Build a Music Recording Studio at Home

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to our user Poll about which topics to publish next. There was a clear winner!

“Dave, I have $xxx to spend on Home Recording gear…What should I buy?”

People often come to me asking me whether they should buy this pre-amp, that compressor, or this piece of software. Few people can ignore cost as a limiting factor on their available choices. So, in this 1st part today, we’ll cover

• what equipment to buy
• based on your budget
  • $100
  • $300
  • $550

In Part 2, we’ll cover what equipment to buy with budgets of:

• $1,300
• $2,200
• $3,000

Then in the final part:

• $4,500
• $7,500

Please feel free to let us know if you found these examples useful. Just use the Comments section at the end of each post.

Thanks!

Ken Johnstone

(Publisher)

PS: Of course there’s much more than just budget to consider. Click this link for more information on our step by step guide to Selecting Sound Recording Software and Equipment – that Works for your recording needs.

You won’t be able to get much music studio equipment with this. Here’s what you could do…

• Click the next link and buy a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone ($100) – This all purpose microphone is a basic good quality piece of studio equipment.
• Plug it into your friend’s computer and start recording using the basic audio recorder that came with the operating system, or…
• Google something like “Pro Tools free download” – you may still be able to download a free version of Digidesign Pro Tools and record using this.  Otherwise you could get started with Audacity.

Dave, I have $300 to spend on Home Recording Studio Equipment, what should I buy?

You still won’t be able to get much music studio equipment with this amount of money.

• Click the link and buy a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone ($100) – This all purpose, durable microphone is a basic good quality piece of studio equipment.
• Plug it into your friend’s computer and start recording using the basic recorder that came with the operating system, or…
• Google something like “Pro Tools free download” – you may still be able to download a free version of Digidesign Pro Tools and record using this.  Or start with Audacity.
• *Tascam CDR-788 CD Burner (<$200) – A CD burner is essential if you want to be able to output your music to CD to listen to on your personal stereo.

*Note: CD or DVD output is required for high quality recording masters. However, given the popularity of mp3 distribution, you may decide a CD Burner is not a priority for your type of sound production.

You will be able to get some good music studio equipment with this amount of money.

• Go to your favorite online store, or click the link and buy a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone ($100) – This all purpose, durable microphone is a basic good quality piece of studio equipment.
• Plug it into your friend’s computer and start recording using the basic sound recorder that came with the operating system, or…
• Google something like “Pro Tools free download” – you may still be able to download a free version of Digidesign Pro Tools and record using this.  Otherwise you could get started with Audacity.
• *Tascam CDR-788 CD Burner (<$200) – A CD burner is essential if you want to be able to output your music to CD to listen to on your personal stereo.
• CDR80 80-Minute Blank CDRs in Spindle (50 discs) ($30) – You need to get some blank CDs to record onto!
• Sennheiser HD25-1II Professional Headphone ($200) – These fantastic, flat-response headphones will let you hear very clearly what you are working on and you will start to learn to listen accurately to music before progressing to studio monitors. BE WARNED – Headphones do not give a totally accurate representation of sound but this is not really a problem for most people.

*Note: I’ve included a link to our eBay CD Burners page, since the Tascam CDR-788 model is now hard to find new. Current models are much higher cost…

Talk to you again in Part 2…

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