Home Recording Tutorial – What you need to set up a minimal home recording studio

In this part of the the home recording tutorial, we’ll talk about what are the bare necessities of a bedroom home studio.

What you’ll need:

The first thing you’ll need is a good guitar with decent pickups. And by good guitar, I mean a guitar made of good, resonant tonewood, the right mix of woods, well constructed, properly intonated and in tune. This is where the signal originates (i.e. the guitar itself) so get it right. You’re never going to get a cheap $100 squier with stock pickups, 2 year old strings and terrible intonation to sound like a $2000 Strat. And now although I’m not advocating that you go and buy a $2000 Strat, you get my drift. But of course, you just might get lucky with a $100 strat: it just might be a decent piece that sounds good!

Tonewood:

This shit is important, and a lot of folks overlook the importance of great tonewood. Wood plays a huge role in defining your sound. There’s a reason a Strat sounds like a Strat, and a Les Paul like a Les Paul. There are plenty of guides all over the internet that tell you about the different kinds of tonewoods, so I’ll not be going too deep into that. Just make sure your guitar is a good quality instrument.

Intonation/tuning:

GET THAT GUITAR INTONATED, or you’re inviting a host of problems like dropping out of tune halfway through a song, chords sounding HORRIBLY off higher up the neck, and what not. Get your guitar intonated by a professional if possible. I do NOT recommend doing it yourself, because I remember the mess I made when I first tried it. Not pleasant. Get your whammy bar set up properly if you have one of those floyd style bridges. Make sure you’re perfectly in tune before you try to record anything.

Strings:

Choose the right strings! Thin strings tend to sound weak and lack punch and thickness, but it becomes increasingly difficult to play as you go up the gauges. Try different sets, and see what works for you. Metal folks prefer thick, massive strings for that beefy low end, whereas rock lead players prefer the standard 9s for their easy bendability. There are notable exceptions to both cases, though, Yngwie played 8s, and Stevie Ray Vaughn played 13s, just to name one of each.

I have found that D’Addario 10s work well for my needs. Try different sets to see what you like best.

Pickups:

Another big factor, but often given too much importance. I do agree that they’re important for great tone, but they are most definitely not the be all end all of tone. Your pickups just need to complement your tonewood nicely, like for example if you have a mahogany axe, you might want bright pickups to keep the low end intact. On the other
hand, if you have a swamp ash Strat, you might want slightly warmer pickups.

Another common debate regarding pickups is the active-vs-passive thing that you find on virtually every forum you visit these days. With the metal scene taking the world by storm, the interest in active pickups has skyrocketed. Active pickups are great: they’re tight, clear, defined, make inexpensive guitars sound relatively good, and have a megafuckton of output, if you’re into that sort of thing. But they’re also compressed and have a rather edgy sound, which works for some,
doesn’t for others. Passives on the other hand are dynamically more transparent, tend to have slightly lower output and depend more on the wood for their tone than actives. So if you have a guitar with top of the line handpicked tonewood pieces, you probably don’t want to put actives in it. Or maybe you do. It’s all a question of what kind of sound you’re going for.

Personally, I love the sound of the active EMG 85 in the bridge position of a bright sounding guitar. I’m not particularly a fan of the EMG 81, although some of my favourite tones use that pickup. You might also want to consider the Seymour Duncan Blackouts, they’re hot, tight, crisp, and clear like most actives but also boast less compression. As far as passives go, DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan have plenty of models, my personal favourite from DiMarzio would be the
Tone Zone in the bridge position of a strat. Figure out what tone you’re after, and select your pickups accordingly. Google is your best friend!

A great player:

Next, you’ll need a good player! Great tone lies in the fingers.

If you’ve ever asked a guitarist about his awesome tone after a live gig, he’s probably told you “it’s all in the fingers, man!” in that completely drunken, hippie-like tone of voice and pissed you off. Join the club. I’ve been there too. Usually, they just don’t want to spill their secrets, but then there IS some truth to the statement. How you pick, where you pick, what your pick is made of, what shoes you’re wearing, how you fret, your bending, vibrato, all have a huge impact
on your tone. Alright, maybe not the shoes. But you get my point.

