Are you thinking you'd like to build your own home recording studio? Want to know what kind of recording equipment you'll need?
I've been building and upgrading my home recording studio for many years now. It's an ever evolving task that never stays the same long. Over the years my studio has undergone many upgrades,to stay up with the times. I've got some of the best equipment and it truly makes it easier to get the job done. Of course this equipment will be replaced with more new stuff in the future, I'm sure. My home recording studio is a pc software based digital studio. A quiet running computer that has been setup for audio recording is a must. I chose the Creation Station from Sweetwater for those very reasons. I bought the rack mounted version, however it's also available in the tower model. It is very different than the Compaq computer I was using before. Next you'll need multi track recording software for your home recording studio. I was using Adobe Audition at first but it didn't allow me to use my MIDI keyboard like I wanted to. So I purchased Cakewalk's Sonar Producer Edition along with some software synthesizers. I use Dimension Pro to process the string sections in my songs. If you don't use MIDI, then the next suggestion would be Pro Tools.
I have an extensive loop library to use and I also use a program from PGMusic called Band-in-Box. Using loops in Sonar is a snap. You have to have a way to get music into and out of the computer. Some people choose to get a big mixing board. If you're going to be recording bands with a lot of instruments, that's the way to go. Sonar has a system that lets you connect and use a mixing board. Because I have room constraints, I chose to use the Firepod digital interface by Presonus. The Firepod is a 24bit/96K firewire recording interface. It works great for my guitars, vocals and MIDI equipment.
Good recording microphones are essential for getting a great mix in your home recording studio. I use a Shure large diaphram condenser mike for my vocals. A Shure SM57 for my acoustic guitar and I sometimes double the tracks using my RODE NT1.
I plug my electric and bass guitar and in direct usually. I have a lot of amp models in my software to get the sound that I want without having to mic an amp. I do have other options though in case I'm looking for a different sound. I'll discuss those options in other topics.
Studio monitors are critical to a great mix. I use Soundlink RM8's made by Korg. These monitors are not powered to I also have to have a power amplifire. I use the PV260 made by Peavey. In addition to monitors, you have to have a headphone amp with several pairs of headphones. My headphone amp is the MoJo series made by Rane and my headphones are Sony MDR-7506. You can't have the speakers on when you record vocals.
I use a Roland A-37 MIDI keyboard controller for recording my MIDI tracks.
Now with the equipment, get ready to do some serious reading about producing and mixing audio. I mean some serious reading. There's quite a few good books on the subject. I've made Amazon.com rich buying books from them. Don't take this step too lightly. The last thing you'll need is a great security system in place. You don't want someone walking away with your equipment while you're out playing a gig. I use a monitored alarm system along with a German Rottweiler in the yard. Both of these things are very good deterents to a would be thief. Click here here to visit Ryan Hargrove's website, which gives some more information about audio recording. His site is a website by musicians, for musicians. Want to hear what you can do with a home recording studio? Click here for information on the next topic, recording vocals
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