Audio Recording Technology
Audio Recording Technology or Music Production is an industry once reserved for life-long professionals and money-fuelled record companies. Today however, Audio Recording has been made easily accessible to bedroom musicians and amateur bands everywhere. The introduction of Digital Audio Interfaces, Recording Software and Digital Audio Workstations, means recording is more affordable than ever before. Additionally, new Audio Recording technology has made music production a whole lot easier. Not just for professional audio engineers and producers, but for beginner recording artists as well. This blog will give you a rundown of exactly what you need to get your home studio up and running.
Building a Home Studio
The first step in building your home studio is selecting an Audio Interface. Thankfully most brands are compatible with both PC and Apple Mac computers. This means you will have a variety of options regardless of your operating system and budget. Here at Pats Music, we stock Focusrite Scarlett, Steinberg UR, and Presonus Audiobox interfaces. Each of these interfaces conveniently comes with a free version of the brands respective recording programs. In some instances, this may help you in deciding which interface to go with.
Focusrite Scarletts
The Focusrite Scarletts come with Ableton Live Lite, the top DAW choice for electronic artists and producers. With an extremely user friendly setup, Ableton Live Lite lays down all the tools, including selected instruments and effects, that you need to record and produce your own music.
Steinberg UR
The Steinberg UR interfaces ship with a download code for Cubase AI. Cubase AI provides all the basic tools for recording, editing and mixing everything from the initial idea to the final masterpiece.
Presonus Audiobox
Finally, the Presonus Audiobox interfaces come with Studio One Artist which is an easy to use Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). In fact, Presonus Audiobox has enabled many artists from around the world, to get more out of their productions.
How many Audio Ins do I need?
Once you have decided on brand, the next thing to consider is how many audio inputs you will require. Each of the audio inputs on board your interface, allow you to record just one signal. So, for example, if you would like to record an acoustic guitar and your voice simultaneously, you will need to purchase and interface with a minimum of two audio inputs. One input assigned to your guitar and the other input for your voice.
But what if you are wanting to record something a little more complex such as live acoustic drums? In this instance, you may need to consider an interface with 8 or more audio inputs. Focusrite, Steinberg and Presonus all offer interfaces in multiple sizes, all of which we stock at Pats Music. Regardless of how many audio inputs you require, we have the Audio Interface to suit your needs!
Recording Microphones
Once you’ve chosen your audio interface, you will need to purchase yourself some recording microphones. There are three different types of microphones available;
Dynamic, Ribbon and Condenser Microphones
In short, Dynamic Microphones are great for picking up loud sound sources which are strong in the mid frequency range such as snare drums, tom toms and percussion.
Ribbon Microphones
Ribbon Microphones are more sensitive than dynamic mics, picking up a broader frequency range. This makes them more suited to record Guitar and Bass Amplifiers, Kick Drums, Brass and Woodwind instruments.
Condenser Microphones
Condenser Microphones are the most sensitive, capturing everything from sub bass through to sparkly highs. Of course, this makes them the most versatile Microphone and is used for most recording situations. Indeed, such a wide audio range affords the Condenser Mic the luxury of recording various sounds like vocals and acoustic guitars. What’s more Condenser Microphones can be placed in front of Guitar Amplifiers, Organs and Wind Instruments. Not to mention all kinds of acoustic Drum recording as Drum overheads.
Microphone for Sale
Therefore, at Pats Music, we recommend starting with a condenser Microphone due to their versatility and overall professional sound. For example, the SE Electronics X1A condenser microphone is popular choice at our store. At Pat’s, you’ll find the X1A Microphone for sale at the very friendly price of $129.
The SE 2200 is another popular condenser microphone at $349 and is perfect for crystal clear vocal and acoustic guitar recording. If you are looking for something more specialist, Pats also offers a range of Ribbon and Dynamic microphones. These include the SE X1R ribbon mic, the SE V3 and V7 dynamics, and of course the famous Shure SM57 and Sm58 microphones.
Audio Recording Accessories
The final piece in your home studio puzzle is the necessary accessories. Firstly you will need microphone cables, which we stock from only $10 each. Brands available are D’addario, Carson, SM Pro and Planet Waves.
Equally important, you will also need recording headphones or studio monitors, in order to be able to get a true reflection of your mixes. We offer Smart Acoustic Headphones and both the Yamaha HS and Presonus E series Studio Monitors.
Reflection filters and pop filters are advisable, but not necessarily required, for recording vocals at home. These give you greater control over your recordings and start from $142 and $19.95 respectively.
On a final note, setting up a home studio can seem to be a daunting and expensive task, but help is at hand. With a little bit of research and friendly help from the highly knowledgeable staff at Pats Music, you will be up and running in no time.
Oh and it doesn’t have to break the bank either!