Home Music Studio

Home Music Studio Basics

March 30th, 2010

Creating a home music studio can feel like an overwhelming task, here we will go over and discuss the main principles that even professional recording studios use so you can apply them in your own home music studio. The key will be to create a cost effective approach that will give you the results you want to achieve. If you understand the key principles that make a home music studio you will have a good foundation on which you can expand and grow upon.

Due to increasing consumer access to home recording software and equipment with even a modest budget one can acquire gear you need to get started in your home music studio. The basic equipment required to start a home music studio is a computer, recording software, speakers, audio interface and a microphone. This is a home music studio in its most basic form, from there you can expand to multiple outboard effects, analogue mixer, more mic pre amps and a closet full of microphones. The key is to start with the basics, get them working, and hitting the record button.

Acoustic instruments all have an individual sound because of there shape, type of strings, materials used etc.. You should think of your home music studio space as an instrument, where any room has a different sound depending on the shape, size and acoustics. For your home music studio you want your room to have a flat frequency response so that you have accurate representation of sound being played back and recorded. Without a good sounding room no matter the gear, your efforts may be in vain. Have no fear there are simple and cost effective ways to improve the sound of your room to get the most out of your recordings.

Once you have a room sounding great and equipment that suits your needs the next step will be experimenting with recording techniques and mic placement. This is the fun part because there are only guide lines no hard set rules to recording techniques and mic placement. Remember, if anyone tries to tell you there is only one way to record something, without turning your back to them, slowly make your way to the nearest exit.

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recording Equipment: Microphone Preamps

August 29th, 2010

Looking at a mixer you notice there are several strips with identical buttons on each strip. A microphone preamplifier is basically a stand alone mixer strip. When you buy a recording console you are pretty much committed to the sound quality of each strip because they are all the same. That is where a microphone pre-amp comes in. A microphone pre-amps main duty is to boost a microphones low signal to a line level that is more usable for any device you are recording too. There are plenty of variety, design, features and sound quality that allow you to mix and match different pre-amps for your recording.

The common features you will find on a microphone pre-amp is gain control which allows you to adjust the strength of the signal being picked up by the microphone, be careful because too much gain can introduce noise into the recording. Some microphone preamplifier’s come equipped with EQ (equalizer), which can cut or boost certain frequencies. A helpful side note when mixing, try to cut frequencies that you don’t need first before boosting frequencies.

A compressor is another feature found on some microphone preamplifier’s. Compression squishes the dynamic rage of a signal, then boosts that signal so that the quiet parts of a recording is louder so during a loud part of a song you can still hear the quiet acoustic guitar for example. Be careful because once you use compression on your recording you are committed to that compression. It is very hard to remove compression once you are editing.

Microphone preamps are also a great choice for systems based around a digital audio workstation which doesn’t require a big console but can use a few quality preamps which can be connected directly into an audio interface or sound card. When thinking about purchasing a microphone preamp remember that it is purely a personal choice on what you choose and make sure they come with the features you require. Microphone preamps are a very cost effective way of experimenting with your recordings so have fun.

Sometimes you will find yourself in a critical situation and a microphone preamp can offer low distortion specs, a special sound, or use of tube and integrated circuit technology, which is why microphone preamps are used. When it comes to the selection of a microphone preamp it is purely a personal choice. The days where there was only a few ways to get a great recording is gone, now you can choose from an abundance of equipment so it is important to try and test microphone preamps to find the one that will do the job you want.

PreSonus Blue Tube DP & AT2041SP Dual Mic & Preamp Package

PreSonus TUBEPre Microphone Preamp

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Zero and Ones is the Future of Home Recording

June 24th, 2010

The digital age is upon us, well its been around a long time but now more then ever. Digital recording has made it possible for everyone and anyone the oportunity to hit that big shiny record button. The power of todays computers are serving as the brains of a home recording studio, the central mainframe where all your recording equipment connects too. When thinking of a computer that you wish to use for recording there are some important components that will make your computer run smoother. Computers that run recording software smoothly, with multiple tracks, running lots of effects will have plenty of RAM, 2GB to 4GB will be plenty. Also an important component to a recording computer will be a big hard drive to store all your tracks and files, the bigger the hard drive the more information you can store on your computer. The third important component for a recording computer will be USB and Firewire inputs, lots of outboard equipment these days get connected with these two types of connections.

