Home Studio Recording Equipment: Home Music Studio Essentials

hello and welcome back to my newest video on home recording made easy in this video we're going to take a close look at home studio recording equipment it's a whistle-stop tour of all the essential gear and software you need to make high-quality recordings on your computer or iPads so we'll have a look at the software what is an audio interface and whites at the heart of your home studio what is a MIDI controller do you need one microphones audio cables and connectors and studio monitors and headphones so all the basics of a home recording studio now you may not need all this stuff but by the end of this video you should have a good basic understanding of what all the components do so you can choose the best home studio recording equipment for you based on your budget and your recording needs so let's grab a coffee and dive in [Music] so whatever you want to record with your home studio recording equipment whether it's voiceovers vocal tracks acoustic instruments keyboard MIDI tracks you have one simple goal that is get high quality sound in and out if we start at the heart of your home studio it is your computer or tablet and your recording software this is where you record edit mix and share your recordings whether it's simple tracks or complex multitrack Technic compositions but before you worry too much about the software it is important to get the hardware right because no amount of fabulously featured recording software will make up for poor quality studio hardware so let's come back to the software and focus on your recording hardware so we're going to start by getting good sound into your recording software and it all starts with your audio interface which is at the heart of your home studio now your audio interface should have the right number and the right types of inputs for all the signals you want to record at the same time so you might want get our import line import mic input but remember you can overlay tracks so the important things to make sure you've got the right kinds of imports and then make sure you can record the right number of tracks at once that you want to record at once now if you want a bit more detail about how to choose the best audio interface what is an audio interface then look in the links below because I've written a blog posts and got other videos on this so the audio interface is at the heart of your studio to record high quality vocals or acoustic instruments you will need at least one good studio microphone and your audio interface must have an XLR mic input with mic preamp the number of mic inputs you need depends on the number of mics you want to connect at once so for example this Focusrite solo has worn microphone input for a solo singer or guitarist whereas this USB mixer has for a good large diaphragm condenser microphone will serve many purposes it's perfect for most acoustic instruments and for voice however a dynamic mic is easier to use as it's more forgiving although it's less sensitive and it's good for certain purposes such as recording live vocals or a guitar and so if you want more information about microphones I've written a very detailed guide about studio microphone types and how to choose the best one for the kind of recording job you want to do but that will be the next thing you need to buy after your audio interface a decent microphone that suits what you want to record after you've connected your microphones you need to think about what other sounds you might want to record so for example to make a direct recording of your guitar you will need an audio interface that has instrument inputs so you can plug your guitar lead in directly if you want to record line level instruments such as a digital piano or a synth electronic drums turntables a guitar amp anything with line out your audio interface should have line inputs and then it's a case of making sure you have the correct audio cables to connect everything up so again you can refer to my detailed post and my video about audio cable types and again I'll put the links below so far I've just talked about recording analog sounds like vocals guitars and other instruments MIDI is different MIDI tracks don't contain any audio they contain MIDI events such as note on and off pedal sustain and so on you can see my video and post about what is MIDI from much more detail but to just quickly look at the difference have a look at these two kinds of tracks in this software the MIDI tracks look different to the tracks that contain an audio waveform or recording a MIDI controller is usually a dummy keyboard it doesn't make a sound itself you use it to create MIDI tracks that can be routed to any kind of virtual instrument you like even if you don't play the keyboard a MIDI controller keyboard can be really useful to enter simple bass lines or to control synthesis MIDI controllers come in lots of shapes and sizes as well as your traditional MIDI keyboard you can get pad controllers and controllers with banks of knobs and faders which you can use to adjust controls on virtual instruments do you need one well yes if you want to work extensively with virtual instruments in a door or digital audio workstation or if you want to use notation software it can be very useful to enter all the notes but no if you only want to record voice and acoustic instruments then it's not essential so now let's move back to the software you're going to use to record edit than to mix your sounds once you have your basic recording Hardware correctly setup you'll be able to use any recording software for simple audio recordings you could use audacity which is completely free if you have a Mac or iPad then GarageBand is free and you can record audio and MIDI axé ProTools first is a free version of the professional software to get you started or musescore is excellent free online notation software so there are quite a few free options also most audio interfaces come with free light versions of programs like Cubase and daltin live light so when you're starting out all those free and cut-down programs are perfect to begin with you'll be able to make multitrack recordings mix and edit them and be ready to share your finished works of art once you've had a go with some of the free options you'll be in a better position to decide which really fancy piece of recording software you are going to splash out on once