Home Recording Equipment

What Are The Requirements For A First Home Recording Studio?

December 23, 2010 by Ken 1 Comment

The latest in a series of predictable Q&A about setting up a home recording studio, the question is typical and the answer, if short, points to a solution that will require 1,000 bucks or more. See the original Q&A below and then the Home Brew Audio answer below that.
Q: I am in the process of getting involved with making my own music. I am interested in making Dance music, preferrably House, Trance and remixes. As of now, I am using Reason 3.0 and Sony Acid Pro but I would like to know what else I would need to build home recording studio, such as other software and hardware. Other tips would be greatly appreciated.
A: Check out this e-book:
http://www.homerecorder.com/product.php?pid=124

Here is the Home Brew Audio answer:

To specifically address this person’s question, I would recommend that he/she get some more virtual instruments for their computer. He says he has Propellerhead Reason Software (Mac and Windows) (a synthesizer program for computer) and Sony ACID Pro 7 (a looping program with general audio capability as well). Since he seems to be most interested in making dance, house, trance and remix music, he’ll want more beat/drum capability like the SONiVOX Playa Hip-Hop Virtual Instrument or similar products. By doing this, he can improve his studio by leaps and bounds and not spend more than 1 or 2 hundred bucks. Below is our “stock” answer for the folks who don’t already have a home studio.
To start out, DON’T spend more than $100 to start out! I know, crazy right? If you are just learning how to record audio, you can do all you need to (learn multi-track recording, basic audio editing, mix-down and final production) with a garden variety computer, some sort of microphone (even the cheap plastic computer mics will do at this point). If you don’t have a mic, you can get a computer mic for $4-$5. The recording software is free (Audacity). And that’s all you need to get started. You can even do quite a lot with this equipment with a little skill and guidance, though I would stop short of saying you can produce much in the way of professional quality audio at this price point. So what is the minimum amount of money you’d have to spend to actually start producing pro quality audio? I’d say $49. Yes, you heard correctly. Just moving from a $5.00 mic to, this USB mic: Samson Q1U, will allow you to record and produce audio quality that I would call “minimum professional level.”
See our video tutorial course – The Newbies Guide to Audio Recording Awsomeness 1 – The Free Home Recording Studio for how to get started right away. If you don’t want to spend the $37 for that course right now, you can get the first several lessons free just by putting your e-mail address in the form at the top of the sidebar on the right.
You can also (for free) check out our 5-part post series How To Build A Home Recording Studio, which shows you what you will (and will NOT) need to record pro audio on your computer.
Cheers!
Ken

What Microphone Is Best For Home Recording?

December 17, 2010 by Ken Leave a Comment

Below is our latest pick from Yahoo Answers on home recording. I have to say that I agree with the answer. I’m a fan of Samson mics and this one is a fantastic value. Here is the Q&A:
Q: I’m saving up for the SONAR 8 recording software for audio recording, but I need to know what microphone would be the best for a home recording studio. Thanks.
A: I suggest Samson C03 Multi-Pattern Studio Condenser Microphone, which is a good affordable USB large diaphragm condenser microphone. Also, this mic has universal switchable polar patters for different miking techniques.
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Great advice! This mic is $99 and will cost much less than the software the question-asker is saving up for. As a large diaphragm condenser mic, you can use this microphone not only for vocals, but also for a wide range of music recording, especially acoustic instruments (guitar, piano, violin, rums, etc.).
So not only are you all set for voice-over, but also music recording. Large diaphragm condenser mics are really versatile. If you only have enough money for one type of microphone, you should make it a large diaphragm condenser mic.
As for the choice of recording software – Sonar – I think it might be a bit more “car” than needed, as they say.
Plus it is more expensive than my recommendation, which is an extremely powerful and capable program comparable to Sonar, which is called Reaper.
It can do just about everything that Sonar can, but for a fraction of the price. Reaper is also a much more streamlined program, less bloated with code than something like Sonar.
Cheers,
Ken

If I Want To Begin A Home Recording Studio For Audio Books?

December 15, 2010 by Ken 4 Comments

Below is the latest in Home Recording Yahoo Answers Q&As. There is a bit of a departure in this question, as it relates primarily to starting an audio business. Also, the answer that was posted is pretty much in line with our advice! That, also, is a departure from the norm;). See the Home Brew Audio reply to this question at the end of the post.
Q: I am thinking about putting together a home audio studio to record audio books. Any ideas what equipment I might need? I already have a microphone with a usb hook-up. Will I also need an interface of some kind? And what about a sound room? Can you make much money recording audio books? Thanks.
A: With a USB mic you can download audacity and start recording right away. Record in a small room or build your own isolation booth to reduce room noise in the recording.
There might be some legal issues to worry about regarding rights to the work. I have no idea who to contact about that . Maybe the publisher, if you can find out who that is.
On the budget question, I can see going either way. You’ll probably wont make much unless you land a deal to do a lot of books or something like that, which is actually pretty unlikely and rare.

Here is the Home Brew Audio answer.

