Recording Equipment

The first steps to building a home recording studio involve identifying the types of recordings you want to make and the type of dedicated space you have available to accommodate your home studio equipment. Outfitting that space comes next. Music recording equipment is not only more sophisticated than it once was — it is also less expensive. As a result, buying the recording studio equipment you want is no longer the budget-busting effort it was in the past. This is especially the case if you already have a newer computer with enough power to serve as your recording hub. Even so, getting the best studio gear for your needs can be daunting, due primarily to the seemingly endless selection of available studio equipment. So, how do you go about choosing the home recording studio equipment you need?

Next, if your recording consists of singing or playing musical instruments, you'll need to choose a type of microphone. A dynamic microphone is best for drums and electric guitar, while a condenser microphone is better suited for acoustic guitar and piano. Depending on your needs, you may want both. If you plan to also use a studio microphone for podcasting, a dynamic mic works best. 

A MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) will facilitate transmitting your music and vocals to your computer so you can graphically edit your recordings. You may find a digital audio workstation to be a better solution. You may also want other music editing software to help you cut, copy and paste, compose, and edit parts of your recording before you add or reduce amplification and/or echo and more. Other accessories, such as cables and stands, will be a must as well. Additionally, you may want to consider other music studio equipment, like subwoofers if low-end is an important component to your creations, or diffusers if a more sophisticated acoustic treatment is required.

A comfortable studio space can create a relaxed atmosphere and enhance performance. That means you will need to make decisions about your furniture and ambience. Additionally, you'll want to examine the acoustics of the area. You may find that acoustic tiles are necessary to create the best sound. For many, video is an integral part of their music production equipment. For that, BestBuy.com offers a wide selection of camcorder and camera options.

Let's look at your computer first. Your selection will depend on your budget, your portability requirements, and the processing speed you'll need to produce the types of recordings you want. You want a computer with enough power to handle the demands of recording and mixing multiple tracks, along with enough RAM to handle the sorts of recordings you'll be creating. Ideally this computer would be solely dedicated to your recordings, without gaming or other software that could take up memory space and reduce stability.

One of the 11 essential items for podcasting you will need is an audio interface. Simply put, an audio interface is a way to turn your analog or acoustic sounds into digital music on your computer. It also sends the sound out to either high-quality studio headphones or studio monitors so you can hear the various components accurately while you're mixing them together. A bad mix can sound fine on one system, but horrible on another.