No amount of post-production-tweaking can make a bad player sound like a pro. You NEED to have great chops, tight rhythm, an expressive vibrato and great bends. Practice to a metronome to tighten your chops, and the you will most definitely reap the rewards.

 A good audio interface:

An interface is next in line. You cannot plug into your line in jack and expect to sound like a guitar god. You’ll be plagued by latency issues, signal loss, noise, etc., etc. A good USB interface solves the above problems. It is essentially an
external USB Soundcard, that’s all. Use something like a Roland UA4X, M-Audio Fast track, or something similar. They are reasonably priced and get the job done fairly well. If you have the money, you might want to go for a Presonus.

Home Recording Software:

Finally, the software!

You’ll need a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). I favour Reaper, it is very powerful and free to evaluate indefinitely, and costs only $60. There are a ton of other DAWs, like Cakewalk Sonar or Cubase or ProTools, but as long as you feel comfortable with the UI, you’ll be just fine regardless of which one you use.

Next, you’ll need a software to program drums with. As a guitar player, I don’t know shit about mic’ing a drumkit. I just program everything through midi sequencing. EZDrummer is a decent drum software, or maybe XLN Addictive Drums, and if you want to spend a bomb, go buy Superior Drummer 2.0 or Steven Slate Drums or something.

You’re also going to need a few VST plugins: especially a good guitar amp simulator, something to dirty up your guitars, and also something to add reverbs, delays, and all kinds of effects to your guitar track.

Important note regarding amp sims: I STRONGLY recommend LePou’s plugins, they’re completely free and sound RIDICULOUSLY good. You’ll also need impulse responses, I recommend God’s Cabs! Again, completely free.

Here’s everything you’re going to need. In the next part of this home recording tutorial, I’ll be talking about how to set up your gear for recording.

Leave you comments below if have any questions/inputs.

See you guys next time!

<< Home Recording Tutorial – Introduction

Home Studio Equipment

The basics of how to record in your home studio, the noob way.

Gone are the days when you needed a full blown studio to lay down that simple 4 chord song that you’ve wanted to record since forever, or that crazy shred metal tune that’s been stuck in your head, or those colourful jazzy sections you just wrote.

We live in a DIY age. All you need for a home studio  these days are a guitar, an interface, and a computer, and about $500 worth of software, and you’re good to go. All in your bedroom. In fact, some of my favourite modern metal/rock albums were made like this: in some guy’s bedroom, on a small personal computer. No massive amps, mic’ing headaches, drumkit setup headaches, nothing. Technology has made recording so painless, it’s unbelievabe.

In the coming few posts we’ll get into the basics: what you’ll need for you home studio, how to set up the stuff you have, software, and the fundamentals of recording and tone. Subsequently, we’ll get into mixing guitars, bass tones, drums, vocals, and then, finally, mastering.

I’m like you guys too, just this random guy sitting in a bedroom and recording a few riffs. Even I’m still learning, so I hope even you guys can benefit from whatever little I have to offer.

Home Recording Tutorial – Part 1 – Minimum Studio Requirements >>

Home Studio Equipment

HomeStudioEquipment.org just got a new look and we want you to let us know what you think of the site!

Not only that, we have a LOT of good stuff lined up for you guys, tutorials, gear reviews, interviews and a lot more!

We have been working really hard over the last couple of weeks getting everything ready and we think that you will enjoy and learn from what we have put together for you guys.

We have a multi-part, detailed Home Studio Recording tutorial series coming up, so make sure you check it out!

Make sure you subscribe to our Newsletter so that we can send you updates as they happen! ..and if you are already subscribed on the Home Studio Equipment Newsletter… well.. thank you being awesome!

