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Starting a small studio

  • 15 replies
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Topic Starting a small studio
Hello I'm thinking abuot starting a recording studio in my house. There are none in the area not even profesional ones. I live on an Island so I thought this would be a great idea.....

I'm thinking abuot going to school and then running the studio as a business....

What equipment would I need to get a basic setup..

right now I'm thinking about haveing a small bidget of around $5000.

I was thinking a computer pentium 4 with a creative audigy 2 platinum sound card.

The proper mics and of course a sound proog room.....

what else would I need to get this small bussiness rolling...

thank you...
2
I would stay away from Creative cards, especially if you want to use a high end sequencer package. Check out www.turnkey.co.uk for various sound cards, if you plan on recording bands you'll need one with multiple inputs (prob at least 8) to gain seperation for drums etc.

There are various ones that would do the job, a Delta 1010 or the Motu interfaces.

If you plan to use a PC based sequencer package, a console or control surface is not a necessity at first. Just make sure you have a high spec machine to handle the various realtime effects plugins and mixing tasks,
3
well I have a pentium 4 with a creative sound card it it and it's the illest sound quality you will hear. It's a audigy2. The card is mine but the Pc is my parents (graduating next year). I just wanted to buy the same pc and card so they could keep this one........

Check it out, I think it would do more then get the job done. As of right now I plug my guitar into it and record directly onto the pc with out mics....

it has some usb port, midi ports optical ports and what not, I haven't used it all yeat except most of the recording equipent ...

check it out see what you think.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006RVQL/002-5523808-9705615?v=glance

I was asking what other equipment I could use.....

~thanks for your other reply~
4
Some decent Hi-fi or dedicated studio monitors should be high up on your list. It really does depend what you plan to use your set up for and the style of music you intend to produce,

I really would recommend a slightly more professional edge sound card, the audigy is designed for gamers really, not musicians.

You said you hope to make it into a small business?
5
Don't be fooled. Get a Mac - G4 or G5 - and pick up Pro Tools (the M Box is a wonder). You should probably invest in a decent multitrack digital unit as well. But the most important thing you'll need though is high-quality microphones. Garbage in, garbage out. All the technology in the world won't fix a crappy recording.
6
I definetly agree with iMx about the soundcard thing. you need to get into something that has the input quality in mind as well as the output quality. the type of card you have gets its source directly from the computer most of the time (games and say your winamp). It would be wise to take a look at something that has multiple inputs. Take a look at M-Audio they have good products at good prices.

What your talking about doing here isnt something you just want to throw yourself into. Before you buy anything it would be a good idea to talk to alot of people first.

First you need to figure out what kind of setup you want to go with. Do you want to go pure digital, analog, or a mix of the two.

In my opinion a mix would be the best way to go. I run my mics into my board, then through my rack gear (compressors, EQ.....ect.), then into my soundcard and I use my sequencer to edit and do all of the fancy digital stuff.

Just remember there is alot more to it than you can probably imagine, and you will probably end up spending alot more money on a good setup than you originally figured.

The Basics:
A Different Sound Card
A good Sequencer (Cakewalk, Protools, ect.)
**** GOOD MICS*****
(at least one high quality condensor mic, and a large assortment of dynamic mics, the right mic is key for a good recording)
Studio Monitors (really good speakers and headphones)
7
Hi All

I've been looking at the Delta 1010 (after Krowms recommendation).. Price looks ok, and seems to get a goo wrap on here.

In regards to sequencing, I'm using Cool Edit Pro.. Any opinions on this software?

PC is a P4 2.6, 1GB RAM.

Thanks guys.
8
[quote="brendonpyers"]
In regards to sequencing, I'm using Cool Edit Pro.. Any opinions on this software?
[quote]

It depends what you want to do? If you want to make multitrack recording, with perhaps some midi drums or midi synths to preview your song, I think that Stinberg or Cakewalk products are definitivly more adapted ;-)
9
listen to ambassador and get protools. I just got the 002 control surface with xpc pc... to cool
10
Hey, I've just become a member, this is my first post. I have a lot of questions, I'll get around to that later. I had a small studio in one room, no soundproofing, an old desk, a 16 bit isis sound card, and a rhode nt1. This was the entire basis for my first go at recording an album, all digital, using logic audio v3. Even had teac speakers(yuk) as monitors.
First, take heed of all the above advice, it's all true. You MUST get a good sound card, with multiple ins and outs, good mikes (I now have an nt2 and a range of other mikes), and above all good monitors. If you've got all the best gear, but can't hear the frequencies and stereo fields, you're wasting all the effort it takes to get a good recording. The only thing I can add, is once you have your setup, get your ears tuned to the monitors and do a lot of experimenting with your own recordings. If you don't know what your doing, people aren't going to pay you for a crap job, and believe me, musos don't go back if they've wasted their money the first time round
11
Get The Digi002. It ill give you the best quailtity for your money
12
From experience I can tell you that before you make any purchases at all you should accept that if $5000.00 is your initial budget, that you really will have to sacrifice on overall quality of sound or do a LOT of work getting the gear you need cheaply. A good DSP soundcard could potentially take up half of that amount itself!

