Start up Studio

[menziro]

Hi

I want to finally do something about my passion in life, making music. Last year I bought myself a guitar , this year I want to build a home studio. With all of that I'm also enrolling later in the year for sound engineering classes.

What I need for now is a breakdown of every piece of equipment I will need to setup a studio in my garage, I will try and source the equipment or the equivalant here in South Africa.

Thanks in advance for your help.

menziro

 

[kidkage]

Well, Tim is m.i.a at the moment. So I'll do this for him:

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $16
Amazon.com: Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies (9780470385425): Jeff Strong: Books

PC Recording Studios for Dummies - $16
Amazon.com: PC Recording Studios For Dummies (9780764577079): Jeff Strong: Books
(Wish I'd had those when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
Amazon.com: Recording Guitar and Bass: Getting a Great Sound Every Time You Record (9780879307301): Huw Price: Books
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

Home Recording for Beginners by Geoffrey Francis
Amazon.com: Home Recording for Beginners (0082039538815): Geoffrey Francis: Books

When you get a bit into it, I highly recomend The Art of Mixing by David Gibson
Amazon.com: The Art of Mixing: A Visual Guide to Recording, Engineering, and Production (9781931140454): David Gibson: Books

A MUST READ: Kim Lajoie's "Lifesigns from studio" - FREE - http://www.errepici.it/web/download/KLBD.asp

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at Tape Op Magazine

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Also, on a personal note, if you put in enough hardwork and research online, in books, hands on with your own stuff or at a studio you can get in to a sound engineering class might not be too necessary. I mean, at the end of the course that's what youre going to have to do anyway... so why not cut out the middleman !?

it's your life though. do what makes you happy.

 

[menziro]

Great suggestion, I have nothing but time, so I'll do just that. Thanks for a great reply.

 

[Steenamaroo]

This isn't really gear related but just general advice in terms of learning home recording.

Just record,record,record.

I'm not a songwriter so for a while at the start I just recorded when friends wanted to. I was learning at a snails pace until I figured screw it, why not just record a cover song every day/week/whatever.
Even if it never get's finished it doesn't matter. It's a really fast learning curve that way.

Don't even limit yourself to stuff that's within your means. Pick a song where the vocal is far too high for you so you have to find your own way to deal with it, for example.
Next day, bury it and start again.

I have a folder of a few hundred covers, ideas, clips, tests etc and I can honestly say they taught me far more than a college degree.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no pro, but the above definitely helped.
Hope that's useful.

 

[Dawfreak]

Start of with getting a small little audio interface and a recording software,
and work your way up... small steps..
patience and trial is the way to go.