Selecting your Computer (Mac or PC)
When you are setting up your recording Studio, the first thing is to buy a good Computer which is the main expense, whether it is a Mac or a PC. In my personal opinion, I highly recommend a Macbook pro for its compact in size and its portability.
Choosing your Audio interface
It is always better to decide what you are going to do and how many inputs you require at the same to record. If it is just Vocals and guitars, an ideal two channel interface with a mic and a DI input is more than enough to start with, but if you want to go for tracking an entire band or drums,get an eight channel Mic pre interface for your computer.
Treatment of your room
Before you start recording, try to place your mattress and pillows in the corner of the rooms to cut the room reflections. If you can afford doing acoustic treatment, then you can go ahead and start to record.
Choice of Mic
If you want to record great vocals, the most affordable one are RODE NT1, Shure SM 58, Shure SM7B, SE Electronics SE-x1. These will get great result when you are recording at your bedroom studio. Try not to place the Mic in the corner of the room, as you will have bass frequencies build-up.
What Cables do you need?
Cables are very important and it plays an important role in getting great signals. Get good XLR mic cables, TS for Electric Guitar or Electric bass instruments also a pair of TRS cables for line input for Keyboards live recording session. This will give you great sounding Track.
Good Studio Monitors
Great sound is achieved through hearing your final mixes from your studio monitors. You can get a good and an affordable pair of Studio monitors like Yamaha HS5 / KRK Rokit or Genelec if you can!
Headphones for Home Studio
In a home studio setup, your recording (Tracking) and Control (Machine) are both setup in the same room. During recording, you need to cut or Mute your monitors and start your session in order to prevent feedback from the monitors. Get a Closed Pack headphones like the Sennheiser HD 280Pro or Sony MDR7506.
Microphone Stands
Get a good Mic stand which can hold it firmly to capture great sound. There are full boom stands used for Vocals.. And also get a desktop stand to place the mics at a lower level to place your kick drum mic.
Pop Filter
This is one of the most important tools needed in your studio. When you sing in your mic, it captures everything you record including your air blows like ‘P’ and ‘B’ which we call Plosives which can be very annoying in your recording. So get a pop filter with a single screen or Double screen for more prevention.
Learn to Hear Good Sound
This is one of the most core areas in getting your sound the way you want. You should train your ears by understanding the fundamental frequencies and what is the frequency range of your recorded material. You need to have a proper understanding of your Monitors and headphones and how they translate to you. You don’t need an expensive set up to do this.
Article written by:
Baba Prasad (Studio Owner & Chief Sound/Mix & Mastering Engineer at Digi Sound Studio and teaching Sound Engineering Course & Music Production course for those who have passion in the art of creativity. He conducts regular monthly workshop in Sound Engineering and Music Production at his studio)
For more details visit: www.digisoundstudio.com / www.digisoundacademy.com
This article was featured in our June 2017 issue: http://bit.ly/2tE4uj7
