10
Steps for setting up a Recording
Studio at home.
These are 10 basic steps for
beginners to set up a home or
bedroom studio. Contact us if you
need more details. We will get you
all the help you need to set your
home studio.
1. Selecting
your Computer
(Mac or PC)
The first thing
to buy when
trying to set up
your recording
Studio is a good Computer. This might be
your major expense, whether it is a Mac
or a PC. In my personal opinion, I highly
recommend a Macbook Pro for its compact
in size, portability, and functionality.
2. Choosing your
Audio interface:
It is always better
to first decide
what you are
going to do and
how many inputs
you require 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.If you want to go for
tracking an entire band or drums, get an
eight channel Mic Pre interface for your
computer.
3. 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 to do an
acoustic treatment, then please do opt for
that before you start recording.
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The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
4. Choice of
Mic:
If you want to
record great
vocals, the most
affordable ones
are RODE NT1,
Shure SM 58, Shure SM7B, SE Electronics
SE-x1. These will get you a great result
when you are recording at your bedroom
studio. Tip: Try not to place the Mic in the
corner of the room to avoid.
5. 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, a pair of TRS cables for
line input for Keyboards live recording
session.
6. 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!
7. Headphones
for Home Studio:
In a home
studio setup,
your recording
(Tracking)
and Control
(Machine) are both assembled in the same
room. During recording, you need 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.
8. Microphone
Stands:
Get a good Mic
stand which can
hold it firmly to
capture great
sound. Try to get
full boom Mic stands for Vocals.
9. Pop Filter
This is one of the
most important
tools 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. This can be very annoying. Get
a pop filter with a single screen or Double
screen to prevent this from happening.
10. Learn to
Hear Good
Sound:
This is one of
the most core
areas in getting
the required
sound. You should train your ears to
understand the fundamental frequencies
and the frequency range of your
recorded material. You need to have a
proper understanding of your Monitors,
headphones and how they translate to
you. You don't need an expensive set up to
do all this.
Author: L. Baba Prasad. He is the
Owner and Chief Sound/Mix &
Mastering Engineer at Digi Sound
Studio. He also teaches Sound
Engineering & Music Production
courses. For more details visit:
www.digisoundstudio.com / www.
digisoundacademy.com