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By Daniel Spils and Dynasty Williams
 In this tough economy, everyone is looking for ways to cut costs. If you're a recording artist, that way might just be to cut out the current studio where you make your music. But pause, that doesn't mean that you stop recording. Recording costs can range in price from as little as 25 dollars an hour for a basic studio, to 500 dollars an hour for a more refined studio. Either way, the money adds up over the time span of a few songs or an album.
Building your own studio at home can be a great way to save that money and invest it back in yourself. Also if your studio functions well, it can be a source of income for other artists looking to record. Daniel Spils has written an informative article that explains the basics surrounding a home studio. Learn on...
How I did it:
I
just finished putting together a recording studio in my basement fully
equipped to record a live drum set. It didn't occur to me when I began
that recording drums (or not) is the fundamental question when deciding what gear to buy and how to build a home recording studio. For example:
Not recording drums? You'll need:
- computer
- recording software
- 1 to 3 microphones
- 1 preamp & AtoD converter
- cables, monitors, mic stands, odd 'n ends
The no-live-drums option gets even easier if you're composing
without live instruments, in which case you'll only need one microphone
and preamp for vocals (if you plan on vocals at all).
Recording drums? You'll need:
- computer
- recording software
- 5 to 10 microphones
- 5 to 10 preamps
- cables, monitors, mic stand, odd 'n ends
- a room large enough to facilitate a drum set
The microphones and preamps will drive up the cost and complexity
of your studio as will the need for a live room that can handle a drum
set. In my case I built a rehearsal space in my basement a few years
back so building a drum room wasn't the issue. Here's my studio gear list.
In
the end any software will work (Logic, ProTools, Cubase, Digital
Performer, the list goes on). But by choosing to record drums you
definitely go down a more complex road. One where mic choice, mic
placement, enough preamps with AtoD converters, cables and mic stands
are required.
Okay, so once you decide on the drums vs. no drums
issue you're well on your way. There are plenty of decisions about
which mics to buy, but I'll leave that up to your research. You can see what I ended up using and check out this article.
I ended up soldering my own mic cables to custom lengths - this saves a
couple hundred bucks and you end up with better quality cables in the
size you need.
The big issues I encountered were related to gear
choice. I'm going to make a few modern assumptions and layout what I
think is a decent solution for someone who wants to have fun or for the
purpose of releasing music to the world. There can be a lot of
professional hand-waving about what you can and cannont do in a home
studio but the reality is that computers have shrunk the studio to the
point that you can record "professional" sounding tracks in your
basement. Seriously. My assumptions:
- You'll use computer software to record (ProTools, Logic, Cubase, Digital Performer, etc.)
- You'll choose a firewire preamp/AtoD (analog-to-digital) convert
1 is somewhat obvious nowadays. Analog is cute, but who can afford
to go down that road? 2 can be a bit of a culture war, but although
better sounding by some ears, analog preamps are expensive! If you get
a decent firewire box you'll save tons of money and the technology is
only getting better. In my case I'm currently using a Mackie Onyx 1200F.
I'm marginally satisfied with this specific device, but totally sold on
concept of using a firewire device for plugging mic cables into with a
preamp in place and an Analog to Digital converter for translating the
sound into 1s and 0s for your computer to chew on.
When I
started putting together the studio I understood the need for
microphones to transmit the sound and the computer software to capture
and edit the sound. I did not understand why preamps are
required and what an Analog to Digital converter meant. Basically, you
need as many preamps and AtoD converters as you'll be recording live
tracks simultaneously. Many firewire devices include these together -
that is, for every preamp there is an AtoD converter. In my case, I'm
recording 8 tracks of drums and one guitar all live at the same time
and the Mackie box has 12 preamps and AtoD converters so my 9 live
tracks are covered. However, there are lots of 8 channel firewire boxes
that may only include 4 preamps or no AtoD converters, and that can't
handle my 9 simultaneous inputs. Let me back up, you need to plug every
mic into a preamp to give it volume and a decent sound ... and you need
that sound converted to a digital signal. That's where the AtoD
converter is comes into play.
Now, some pictures of the studio:
the back of my portable studio that I can roll around the room (and even outside the room for overdubs):
a
junction box for plugging all the drum mic cables - this snake then
goes to the back of my firewire box (see the picture above)
the drums all mic'd up (this picture doesn't reflect my new AT 4047 overhead mics):
Lessons & tips:
- Carefully consider whether recording live drums is important enough to justify the cost and hassle
- Talk
to as many people with professional and home studios as possible. I
learned 80% of what I needed to know by interviewing 4 studio owners
(from home studio to big professional studio owners). Their opinions
and solutions differed drastically and I was forced to learn by way of
their disagreement.
- consider using an audio snake
to reduce the clutter of long cables from instruments (in my case the
drums) to the DAW (digital audio workstation). I never understood the
benefit of using a snake until a friend gave me one and then I was
like, "ohhhhh ... how convenient to not have a bunch of long mic cables
strung across the room!"
additional sources www.43things.com
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