Any musician, regardless of style or genre of music, can benefit from a home studio. Of course, if you plan it badly, a home studio can be costly, time consuming and a stressful experience. If you want to record tracks from home, you should make sure that your studio is setup correctly and you get quality equipment. There is lots of information online about what kind of equipment your home studio should include.
Just starting out? Then you should know that there are a few different ways you can set up your home music recording studio. First, you can use a basic stand-alone multi-track recorder. You can use this for mixing and recording. Depending on your model of recorder, the tracks you create can be saved on flash card or burned onto CD. Then, you can transfer them to your computer.
With the newer models, you can use a USB to transfer to your hard drive or a FireWire connection. This second option is only necessary if you will be using real instruments to lay down your tracks. An additional option is that you could record directly onto your computer or laptop. With this method you need to buy and install a recording software program that has an audio interface for your computer. Of course, you can use this type of program with real instruments in your studio as well. Alternatively, you can use it to upload pre-recorded music then mix it with the beats that you make online.
Each option has advantages and disadvantages. Which one is right for you, depends on your skills, your knowledge, your budget, and what you are trying to create. Both work great for the home start-up for home music recording. Further, there are a few more things you need to think about when planning your home music recording studio. Will you be using acoustic instruments in your studio? If you will, there are options from the extremely costly to the relatively affordable.
Do you neighbors complain? At what time do you record most often? What about microphones, furniture, sound cards, computers, monitors, mixers, audio interfaces, and others. If you are just starting out, a good idea is to begin with a simple set up, then add to it when necessary. This way you can avoid expensive overhead and buying irrelevant equipment.
You have to watch out for technology because the more you have the problems you have too. If you are a home recording first timer, start slow and then grow. Fortunately, there is some incredible software to help you produce high quality results on a budget!
Read the next article in this series: How To Make Hip Hop Beats: Easy Once You Learn the Fundamentals