Home Studio Equipment

Yamaha HS80M Review

Yamaha HS80M, the superstructure built on the NS 10 foundation from the Yamaha stable, has carved a niche for itself as it has imbibed in it the essence of what made the NS10 great and then improved improved upon it. This ultimate reference monitor has come to stay as the most sought after accessory for any recording studio or audio post-production house that wants to be taken seriously.
The hassles of complementing it with a matching power source ( as in the case of NS 10 ) has been obviated by designing the HS80M as an active bi amped system. This provides a cushioning in the event of mid and high range harshness and because the right power source potential distortions can be minimised.
At the advent of the HS 80 M, its predecessor, namely the NS 10 has been relegated to a secondary monitor with just a “brutally honest sound”. The HS80M on the other hand is much more than that and often viewed as a comprehensive design and robust construction.

Buy Now

Features of the Yamaha HS80M:

• 120-watt Powered Speakers with an Active Bi-amped system
• XLR-1/4″ combo jack – Allows XLR and balanced and unbalanced phono inputs
• 8-inch Woofer cone and 1-inch Dome Tweeter – Polypropene cones
• Internal crossover frequency tuned to a neutral frequency response curve
• =/- 2 dB Trim Switches for Low , Mid and High frequency bands
• Complete Magnetic Shielding for reduced noise in monitoring

Sound:

The Yamaha HS80M studio monitors have now replaced the aging NS10M systems as the go to monitors for studio mixing. These have been praised for the truly accurate frequency reproduction, and when installed correctly in a studio have no need for further equaliztion to true representation of the mix. The clean and detailed reproduction of the sound with minimal noise (thanks to the complete shielding) make a Yamaha HS80M’s a great set to mix on.
Yamaha has specifically tuned these to give the truest reproduction of the sound with no frequency alteration. The trim switches for the lows, mids and highs are great for taking into account the less than ideal acoustic response of the room the monitors are installed in.

Pros:

Clean and flat response which allows for great mixing. The flat, open and honest sound with the tightly controlled bass make the HS80M’s a great monitor to mix a wide range for genres.
The trim switches for room-sculpting of the sound. The speakers are able to provide a wide spectrum and accurate stereo imaging even at low and mid level volumes, and hence, hearing fatigue is minimized with these near-field monitors.
Being Yamahas, they are solidly built with high quality components and will probably last at least a couple of decades.

Cons:

The features that are available on the Yamaha HS80M’s are average in the price range. At just $700, these monitors are a bit pricey.
The frequency response of these is designed for mixing and hence, they sound a little lacking for playback and casual listening. For using these monitors as part of hi-fi, the matched subwoofer is recommended.

Customer Reviews:

The Yamaha HS80M is the highest rated studio monitor set at zZounds. The monitors have received rave reviews from professional studio engineers using the Yamaha HS80M for mixing varied genres such as rock, country, hip-hop, psychedelic trance, dubstep, jazz, dance and indie.
To quote a few of the reviews “the truest representation of a mix that I have ever heard. You will hear your true mix and you can eq your mix to how you want it to really sound.”
“Comparables will cost you at least $200-300 more.”
“Changes my mixes for the better..”
Overall average of 4.5 / 5 stars from over a 120 reviews.

Read more reviews…

The Bottom Line:

The iconic white woofer cones are a tribute the NS10, which has been the staple for countless studios, and with the NS10 as a benchmark, the HS80M brings improved frequency response, features and convenience which makes it a must-have for any serious studio. Though the HS 80 M rests on the laurels brought by the NS 10, it is reasonably priced and will probably go on to become one of the studio staples in the years to come.

Buy Now

Home Studio Equipment

One of the most important steps to a successful recording is planning what you are gonna do even before the first take. Planning, or Pre-Production if you will, can potentially and probably save you weeks of work.

