studio essentials

[jingleheimer]

Well im a newbie so bear with me, i just wanted to know what the essential things i need to have a good sounding recording and or room. I have spent some time in my friend and I's "studio" but it just sounds like its lacking. so if anyone could please give what they think are the essentials of a studio i would very greatfull. Thank you -Jingleheimer-





P.S. thank you to all the experianced folks on this site for helping us ameatures

[mshilarious]

Well, you can track in a crap room, but that's going to demand certain techniques that exclude other options, especially anything that needs distance. You can track in all sorts of rooms with cool or weird sounding reverb, but if that's your only room, do you want that sound on everything you record?

Once you're done tracking, you have to mix, and that's going to require a decently treated, appropriately shaped/sized space to get right. It's enough work that most homereccers are happy to have that one good room.

So it's hard to answer in strictly hypotheticals. I could say have a 300 sq ft trapezoidal room with a 10' ceiling and the slanty walls on the long dimension, with adequate bass trapping, and absorption around the mix position, but ultimately you have to take what you have or can get and work that in with your budget.

What are you working with now that you find to be lacking?

But you asked for essentials, so here's my list:

1) Absorption, especially low frequency
2) Decent monitors
3) Three decent mics on three reasonably solid stands. Which types of mics depends on the style of music, but I think three is a pretty good number.
4) Enough isolation to record the type of music. Example: rock drums and guitar don't need a lot of isolation to record, but might need isolation to avoid annoying neighbors. Classical guitar needs an isolated space or noise will show up on the recording.

[ryanlikestorock]

Start with a decent soundcard. I have an M-Audio Delta 1010lt on one of my computers and it sounds fine. A HUGE step up from anything that comes with your computer.

Read as much as you can about microphones and what people say about them. There is tons of information on these message boards. When someone mentions a kind of mic, look it up on ebay to see what it looks like and approximately how much it is. After a few weeks of doing this, you'll have a good idea what's out there.

A Shure SM57 is pretty much the standard dynamic mic. It's the go-to mic for snare drum and guitar in most home studios and you can get one pretty cheap (less than $80-100) without much trouble.

Vocals and more detailed instruments sound good through condenser mics. There are many in the $150 range that get decent reviews. You'll notice a much different sound from the dynamic mics.

Decent preamps are important. If you're on a budget, get a small mixer to do your drums and one more expensive (read: better) channel for your overdubs. Again, read these boards and do research to figure out what's going to work best for you. I have the JoeMeek ThreeQ here for quick overdubs and it sounds great for the price ($150ish).

The difference between $100/channel and $250+ channel for preamps is a pretty big one. If you can afford it, take the step up if you plan on doing this for a while.

Nice sounding instruments played by great musicians are always going to sound better than bad instruments and musicians, regardless of the recording equipment.

Good luck!

[bcains]

PC or Mac: Either platform will work. Most available PCs and Macs have more than enough power to handle home recording.
I would suggest at least one (1) gig of RAM would be good and two (2) hard drives both at least @7,200 RPM's

Audio Interface: This add-on hardware, which can range from a simple audio card to a multi-channel external interface,
allows you to transfer analog music to your computer in a digital form.
e.g Delta 1010, Delta 44/66, Echo Layla, Digi 001/002.

Software: This might be Digidesign’s Protools, Steinberg’s Cubase, or a number of available software products.
Like Cakewalk, Tracktion etc.

Good Space: Don't underestimate the importance of this, the last thing you want is your perfect take ruined by the rumble of the garbage truck lumbering down the block or a nasty sounding echo from your low-ceilinged, square room. The easiest way to make a bad sounding room sound good is have quality room treatment like Sonex panels, RPG Diffusors and Bass Traps etc.

Microphones/Stands SP B1s', MXL V67, SM 57 etc
Monitors: Passive or Active. KRK V4, BX8/5s or Tannoy Reveals, Truths
Hardware: DI and Patchbay
Mixer and/or Preamps

Than you can expand with hardware like compressors and effects. Or you can use the plug-ins which ever you'd rather.

[thane1200]

Lava Lamp. Sorry, it had to be said

[bcains]

Originally Posted by thane1200

Lava Lamp. Sorry, it had to be said

What about the black leather couch...

[thane1200]

Originally Posted by bcains

What about the black leather couch...

Damn, I don't have one of those............

[jingleheimer]

although i dont have a lava lam or couch i do infact have a collection of interesting lamps. well back to the subject i would just like to thank all of you guys for the suggestions. It helps me see that i need to get a few things namely a decent interface and probably some better preamps. so thanks again for helping me get my prioritys straight

[Dani Pace]

Chances are that you know more about computers than I do so I wont go into that part. To get the best sound on recordings though, imo, you have to start with the best sound. Good musicians are vital, bad ones just sound like crap. Good instruments just sound better on recordings than their cheaper cousins. A good place to record, sounds good to play in and with enough room for everything (and everyone) you want to record. Get past these obstacles, add in your recording gear and go for it!!!

[frederic]

Originally Posted by jingleheimer

wanted to know what the essential things i need to have a good sounding recording and or room.

Talent and good spelling. ;-)

[Velvet Elvis]

Oh come on frederic... we know that's not true, as you have a nice sounding room!!

KIDDING!

I actually agree with frederic... the best sounding room in the world means nothing if you have no idea how to capture what's in it or have no idea how it translates to other rooms/playback systems.

Learn how to listen in the space you have... once your room is reasonable sounding, listen to CDs that you like the sound of and get to know how they sound in your room. You will quickly learn where your problematic areas are and can then either address them or learn to deal with them (because you may not have endless amounts of cash and materials to fix the root problem).

Velvet Elvis