For Beginners: 5 Steps to Set Up A Studio

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:02 pm

Hey... Here's an article I wrote once for beginners.
This is pretty much basic stuff, but I hope it helps people who are new to this. Rolling Eyes

Home Recording Studio for Beginners

Are you contemplating setting up your own home recording studio? This is a big step, one that will require hours of work and hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. However, it may be the deciding factor in getting you and your musical career the recognition and compensation you deserve. Here are a few simple steps to setting up your home recording studio.

Choose Your Room

Ideally, it should be large and rectangular with as few corners and angles as possible. Unless you have the most tolerant (and quiet) neighbors in the world, soundproofing is an absolute must.

Choose Your Weapon

In this case, that would be your computer. Because the recording industry is drifting away from analog recording, digital formats will be a better long term investment for the home recording studio. Make sure the computer you select has the high octane memory and sound card quality you need for your projects.

Choose Your Software

At the very least, you will need a music sequencing software, which will make it easy for you to record, correct, mix, and master your music. You may also want samples, which are cuts of music or sounds that can be mixed in with your music. These are just two of the hundreds of types of programs, but they are basic enough for a beginner and versatile enough for a beginner with big dreams. Start with these and add extras as you deem necessary.

Choose Your Hardware

This means your microphone and, if you decide you need one, your mother keyboard. A mother keyboard will work with your computer to help you easily manipulate tracks. It will take a short learning period to learn how to use one, but it is a time saver in the long run. You will also want to buy high quality cables and connectors, because the cheaper ones can cause feedback and humming.

Configure

Once you have selected your programs and equipment, you only have to set up. Acoustics are the biggest challenge in a home recording studio, so you may have to try several different configurations before you find the set-up that works best for you and your recordings. The key is to experiment and keep experimenting until you are one hundred percent happy with your results.

There you have, in five easy steps, the instructions for setting up the home recording studio that will bring you the musical success and recognition you deserve. Home recording studios are the best way to get musical experience without the expense of professional recording studios, so every dollar you spend will be working overtime.

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:26 pm

That is a very nice idea, and a good start. There are some parts I don't agree with, and others that are not quite correct.

1. Saying that "getting you and your musical career the recognition and compensation you deserve" can be accomplished by building your own recording studio is naive. It can take a long time whether or not you have a studio. In fact, with the number of home studios popping up it's probably not economical for your music career. It's probably cheaper to work on your songs at home, and go to a local studio to record your albums.

2. Sound treatment is also very important, arguably more so than sound proofing.

3. Don't use the internal sound card. Use an audio interface.

4. You don't need "sequencing" software unless you are sequencing. I would recommend starting with recording software.

5. Bad cables don't cause feed back.

6. The article lacks any information about how to make a selection.

7. I'm going to stop here. I need to get back to work.

Just trying to help here. Very Happy

This reminds me in some ways of the Joshua Recording Studios thread.

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:54 pm

yeah, this could get interesting

The Joshua and JP threads should be required reading for first time posters

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:24 pm

Yeah... this is not a bad idea in concept, but I gotta agree with Gecko. Even with the best intentions, it is kind of suspicious when someone's initial posting in the forum is along the lines of "let me impart my wisdom to the noobs" and then "5 easy steps" follow. Especially when some of those steps are at best incomplete (no mention of a preamp anywhere?) and at worst just wrong (sequencing software?), even to a part-time hobbyist like me.

Perhaps we could take this one step at a time?

I would suggest step one is: define what you are trying to achieve. What style of music, instruments, etc do you want to work with - and *why* do you want to make recordings? At the risk of hijacking the thread, perhaps DennisGal could share with us some thoughts on that aspect?

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:48 pm

DennisGal wrote:

Hey... Here's an article I wrote once for beginners.

You should have wrote it a couple of more times. You would then be able to smell the rotted spam. This is not even a good beginners article. Well, it may be, but I think YOU are the beginner Wink

This doesn't even rate with JP22, not even.

But it is spam so it deserves to be canned.

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:54 pm

Ahh, Brien is right. I hadn't noticed the sig until now...

would you like a side of spam with that spam?

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:57 pm

"Here's an article I wrote once for beginners."

Go the way of YellYo... Away.

Spam in a cardboard box.

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 12:55 am

What Spam?
This guy knows "the TRUTH"!
He is the Messiah of home recording.

Amen!
Cheers to the 5 easy steps!

And now sorry but I gotta go: I have a home studio to build!

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:03 am

He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty troll!

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:39 am

Curiosity killed the cat? Ok I had to click the link. This isn't spam. He's saving us from looking at his site by posting his entire site here. No you don't have to click on the link because you've already read everything he has to say on his "site". Thanks Dennis. I was worried that you wouldn't get all of the essentials of recording into 5 paragraphs but you did it!

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:54 am

Whatever.

If he wants to be a "messiah" he can look forward to a good poke from some Romans then good book sales figures. Posthumous of course.

The post is vague, only slightly encouraging in the fact you should keep messing with thing till you're happy with them. But as to pushing digital... Pfft... And I like rooms with angles. A box is easy to fill with punch but a dodecahedron can really hum.

It's all opinions.

The OPs' just smell like canned spiced ham.

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:11 am

Sarcasm just doesn't come across as well in print.

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:46 am

My reply was not to your post Hueseph.

I haven't clicked his link. Is it just what he posted here or was that the sarcasm?

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:31 am

Greener wrote:

My reply was not to your post Hueseph.

I haven't clicked his link. Is it just what he posted here or was that the sarcasm?

Sorry bout that. I thought you were responding to my bit of sarcasm. Yeah his site is pretty much what he posted here and that's it. No other pages or links. If only I had known that building a home studio could be summized in 5 simple points, I wouldn't have spent all that money on school. For a few thousand dollars I would already have the recognition I deserve as a musician and engineer. Laughing

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:32 am

Some stuff I don't agree with. Nice idea, poor implementation. Read on...

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