What Is Needed to Start a Music Studio?

Starting your own music studio can be a rewarding endeavor, but it can also be frustrating. The myriads of audio hardware, software and recording techniques can be overwhelming to a new audio producer. Even if you've had experience in the studio, starting from scratch requires precise planning and research.

Types of Studios

Personal and small studios can be broken into two main categories: analog and digital. Most producers prefer to work with digital audio because of the availability of equipment and support.

Computers

A powerful personal computer with a large hard drive, fast processor and at least 2 gigabytes of RAM memory can be used as the backbone of any digital music endeavor.

Workstations

Digital audio workstations, or DAWs, are powerful software and sometimes hardware bundles that provide the basic structure of a recording studio within the digital realm of your computer.

Conversion Hardware

Analog audio signal from instruments must be converted to digital code for the computer by means of quality audio interfaces.

Plug-ins

Plug-ins are separate pieces of software that digitally "plug into" your digital audio workstation and provide effects, waveform editing and synthetic audio generation.

Facilities

Recording requires excellent room acoustics to capture a natural sound. Soundproofing kits can be purchased or built to improve the acoustic profile of any room.

Resources

• Guide to project studios
• Home recording tips and advice