Home Recording Studio Essentials For Beginners

Home Recording Studio Setup

Creating a home recording studio is a big project right.

It takes months of planning preparation and research……. or so you think

This is what the majority of people think but here’s the real truth. Starting a home recording studio is much easier than you might imagine

Because, after all, all you need is a few basic things to get started

So, in this post, I’ll show you exactly what you need

In this article, I will show you a step-by-step process a building up a home recording studio from the ground up

So let’s get started

Let’s talk about why a simple home studio setup is best

The truth is, it’s better to start off simple and here’s why

Firstly, remember this is just a hobby

It’s important to remember that because it’s easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged and eventually quit if you try to take on too much too soon

For this reason, we recommend keeping things simple

The less moving parts you have to contend with the easier it’s going to be to stick with it

How to save money without going too cheap

Since any home studio can be rather expensive people will often search for the absolute cheapest solution for recording their music

That’s okay but there is such a thing as two inexpensive

Even though you could build a studio for under $1,000 it’s not really recommended

Like anything, there is a bottom limit to what is necessary to at least get started effectively

Here is my recommendation

The ideal home studio for the newcomer

Here Are The Top 10 Home Studio Must Have Items

1) Your Home Studio Computer

If you don’t already have a computer and are starting out this will be your biggest expenditure

It’s commonly accepted wisdom these days to get the fastest biggest computer you can for the use of aggressive applications like digital recording

However, you probably already have a computer and in most cases, it’s going to be perfectly fine to get you out of the gate

When you’re looking to upgrade here is a list of our suggestion

This is where you produce a link to another page about the best computers for music production

Are we providing an example with an affiliate link

2) A DAW/ Audio Interface Combination

In case you’re not aware

A digital audio workstation is a piece of software that allows you to record edit and mix music on your computer

It is also the piece of hardware that is used to connect everything else in the recording and mixing process

These items can be bought separately or as a combination

If you want to buy them as a combination here is the shortlist

Tom, this is where you enter in your affiliate links for PreSonus and Avid

Tom, this is where you make mention that PreSonus offers a free copy of their Studio One artist with a group of interfaces which you’ve listed below as affiliate links

Next to make mention of David and the fact that they offer a free copy of Pro Tools with following interfaces and then

If you prefer to buy a digital audio workstation and audio interface separately there are tons of options to explore I will list them below in the following article

Best Audio Interface

3) Microphones

As you grow into the recording process….

You will eventually build a collection of many different microphones for different purposes and applications

For now, all you really need is one or two to get started

This may vary depending on the types of instruments that you are going to record but generally, these groups of mics will be able to record most instruments and vocals

Tom, this is where you was list all of the microphones you want to suggest with affiliate links

4) Headphones For Home Studio

If you’re like me you will probably do a lot of your recording solo

For this application, all you really need is a pair of headphones

There are two different designs for consideration

a) the closed-back headphone mostly use for tracking due to its Superior Sound isolation

b) open-back headphones with have better sound quality and less isolation

If you’re starting out, I suggest the closed-back headphones simply because sound bleed through open-back headphones will interfere with the quality of some recorded instruments

Tom, this is where you would put a link to a much more robust guide to Studio headphones

Tom, this is where you would list a couple of examples of open and closed-back headphones with affiliate links

5) Studio Monitors

Even though a lot of Home Studios end up recording and mixing on headphones you will eventually want a decent pair of monitors

Almost all music nowadays is mixed on what is called near-field monitors

The advantage to near-field monitors is there minimal use of space and they’re flat frequency response which provides a natural uncolored sound allowing you to be far more objective when judging individual sound components and ultimately the songs mix

You can spend a ridiculous amount of money even on small near Fields but there are also a number of affordable options

Here are some of my recommended choices

Tom, this is where you would put a link to another page with full list of monitors

List an example

Tom, insert affiliate links here

6) XLR cables

Eventually, you will have a mountain of cables in your

For the meantime, you only need a few

You need two cables for your studio monitors and one long XLR cable for a microphone

For your typical home studio here are my recommendations

Tom, list a couple of XLR cables with affiliate links

7) A Mic Stand

It would be easy to think that all mic stands are equal

This is definitely not the case and some are absolutely terrible

This is one area I recommend you don’t cheap out

since you really only need one to start make sure you

8) Pop Filter

You’ve probably seen it had not recognized it

I’m talking about that funny object that you see in front of microphones when people are recording on video

It may look like a pair of nylon strings over a round wire on the end of a stem

This is called a pop filter and it is an absolute must for recording vocals

Certain syllables particularly ones that start with a P have a nasty boost of air Blast from the mouth

This can create a nasty low frequency Spike which can destroy a recording

The way we mitigate this is with a pop filter placed in front of the microphone

Tom, this is where you create link to another page with the full list of pop filters

Tom, this is where you list an example with an affiliate link

9) Join a Forum

You were going to have a lot of questions

Many of these questions will go on answered until you meet someone who’s been down the road farther than you

When I was starting out I joined a forum that was dedicated to the particular digital workstation that I used

This help solve technical problems with the use of the DAW

I also recommend joining some general music forums like Gearslutz for example to answer all of your general inquiries about techniques and strategies

Admittedly, there are a lot of moving parts to the recording process and you will get frustrated without help

Don’t be proud, put your ego aside and asked lots of questions and you will find there are plenty of people that will help

PS. Consider joining a paid instructional forum if you have a little extra cash. This something I did and it really fast-tracked my progress.

10) A Good Internet Connection

Yes, a good internet connection will save you a lot of frustration in the long run

You are probably going to want to upload and download files which can take a lot of time if you have slow internet connection

Home Recording Studio Essentials