Home Based Digital Recording

    More recently than ever, recording artist have taken the power away from the major recording studios and into their own precisely created digital worlds. This new refined era in technology allows for one to create complete masterpieces in the comfort of their own homes.  Digital recording is becoming more affordable and a preferred method to many musical enthusiasts. In fact, one would surprised to find out just how many major artist create their chart-topping hits in their home based recording studios, then send the pro-tools session off to these multi-million dollar studios for the real magic that happens during the mixing and mastering session.

   So if you are considering setting up your own recording studio in your home, with limited funds, let me offer some guidance. 

 First and most importantly you must consider your budget. Lets say you have $2500, which is a fairly small budget but is very manageable, and we are going to….. guitar-center! Now for this example, we are assuming that you already have a computer, a pc. What I would first suggest is to purchase your recording software. Now the industry standard is pro-tools so we are going start there. When purchasing pro-tools you would want to buy one of the m-box bundle packages that include the recording interface which will run you about $500.

 So now you are at $2000.  Next you need a microphone, which is an essential part of your recordings sound quality.  We are going to go with the Neumann TLM 102 Condenser mic, which will run you about $650. The Neumann brand is very good, and they have a good reputation for delivery a good industry sound. 

Now with $1350 left, we need monitors. For a whole lot of speaker at small price, you want to go with the Yamaha HS50M. These monitors reasonably priced at $450, will give you an honest mix and are the preferred choice for industry professionals. 

With $950, left you next want to purchase 2 sets of headphones. With the proposed budget, this component will be based on mere preference to the individual but you should not consider spending no more than $150 dollars for both pairs, which now leaves you at $800. 

With the major components of your recording studio complete, you are now able to freely spend the remaining funds as you please. Some of you may be producers and may consider investing in a midi controller or sound-bank samples. Others of you may be interested in engineering and may choose to invest in good mixing plug-ins. Hopefully this has been beneficial to your home-based recording studio needs.