Do you plan to seriously record and produce music at home? Seems like a broad plan but below are the details. This is the best way of recording music at home that can provide the best quality for any type projects.
Fast and Reliable Computer for Recording
First but the most important thing that you need is a very powerful personal computer. You should read this information to know the desirable factors in assembling your computer for audio recording.
In summary below are the most important checklists:
a.) Use the latest motherboard if you can. Motherboard tends to support the fastest processor, USB and Firewire connection speeds which are crucial for recording performance.
b.) Use the fastest processor supported by your motherboard.
c.) Modern motherboards support high capacity RAM. If you are using Windows 32-bit operating system, then use a maximum of 4GB. If you have a 64-bit operating system, you can use more than 4GB of RAM.
d.) You should not worry about selecting 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Personally I’ve been using 32-bit operating system and have no issues using it.
64-bit operating systems seem to be faster and more responsive because of bigger memory capacity. One downside is that this tends to be more expensive to maintain.
e.) If you are using Mac, then use the specs designed for audio recording. Most modern Mac does support this.
Get a professional audio interface
Second, do not forget to buy an audio interface. This is NOT your ordinary on-board soundcard or PCI soundcards in your motherboard.
Audio interface hardware used for music production is usually external USB or Firewire audio interface. External USB audio interface can be hook up to your computer via the USB port. Firewire audio interface requires that your computer motherboard has a Firewire port. Below is a picture of a Saffire Pro 40 Firewire audio interface:
Saffire Pro 40
Whether you choose USB or Firewire, it all depends on what is supported by your motherboard. If it doesn’t have a Firewire port; then you should be using an external USB audio interface.
Read the following related tutorials pertaining to buying either a Firewire or USB audio interface:
Selecting between USB & Firewire audio interface
List of 24bit/96KHz audio interface for Windows
Optimizing your OS for Firewire and USB audio interface
Guide in buying audio interface for beginners
Once you have those pieces of gears in your home music studio, you do not need any more to buy an audio mixer. It is because audio interface already contains the following most important features for recording that makes it unnecessary to buy a mixer:
a.) High quality microphone preamp with gain adjustment.
b.) Mixer panel (audio interface contains a software mixer equivalent to a hardware audio mixing features).
c.) Balanced inputs and outputs for connecting your musical instruments and nearfield/studio monitors.
Get DAW Software and configure your system
Digital audio workstation is your main recording, mixing and mastering software. The most recommended is REAPER because of a very affordable licensing and its complete DAW software. You can read my full review here to get more information about this digital audio workstation.
For most home recording studio setups, REAPER does fit the job very well. The standard procedures for setting up your digital recording system (assuming you already have the DAW/recording software and audio interface):
Step1.) Install your audio interface drivers first. Make sure you are installing the most updated drivers. You can get them from the manufacturer website.
Most manufacturers of audio interface recommends that you will only connect your audio interface hardware to your computer (whether USB or Firewire) only after completing the driver installation.
Step2.) Connect your audio interface drivers and do some playback testing.
Step3.) Once you are sure that your audio interface is working, install your DAW software.
Step4.) Configure your DAW to record and play from your audio interface.
Step5.) Once setup is complete, do a test recording.
If you want an example, you can read the following tutorials on setting up Saffire Pro 40 audio interface using REAPER digital audio workstation software:
Installation of REAPER and activating license
Connect everything as follows:
Connect everything to form a recording studio
Microphones and other recording gears
Microphones are very important gears in recording studio. It can be used to record all musical instruments you can think of (vocals, guitars, amplifier cabinets, etc.). Read this useful post on selecting a microphone for home recording. You can find some microphone recommendations for vocals, drums, guitars, etc.
Make sure that you are connecting all instruments (including microphones) to your audio interface using balanced connections. With this setup; there will be no noise on your recordings. Read this very useful guide to learn why this is the case.
You should also have your own instruments like guitars, keyboards, cables, guitar amplifiers, effects, etc. Then try to purchase a microphone stand. It is very helpful for vocals.
Treat your room with acoustic materials
First, position your nearfield monitors for accuracy. I recommend below (this is top view):
Position nearfield for accuracy
The orange are fiber glass boards, you mount it in all walls as possible in your small room (excluding the ceiling and the floors). For the floors, you can use thick carpet. Do not forget the bass trap which will be placed in the corners of the room. It is still using fiber glass (look at the screenshot above). Then the black circles are your nearfield monitors. You will sit in the yellow circle which forms an equilateral triangle with the monitors. Finally if you want to record, plug your musical instruments.
For details, you can read this tutorial on room acoustic treatment for your studio.
Newbie Questions on Setting up a Home Recording Studio
I got an e-mail from a recording newbie asking questions regarding how to set up a home recording studio (italicized are the user questions). I believe many of these questions are applicable to most beginners.
Hello Emerson:
I found you online, and will be so happy with your response. I really like to create my own home studio. I have a number of questions, and each answer will be so useful to me.
