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Setting Up A Recording Home Studio
knowing the type of studio you want isnt as straight forward as buying equipments from a friend’s equipments list or randomly putting equipments together, a clear vision of the type of studio will help in reducing costs and making sure your studio meets certain needs.
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is it just for you or a commerical studio?
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what genre of music/production would you like to do at your studio?
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do you want to record your instruments live, midi or both?
Setting up studio Equipments
For a studio to function effectively it must have the essentials, think of these essentials as part of a system where one part is necessary for the other parts to function effectively.
Microphones
Decide on the sound sources you want to record then go for the type of mic that is perfect for capturing that sound, for instance a condenser microphone is perfect for vocals so a cardioid condenser microphone is perfect for capturing lead vocals because it picks only sounds in front it.
Instruments
Its an essential part of studios obviously…if you are considering recording live then list the instruments you want to purchase…essentially keyboards, drums, guitars, talking drums and so on. But if you are setting up on a tight budget then you might want to consider the next option below.
Sound Module and Midi controllers
The evolution of home studios started through this, now it’s possible to have a wide range of instruments just sitting on a computer program or a hardware box waiting to be triggered by a midi controller. most music production softwares comes with a huge library of sounds or you can get some standalone VSTs
Mixers
mixers are pretty pricy so its advisable to invest in mixers wisely, before buying your mixer consider how many input devices you need such as microphones, instruments and Sound moduls(the hardware ones), this gives you insight unto how many input channels your mixer should have. For someone setting up a basic home midi studio with a microphone as the primary input device you might consider a 2/4 input device mixer but if you want to have live recordings with huge number of instruments playing simultaneously then a 16/32 input mixer is worth considering.
Audio Interface/Sound card
A home studio, recording with your computer is probably the easiest option available out there, but how do you get the sounds from your mixer into a computer?..that's where the audio interface comes in..it converts the analog sounds on your mixer board to digital signal that can be sent to a computer via USB. they are various types of audio interface to buy " how to choose an Audio interface" decide which one is compactible with your DAW and computer OS then Purchase.
PC/DAWs
the type of computer you have will determine which software you buy, check for popular softwares like FL studio, pro tools, Logic Pro and find out if they are compactible with your System specification and Operating system. most importantly go for the software you find most user friendly..most usually offer a 30 days free trial before you buy the license
Signal Processors
for most people setting up home studios this might not be so much an issue because most production softwares have signal processors in them, signa processors are your equalizers, reverbs, pitch correcting, compressors etc. but if you intend to have live recordings you might consider getting external processors, also most digital mixers have signal processors on board.
Studio Monitors
one of the most essential part of a studio especially if you are considering creating professional mixes in your home studio. Near field monitors are ideal for home studio because of how the room has little interference on the sounds from the speakers.
Acoustic Panels
have panels placed on your walls to reduce the impact the room has on your mix. this is really essential because you want to hear your mix as close to what most people will hear in natural spaces. acoustic panels help reduce the colors and frequencies a room reflections adds to your mix.
Audio Cables
Investing in good cables is life. Imagine spending a ton of money to set up only to hear a lot of hiss, Hum or noise in your recordings or mixes. this is caused by bad cables. Invest wisely
Technical Know-how
why invest so much in equipment’s without investing in your knowledge of using the equipment’s effectively. world class producers know that the quality of their production lies in their knowledge if sound and not necessary the quality of their equipment’s..Get knowledge today
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