Wavefoundry.files.wordpress.com



July 2015A GUIDE TO SETTING UP YOUR OWN HOME RECORDING STUDIO952512065The concept of Home recording studio is now common than ever. Domestic studios are now capable of producing results that previously would have required an expensive commercial studio. This is partly because of the easy affordability of computers and audio equipment. Setting up a recording space used to take a lot of planning, research and preparation and not to mention a heavy budget. With advancements in Digital audio technology, Now, Pretty much anyone with a computer and a few bits of affordable gear can get great results if they are prepared to invest the time in learning the basics.In this multi part series I would like to discuss with you some essential things you would need to start you off as a music producer a programmer or a sound engineer and how you can go about deciding wisely on what to buy and what not to buy. The option with studio gear is way too many these days. It could be a little confusing to you on deciding what’s essential to you and what’s not. This series will give you a basic road map and a guide to how you can spend your hard earned money wisely. Believe me it could get expensive if you’re not.LET’S JUMP RIGHT IN!First things first-3810043815Before we go any further i would like to give you a basic idea on the space you would be choosing as your?set-up. Be sure to think about the noise factor - Think about where your room or space is located. Are you too close to the laundry room?. is the room too close to the traffic outside? is there a temple or a factory. Having these in mind will help you in the future to treat the room acoustically with panels and sound insulations which will help you correct those problems but We are not going to go there right now coz room treatment and isolations is a whole other topic. Like I said let’s keep it simple for now. What you do need right now is One main desk a few chairs that do not squeak. Gear404812558420I know that by now you would itching spend the money on buying the studio gear we have been dreaming about but before you do that I would like to point out that the engineer’s experience behind the?gear?plays?the most important role and not the gear itself.?New producers, mixing and mastering engineers spend tons of money upgrading the gear because they think that’s the reason their mixes can’t touch the commercial sound. One the main reason I decided to choose this topic is to prove that the basic low-budget gear along with some VST plugins are more than enough for you to produce a commercial?sounding track. It all comes down to how efficiently you use a piece of equipment and how much time you spend on it, experimenting with it. With any startup home recording setup there are 8 essential things that you will have to look into buying.A ComputerDAW(Digital Audio WorkstationSound Card (Audio Interface)Studio Monitors A HeadphoneA MicrophoneCablesMic Stand.The Computer51244501374775This will be the heart of your recording studio setup. Computer these days comes in numerous shapes, sizes and configurations. It could be overwhelming for you to decide on which one to go for. I will try to give you a basic guide line so it be a little more easier for you decide. One major difference in going for a PC and a MAC apart from their OS (Operating System) and their adaptability to various DAW’s is Windows is completely customizable to your need while the MAC comes with a pre selected factory configurations.(This is something you will need to look into). Let’s look at some basic but Essential components you need to look into before investing on a computer: (PC)CPU : No matter what platform you decide to go with (PC or MAC). The hardware that’s inside the computer plays a vital role in determining how efficiently your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) works. As a general rule its always better to get the fastest processor you can afford. The latest Intel I7, More specifically: I7-4770 or i7-4770k I7-4790 or i7-4790k-85725192405RAM : Ideally 16 GB of RAM is more than sufficient for audio production. Installing more than 32 Gb of RAM is unnecessary for almost all music production purposes, spend the money on your CPU, audio interface, video card or?plugins. When installing 8 or 16 Gb of RAM make sure you do so in a way that leaves a pair of RAM slots free for future upgrades (RAM usually installs in pairs).?5753100-1270HARD DISK: [SSD (Solid State Disk) vs Traditional (Magnetic disk)?] SSD's are great achieving fast boot times, initial program loading and with programs that thrash the HDD). The biggest factor for music production HDD's is hosting audio files and sound libraries. For most users will need a 1+ TB HDD. While a SSD will load projects faster, I don't load/save projects all that often so i rank a SSD fairly low on this list of priorities. Any traditional 7200 RPM HDD should serve you well, given large SSD's are still prohibitively expensive. The smart solution for now is to have a ~250 GB SSD 'boot drive' (holding the OS + programs) and a 1 or 2 TB magnetic HDD for your personal data.Apple Computer6667569850Apple Mac OS X computers are useful for composing, recording and editing music. Many musicians and producers depend on Mac hardware for their work. But choosing which Mac is the best computing option for a musician isn't easy: Apple creates a wide range of Mac OS X notebooks and desktop computers, at a range of prices. ?But although all Apple Macs are great, some are better suited to making music than others. It can be a tough call for musicians to get the right Mac for their needs and budgets.Some key things to keep in mind :RAM?- buy as much as you can. 8GB is NOT enough and will be a bottleneck not matter how fast your processor will be. About 16 GB of RAM is ideal for audio production work. Keep in mind that most Macs now cannot be upgraded later for more RAM as it was possible in the past.SSD?- If you record audio or use big Sample Libraries, this is where the main throughout bottleneck comes in. Prices come down, but again, keep in mind that you might not be able to upgrade later.CPU?- Now, whatever is left in your budget, get the fastest CPU OS – Though Yosemite is apples latest operating system. Mountain Lion seems to be the stable one of all for audio production apart from mavericks. The latest IMAC’s do work without a hitch on Yosemite, But if you have an IMAC that’s about 3-4 years old its better you stick with Mountain Lion.One foot note before you decide to go PC or MAC is the kind of DAW you intend to use. DAW like Logic pro only works on a MAC platform. While there are a whole bunch of others like ableton live, protocols, studio one etc that supports both platforms. So deciding the right DAW for you would be the first step before you setup your computer.I hope the information I provide would be a guiding line for you to take the crucial step in setting up you own little space to record music. In my next blog we will look in depth on the various DAWS’ out there. It will am sure help you decide on the one that’s apt for you! If you like this kindly subscribe to our monthly newsletter @ wavefoundry.inThank you ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download