you have your audio interface set up you will need to think about the best way to listen to your recordings an audio interface is an input and an output device it converts analog signals to digital for recording but also converts the digital signal back to analog so that you can hear it the best results that you will not monitor the sounds through your computer speakers instead you will need good quality studio headphones and/or studio speakers which you connect to the audio outputs of your audio interface let's start with Studio Headphones a good pair of closed back studio headphones are ideal if you want to overlay one track over another without any bleed into the microphone if you want to record a vocal track over a backing track you want maximum sound isolation so you don't end up with the sound of the backing track on the vocal track closed back headphones are designed to provide that sound isolation while you monitor conversely open-back headphones are essentially almost the opposite of closed back headphones because optimal sound quality is the most important thing at the expense of isolation so my open-back headphones actually have quite a lot of sound out however they are excellent for lengthy monitoring sessions for more detailed information check out the link to my post below on the best studio headphones if you can only afford one pair buy a good pair of studio headphones for the task you will do most often if it is editing and mixing go open-back if you're going to do lots of recording over backing tracks go closed back the other option is to compromise and go for a pair of semi open headphones instead now let's talk briefly about studio monitors headphones do have the benefit of not annoying your neighbors but for really high quality editing you want the best studio speakers you can afford seek and achieve the perfect mix for lengthy editing sessions and a more optimal editing environment studio monitors are just better than only relying on headphones when you set at your first home recording studio if you're on a tight budget then it may be that you can only afford headphones in the first place but eventually it is so worth saving up for a good set of studio monitors when you can and again I have a link to a post below on choosing the best budget studio monitors if you want to take a look at that if you're starting from scratch then you could opt to buy a studio in a box which is a packer it comes with an audio interface mic cable studio headphones and microphone it's a very cost effective way of getting up and running focus right make them so do Presonus so that could be a good way to kickstart your home studio if you're on a very tight budget and you want to make nice quality recordings of vocals and acoustic instruments you could consider a USB microphone I tested 12 of the most popular so you could follow the link below to listen to what they sound like the advantage is obviously budget I mean the disadvantages they're not as high-quality nor as flexible as an audio interface because you don't have a line level and instrument level and MIDI and so on but they are a very nice way of getting a better recording quality than you would if you were just trying to use your computer microphone another thing to think about if you would like to be able to record without having to switch on your computer is a portable digital recorder these are perfect for making field recordings or making podcasts they double up as an LD own interface anyway they have built-in microphones but also often inputs for additional microphones line level instrument level so they're definitely worth considering an alternative to an ordinary interface few peripherals you'll definitely need to think about for example a microphone stand and pop filter we're going to use a mic a keyboard stand you might need one if you've got a MIDI controller you haven't got room on your desk are the cables and accessories and finally if you're going to use a large diaphragm condenser microphone you might need to think about acoustic treatment whether it's DIY weave blankets and so on or you buy commercial acoustic panels space traps and so on to damp down the echoes and reverb in your home studio or you could consider a vocal booth which is quite a nice portable solution for making vocal recordings finally if you want to record on your iPad a camera connection kit is an essential bit of kit make sure you buy a powered one so that it will power the interface or the USB microphone whatever of the USB device you want to use you could even connect up a MIDI controller that way so that is useful if you want to use an iPad and also remember that audio interfaces come in all shapes and sizes so you could buy one specifically for Android phone and Android tablet almost specific for Apple iPhones there really is a very wide choice so here's a quick summary of all the home studio recording equipment that we've had a look at the audio interface microphones and XLR leads other audio cables MIDI controllers recording software studio headphones and monitors mic stands pop filters and acoustic treatment and alternatives such as a USB mic or digital recorder for more information on how to set up your first home recording studio follow the links below to my in-depth guides and other home recording videos visit my site which is wwz creeper calm and don't forget to subscribe to my channel where I'm posting regular videos on getting started with home studio recording well I hope you found that useful if you have any comments or questions do post them below because I'd love to hear what you think and don't forget to subscribe I post regular videos on how to make home recording easy so make sure you're first in line when I upload them thanks for watching and I'll see you next time

Channel: Music Repo

Views: 36,054

Keywords: Music Repo, MusicRepoTV, home recording studio, home studio, home studio setup, home studio monitors, home studio tour, how to build a home studio, home studio equipment, home studio recording equipment, Home Music Studio Essentials, music studio setup, audio interface, home studio essentials, build a home studio, home studio setup for beginners, studio monitors, studio headphones, home recording studio setup for beginners, recording studio, cheap home studio, microphone

Id: IY_aDfaYNo8

Length: 12min 43sec (763 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 12 2019