy nominated recordings.
Completely agree ! Just sometimes it s difficult not to get lost in a topic, like when you re looking for gear for instance, so after research, good to get back to the guitar and think over , and practice and wonder , is that new gear I found is really needed according to me my current level of playing? … :) playing remains the main thing , you r right! Have a good practice :)
Exactly, what you said in the beginning equals to a very graphic rule about recording: Garbage in = Garbage out Meaning that if you put in a shitty audio source (i.e. a not so good singer or guitar player or guitar or room), you can throw gear at it and tweak all you want, the output will still sound pretty shitty. Quasi a polished turd. Reverse that and you get basically what you said: Gold in = Gold out Polished gold. How nice :)
Hi colin. Couldn't agree with you more. I was wondering .. what are your top 5 classical guitar recordings in terms pf the actual music, preformence and recording quality?
That is a great question, I'm going to have to do a video on that! It's kind of an ever changing list but a few of my favorites are Pepe Romero's recording of the Aranjuez, it has the most naturally balanced recording between the guitar and orchestra I've heard. And for solo guitar, I really love Ricardo Gallen's Bach album that he recorded with Norbert Kraft. It's just amazing performance wise and sound quality as well. Mysterious Barricades by Scott Tennant is awesome too, and basically anything else recorded by Guitar Coop!
Very nice to reminf all these things, cause it's trues that sometimes we get crazy for tiny detailsthat doesent really matter in comparison of the actual performance!! By the way all you video are great and very helpful!!!!
Hi, firstly I would like to say that your vids are really interesting and well produced ! I had a question for you about microphones. I would like to buy some to record my classical guitar but I don't realy know what to choose on a ~300euros budget. I actually hesitate between a matched pair of small diaphragm or a good large diaphragm mic that I could also use to record voices and use a stereo plugin... This is realy hard to choose. Will I loose definition in the treble with a large diaphragm?
Thank you so much! So I would say that if you are also going to record vocals at all I'd get as good of a Large Diaphragm as you can and then save up for a matched pair later, or even get another LDC later on. You can get great results recording guitar through a LDC but not so much vocals through a small diaphragm. You might loose a hair of transient response, but one huge benefit of have a large diaphragm is that you'll have a much more sensitive mic and a quieter one!
@@colindeibertmusic I might go for the LCT 441. Would you recommand it ? And do you think that I should go for the pure or the flex considering the big difference in prices
@@rthgtrgaehgq4502 You can't go wrong with that mic. I use the LCT 441 Flex in every one of my videos on my voice, and there's quite a few where I use it on guitar as well. If you look at my polar pattern video it goes through all 9 patterns on the mic. That being said for the price, if you're on a budget I'd just get the 440 Pure, since you'll really only ever use it in cardioid anyway, unless you really want to do mid side one day. Also if you want to hear what it sounds like on guitar listen to my cover of Maiden Voyage, I used the 441 for both guitars!
I agree with your philosophy. Especially the non-linearity between price and performance.
One thing to add is the chain rule, i.e. the strength of a chain depends on its weakest link.
So spend your money wisely, on all the various links.
I totally agree. I might need to make another video in the future to elaborate on that!
Excellent advice!
Thank you for the advice Colin. These are wise words for people that suffer from GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, or in this case, Gear Acquisition Syndrome). It is so true that today's cheap gear is so much better than decades past. DAC and ADC chips that are as good as the human can possibly perceive can be bought off the shelf for pennies. Size doesn't matter either. Think about the electronics they are putting in wireless earbuds: a Bluetooth receiver, decompression computer, DAC, amplifier, speaker, and battery! Have you ever thought about what is in the Apple Thunderbolt to 3.5 mm analog cable converter. A DAC and amplifier fits into something the size of your pinky fingernail. It will have no perceivable impact on sound quality, and it sells for 7 dollars.
I also think if you are just starting out, an entry level to mid-priced classical guitar will be fine. Guitar manufacturing has gotten much better thanks to computer guided wood working machinery. The precision in the manufacturing is super high on even the cheapest guitars. There was an article on NPR about a blind test of violins. In the mix of violins tested was a Stradivari. The Stradivari took last place and the newer violins won out. The violin community was in uproar, so they did the test again, addressing concerns of the first blind test. The Stradivari took last place again.
One thing you didn't mention was shaping and using your nails properly. That cost almost nothing and contributes to about 90% of your tone. The most important part of my gear is this $4 multi-surface fingernail file.
