$7,000 Budget for home recording studio...help!

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stevem911

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So I have a budget of $5,000 to build this, but I will go to $7,000 if I need to. The music is Indie/blues/techno. No rap or dance music. And I think this is what I need.
• 2 analog guitars inputs (wireless or wired)
• 1 controller keyboard input
• 1 additional keyboard input
• Electronic drums input (midi)
• 3 mic inputs (acoustic guitar, vocal, vocal)
• Amps to fill the room with warm sounds.
90% of the time it will be recording one track at a time with just me. Occasionally I will have others to play live with and record as well. The live play will only be 1 keyboard, 2 guitars, and 2 vocals…with a possible of drums. However our keyboard guy usually just plays the drum track. The electronic drums are mainly for me to create some drum rhythms that I like using the sticks instead of loops. (That’s the only reason for the electronic drums at this point)
So the question is 3 parts; the hardware, room setup, and the DAW software.
PC OR MAC; I am a PC guy from a tech standpoint (I could build my own pc). However I do like the Mac stability and have no problem figuring that out if needed.
HARDWARE; PC or Mac and guitar amps aside. What exact hardware (mics, interface, mixer) would you build this with and why? I do not want to keep unplugging and plugging connections is that is a huge pet peeve of mine. I want to just have a few people just show up, plug in…and play. In addition, just recording/playing solo can be just as easy. Hopefully I could build templates in the software that would allow me to do that once everything is setup.
ROOM DESIGN; the room is 15’x 11 so where would you locate the different areas? (workstation, extra keyboard, speakers, amps, mics, drums). Not worried about noise level as I live on 40 acres.
I picture a very small area for 3 people playing/recording for the following: (keyboard with vocal mic, 1 guitar with vocal mic and acoustic mic, 1 guitar with vocal mic only). I do not anticipate any more people as the room will be just too small.
 
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big balls? I guess you mean for 2-3k of the budget one could setup a damn good pc daw?
 
I spent around $1500 for my home built i7 16G beast, with 3 1TB drives and W7 Home Prem OEM. Barely needed any tweaking. Never unstable.
 
I have heard that W7 Pro has a bunch of crap that is more of a hindrance for recording. I see no reason as of yet to move to 8. IME, W7 is just peachy. :)
 
Well, you've got a lot of questions that cover A LOT of areas. Have you started browsing through the site yet?? Lots of answers already here for ya, just gotta read and read and read.

The drums will really determine what you want to buy for gear. Basic drum set up require 4 mic inputs at least. A good idea is to use a virtual drum kit like EZdrummer, Addictive Drums, Steve Slate drums, etc. They are midi based samples and can sound very good. And you won't ahve the hassles of learning how to mic a drum kit. An artform in itself. (especially if you're willing to settle for a drum machine - they never sound good)

With whatever DAW program you get, you'll be able to set up templates for your particular recording scenario. I love that feature about recording software.
 
Oh yeah, my vote is PC also. No difference in performance and wayyy cheaper.
 
On the drums, would i need 4 mic inputs for a electronic drum set? I am thinking somthing like a Yamaha DTX530K set which would would only take one midi input correct? However you are very correct the EZdrummer would be the sounds of the electronic set. But that is still just one midi input i think..unless i am missing something. What software has the best templates?
 
Nah,nah,nah I missed it. Yeah, don't need mics on an edrum kit. :o And using them to trigger a good sample kit is a great way to record drums.
 
Thanks! Did i post this on the correct forum or are their better places or websites to ask my questions? I know its mulitple parts but it is a very in depth conversation i guess. Thank you for helping!
 
stevem911 said:
Thanks! Did i post this on the correct forum or are their better places or websites to ask my questions? I know its mulitple parts but it is a very in depth conversation i guess. Thank you for helping!
Click to expand...

Ah, yeah. So, part of your post is about Studio Building, but I think you are asking a lot of newbie-type questions and this thread should be in that forum. I can move it for you.
 
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