Aspiring music producers and enthusiasts often ask me about the home studio setups. Whether they should start one for their producing needs and all other questions regarding music production at home. If you want to know about what is a home studio and how to start one then this blog is written for you.
In this blog post, I will answer all your questions regarding home studios like what it is, the equipment required to setup a small but feature-rich home studio, and most importantly WHY should you start a home studio?
Let’s dive in.
What is a Home Studio?
A home studio or home audio recording studio is a small studio setup having a small control room, a vocal room, and max to max a room to record acoustic instruments.
Some say a bedroom studio is also called a home studio but I don’t think so. A bedroom studio is just a setup built to satisfy the needs of songwriters, podcasters, singers, and musicians. But a proper home studio can record professional quality audio projects equipped with some pro equipment and DIY (but effective) acoustic treatment.
A home studio can produce industry-grade music and audio projects with the help of VSTs, DAWs, high-quality audio interfaces, small mixers, and vocal rooms with DIY and budget acoustic treatments.
A home studio somewhere in the middle of a bedroom studio and a professional studio. It’s neither a fully professional recording studio nor a cheap setup like a bedroom studio but the middle thing to produce high-quality audio projects.
Equipment Used in Home Studios
Before 90s there were no home studios because the hardware required to start a recording studio was very expensive and not within the reach of a common producer.
But the computer changed the world of audio recording with digital audio interface (audio interface and Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
These two inventions transferred the power of audio production from the hands of big players to the common music producers.
DAW and audio interface allow you to start producing music without external hardware.
So, the 3 main equipment of a home studio are,
- Computer
- Digital Audio Interface (DAW): A computer software (multitrack recorder) runs on your computer.
- Audio Interface: A physical interface to connect all your instruments, mics, MIDI devices, Studio Monitors, Headphones, and Mixers to record and playback audio.
But you need some other equipment to qualify your studio as a home studio. They are,
- Condenser Microphone with Pop Filter: These mics are specially used to record vocals and instruments inside the studio.
- Studio Monitor: Studio monitors are flat frequency response speakers to monitor and mix audio.
- Studio Headphones: Professional-grade headphones used for stereo mixing and monitoring.
- VST Plugins: Software used to enhance the features of a DAW.
- VST Instruments: Virtual music instrument software runs via MIDI signal.
- MIDI Controller/Keyboard: Used to play and record MIDI notes and other MIDI operations with VST instruments.
- Essential Cables and Stands: Different types of cables are used to connect different equipment in the home studio.
- Acoustic Treatments like acoustic panels, and DIY techniques: Used to treat the control room and vocal room to absorb the sound reflections and prevent sound coming from outside.
Why Should You Start a Home Studio?
If you are an audiophile, musician, bedroom producer, songwriter singer and want to start a business around your passion then a home studio is the best business for you.
It aligns with your interest and profession so you can grow your recording studio and transform it into a money-making machine while satisfying your passion.
With the rise of VST instruments and plugins, a home studio is capable of producing industry-grade music and audio projects right from digital audio files.
That’s the beauty of a home recording studio.
Are you passionate about starting your career as a music producer or a recording engineer? If your answer is yes, then you can fuel your passion by starting a home studio from a spare room in your home.
How to Set Up Your Home Studio?
A home studio doesn’t need a handful of professional audio gear to start with. You just need a few important gear such as a computer, audio interface, DAW and VST software, mic, and studio monitors.
Apart from these ones, any other gear is optional.
By the way, here is the full list of home studio gear that you need to start a good quality recording studio in your home.
Essential Gear and Equipment
- Audio interface
- Computer
- Condenser mic with pop filter and mic stand
- Studio Monitor
- Monitor headphone
- Table and chair
- DIY acoustic treatment
- Essential cables, connectors, and wires
Optional Gear for Home Studios
- Mixer
- Mixing headphones
- MIDI Keyboard
- Acoustic panels, and diffusers
- UPS with surge protection
Now when you have all the essential equipment listed above, it’s time to setup your home studio.
- First off, use some DIY acoustic treatment methods like plyboard, windows and doors rubber strips, foams, and grass boards to cover the walls, windows, and doors of your control room and vocal room.
Note: You have to setup a control room and a vocal room separately. You can use 2 neighboring rooms for this setup. You also need a glass partition between both rooms to instruct the vocalist or the musician. The glass partition should be of tapered double glasses to reflect the sound waves properly.
- Now, setup the computer and connect the audio interface with the computer. Install all required hardware drivers and DAW with VST plugins and instruments.
- When the audio interfaces are set up properly, set up the condenser mic and its pop filter on a mic stand and put that in the vocal room. Connect the mic cable to the audio interface. You need to pass the mic cable and monitor headphone cable in between the vocal and control room. If required make a hole to do this.
- Connect the studio monitors to the main outs of the audio interface and your setup is ready now.
- You can now record vocals and produce music with this home studio setup.
However, it’s the basic setup guidance for a home studio. You need some professional knowledge to set up and record your projects properly.
I will guide you through the step-by-step home studio setup process in my next article.
How to Robust Your Home Studio Performance: Pro Tips
Starting a home studio is not enough. You have to master the techniques an audio producer uses to produce and mix industry-grade mixes in home studios.
Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Charli XCX, and many other artists started their careers at home studios.
You can also do it right from your home studio by using proper tips and techniques.
Here are some pro tips to follow when producing is home studios.
- Always use a good-quality audio interface. I use the MOTU UltraLite-AVB 18×18 USB audio interface which comes with a high-end DAC (digital audio converter).
- The same rule of thumb applies to your condenser microphone. Use high-quality condenser microphones such as AKG, Rode, or Neumann with less sibilance and good frequency response
- Use balanced audio cables whether it’s a mic cable or a studio monitor cable. It gives you 4dB extra headroom for the mix.
- When it comes to studio monitors I use Yamaha HS8 monitors which give me flat frequency response ideal for mixing.
- Record in high sample rate and bit depth. I record at 96kHz/24bit audio format which is ideal to get room between tracks when mixing.
- Properly use mono and stereo tracks. If the instrument is mono then don’t try to record it in stereo track.
- Whether you are doing DIY acoustic treatment, don’t overdo it as it can dampen even the original sound along with the reflections and can ruin your mix. Make a balance between how much acoustic treatment is required or not.
- Learn and understand the effect chain, channel routing, and other software hacks to get the most out of your mix.
- Remember, 75% of mixing is done at the stage of recording. So, properly gain stage your tracks and channels to get the best input.
- Train your ear with the studio monitors with ear training method.
- After all it takes time to master yourself in audio production so take patience. Practice and patience make you perfect in your home recording journey.
Conclusion
Home studios are very popular these days. With the evolution of computer-based audio recording with the help of computer and audio interfaces, this concept has become popular among audiophiles.
If you are seeking the answer to the question “What is a home studio” then I think this article helped you to understand the concept of home studios and also how to setup one at your home.
You don’t need a big budget to start a home studio. It’s just a matter of a few hundred dollars to start one on a spare part of your home. If you want to start a home studio then my blog StartHomeStudio.Com will help you in every step towards your passion.
