Building A Home Studio

[Livinginabstraction]

I'm just wondering what all is needed to make a decent home studio. From what i've researched ill need ...

microphone(s)

mixer

keyboard

sequencer

software

amazing sound card

speakers

headphones

Anything else?

[Retrosaurus Rex]

Sound treatment for mixing & recording areas.

[A1gavin]

Sounds like it's all covered now but I'm in the mood for debate and ridicule so.....

As for tips....

It all depends on what you are trying to achieve and your budget, you can build a decent home studio these days for a few £100 and achieve a lot, you can also spend a fortune and gain nothing but a lot of nice toys..... me personally, I have a lot of nice toys that I enjoy very much but make very little return... .... But hey I'm happy with my buttons...............If you can advise your intentions, experience and your end goal members can advise how they feel you should proceed however only you can decide what would work best for you....

Mics:- red5 audio (cheap but great quality for price) and Scottish, (ok sold from Scotland)... but great bang for buck! Then again I like Blue, then there are all the 'old school' mics too... read reviews and try and make a judgment call based on your requirements... a great mic with poor pre's can be ok and great pre's with an ok mic can be amazing and vice versa.... How good does it need to be and can you or Joe blogs really tell the difference..... (i'll prob get hung for that one)

Mixer:- Depends what you are after, a lot of decent one/two channel pre's out there via USB or firewire in to DAW for under £100 or Presonus used for under £200 for 8ch . Personally, I use yamaha 01v96 on stage and at home i have Tascam dm-4800 but also love presonus kit, I would never spend more than i did on the tascam desk for recording it is the dogs imo with regards to flexability and Pre's are very decent too! Presonus desk also looks great for recording and live but only ever used the rack units but size and flexibility v's £'s is a sure fire winner for me.... don't ever be fooled by flying faders, they are cool but they make no difference to sound! I have also used midi KB with 2 mic pre's for under £100 ... there is a lot out there, good,bad and indifferent but you do not need to spend a fortune.

Keyboards :- if you are a player you will be choosey, try before you buy , if not you can get by with almost anything... again depends on what your ability and end goals are(for me software can take care of most requirements with regards to sound/efx using a simple midi KB)

Seq/SW/:- in today's world a lot of choice... spend a lot on mac, less on hackintosh/widows, your DAW and tools within are the hub of your studio in the modern world at home or in the pro world. My personal opinion is that you don't have to spend a lot to sound good, quality will always shine through regardless! Important to find what works for you and your requirements. Can you, your clients use mac and afford the cost (up to 18% discount for students ) if not its a no go same applies to choice of DAW... what can you use and what works best for you and your needs. Always try before you buy... this applies to everything... seriously, if you cant get hands on before you pay.... don't touch it all..... EVER!

Speakers: tons of choices... all depends on size of room, conditioning of room but most importantly ...how good are your ears.... test some out...... no point in spending £3000 if you hear a pair that cost a fraction of that and you can't tell the difference.

Headphones:... this is a bug of mine... I don't care..... i can't use them to mix/master so i don't care.... you SHOULD never use them to mix/master either.... if recording, as long as i can hear myself ... i don't care..... Do you? If your clients do, that's a different story, again it's all down to needs, requirements & price.... you decide.

I will point out that I do like my kit and everything I use, I do not receive payment to endorse any equipment or use spellchecker so take it or sleeve it.

Pea soup A1.

oh wait.. you didn't mention plug ins ..... there are thousands, ha, dare I say millions..... before you choose your DAW... find out what it comes with each as std ...what gives you the best tools that you will use before you think about spending cash on more and again if you can't try before you buy... don't buy!

[Steve]

Talent...

[Livinginabstraction]

The home studio is so my band can produce our own songs ourselves (make an EP) rather than paying someone to let us use their equiptment. Our budget is around $1000-$1,500 but ofcourse if it's cheap and works just as good we will take the cheap stuff. As far as the mixers/sequencers go I really have no knowledge about them past their basic use (other band members do) so it's more that I have read through forums and made a list of whats needed but more likely I won't be the one purchasing them because I know ill end up getting a P.O.S.

[Retrosaurus Rex]

Uh, just to clarify, I don't see "talent" listed among the available products on Guitar Center's website. Do you happen to know where I might get the best price on that? Also....do you know if it's USB compatable?

Tom

[DogmaticRock]

I got a question for you all: I plan on making a rehearsal space, in case of drums, should I buy the 7-piece or 9-piece for the drummer to use? And how big are these sets since I'd still have to get the following:

Mic Stands

Condenser Mics (Dynamic will be used on-stage)

Bass Amp

Guitar Amp Stack

Studio Headphones

Keyboard Amp and Stand

Thats all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure I'll need more things.

[DogmaticRock]

A lot of the drummers on CL request you have a drumset for them to practice on dont know why just do. I'd hope his/her tastes are in having two bass drums, like John Dolmayan and Dave Lombardo have. Those type of sets also produce serious sound. I'm also planning on getting guitar amps at least 300-500W so we can make some concert like sound and halfway to piss off the neighbors lol.

What condenser mics do you suggest Tom?

[DogmaticRock]

So youre saying I should go with dynamic mics for botn rehearsal AND live, not just live? Any particular brand (Shure, AXC, etc)?

[Zedara]

So youre saying I should go with dynamic mics for botn rehearsal AND live, not just live? Any particular brand (Shure, AXC, etc)?

Shure is what you'll more than likely be given to use at a gig, right?

[garcarstive]

If you want to build a home studio than first you have to develop some good equipments for creating good music. You have to also design some lyrics and make the studio for launching new music.

[Prometheus]

The home studio is so my band can produce our own songs ourselves (make an EP) rather than paying someone to let us use their equiptment. Our budget is around $1000-$1,500 but ofcourse if it's cheap and works just as good we will take the cheap stuff. As far as the mixers/sequencers go I really have no knowledge about them past their basic use (other band members do) so it's more that I have read through forums and made a list of whats needed but more likely I won't be the one purchasing them because I know ill end up getting a P.O.S.

The question that springs to my mind, are you sure any of you have the knowledge to produce a record?

Getting an e.p. produced in a studio would be a lot cheaper and more efficient than building a studio and training yourselves to produce records, an endevour for which it takes a clever man years to develope the skill sets.

[Prometheus]

^^ And before anyone says anything, it takes a clever woman years as well...