There is a couple of questions asked, so I will be answering it one at a time:
If I am using software to record into the computer, would a 32 tracks mixer still be useful?
The answer is either yes or no. You can use a mixer or not when recording into a computer. Today, most home recording studio is now equipped with a so called “audio interface” which is enough to provide a professional quality recording at a lower cost. You can connect an audio interface to your computer as follows:
Digital audio mixing
The audio interface can either be firewire or USB type. The function of audio interface is to let you record any musical instruments into your computer (drums, guitars, vocals, etc). For details about how you can use an audio interface, you can refer to the manual. In this case, you do not need a mixer anymore as the tracks will be mixed digitally (within the computer using software). 32-tracks mixer can be very expensive; it’s not a practical solution just to get started creating a home studio. Make sure the audio interface is compatible to your computer hardware and your audio recording software.
I am trying to do a live band recording with 8-instruments, and 4-Singers using a software, please describe to me how I can do this using: i) a software, ii) using a mixer and other recording equipment. Which other recording equipment you think can be essential?
There are 4 different ways of recording a live band performance. Select something that is within your budget and skills.
I will like the final product, the final sound to be just like any professional studio sound, what should I do?
It can take months to years. It depends on the level of your hard work and dedication. Regarding your skills, you need to have a trained ear and should practice professional recording and mixing techniques. The following links can be very helpful:
a.) 54 ways you can improve recording quality
b.) Avoiding these 7-common recording mistakes
c.) Demystifying broadcast quality
d.) Make your mix to sound great in radio and broadcasting
e.) Listening exercises for engineers
Spend some time to read the entire contents of this blog, slowly you can get knowledge and wisdom needed to create quality recordings.
I am ready to spend $5000 to $7000 (five to seven thousand dollars) maximum for recording equipment.
I think that is too much. Spend conservatively at a start. The most important is to acquire basic recording techniques, skills and ears. Not too much on gear. I even started recording using just a simple PC, a PCI sound card, a cheap Behringer Xenyx 502, a dynamic shure Mic and I manage to get good sound. Nearfield monitor is very important for audio monitoring accuracy but you can buy less than $1000 for a pair and that is already superb.
What interface and what software should I buy which will give me the best professional sound quality?
As of 2012, I would recommend REAPER as the licensing cost is very low and it contains all features you need for recording.
Is music recorded by software as good or as distinct as any music professionals will appreciate?
Yes. It’s the technique and ear training that matters.
What is the real function of a mixer in recording? I had gone to a big music equipment store, met someone there — a sale person, and he kept talking to me about recording into the computer, but I thought, recording is done into a mixer, as showed in one of your designs here below.
The real function of the mixer is to condition or pre-amplify a number of input signals, apply effects to these signals (EQ, compression, panning) and then feed the output into another device such as a computer, DAT or reel tape. In short, a mixer is used as a summing or audio mixing device. Audio interface is different; it is only used in recording/tracking and not in the mixing. This means you cannot apply a number of effects, route signals and sophisticated signal processing with audio interface. If you use an audio interface, the recorded tracks are mixed inside the computer. This is called “digital audio mixing” (see diagram previously) because everything is done using a software. You can also use a mixer simply for recording purposes and nothing else, but an audio interface would fit the job better at a lower cost.
Previously there was no recording software, if I want to record without using the software, what equipment should I buy, and in what combination should I put them together.
This is the traditional analog recording method (not using computers or digital audio workstation). Using a mixer, you can record and mix audio tracks without the need of a computer and or any audio mixing software. In this case; you simply need a mixer, a ½ inch analog reel tape for audio mix down, etc. This is called analog audio mixing because the entire signals are mixed in an analog domain (not using digital signals unlike in a computer) and bounced to analog tape. This is common in the 1970’s and 80’s. In short, you record and mix entirely using a mixing console. More details in this tutorial on building analog recording studio.
Summary-Checklist before recording
1.) Make sure the audio recording interface is connected to your computer.
2.) Ensure that your DAW is configured to work with your audio interface.
3.) Connect your nearfield/reference monitors to your audio interface analog outputs.
4.) Boot your computer and launch your DAW/recording software.
5.) Power-on your audio interface and nearfield monitors.
6.) Connect your musical instruments to your audio interface preamp inputs using balance cables. Recording a band requires it to be recorded in multi-track.
7.) Do a test recording. Make sure you adjust the preamp gain for best signal-to-noise ratio. This will let you record at optimum levels to attain both clarity and preventing distortion/clipping.
8.) Once all are set, hit the record button.
Below is a picture of a home recording studio, very simple yet can be useful for your self-produced music projects:
Home recording studio
Advice on beginners :Success in home recording is not all about using expensive recording gears, it is all about using your “EARS” and years of experiences using your own original gears (it does not need to be expensive).
Bookmark this website, you can learn a lot of ways about home recording, mixing and mastering. Start slow but learn well. Rushing too fast makes you less effective, because recording is all about “capturing the best performances”- more of trial and error strategy, professionals even do this. It takes patience and lots of time.
Content last updated on October 23, 2012