PCAudioLabs Rok Box i3 Desktop Computer

MusicXPC Professional 1511 Audio Production Laptop Computer

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Recording Equipment: Signal Flow

May 9th, 2010

Signal flow is something everyone who wants to have a home music studio must wrap there heads around. The creative process that goes on in your mind leaves your head then starts flowing through your recording equipment in the form of electrons running through wires. If you can understand signal flow, inputs and outputs you will be in great control of your home music studio. In the case of trouble shooting and understanding what is happening at different stages of the signal flow you can diagnose and improve your studios efficiency, making it easier to transfer your ideas into recordings more easily.

Taking a look at a simple example of signal flow involving a computer, audio interface, speakers and one microphone: This is how you should train yourself when thinking about the signal flow in your home music studio, it’s all about Inputs and Outputs.

music starts with a sound source, the sound comes OUT of the instrument which then goes into the microphone, the electrons move along the microphone cable and then goes IN the audio interface. So you will connect your microphone to the input of your audio interface. Now the electrons are swimming inside your audio interface and they need to go OUT to your speakers. Now your speakers are connected to the output of your audio interface. Because your audio interface serves two purposes (talked about below) there are both inputs and outputs on an audio interface:

1.) an audio interface converts the audio signal coming from an instrument into a digital signal that can be understood by your computer.
2.) playback the digital signal from the computer and make it analogue for the speakers to play.

So in this case there is an output on an audio interface for the speakers to connect too as well as either USB or firewire that serves as an input connection to the computer so now signal can flow into the computer.

This is the most basic set up you can find but if you wrap your head around the IN and OUT concept you can add to this set up by adding keyboards, synthesizers , mixers, cd players, effects and so on.

PreSonus Audiobox USB Recording Package

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home recording studio equipment techniques

April 17th, 2010

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Frequency Response

April 13th, 2010

Just like how you can find nutritional information on food, frequency response is something you can find on any microphones specifications. Frequency response of a microphone is basically a measure of that microphones characteristic or coloration of frequencies that the microphone outputs, assuming you play a steady signal at a certain volume or decibel (db). Again every microphone has its very own frequency response and I will show you how they look in a graph and will use a Shure SM57 for demonstration. The horizontal axis of the graph shows frequencies from 20hz to 20khz which is the scope of human hearing, and the vertical axis shows the response in decibels in respect to a certain frequency.

So what we can see here is that from 50 hertz to about 200 hertz the Shure SM57 has little response to lower frequencies. Although after that from about 200hertz to 1500 kilohertz the microphone has a flat frequency response meaning that there is no coloration in those frequencies so you will get an accurate recording in that range of frequencies. After that point going into higher frequencies the characteristics of the microphone start to color the higher frequencies. So armed with this knowledge of a microphones frequency response you can apply microphones to specific recording situations or do different types of experimenting. Just remember, when you are utilizing your home music studio you need to remember that these specifications are guidelines and you should feel free to experiment any way you choose.

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Microphones

April 12th, 2010

Microphones are usually the first device in your home music studio signal flow. Microphones are a transducer, meaning they convert one type of energy (sound waves) into another type of energy (electrical signals). Depending on the quality of the microphones pick up, the design, placement and acoustic environment a microphones sound quality changes. The information here is just to get you thinking about the microphones in your home music studio or microphones you’re thinking of purchasing. There is however, one rule and that is that there are no rules, only guidelines, so get excited if you find a five dollar microphone at a pawn shop because it might record the sound you want. By understanding the basic principles of microphones you can apply them to the right recording situations.

Types and design:

The first type of microphone we will talk about is the dynamic mic. The dynamic microphone works on the theory of electromagnetic induction. This means that sound pressure hits the diaphragm causing the coil to to move in and out. The coil is situated between a magnet, and that magnet gives of an electrical output signal when the coil moves in and out. An example of a a dynamic microphone would be the shure beta 58a. This type of microphone does not require phantom power when plugged into a mixer so its a great starter microphone. An advantage of Dynamic microphones is they are built sturdy and are often used in live performances because they can take a beating and are commonly found in the studio.

Another type of microphone is the ribbon microphone, The ribbon microphone works on the same electro magnetic theory of the dynamic microphone. There are however two main differences, one is that the ribbon microphone is very fragile and needs to be handled carefully due to the thin diaphragm that looks like a thin piece of corrugated cardboard but is actually made of aluminum. Since the ribbon microphone is more fragile and has a thinner diaphragm the output signal is weaker and requires a step up transformer (phantom power) to boost the recorded signal. When an input signal (instrument) is picked up it will move towards the magnetic creating an electrical signal.

