Masterman

It really depends on the purpose of the finished product. For demos and song submission it probably is a good idea to get a handle on it yourself. Izotope ozone is a good package. Some of the Waves stuff is very good. Perhaps for an album it is better to get the mastering done by a professional. Outside of the obvious advantages of superior gear and a professional set of ears, objectivity will be a big advantage as well. Chances are, you will be too close to the project and an objective point of view will be a huge advantage. Whether you get a pro or do it yourself, it is a good idea to assemble a couple of commercial CDs with a similar style and sound to what you are trying to achieve. If you do it yourself, it will give you something to compare your progress to and if you go to a pro, it will make it very easy to explain to him. If he can hear what you want it will make his job easier and it should mean that you get a better result.

Playing to a click will give you much more flexibility later on but playing without one can give more freedom of expression. I think a good rule of thumb is if you think you will need to add anything else then use a click.

Very MacGyver! I really love the idea of improvising like that. It falls into line with the old saying “Agood plan today is better than a great one tomorrow!” Excellent stuff!

I feel that the computer plus software route has introduced a much more modular approach to upgrading gear. Previously when you bought put together a home recording set up you would have a small number of items that would perform multiple tasks and while it would seem to be good value on the surface when it came time to upgrade you would buy a new box that would upgrade some things but would also replace other things that did not need upgrading. In my humble opinion, computers allow more control over what you upgrade (both from a hardware as well as a software point of view).