there ’ s so many to choose from . I have friends that feel so strongly about their DAW . Logic , Studio One and Pro Tools are the DAW ’ s that are mostly used . I think they all work great , but I recommend Pro Tools . Why is that ? Pro Tools is still the preferred platform across the industry . Learning Pro Tools is also another way to invest into yourself . I ’ ve gotten chances to work with so many great and well-known artists just cause I knew how to work Pro Tools . A few years back I had a friend ask me if I knew my way around Pro Tools . I told him that I knew it well , so he got me to sub in for a studio engineer for a whole week . I was able to work with Solange Knowles ( Beyoncé ’ s sister ) and so many great other artists that week . That opportunity wouldn ’ t have come my way if I didn ’ t know how to use Pro Tools . You can basically walk into any legit studio and they should have Pro Tools .
Having a way to reference what you ’ re doing can be important . If you have the space and budget for studio monitors definitely get some . I use the Adam 7x speakers and love them .
There ’ s a huge selection of different studio monitors . Make sure you get some that ’ ll get you a great representation of what you need to hear . I ’ ve also gotten used to headphones . I work a lot in hotels so headphones is a must . I use Ollo Audio headphones . They have some that are made for recording and some that are made for mixing . I like headphones because they take the room out of the equation . Whether your room is sound treated or not , they ’ ll still sound pretty much the same .
Being able to record great tones can open so many doors for a guitar player as well . I used to blast my amps all over the house and drive my wife nuts , but I don ’ t do that anymore . With amp simulation and IR loaders the game has changed . If you ’ re a traditional tube amp junkie , I recommend getting a Reactive Amp Attenuator with Speaker Modeling . You basically come out of your speaker output from your amp head and connect it directly to your unit . I use the Ox Box from Universal Audio . It ’ ll let your amp head go all out with those hot tube
amp tones without hitting you in the face with decibels . Another thing you can do is get used to using amp simulation . Line 6 pedals like the HX Stomp have great solutions for this . I ’ ve been using these pedals for about 7-10 years and have never looked back .
If you ’ re just getting into recording and producing , I recommend that you take this on as a process . It can get very pricey very fast but through time you can build a great setup and start adding on another stream of income while you ’ re at it . Another big advantage from this is that you ’ ll define and better your tone in a studio environment . It ’ s the perfect atmosphere to experiment and broaden your tone horizons . The process will definitely stretch you but for the better . Start making your wish list and knocking it down piece by piece .
Chris Rocha Chris Rocha is an American Christian producer , guitarist , business owner and pioneer in the Spanish Christian music industry . He is a two time Dove Award winner , has worked on two Grammy award winning records and has produced or recorded guitars on 5 Grammy nominated albums .