I’ve always said that for a musician, owning your own recording setup is a must.  I also know plenty of people that own a recording studio who don’t even play an instrument.  They just enjoy the technology and listening to the musicians that come in to record!

If you’re talking home studio, there are two main options for you: 1. Dedicated hardware or 2. PC based.  Both have merits.  Dedicated hardware is good for those who don’t know and love PC’s.  It is also known to be more stable and less prone to crashing.  The PC based studio on the other hand offers endless possibilities, however navigating those possibilities can be overwhelming for those that aren’t effective in the use of computers. (Note when I refer to “PC” I am including Apple PC’s)

In this article, I will be discussing the PC based approach.

PC

So, what sort of PC do you need?  It is actually dependent on the software you choose to use.  The specification will generally include a “minimum” spec and a “Recommended” spec.  Definitely consider the “recommended” specification.  Then there’s hard drive space.  Surprisingly, high quality multi-track audio recording does not take up that much space when you compare it to something like video production.  In a typical video environment, you could not work with more than two or so shows with 1Tb of storage.  In the audio world, I have about 20 to 30 multitrack recordings that would be lucky to consume 40Gb.

The other thing to consider with the PC based solution is backup.  You don’t want to record the best song in the world only to lose it to a hard drive crash.

For the PC solution I highly recommend a dual head video card with two monitors.  That way you can view the recordings on one monitor and the controls on the other.

Sound Card

The sound card is extremely important.  Do not use a gaming sound card.  I don’t even care what the specs say.  Gaming cards are for gaming and you need a recording card for multitrack recording.  By far one of the best and most affordable units is the Mbox 2 by Digidesign.  It has onboard MIDI, mic preamps, phantom power, headphone amplifier and more.  It also comes with Pro Tools LE so you don’t even have to buy the software separately.  I am using the QuataFire 610 external firewire unit which works great for me.  The important thing with the sound card is that you are getting 24bit / 96Khz quality at a minimum and low latency. 

Software

Most professional sound cards come with recording software.  These are generally limited versions which may have various limitations applied such as maximum number of tracks allowed or reductions of features.  This may be fine for you.  See what the software has to offer and if it doesn’t cut it, consider a package such as Protools or Cakewalk.  I use Steinberg Cubase SX which I believe is the best for home studio as it incorporates a lot of extra features, particularly with MIDI.

These are the main things that you will require to get going.  Next you may ask “But what about microphones, mixers and MIDI devices?”.  The answer to this question depends on what instruments you would like to record.  Here is a brief run down of what you will require:

Vocals

Recording vocals in high quality requires some good stuff.  First you need a good microphone.  I use the Rode NT1000.  It’s a very high quality microphone, but best of all it’s made right here in Australia!  For that reason I would not recommend any other brand of microphone.  I used to sell Rode mics and let me tell you that I never had a disappointed customer. 

The other important item you will require for vocals is a good mic pre amp.  Many professional sound cards come with mic pre amps and they range in quality.  Fortunately I was happy with the one that came with my sound card.  If you are not happy, consider an external valve mic pre amp for the best effect.

Guitar

Recording guitar is pretty easy. For electric guitar, just mic up your guitar amp with pretty much any good dynamic microphone and you are there.  Place the mic towards the middle of the speaker cone, but not too close to the magnet. Do not plug your electric guitar straight into your sound card – it will sound terrible.  If you don’t have an amp, or you don’t like making a lot of noise like me, I use the Line 6 Pod XT Pro.  Let me tell you that I love this thing.  I can get any sound I want plus I can download settings off the internet (like that sound that was used by xxx on xxx album).  It also has a GUI PC interface.

Acoustic guitar is too easy – just plug the pickup straight into the sound card.  Or if you don’t have a pickup, mic up with your vocal mic.

Drums

Drums is the toughest thing to record.  Especially if you are choosing to record a real (acoustic) drum kit.  You will need lots of microphones of various characteristics for each drum as well as hi-hats, cymbals and overheads.  You will also either need a sound card with multiple inputs or a mixing desk to mix it down pre-recording (bad idea).  A much better way is to use software drum modules, or purchase an electronic drum kit or synthesizer.  My drummer uses the Roland TD10 electronic drum kit.

Other instruments

For other instruments including strings, synths, keys, piano etc… I recommend using a hardware synthesizer.  I use the Roland XP-30 synthesizer and I love it.  It has tons of sounds and I can pretty much find anything I want.  This covers you for almost everything.  Synthesizers will come with MIDI interfaces so it should work well with your setup.

So, you have the ultimate setup, with all the instruments you can think of.  How do you make it sound good?  It’s a good point.  You really have to know how to mix audio to be able to produce a good result.  There are plenty of online resources, but nothing beats taking a course.  In the course you get to interact directly with professional hardware and get a good grip on the practical aspect of audio recording as well as the theory.  In Australia, check out the SAE Institute.  There are also certificates / qualifications available in the industry.

I hope this article was able to give you a very brief overview of what technical requirements exist for a home recording studio.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.