- Use things like cloth-covered material to absorb sound or use rugs to cover up hardwood floors to reduce echoes.
- If you need to, purchase acoustic treatment materials to reduce extra noise in your recording studio.
- Use good-quality headphones or speakers to listen to the playback of your recordings.
Preparing the Room
Choose a room in your home that’s comfortable and heated/cooled. Select a room or a part of a room in your home for your recording studio location. Opt for a room that you will feel comfortable in for long periods of time. Also, select a room where you can control the temperature all year round. For example, unless your garage or basement are temperature-controlled, they likely won’t make good studio locations. Keep in mind the type of recording you’ll be doing and select a room that’s the proper size. For example, if you’re only recording one person, a closet will work. However, if you’re going to be recording an entire band, you’ll need a larger room.
Decorate the room with cloth-covered furniture to absorb sound. Add whatever furniture you need or want to your recording study, if it’s large enough. At the very least, you’ll need a desk or table for your equipment. If you’re able to fit more furniture, select furniture that’s covered in fabric, as it will absorb the sound rather than distort it. You may want to add a couch and/or comfy chairs for guests, as well as stools for vocalists and musicians.
Reduce sound reflection with an area rug for a hard-surfaced floor. Place one or more area rug onto the floor of your studio if you have floors with a hard surface, such as tiles or hardwood. Ensure one of those area rugs is directly under your desk and chair. If your room already has wall-to-wall carpet, you can skip this step. A hard surface floor will reflect sound waves, just like the walls and ceiling. Unfortunately, however, you can't install absorption panels on the floor, but you can make sure the floor is mostly carpeted.
Purchase acoustic treatment material to reduce sound reflection. Purchase a broadband absorption kit, four bass traps, and two isolation pads from a music store or online. The broadband absorption kit should come with approximately 30 panels that can be placed around your room, once the equipment is set up. Absorption panels, bass traps, and diffusion panels are all designed to prevent the sound from your studio monitors from being distorted due to the flat walls. Bass traps absorb low-frequency sound, which allows you to hear the bass in your audio recording properly. Absorption panels prevent sound waves from reflecting directly off the walls, whereas diffusion panels redirect the sound waves in different directions. For a starter studio, you may not need diffusion panels.
Getting the Gear
Obtain a powerful computer to mix your music and sound. Consider this step complete if you already have a computer that’s less than a few years old. Purchase a new (or refurbished) computer if you don’t have a newer computer or if you have the budget to purchase a desktop computer specifically for your recording studio. Get a laptop computer if you need it for other activities; get a desktop if you don’t need a computer elsewhere. While there may be a debate within the recording industry, both a Mac or a Windows computer will work in a home recording studio. If you need to upgrade only one item in your computer, upgrade the amount of RAM to the highest amount you can afford.
Download free trials of sound recording software to test out. There are a huge number of sound recording software programs on the market. Each program has its pros and cons and each program has its fans and critics. To find the software that works for you, download trial copies of a couple different options. Try each option out and determine which one satisfies all your needs. Some sound recording software is open-source and it’s free to download the full version. Try these options out as well, you may find free software that meets all your needs.
Obtain a pair of studio monitors on which to listen to the playback. Two of the most important items in your studio will be your monitors (i.e., speakers). Select the best pair of studio monitors you can afford on your budget. However, keep in mind you can always purchase additional monitors later if needed. If your budget doesn’t currently allow for studio monitors, you can get by with just a pair of headphones. However, do not consider headphones a permanent substitute for monitors.
Invest in a studio microphone to ensure the best sound. Purchase a new studio microphone to include in your recording studio. If you know for certain that you’ll be recording more than one voice and/or acoustic instrument at the same time, purchase more than one microphone. Do not forget to also purchase a stand for each microphone; most microphones won’t include a stand. Studio microphones do not have to be expensive. There are many good options for less than $150. Be sure to purchase a pop filter that can be used with your specific microphone for voice recordings.
Get an audio interface to link all your equipment together. Purchase an audio interface that is compatible with your computer. Get an interface that allows for at least 3 inputs (microphone, headphones, and studio monitors). Ensure there is an input port for each microphone you have in your studio, or you’ll only be able to record one at a time. Consider buying an audio interface with an ADAT (Alesis Digital Audio Tape) connection. This type of connection will allow you to link multiple interfaces together as your studio grows.
Ensure you have all the necessary cables to connect everything. Not all the equipment you purchase will include the requisite cables. Bring all your equipment into your recording studio room and lay it out in your configuration of choice. Lay the cables you have on the floor, between the various pieces of equipment to determine which ones you already have and which ones you’ll need to buy. Purchase all the cables you need. Look online or at a music store for used cables and accessories to save money.