I agree. ‘Winging it’ is great when you are searching for ideas for as to what to record and you want to prod the creative part of your brain into motion. But if you try to record a full song without actually planing what you are gonna do with it, then you are setting yourself up for a tough time. Three weeks after you start the recording process, if you realize that you want to change the arrangement then you have no option but to start from scratch.

So here is simple planning guide to help you avoid most of the anguish and frustration that comes with having to scratch an almost complete recording.

First, just record a very simple demo of the track, with no metronome, don’t bother too much with how it sounds. Just make a quick dirty recording with one mic, try to keep it as quick and simple as possible and . This is quite easy if you are trying to record a singer songwriter kinda gig.

Then, take a few days to just listen to the feel of the song in its purest form. After you listen to it for a few times, you’ll get an idea of what tempo you want the song to be in and what arrangement you would like for the song and what instruments you want to add and where, note this ideas down on your little note pad. What happens at this stage is that the song’s structure changes a few times and you might add a few instrument breakdowns etc.

A killer arrangement is what seperates a mediocre song from a great one, so make sure you have worked it all out before you start the final recording process.

After you’ve noted down all your new ideas for the song, you record the click track, i.e., a basic one or two instrument track to a metronome just to get a feel of the song, in the tempo and arrangement that you’ve chosen. Again, you don’t need to make this recording sound exceptional, as you will probably re-record the instruments on this track, just make it good enough to get the feel of the song going.

Now that you’ve got the basic framework of your song down, you can start recording the other instruments according to the ideas you noted down and make it sound exactly like the way it sounds in you head!

Cheers and Happy Recording!

Home Studio Equipment

If you want to set up your own home studio, and you want to do it right, then you’ve come to the right place. This page is for those of you who have already acquired your home studio gear and are wondering how to put it all together. If you are still unsure of what gear you should get, then you should definitely sign up for the Newsletter and the Guide on the right of this text. At HomeStudioEquipment.org you will find all the resources that you need to set up a professional sounding home studio without breaking your bank.

Getting back to home studio setup. You’ve got all this shiny new gear and you want to know how to put it all together to get the most out of it. You want you studio to a creative place, a place where you spend your time creating great music. You wouldn’t want your studio to get in the way would you? You have to figure out a nice layout that allows you to hit ‘Record’ and play your instruments conveniently and also sounds accurate while you are mixing.

First and foremost, get a nice comfortable swivel office chair (without arms if you want to play your guitar sitting down) from any office supply store for your studio. You need to set everything that use often around your sitting position so that you can reach it quickly and not waste time moving around. Your MIDI controller should within arms reach of your computer keyboard and mouse so you can get your ideas into your system quickly.

I have my computer table and my keyboard at right angles to each other, so that all I have to do is swivel to the right and I can play the keyboard comfortably. I have the interfaces and the cabling on a table across from the keyboard (i.e, swivel to the left from the computer). My guitar pedals are on a board underneath the interface table. With this layout, I find that I can very quickly get around to whatever I need and help me keep up my productivity. Just sitting in the middle of this set up, I can feel that I am in the zone, and that feels awesome!

Set up your monitors so that they are pointing towards your head, so that you get perfect stereo, and make sure that your ears are not off axis with respect to the cones, as they will sound different then. The tweeter should at the level of your ears. The monitors should not be placed near the corners of the room as that will add bass to the sound.

After, you’ve set up your gear you would want to acoustically treat the room. Even a little acoustic treatment goes a long way towards improving the accuracy of the monitors. You put absorbent material like foam on the wall directly behind your head (while facing the monitors) and the wall behind the monitors. Foam on both the left and the right of head. I also have thick curtains on the windows and a cheap old carpet on the floor which helps cut some of the reverb.

Flourescent lights are known to cause hum and should be replaced with incandescent ones. I like a nice dim ambient light in my studio, so find the right bulbs that create the ambience that you want and thats about it.

The next step in taking care of the hum in your studio is making sure you AC power cables are not running parallel to your audio signal cables, as this causes noticable electrical interference that can be heard as hum. Try to keep the power and the signal cables as far away possible and when they have to cross, run them perpendicular to each other.