Here is a list of starter items you will need, especially if you want to run your outfit as a business - where customers are very demanding:

First thing: your computer should have a TON of RAM and a fast bus system. If you don’t have either, don’t even try to record on it. Your latency will be way too off, so you wont be able to monitor your sound in real-time, and even worse, you will spend most of your time editing overdubs than creating music.

Second, your sound card. You can get a professional used card much cheaper than a new amateur card. I use a Yamaha DSP Factory with the AX-44 interface. Granted, with that I only have 4 inputs, but that’s honestly more than I ever need since I record track by track. If you do anything, make your life easier in the long run and get a card with DSP technology.

Mixer console. The more outputs the better, especially if you ever want to record live. Most decent boards have phantom power switches, which is what you will need if you use a studio quality condenser mic. You will want to pre-mix your recordings prior to sending them. It’s the GIGO principle.

High end studio condenser microphone. I like the AKG C 414 TLII. The beauty of the microphone is that it is versatile and crystal clear. You can spend hundreds buying other mics for specific purposes, when just spend a little more on this one and be forever happy.

Recording interface/software. Depending on your needs this could cost between $150.00 to $2000.00. Here’s a tip…if you or anyone you know works for an educational facility, you can get good deals on software at www.journeyed.com. I picked up my copy of Cubase SX for only like $350.00 – which was a few hundred off the retail price at the time.

Monitor speakers or quality headphones. Check the frequency range when purchasing. You will want something that picks up the entire bandwidth if possible. Try for 15hz to 25,000hz. Either Sennheiser or AKG make headphones like this for about a hundred bucks or so.

Power conditioners to keep your gear protected and the electronic interference down to a minimal. I use ART, but there are probably some better brands out there.

High end cables that are shielded. Monster cables are expensive but they do make a difference in the end.

Don’t forget soundproofing. You will want to reduce wow, flutter and standing waves from your sound. Believe that it makes a difference. I recommend 2” studio tiles. Even one tile for every five square feet will have a positive impact on the sound.

Also: furniture and aesthetics. Remember that you will be sitting for hours upon hours working. If you or your guests are not comfortable, you may have some troubled times trying to finish your projects. Give your guests things to do, have a couch or extra play space (yes, even for adults!), put relaxing and interesting pictures on the wall.

Hope this wasn’t too long for a post, but I just wanted to help and offer some tips. My last bit of advise is this: if you think that you can’t afford something and want to go for an item of reduced quality, remember that you will be paying more in the end. Very soon you will discover that it doesn’t suit your needs and that you have to buy the quality item later. Don’t make that mistake – it will just set you back monetarily. Buy the good stuff now. If you want something good – shop around like a fiend, buy used or make trades.

Peace!
13
[color=darkred]Ya know we can talk about recording equipment all year, but the bottomline is this, if the studio is not soundproofed and sound conditioned properly, then what's the point of building a home studio.
You and your band might be in the middle of a #1 hit recording, and all of a sudden, Aunt Ethel's dog goes into a barking fir. How suck is that?
My point here being, you need to start from scratch and construct a room within a room in either a bedroom, a garage or a basement. There is a a really cool website that talks about this in depth. Go to:
www.soundproofingamerica.com and on the button that says "soundproofing" click on that button and read the different soundproofing scenarios. Look, unless you plan on doing stright "line in" recording, which if you have a nice set of Pearl drums or a 1969 Marshall Plexi, basically is the pits, because you can't get the edge you need top make line in work, especially if you are playing metal or grunge.
Click on one of these URL's if you need further information on doing your home studio.

Go To: http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/band.asp

Go To: http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/booth.asp

or Go To: http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/garage.asp

It's nice to have a place to post. Thanks all,

Lyonhart.[/color]
14
Lyonhart makes a point here . Lots of people forget that the first thing that will color the sound of your recordings is the acoustics of the room. You can buy a Neve board, Vintage Neumanns and an Otari recorder, if you record in a concrete basement, it will still sound like a concrete basement. Now if you're after a garage kind of sound it may be perfect.

Now it's also true that some houses, particularly old gouses with wooden floor, have good acoustics.
15
Hey the linkz that u gave out.it dont seems to work.or i'm i mistaken.
16
The links work just fine for me!