So true!!! All of it! Now, off to "practice " and play!!! I practice so that I can play😊
I've certainly been guilty of focusing on gear over performance - resolved to buy nothing more and practice a LOT! Very interesting recently to watch a YT video by Gohar Vardanyan where she explains her recording set-up. Really not a mega-bucks gear collection, pretty basic mid-budget kit, but she's a phenomenal performer. Her fairly reasonably-priced recording kit, used at home, has resulted in Grammy nominated recordings.
Completely agree ! Just sometimes it s difficult not to get lost in a topic, like when you re looking for gear for instance, so after research, good to get back to the guitar and think over , and practice and wonder , is that new gear I found is really needed according to me my current level of playing? … :) playing remains the main thing , you r right! Have a good practice :)
hey man! where have you been?? We're looking foward to some more videos.
U r so right! I like how you think,cheers!
Very informative 👌
Thanks!!
Probably my favourite guitar channel at the moment.
Wow thank you so much!! 🙏
Nice video Colin! Totally agree on a lot of these points you bring up. In the classical world the performance matters so much!
Thank you! By the way, I love your channel and Instagram!
@@colindeibertmusic thanks so much Collin. Much respect for your youtube channel as well!
Thank you for this!
Great advice, Colin, very helpful for anyone playing and recording guitar nowadays!
Thank you! I really appreciate it!
Source: 75%. Room/Acoustics: 24%. Gear: 1%
This from a GSer. And it's now called Gearspace.
That exactly 😁
Exactly, what you said in the beginning equals to a very graphic rule about recording:
Garbage in = Garbage out
Meaning that if you put in a shitty audio source (i.e. a not so good singer or guitar player or guitar or room), you can throw gear at it and tweak all you want, the output will still sound pretty shitty. Quasi a polished turd. Reverse that and you get basically what you said:
Gold in = Gold out
Polished gold. How nice :)
Glad you're back in action, Colin! The new setup is looking good, man.
Thanks man! It feels like its been forever since I made a video lol. Yeah I can't wait to see what this studio will evolve into.
Hi colin. Couldn't agree with you more.
I was wondering .. what are your top 5 classical guitar recordings in terms pf the actual music, preformence and recording quality?
That is a great question, I'm going to have to do a video on that! It's kind of an ever changing list but a few of my favorites are Pepe Romero's recording of the Aranjuez, it has the most naturally balanced recording between the guitar and orchestra I've heard. And for solo guitar, I really love Ricardo Gallen's Bach album that he recorded with Norbert Kraft. It's just amazing performance wise and sound quality as well. Mysterious Barricades by Scott Tennant is awesome too, and basically anything else recorded by Guitar Coop!
Very nice to reminf all these things, cause it's trues that sometimes we get crazy for tiny detailsthat doesent really matter in comparison of the actual performance!! By the way all you video are great and very helpful!!!!
It helps to remind myself about that stuff as well. Thank you so much! 🙏
Hi, firstly I would like to say that your vids are really interesting and well produced ! I had a question for you about microphones. I would like to buy some to record my classical guitar but I don't realy know what to choose on a ~300euros budget. I actually hesitate between a matched pair of small diaphragm or a good large diaphragm mic that I could also use to record voices and use a stereo plugin... This is realy hard to choose. Will I loose definition in the treble with a large diaphragm?
Thank you so much! So I would say that if you are also going to record vocals at all I'd get as good of a Large Diaphragm as you can and then save up for a matched pair later, or even get another LDC later on. You can get great results recording guitar through a LDC but not so much vocals through a small diaphragm. You might loose a hair of transient response, but one huge benefit of have a large diaphragm is that you'll have a much more sensitive mic and a quieter one!
@@colindeibertmusic Thank you for your response!
@@rthgtrgaehgq4502 You're welcome!
@@colindeibertmusic I might go for the LCT 441. Would you recommand it ? And do you think that I should go for the pure or the flex considering the big difference in prices
@@rthgtrgaehgq4502 You can't go wrong with that mic. I use the LCT 441 Flex in every one of my videos on my voice, and there's quite a few where I use it on guitar as well. If you look at my polar pattern video it goes through all 9 patterns on the mic. That being said for the price, if you're on a budget I'd just get the 440 Pure, since you'll really only ever use it in cardioid anyway, unless you really want to do mid side one day. Also if you want to hear what it sounds like on guitar listen to my cover of Maiden Voyage, I used the 441 for both guitars!
Excelent video
Thank you so much!