How To Set Up A Home Recording Studio – What Do I Need?
Questions on Yahoo Answers like this one – How To Set Up A Home Recording Studio – What Do I Need? – are extraordinarily common. I even put a mini-course together – How to Create A Home Recording Studio – to answer it in great detail, for different budget levels and for different uses.
This particular question was asked on Yahoo! Answers a while ago, and I decided to chime in with my two pence. Lo and behold, this was chosen as the “Best Answer” to the question.
Here is the Question:
I want to record myself singing with good quality voice recording and I want to know what I need. I know I’ll need a condenser mic, some mixer thing? Software? Can someone tell me the basics for setting up a home recording studio. I have a mac book pro. If someone can recommend the stuff i need, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank You.
And here is the Home Brew Audio Answer:
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
Hi John (not actual name),
Actually you don’t really NEED a mixer (see my post about this here – Why You Should Not Use A Mixer In Your Home Recording Studio).
First, go download Reaper software (a company called Cockos). It’s free to start and if you decide to keep it and use it regularly, it’s $60 – Amazing.
Next, you could try a USB mic (if you’re on a tight budget) called the Samson Q2U for about $49. Then you wouldn’t need a separate audio interface box. The quality is very good as long as you do some good noise control.
But if you can swing it, I say get a Focusrite Scarlett interface and a large diaphragm condenser mic. I use a Rode NT2-A, but there are lots to choose from, cost starting under $100 and going up from there.
That’s really all you need for what you’re wanting to do. As for adding the music, will you be playing the music, or are you looking for backing tracks that are pre-recorded?
Either way, you can do that in Reaper, which is multi-track software. Import the music file(s) onto a track or tracks into Reaper. Then on another track(s) record your singing while listening to the music. We have an article at Home Brew Audio on backing tracks for singers if you’re trying to do that.
Good luck.
For some free videos on how to record audio at home, click in th banner below.
Free videos from “The Newbies Guide to Audio Recording Awesomeness”
