Your First Home Recording Studio
Why Would You Need One
If you've ever dreamt of recording your own songs at home, without the need to go to an expensive studio every time, this guide is here to help you get started.
It is very possible to get studio quality recordings from your own bedroom with the right equipment and enough experience. Also, it comes in very useful for creating demos far better than your phone could ever record.
Equipment You Will Need
In order to make your own studio, you will need to invest in a few key items:
A Laptop/Computer
First things first, if you don't already have one, you will need a laptop/computer in order to run the software necessary to record audio.
In the past, this required a relatively high spec computer (for the time), but nowadays almost all laptops/computers on the market have fast enough processors to deal with the majority of audio recording cases.
An Audio Interface
The next essential piece of equipment you will require is an audio interface. This connects to the computer and enables you to connect the other gear you have in order to record audio.
Of course, this will depend on your personal needs (i.e. a drummer may need more I/O inputs/outputs) but a good general starting point is the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. This has enough XLR inputs for most home recording needs with decent microphone preamps to get you started. If you require something a little more fancy, a personal favourite of mine is the RME BabyFace Pro but this is substantially more expensive and is not entirely necessary.
A DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)
A DAW is a piece of software you will need installed on your computer, which will enable you to actually record, arrange and mix your audio into fully fledged songs.
Popular DAWs you can purchase are Pro Tools, Cubase, Ableton Live. Many audio interfaces often come packaged with a free budget-version of some of these softwares, so look out for that.
On the other hand, if you're looking for free DAWs to test out, hands-down the best to get (albeit on a 60-day free trial) is REAPER, downloadable from REAPER. Another popular free alternative to get you started is Audacity which is completely open-source.
Microphones
If you plan on recording any sort of vocals or acoustic instruments (even if not) a microphone is a pretty much essential part of any home recording studio.
To record vocals, the best type of microphone is a large-diaphragm condenser microphone. These will require phantom power (+48V) so you will need to check that your audio interface has this. A good, budget example of this is the Audio-Technica AT2020 XLR microphone to help you get those crisp, clear vocals you desire. It is a pretty decent all-round microphone in fact, able to record acoustic instruments to a good standard.
Another type of general-purpose microphone is a dynamic microphone. The go-to being the Shure SM57 - which does not require phantom power. It can withstand very high volumes and therefore is well suited to recording guitar amps, snare drums and so on.
There are other types of microphones, namely small-diaphragm condenser and ribbon microphones, but these have more specific purposes - ribbon mics being preferred to recording the trumpet for example.
Microphone Extras
Whilst on the subject of microphones, there are a few other pieces of equipment that make the recording process a whole lot smoother.
- XLR cables - these are needed to connect your microphone to the audio interface. You will specifically need a male XLR to female XLR cable of around 3m ideally. Try to get decent quality cables always as cheaper ones dull the signal and significantly affect performance.
- Microphone stand - a reasonably sized stand will make positioning your microphone a lot easier. I find tripod boom stands easiest for this case as they should have the full range of movement, from positioned to record vocals right down to recording guitar amps.
- Pop filter - helpful for removing certain plosives from vocal sounds. Often syllables such as "p" tend to force a lot of air into a microphone making it peak causing audible distortion. So popping one of these in between your microphone and your vocalist is useful.
- Shock mount - this can eradicate any unwanted vibrational noise being picked up by the microphone by isolating the microphone from vibrations transmitted through your floor to the microphone stand. Less necessary if only using dynamic microphones.
- Mic preamp - okay, so this one is very optional. But if you want a super crisp microphone sound, an extra external mic preamp can make all the difference.
Headphones/Speakers
There are two types of headphones, closed-back and open-back. You will need a pair of closed-back headphones. The reason for this is when you wish to listen to other tracks whilst recording, these minimise the audio bleed back into the microphone. Also, headphones are far better than computer speakers to listen to a balanced sound of your mix.
Additionally, you may also wish for a pair of studio monitors ("speakers") which offer a flat frequency response when listening over your recordings. You will need to check that the connections are compatible with your audio interface (some come with XLR connections but others may vary). Alternatively, you could invest in some open-back headphones which have superior sound quality when mixing your recordings, but they do not isolate the sound particularly well.