When I first came to USC I didn’t know much about recording but I have come a long way since then. By being exposed to classes that needed basic recordings of songs I became more interested and started learning about the equipment needed to have a home studio. I was surprised to see many musicians on Youtube that had done their recordings in their own homes. These recordings sounded incredible to my ears and inspired me to do some research in order to achieve good sounding recordings. By surfing around the web I’ve found that you do not need many things if you are a one-man band to start putting good quality music out there right away.
To start recording, some people just use USB microphones. Some of these are really good but one drawback I’ve found with them is that they have a noticeably latency. That can sometimes throw off the performance of a singer or an instrumentalist when recording. The best bet to get a good recording with almost no latency would be to get a simple audio interface to connect different instruments and microphones in it. A good interface at a very good price is the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. This interface comes with 2 inputs and you can choose to use them as instrument inputs or for microphones, either dynamic or condenser ones since it comes with phantom power. If your budget is very low you can get a dynamic mic that can be used for multiple things such as voice, recording guitar amps and other instruments. The one for that would be the Shure SM57. There are some artists that have made entire albums with just that microphone and ended up with amazing results. The good thing about it is that it can be used in live situations too. If you are trying to get a better quality for studio recording purposes only, it is better to get a condenser mic. These mics have better sensitivity and dynamic range. They are able to capture the warmth of the vocalists and instruments. You can get an MXL 770 for a very low price and that would be good for vocals and other instruments but you are limited to just record in one direction, being that it is a mic with a Cardiod pattern only. If you want to be able to capture the sound of the whole room, or record two people at the same time it would be better to get a multi-pattern microphone such as the Audix 212b. I have been trying it for multiple recordings and it hasn’t let me down once. It’s crisp and sensitive with a vast dynamic range.
In order to listen what you record you will have to get either headphones or monitors. Monitors are known to be better to mix music but some headphones are really good at emulating the soundstage that you get with monitors. If you are not looking to spend much you could get the Sony’s MDR 7506. If you want better quality headphones I would spend some more and get the Sennheiser’s 380 PRO which have a really flat response like good studio monitors. Monitors would be the ideal setting but they cost more so buy them if you are very serious about the music and you are sure you are going to be using them constantly. Yamaha’s HS line of monitors is superb. For a small studio I would recommend the HS5’s and for a medium sized one the HS7’s. Now the only thing left to get would be a recording software. If you own a mac it should come with Garageband and that should be enough to get you started. If you want to take it to the next level it would be good to get Logic Pro X which is an advanced version of Garageband. If you are using PC on the other hand, you can get Audacity for free or buy Pro Tools which is more professional and it is has more options. Upon getting these items you will be ready to record at home and get decent quality music right away.
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