The 5 Things You NEED to Record in a Home Studio
By Geryah Dingle
Do you suffer from G.A.S? Dial 1-800-I’ve Gotta Have It today. What’s GAS you say? I’m talking about Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Common symptoms include endless scrolling on Amazon, Sweet Water.com, and Guitar Center. If any of this sounds like you, and you’re considering selling your kidneys for that new Fender Strat, log off today.
Just kidding. But let's talk about the 5 things you actually need to record in a home studio.
Now, there’s plenty of “nice to haves” out there when it comes to music production, in fact, the possibilities are endless. Yet, I can’t express more plainly how important it is to use what you’ve got right in front you to make music.
Just think, Billie Eilish, at just 18 years old, swept up four of the biggest Grammies with her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and her older brother Finneas O'Connell, engineered the entire thing out of a small bedroom studio in their parents' home.
According to a Pro Sound Network interview with O'Connell, all there was in this bedroom was a pair of $200 Yamaha HS5 nearfield monitors with an H8S subwoofer ($450), a Universal Audio Apollo 8 interface and Apple's Logic Pro X. Oh, and a bed, of course, against one of the walls, on which Eilish sat to record with an Audio Technica AT2020 mic (at least, in the early days).
So, gear is not everything. So, that about gave it away, but let’s break this down. What do you need to record in a home studio?
Well, let’s start with the brains of the operation. You need a computer for modern day music production. Regardless of PC or MAC, you need at least 8GB of RAM, but preferably as much as you can afford for the best performance of your DAW and associated plugins.
And that brings me to my next point. You need a D-A-W, or Digital Audio Workstation to process all of your songs actually “create your songs.” I can do a deep dive into the program I use on another video, but I’ll list a few popular DAWs here for your reference. Some are more suited for certain things than others.
For instance, Abelton is great for live looping, playing with STEMS, and producing electronic music. While Pro Tools is still considered the "industry standard" of music production (whatever that means).
Regardless of which you chose, you’re not married to any of these; many times your audio interface may come with some starter software for you to check out. A PreSonus AudioBox, the second interface I ever owned, came with StudioOne and I have not looked back since. All DAWs share a common thread and I encourage you to learn multiple workflows and see which one your most efficient in and make music!
So that brings us to the Audio Interface itself. This is how you are going to convert analog to digital signals so that your computer can process them within your DAW of choice. Some higher end modules do the A to D and D to A conversation better than others without missing up your sound. My very first interface was less than $100 and was by a company called Steinberg which also is the maker behind the CubeBase DAW, which many producers use.
Today, my audio interface of choice is the Universal Audio Apollo 8 and it has four Unison-enabled mic preamps, letting you track through exacting mic preamp emulations from Neve,® SSL,® API,® Manley,® and Universal Audio.
UA interfaces are cool because they enable you to easily nail the tone of these sought-after tube and solid state mic preamplifiers — including their input impedance, gain stage “sweet spots,” and the component-level circuit behaviors of the original hardware. This one is a little on the pricier side but they do make smaller versions with many of the same features if you're just starting out.
Now that brings us to the microphones. Personally, I recommend you use a Large Diaphragm Condenser mic for your vocals, but if you can only have one mic, I recommend you go with a Dynamic Microphone like this Shure SM7B AKA the Thriller Microphone. If you’re not aware, MJ tracked Thriller on this microphone and that’s good enough for me. You’ll also find this dynamic mic dangling from broadcast booms in voiceover, ADR, radio, and podcast studios around the world.
They are really great for loud sounds as well and super versatile with their Classic cardioid polar pattern which provides excellent off-axis rejection for the sounds you don’t want going into your mic. Unlike those large diaphragm condensers which are made to pick up all those little nuances of whatever it is you’re recording. Those are awesome with some form of acoustic treatment, but can be detrimental to your recording if your situation does not warrant.
Right now, I personally use a combination of my Shure SM7B and the Blue Baby Bottle large diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone. This mic is incredibly accurate and transparent, leaving maxim flexibility for audio processing in the mix.
So we’ve got our computer, a DAW, an audio interface, and a microphone. The one thing we need to hear what’s going on without disrupting our actual recording is a lot of over the ear closed back headphones. There are a ton of choices out there, but I personally use the DT 770 PRO (250 OHM) version. They are nice and comfortable and you can wear them for hours without ear fatigue; something I recommend you look for in a good pair of headphones.
I specifically recommend closed back for recording, as opposed to open, since you do not necessarily need to have the room sound bleeding into the mix. For open backs, the outer housing has built-in gaps that allow air and sound to pass freely through the ear cup. A perforated housing eliminates pressure buildup and encourages a more natural sound that’s ideal for critical listening but no isolation.
Now, I’m sure you’re saying to yourself: How do I put it all together. Well, I made a few assumptions in my 5 "Must Haves" but as a notable mention we cannot forget the cables themselves. Pending on what you’re recording, you’re going to need a combination of XLRs and 1/4” Balanced and Unbalanced cables to connect everything to your audio interface in order for the analog to digital conversion to happen.
As I stated in the beginning of the video, these are things you NEED. There are a lot of items you may find in a home studio that we left off like...
- Studio Monitors
- Pop Filters
- MIDI Keyboards
- Mic Stands
- iPad or wireless keyboard
- Studio Desk
- Sound Treatment
to name a few. These are awesome to have in any studio space, but they are not absolutely necessary to get started today. For your reference, I’ll leave a link to a Freemium below to capture everything you need to get started, as well as some cool additions you can incorporate over time as your budget and skill warrant.
Be sure to click the links below if you’d like to check out my latest music.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2zM5IYEDU8FFiSCnlVDjZR
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/geryah-dingle/1562538314
**** DOWNLOAD THE 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO RECORD IN A HOME STUDIO WITH BONUS ADVANCED GEAR GUIDE ****
https://pages.geryahdinglemusic.com/5-things-you-need-to-record