In the world of music production trying to sort through studio equipment can be very hard and there no end of opinions and options. I plan to go over everything from audio monitors to computers to Daws (digital audio workstations). I will start at ground zero assuming you have no audio knowledge and if you do great! I’m not perfect by any means so feel free to leave comments or suggestions of anything else that I left out. With that being said lets get started!
What type of music do you plan to produce?
This is important as if you plan to produce a full band you will need more space and gear compared to someone that is doing rap or electronic music. For example in my room I have very limited space as I turned the den in my apartment into a small home recording studio. I am not a big fan of creating electronic music, and like recording other people of all styles of music. I felt I could record vocals, guitars, bass, and any other type of over dub that is pretty much it. I also knew that I could only track until 9:30 after that I may upset people that live around me in the apartment.
When looking at the space I had I would never dream to record a full drum set as I live in an apartment and I simply do not have the space. If I were to track drums I would plan to book out a tracking room somewhere in Nashville then bring the tracks back and mix them here. There are 2 fundamental reasons why I would bring the tracks back home. 1 I know the room very well which will speed up the mixing process as my mixes would be more transparent across systems. 2 I would save the client and myself a lot of time and money making me more valuable to them and more likely to work with me again.
If I planned to do electronic music and digitally create everything it would be a totally different approach as I would not need to record much of anything however I may need a more powerful computer as doing this type of production is very taxing on the computer.
Where will you be working on your music?
Like I said depending on the type of music you plan to produce knowing your space limitations will drastically help. It will also help you realize if what you want to do is realistically in the space you have. So where will your control room / recording room be? This will be the location you do all your music production along anything else audio related in most cases. It will also be where your home studio equipment is things such as , microphones, cables etc. will be located. Once you have figured this out you will have a better idea of what you are able to do along with the cost to do so.
Other things to consider might be Do you have a computer that can be used for your home studio? Where will it go? Do you have a desk where will that go? How big is the area you are going to work out of? Do you even have a space to work out of? Will you be working off your kitchen table to edit and mix your tracks? These are just a few considerations which will help decide on how to arrange what space you have.
How much money do you realistically have to invest?
What is your budget and what do you already have? If you are not sure what your budget is and what you need to get started I will be covering the basics and beyond to give you an idea. When I started I had a basic interface a midi keyboard and a computer which all saved me money. Over time I bought 1 item at a time and ONLY when I could afford to do so. It has taken me ruffly 3 years to get myself to a point where I am happy. I could always use more gear but do I NEED IT is the question? I have taken a lot of time to research items of interest and never ever bought on impulse. I also asked “Can I afford this? And Do I really need this?”. If I could not say yes to both of these questions I simply did not get the item of interest. Also if the item was not of high quality I did not bother.
So you decided you really do need xyz, now what?
If you do really need it the question that should be asked is can you afford it? If you can greatly go get it, if you can’t then put it on a list of must have items and start saving. Get the item that will have the biggest impact first then work backwards. Keep in mind a new microphone or plug in will not make or break your ability to make music.
Please please please remember that it will not make or break your music production. It may make the process easier or sound a little better, but do not get in the mind frame there is one item that will magically change what you do. It may help enhance the process but it should not make or break you. Use what you have and save for what you absolutely need, in many cases you can even demo software before you buy it to see if it you truly need it. You may even be able to rent hardware for a nominal fee.
I would never suggest going into debt for something as there is a shrinking amount of money to be made and a lot of people wanting to do it. Chances are it will take you years before you are making money or even break even. When looking at getting something I generally follow the following advise I got while I was in school. Get the absolute minimum of what you need of the best quality your budget will allow. Like my step dad said “if you are going to do it, do it right the first time”.
Here is where my studio is 3 years later after saving and buying only what I needed.
Hopefully I have gotten you thinking about somethings to consideration in next post I will be covering studio monitors and headphones.