A fairly popular type of microphone used in recording is the condenser microphone. The condenser microphone works on the theory of electrostatic principle, which simply means there are two plates; one movable (the diaphragm), and one plate, which is fixed. These two plates form a capacitor and electrical signal that passes through will move these plates together or move them apart. This movement determines the amount of signal being picked up by the input source. Condenser microphones require power for them to work so they do require phantom power. Condenser microphones are widely used in recording situations because of there warm “tube” sound and even harmonic distortion.

Shure SM57 Instrument/Vocal Mic

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Recording Equipment

April 9th, 2010

When it comes to home recording equipment what you get depends on your budget. I do however believe that equipment doesn’t make the recording, the artist does. Moving forward with the mind set that most of you will have a budget and still want to make quality recordings we will continue. Home recording equipment can be as simple as a computer, recording software, audio interface, microphone and powered speakers. We will look deeper into these individual elements and understand the importance of them because once you understand what each piece of equipment does you can expand your equipment in your home music studio.

The computer serves as the central piece of equipment where everything will be connected to; a central machine where you can control all your equipment. The set up I recommend to get started requires a computer that has at least the minimum requirements recommended by the home recording software you have chosen. In my opinion for a home music studio the platform you choose whether PC or Mac doesn’t play an enormous role, there are great products that support both platforms so don’t let deciding on a platform derail you from things that are more important.

An audio interface is another piece of the home recording equipment that will be required in your signal flow. The audio interface serves the function of transforming an analague input, such as an instrument or microphone and transforming that input signal into a digital signal that a computer can understand. Vice Versa an audio interface will have outputs that you can connect your speakers so digital audio signal from the computer will be transformed into an analogue signal for your speakers to play. An external audio interface is extremely handy and is basically your sound card that connects via fire wire or usb to your computer. There is plenty of variety when it comes to picking an audio interface and it is important to pick one that will work best for what you want to record.

Your audio interface isn’t much use until you get a microphone to hook into it. Microphones are very important tools and there are lots of different types at different price points. If you’re choosing your very first microphone you need to think about what you plan on recording. There are microphones with different varieties of diaphragms, frequency responses, prices…etc. Read my article on microphones to learn more about microphones and microphone placement.

Last and maybe one of the most important pieces of home recording equipment is the speakers. There are powered speakers, which are speakers with amplifiers built into them which can be directly connected to an output channel. Un-powered speakers, which are speakers that just contain a speaker and a box and you can pick and choose an amplifier to connect to it. You see this type of speaker in car audio systems where you have a sub woofer connected to an amplifier separately. The main thing to keep in mind when choosing your speakers (monitors) for your home studio is actually the frequency response of the speakers and that they play back sound without any coloring of certain frequencies. In other words your monitors should have a flat frequency response and be powered so that it plays back sound as close to the original recording.

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Audio Software

March 30th, 2010

Picking an audio software can feel like a daunting task but I will break down the key points to keep in mind when choosing your audio software. Key points to keep in mind when deciding on what software to use is, make sure you know exactly what you want to achieve from your audio software. For example, do you want to make beats, use midi, create sounds with synthesizers, record live instruments or all of the above. Once you know specifically what you want to do with the software you next need to consider software compatibility, This means if you buy audio software for your home recording studio and later want to transfer your project to another studio to work on, will your files be compatible with other types of audio software.

Another bit of detail to consider is whether you want to use a PC or Mac computer. When it comes to this decision people will have there own opinions which is fine but realistically there is great software for a home music studio on both PC and Mac. If money is an issue and you are on a PC don’t feel like you can’t continue creating your home music studio just because you don’t have a mac computer and vice-versa. Since there are certain software that only run on mac or only run on PC make sure the software you choose will run with whatever platform you choose.

Another important consideration you should make before deciding on a home recording software is the audio interface. These devices connect to your computer with USB or Firewire so make sure your computer has usb or firewire depending on the audio interface. The purpose of these converters is to convert the analogue signals (wave forms) of an input source like an instrument into zeros and ones that a computer can understand and vice versa to take the zero and ones that a computer understands and spit it out your speakers in wave forms. It is becoming common now for various types of recording equipment being compatible with firewire and USB so make sure you have plenty of ports to accomodate for recording equipment.

Whatever you do do not get too hung up on the details of home recording software, because the software is not the key to a successful recording. Whether you use garage band, protools, cubase, reason, Cakewalk, etc. does not mean the difference between a good and bad recording. At the end of the day your skills as an artist is what will make you sound great. Just keep in mind the points made above the things and make a decision that fits your budget and get started on RECORDING. Once you get used to using any home recording software that knowledge will transfer to any other kind of home recording software, so just get yourself started!