Perfecting Sound Dynamics
Install mass-loaded vinyl to soundproof the room. Purchase mass-loaded vinyl soundproofing material, which typically comes in rolls that are 4 feet (1.2 m) long, from a music store or online. Install the vinyl on your walls, ceiling, and floor of the room you’re making your recording studio. Attach the vinyl to the walls using nails or staples, with the help of at least 1 friend. Ideally, the mass-loaded vinyl would be installed under your walls, between the studs and drywall. However, unless you’re renovating your home, you can install them directly onto the drywall.
Install the bass traps in the 4 corners of your room. Attach one bass trap in each corner of your room, at the ceiling. Use spray adhesive to attach the bass trap directly to the wall. If the bass trap has mounting brackets instead, follow the instructions that came with the trap to install them. If, on the odd chance, your room isn’t square and has more than 4 corners, purchase extra bass traps for the extra corners. Technically, bass traps can be installed along the floor, instead of the ceiling. However, installing them near the floor will take away from your usable space in the room.
Set up a table or desk on which to organize your equipment. Bring at least one table or desk into your recording studio room and set it up. Place all your equipment (computer and accessories, studio monitors, audio interface) on the table or desk, in the configuration you want. Attach all the cables for these items. Place your chair at the table or desk and take a seat. Make sure the equipment you setup is accessible from your chair’s position. Note that the rest of your studio is going to be setup based on where you put your chair. If you’re unsure about the location of your desk/table, try a couple of options before finishing your set up.
Set up your studio monitors at ear level to hear your mix properly. Sit down in your chair and check that your studio monitors are at the same level as your head. Raise the studio monitors up on stands if they’re too low. Make sure your two studio monitors and your head form an equilateral triangle (e.g., that all 3 items are the same distance apart from each other). For example, if you’ve placed your studio monitors 10 feet (3.0 m) apart, your head also needs to be 10 feet (3.0 m) from each monitor.
Place acoustic isolation pads under your monitors to reduce amplification. Put the 2 isolation pads you purchased under each studio monitor. If the pad raised the monitor too high, you’ll either need to lower the monitor (e.g., take it off a shelf or stand) or raise you head to match the height of the monitors. The isolation pads will prevent the table or desk surface from amplifying the sound coming from your monitors.
Install your microphone on its stand and place it near your desk. Assemble your microphone stand, if it requires assembly. Attach your microphone to the stand and install the pop filter. Setup the stand so the microphone can be placed directly in front of your mouth while you’re sitting at your desk. This way you can work on your computer while performing voice work. The microphone stand will allow you to move the microphone around (higher, lower, and side to side). If someone else is recording vocals, you can swivel the microphone to them. The microphone stand should also be mobile to a certain extent. If your room is large enough, you’ll be able to move it around your room, as required.
Attach all your equipment together with the requisite cables. Attach your optical (or lightpipe) cables from your studio monitors to your audio interface. Attach your microphone cable and your headphone cable to the audio interface. Use a USB or PCMCIA cable to attach your computer to the audio interface. Set up your keyboard and mouse. If required, use a VGA or Thunderbolt cable to attach one or more video monitors to your computer. Plug your computer, video monitors, and studio monitors into a power outlet. Purchase and use a surge protected power bar for all of your recording equipment. Not only will this ensure you have enough outlets, but it will also ensure a power surge will not damage your equipment.
Use the mirror trick to find the best locations for your absorption panels. Sit in the location where you’ll be when doing your recording work. Have someone stand with a mirror against the wall, on the right side of your right monitor, at the same height as your head. Have that person slowly move it along the wall, around the walls of the entire room, until it’s on the left side of the left monitor. Look into the mirror from your chair and swivel as you watch the mirror go around the perimeter of the room. At every point where you can see at least one of the monitors in the mirror, have your helper make a mark on the wall. Your studio monitors are going to direct sound outward, past you, and onto the walls beside and behind you. The sound is then going to bounce off the walls and back towards you, which is going to distort the sound.
Hang the absorption panels in the predetermined locations. Go around your room and attach an absorption panel to the wall in each location you marked while doing the mirror trick. Use spray adhesive to attach the panel to the wall. Only hang panels at ear height on the side walls of the room. The absorption panel kit you purchased probably comes with panels of different shapes. It doesn’t matter which panels are hung on the wall in the various locations. And the panels do not have a top or bottom side.
Install absorption panels in front of, behind, and above your monitors. Use spray adhesive to attach more absorption panels to the walls behind your studio monitors and behind your chair (even if the wall behind your chair is quite far away). Hang the panels on these walls above and below ear level, in addition to at ear level. Use the same spray adhesive to attach several absorption panels to the ceiling, directly above your chair. Do not cover these 2 walls completely with absorption panels. Only cover a maximum of 50% of the space with panels.
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