For those of you who wish to work from home in the recording industry you are going to need to have home recording studio equipment. What home recording studio equipment you will need to get started will vary based on the type of recording you plan to do from home. For example, if you only plan to record narration for online videos or podcasts you will need less equipment than if you were trying to record music. Another thought is how much you plan to record at one time, one or two tracks and adding vocals in layers requires less equipment than if you plan to do more than two tracks or recording a full band.
One of the most important pieces of home recording studio equipment that you will need to have is a microphone (or microphones). While that might seem obvious to most people, some people do miss it. Without the microphone you will not be able to record anything. To start out, I recommend a USB mic like the Samson Q1U. If you plan to only do voice-overs or simple solo-type music, this just might be enough for you. There are several more advanced models of USB mic as well that you can upgrade to. If you have the budget though, I highly recommend a large diaphragm condenser mic like the Rode NT2-a, along with a computer audio interface box like the M-Audio Fast Track. Again, if you're planning to record a band, you'll need more mics and a larger interface capable of recording several sources at once.
Along with the microphone you will need to have a computer. Most folks reading this will already have one, so it won't be much of an issue. And these days, most normal computers with sound cards will work just fine.
You will also need recording software. Most computers nowadays come with some basic form of recording software, but that isn't going to be quite enough for those wishing to make some money from recording. Rather than spending money on professional recording software many professionals use Audacity, which is available to download for free. Audacity has an amazing array of features and capabilities for the price, which, as I mentioned in case you missed it, is FREE. I would also suggest adding a program called Reaper for $49 (unless and until you start making 10-20 thousand clams a year using it. Then you are asked to spring for the commercial license for $150).
This next bit of studio equipment stirs up quite a lot of controversy. I refer to studio monitors, as in loud-speakers. I've written before about how our ears lie to us at the best of times, but even the most honest of ears can be easily tricked by things like the room you mix in, and the loud-speaker response. In an ideal world you would do your critical listening and mixing in a room that doesn't mangle several frequencies before they get to your ears (Google the term room acoustics for more detail on that fun little topic), even if reproduced on perfect speakers. Also, you would have perfect response from the speakers in this perfect world. If your mixing room is a bedroom, as it is for most home recordists, just know that what you hear is already mangled in several ways. You can improve that situation, if you have really good speakers, but it isn't easy (I refer you again to the topic of room acoustics).
Another way to monitor is through headphones. To start out, you don't need anything special in that department as long as you can hear clearly what you're recorded. For music, you'll want at least one pair of closed-back headphones for overdubbing so that the sound coming from the headphones doesn't bleed down your cheeks into the microphone.
What is the best monitoring solution then? Should you buy special monitor speakers? My heretical advice is that if you're recording music, yes you should. Mixing while listening to sound coming through the air is too critical when recording several instruments and vocals, etc. If you're merely recording voice-overs and narration, then I say you can get by with the speakers on your computers along with your headphones, at least to start out. In order to compensate for audio-mangle-age, do your final listening on both your headphones and your computer speakers. Then listen in the car, you iPod, and perhaps a few other systems, to make sure your final product sounds good on all of them. That's the trade-off for not having monitor speakers in a treated bedroom.
So what kind of monitors should you buy? Well there are two main types, active and passive. I'd say that active monitor speakers are better to have than passive speakers. The reason is that they have the amplifier built into them, where as the passive speakers do not. And the reason this is a good thing is that passive speakers require you to also have an amplifier as a separate piece of gear altogether, which will drive the cost up, as well as adding other logistical and electrical complications.
So in a nutshell, in order to outfit yourself with the basic home recording studio equipment, you'll need:
A computer with a sound cardRecording SoftwareMicrophone(s)Monitors (both headphones and speakers)No matter what equipment you purchase the most important thing to remember is that knowledge of the key audio fundamentals is far more useful than expensive equipment. If you lack basic knowledge you will always end up with poor sounding audio, no matter how expensive the equipment is. Remember this mantra: knowledge trumps gear. There are gazillions of people making crap recordings every day with really expensive gear. But if you have some basic knowledge, you can make great recordings with very modest equipment. Therefore, never let an employee talk you into the most expensive equipment in the store, in most cases the $50 USB microphone will provide you with the professional sounding results.
Learn to record and produce professional sounding audio from home. With fun and short video tutorials we'll show you how to start with a $0-$5 budget, and then how to improve your studio for a few dollars at a time as your knowledge and confidence increase. If you would like to start doing home recording on computer in the next hour, visit us here: Home Recording.
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