Gently Used Onkyo

Home recording has been growing more than ever since the advent of digital technology that is priced at the consumer level but that, with the right application of passion and know-how, can yield professional results. Recent artists who have put such technology to excellent use are, to name only a handful, The Shins, St. Vincent, Dan Wallace, Sufjan Stevens, and Deerhoof.

It is not within the scope of this series of articles to detail the finer points of home recording (which would require volumes), but if you, like so many aspiring home recordists, are trying to figure out where to begin in terms of putting together your own home recording studio, then these articles are for you!

First, let's look at an overview of the various things that you'll need to considered, step-by-step:

1. Where in your home should you record? How do the room dimensions affect the sound? How to best acoustically treat the room?

2. What are the best microphone(s) for your voice, instruments, and budget?

3. Cables: What kind will you need and do you really have to spend so much on them?

4. Should you get an outboard preamp and compressor, or are your interface's preamps good enough? If so, how many channels/inputs do you need? What sorts of inputs are needed (XLR, TRS, etc...) on your home recording equipment?

5. Speaking of interfaces (assuming you are using a computer as opposed to a self-contained multi-track unit), how many channels/inputs should your interface have? What sorts of inputs will you need? Is a USB unit ok, or should you go FireWire? Do you need a mixing board?

6. What is the best home recording software to buy? Is Pro Tools necessary?

7. What are audio plugins? Should you use the native plugins or should you purchase third-party software? Better yet, what are some of the best free plugins, and where are they to be found?

8. What are your needs in terms of softsynths, sampled instruments, and sample libraries, and what is your best option in terms of MIDI controllers?

9. What are some of the best rule-of-thumb practices for the stages of creating a recording?: Pre-production, recording, mixing, and mastering.

10. What do you plan to do with your recordings in terms of duplication and distribution?

These are the major points I will be covering over the next several weeks.

Please note that these articles are geared towards people who want to create high quality audio recordings in a home studio. Even if you are only interested in making demos, the reality is that, these days, a demo recording is expected to sound good. There is simply too much competition to rely on a merely passable recording to stand out from the crowd, regardless of how great the music is.

Therefore, it's best to treat your demo recording as if it's the final product. This is also smart because it's quite common these days for the demo to become the EP or album, whether because the artist decided to self-release, or because the label decided to save money and release essentially as-is (often with re-mixing and mastering).

Keep an eye out for the next installment: Professional Home Recording Studio on a Budget, Part 2: The Home Recording Space.

As I mentioned above, many great artists are doing wonderful things in low-budget home recording studios. One of my favorite examples is Dan Wallace. Download free samples of his music here: www.danwallacemusic.com/download

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