And that is basically how you set up a home studio. The whole point of the home studio setup is to create an environment that is conducive to creativity and is sonically accurate.

Home Studio Equipment

If you have read the “The Guide to Studio Equipment“, you probably know that you have most of the bare necessities of a studio are already in your room, like a working computer, headphones/speakers for monitoring and you can get a one of the many free sequencers out there like Reaper, if you need one.

Now, if you have a computer and headphones, you are only 2 critical components components away from a crude, yet functional home studio. All you need is an audio interface and a microphone and you can well on your way to recording your  first home recorded masterpiece.

The second step is listing out the necessities, the gaps in your signal chain (in all likelihood, it will be the above 2) and also making a studio wishlist (these would be things you’d like to have in your studio someday).

Step three, figure out how to get the first item on your necessities list. Can you possibly borrow a dusty beat up guitar processor that your rich-friend-who-doesn’t-play-guitar-anymore (don’t tell me you don’t have one of those ). Or you can get a band/acoustic/DJ gig at a pub nearby (This time ask to be paid in cash, not alcohol!)? Or just walk into your nearest music store and buy the thing off the wall. Whatever you do, just figure out what you want, how you are gonna get it, a deadline as to when to get it by and then get it!

Hopefully, you will be able to start recording very soon and make and share wide soundscapes that were previously there only in your head. It really is up to you.

While the “3 steps” above may seem like common sense to you, just knowing what piece of gear you want and the deadline by which you have to have it makes a lot of difference.

Just decide what you are gonna do and then do it. Life always favours those in motion.

What is current state of your rig? What is your most urgent necessity (in terms of your studio, of course)? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Home Studio Equipment

You want to make music, but don’t know where to start? Whether you are a multi-instrumentalist who can play 7 different instruments, a virtuoso guitarist, a singer-songwriter or you have nothing more than an urge to create, you’ve come to the right place! We will guide you thru everything from explaining how the signal chain works, to getting the right equipment, to hooking everything up, to learning how to use your studio. So basically eveything to get you from the sounds in your head to the song in your computer.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything from microphones, preamps, audio interfaces, software and your computer so that you sound good. We’ll also talk about where you can compromise and where you should not settle for anything but the best so that your home studio is best that you can have for the money.

I am Vatsan and I’ve spent the last 4 years learning how to record music and I started out with pretty much no musical skill, no budget, no know-how and a lowly laptop in my college dorm room. I spent a lot of time trolling through forums picking up tips and tricks and a pulled a lot of all-nighters figuring out how to work the free DAW. Now, I have decided to compile the useful information I’ve come across and my knowledge of gear to help those who are in the same place I was a couple of years ago.

We are at very exciting time in the history of music production, audio technology has progressed enough to give the lowly bedroom musician enough firepower to rival the sounds of the multi-million dollar studios of the pros. Anyone with a decent computer, the right software and the knowledge of how to use it can create brilliant soundscapes that you can be truly proud of.

A home studio is in itself like a musical instrument, both in terms of creative potential and also in terms of the time and effort required to learn to ‘play’ it. Bear in mind that you will have all the tools that the pros use at your disposal (albeit digital), and you can sound just as good them with knowledge and time spent at your console. All you have to do is be willing to work towards sounding great. The learning curve is steep, but you can start sounding good very soon.

This Home Studio Equipment guide is a work in progress and will be constantly updated and expanded to give you the latest developments and the best tips and tricks. To make sure that you receive all the valuable tips and tricks as they are compiled, sign up with your email on the top right sidebar of the page.

And remember, building your own home/project studio and making music is all about having fun!

Home Studio Equipment

This site is a guide to setting up your own home recording studio along with recommendations on what home studio equipment is right for you. I will take you step-by-step along the signal chain, from getting the sounds from your head into your computer!

Home Studio Equipment