We agree with starting out using the USB mic. If the mic is close enough to your mouth, and you don’t have a lot of noise in the room, you don’t really need a sound room. However, anything you can do to reduce room noise (the reverb and echo that comes off the walls in the room) and other noise (babies crying, dogs, lawn mowers, etc.) would be helpful. We disagree with the “small room” aspect of the published answer. A bedroom would probably suffice, but the bigger the room, the longer it takes sound waves to travel to walls and ceilings and back again, so close-mic-ing will work better (less echo and reverb).
There are two excellent articles on this site that will help you. First is about voice-over recording and how to get started – Voice Over Jobs: Useful Tips For Landing Them and the 5-part series How to Build a Home Recording Studio.
As far as the money to be made — voice over work is extremely competitive. there is money to be made, but you have to be VERY persistent about auditioning for work. BTW, do NOT just read a copyrighted book and try to sell it. That is extremely illegal. If you want to sell your own book projects, go to Librivox.org for a catalogue of books in the public domain.
Cheers!
Ken

What Is Absolutely Necessary For Home Recording Studios?

December 9, 2010 by Ken 4 Comments

I hate to keep beating the same proverbial dead horse, but here we go again. First of all, I’d like to state that the Yahoo Answers feeds we receive are “pushed” to us based on the topic of home recording. We are not hand-picking these to make a point; there really are that many posts THAT frequently (like every day) asking how to get started doing home recording with the least money, or some variant of that theme. Today’s Q&A is no different. The person asking the question wrote three sentences and used the terms money and cheapest. One might almost be led to believe there is a theme here, mostly because there IS.
The other part of this repeating pattern is the answer part, which usually advises the newbie to spend upwards of $1,000 or more just to get started. Today’s reply, however, happily breaks that pattern. Though short on details, it is the answer we would have given, which is basically to use your computer as mixer, editor, composer, and storage. The original Q&A is below. See the end of the post for the Home Brew Audio answer.
Q: What kinds of things are absolutely necessary for home recording studios? Just the essentials, and why? I’m planning on making a home recording studio, but I don’t have much money. And, what’s the cheapest way to go? : )
A: It depends on what you want to do. If all you want to do is capture analog, then just need a mixing board with a few inputs. Check out music shops in area for used and sale specials. If want to author music and produce electronically, then you will need computer and software such as Cakewalk, Ovation, etc. Also check same places for these too.
Much more details are going to be needed on what it is that you want to do with your home recording studio. Technically, the bare minimum would be a tape recorder since it can record 2 tracks (left and right) and a way to get signals into the recorder.
You obviously already have a computer, you should consider using it as your mixer, editor, composer, and storage. Everything else can be brought in via firewire / usb dongles (converters). Your mixer channel ability will be limited only by the speed of your processor, the number of raw inputs, and the size of your drive to store the results. That might be the most cost effective way, as well as the most capable way in long and short runs. But, you will never be able to record to analog media (tape) without distortion from the converting digital signal back to analog.

Here is the Home Brew Audio answer:

To start with, please, please, PLEASE do NOT spend much more than about$100 to start out! And do NOT buy a mixer! (see our article Why You Should Not Use A Mixer In Your Home Recording Studio for more on that). I know that may sound too good to be true. But trust me. It is. Yes, you’ll probably want to add equipment and software as you develop a need for them. But if you are just learning you can do all you need to (learn multi-track recording, basic audio editing, and production) with an average computer and any mic (even the cheap plastic computer mics will do). If you don’t have a mic, you can get a pc mic for about $5.00. Then you can get recording software that is free – called Audacity. That’s all you need for the learning part. You can do quite a lot with just this equipment with a little skill and guidance. I would stop short, however, of saying you could produce pro quality audio with just that. So how much do you have to spend to actually start producing that pro quality audio? I’d say about $49. Sounds crazy, I know. but it’s true. Just moving from a $5.00 mic to, say, this USB mic: Samson Q1U – will allow you (again with the right skills) to turn out audio quality that I would call “minimum professional level.” To learn about moving on from there, and all the accessories you’ll want, etc. – basically a sort of shopping list – check out our 5-part post series How To Build A Home Recording Studio.
Cheers!
Ken

What Is The Best (And Most Frugal) Home Recording Studio Setup?

December 7, 2010 by Ken 4 Comments

Below is yet another home recording question that has become so common on Yahoo Answers. Folks want to record themselves at home and want to get started on a fairly tight budget. I have yet to see a question like: “Hey we want to start recording our band at home and would like suggestions on how to spend $20,000 to set up a home recording studio.”
Anyway, the person who answered the question referenced this article: http://www.audioneeds.com/forums/content.php?3-The-Startup-Studio, which does not give bad advice on the equipment it recommends, but you’d need over $1,000.00 just to put together what they call the “starter studio.” Great googly-moogly!!! The guy asked for a frugal studio, right there in the title of his post. Let’s just say I think it’s crazy to drop a thousand clams on a “starter” studio. See the Home Brew Audio answer at the end of this post.
Q: I’m in a band and we are toying with the idea of recording in our own home studio… We need ideas to get the most for our money… Any suggestions?
A: Here is a cool little article on setting up a home studio with price in mind:
http://www.audioneeds.com/forums/content.php?3-The-Startup-Studio
I got it off that site, it’s a great little community with tons of information and people who really know what they’re doing.
Should help 🙂

Here is the Home Brew Audio answer:

First of all ,if you’re just starting out, there is absolutely no need to spend more than about $200 max! YHou can always add equipment as you need it. For some really good step-by-step instructions on setting up your own computer-based studio, see our 5-part series called (duh) “How To Build A Home Recording Studio.”
Cheers!
Ken