GUITAR
A BASIC HOME STUDIO GUIDE FOR GUITARISTS | Chris Rocha
I think one of a guitar player ’ s best ways to improve and innovate is to record themselves playing . Building and having a home studio is the best place for that . I ’ ve had a home studio for over 20 years now and it ’ s not only been a great stream of income , but it ’ s been one of the main reasons how I ’ ve been able to adapt and innovate my sound . If you ’ re interested in building a home studio these are the steps I would take .
1 ). GET A MACBOOK PRO LAPTOP .
For years I used P . C . computers but eventually I made the switch to Mac computers . I found that they were more stable in the recording environment . If you are gonna get a P . C ., do the research to get one that ’ s compatible with the software you will be using . I would also invest in a computer that has some good processing power . That way as you continue to upgrade your software and pile on a bigger work load your computer can withstand what you throw at it .
2 ). INVEST YOUR TIME TO LEARN TO MANEUVER A GREAT D . A . W . ( DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION )
There are so many great D . A . W .’ s these days .
Logic , Studio 1 , Abelton etc … I lean more towards Pro Tools because it ’ s still the industry platform software . You can basically walk into any legit studio in the world and they ’ ll have it available . I think of learning Pro Tools as a way to invest into yourself . I ’ ve been called in into last minute studio sessions to engineer and was immediately qualified cause I knew how to use Pro Tools efficiently .
3 ). GET A QUALITY INTERFACE
I think another great and important investment you can make to your home studio is getting a quality interface . Times have changed drastically in this space . Back when I first started learning how to record the entry pro studio setup started at $ 10,000 . Now you can get something just as good for $ 2,000 . As far as an interface , I recommend the Apollo Twin . The digital converter and digital preamps on it are outstanding . It ’ s not that cheap but definitely nothing near the $ 10,000 mark . There are so many great options these days as far as interfaces but that is one of my favorite options for home studio use .
4 ). KNOW YOUR GUITAR EQUIPMENT AND DEFINE WHAT SOUND YOU WANT TO GO FOR .
You can achieve a great guitar tone using an amp or going direct to the interface . We have so many options and there really are no wrong answers here . I ’ ve achieved great guitar tones through amps and through amp simulators . One very popular option I ’ ve been seeing lately is guitar players using analog amps but IR ( Impulse Response ) loaders for their cabs . That way they can still run direct to an interface but have that classic tube response from an amp . The IR loaders that I personally like are the Ox Amp Top Box from Universal Audio and the Two Notes Torpedo Captor X Reactive Loadbox from Two Notes .
Like I said earlier in the article , having a home studio can be one of your biggest assets for more than one reason . Every time I try new things and experiment with my tone , I make sure I do it in the studio first , that way I can critique it and tweak it before doing it live . Trust me , if you love your tone , other people will too .
Chris Rocha Lives in Houston , TX , and is the guitarist and producer for Miel San Marcos