How to choose the right audio and recording equipment for your home studio or mobile rig to match your ambitions, budget and music. Music recording used to be something that was only done by professionals in large studios full of expensive equipment.
12 Home Studio Necessities #2 – DAW/Recording Software httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXTxv7LgeHU Alright, so you’ve determined that your computer is up to snuff for recording music. The computer is oftentimes the most expensive piece of the whole studio (especially starting out). You’re creating a DAW, a Digital Audio Workstation. Now that you have a computer, you need some recording software. “What should I get?” you ask.
Free Software There are a ton of options, and many of them are free. If you’re not sure how serious you are about recording, you may need to start with one of the free programs. I’ve found to work well on the PC. If you’ve got a relatively new Mac, then you’re already off to the races with GarageBand, which is included for free. Don’t let the studio snobs intimidate you, there is good music to be made with free software. A good friend of mine in Nashville has made and a cheap little audio interface.
(I’ll cover interfaces in the next article.) Free software is, however, free, so you will most likely run into limitations before long. At that point, you may be ready to spend a little money on some good software. The Major Players There are several major players on the market vying for your attention (and your money). They are as follows:. Pro Tools (Mac & PC).
Studio One (Mac & PC). Logic Studio (Mac only). Digital Performer (Mac only). Cubase (Mac & PC).
Sonar (PC only). Live (Mac & PC).
Reason (Mac & PC) Now there are hundreds of users who swear by each of these platforms, and I’m not here to make a definitive statement about which one is “best.” As a consumer, I’ve used most of them. Having spend several years selling music equipment, I’ve sold them all to various customers, and I’ve developed differing opinions on each. Here are my picks (for both Mac and PC): Pro Tools and Studio One Why? Well, for one, I own them. ? Here’s a quick run-down of why I like them: Pro Tools You’ll hear it all over the web, but Pro Tools really is the “industry standard,” if for no other reason than LOTS and LOTS of people have been using it for years. If you think there’s ever a chance you’ll want to work in a studio, it might be worth your while to become fluent in Pro Tools. Also, Pro Tools has a simple layout, which is helpful for beginners.
There aren’t a million buttons all over the screen to confuse you. And you don’t have to deal with a bunch of different windows. You only have two – the Mix Window and the Edit Window. Pro Tools also includes some very usable virtual instruments. I’ve used MiniGrand (piano) and DB33 (organ) a LOT. Includes lots and lots of patches, from crazy synths to a pretty realistic upright bass sound. Studio One When I first wrote this article back in 2009, I don’t think Studio One existed.
Fast forward to 2013, and I’ve been using Studio One almost exclusively for close to two years. It all started as a favor to my buddies over at Presonus. I just wanted to try out their software and see how I liked it. Initially I wasn’t a big fan, but after some major updates (and after finally trying to learn to use it the way they designed it to work), I’m a BIG fan. In fact, I recorded and mixed my most recent album in Studio One. The main benefits of Studio One: drag and drop workflow (actually helps you mix really fast), really smart layout for recording, mixing, editing, etc., fantastic integration with the onboard mastering suite.
All in all, it just helps me stay creative and work FAST. In Conclusion The truth is that all of these programs will do the same thing. The difference lies simply in how they do it.
If I told ten guitarists to play an E minor chord, I bet they wouldn’t all play it the same way, but none of them would be wrong. Do yourself a favor, do a little research, but don’t make it a 6-month process. For every month you wait around for the “perfect” solution, that’s one less month that you could’ve been making music. And that’s what it’s all about after all, right?
Today we’re looking for the best computer for music production and recording. So you have the; keyboards, speakers, microphones, and most importantly, the ideas storming around in your brain. But what about the actual computer to act as the backbone of your entire digital music production setup? When it comes to a music making computer, we want to settle some anxiety you may have right off the bat: it isn’t too big of deal which one you get. When we say that, we mean what kind, type, brand, etc. You will want to follow our checklists for musts so you ensure you have a computer that can actually handle the modern-day digital music production setup; however, there is a vast majority of models to choose from that will work perfectly fine. How to choose your computer for music production.
Your budget – As perhaps assumed, this is our first and foremost the biggest deciding factor. Although you don’t necessarily have to drop thousands of dollars on your music making computer, the higher you go, the better overall quality your work flow will be. Many reading this article may be just starting to, so keep in mind what other gear you need to balance your money out. To have a fast and easy setup however shouldn’t take more than a thousand bucks (and lower). If you’re a starter musician buying your, you may want to save some money and grab a more budget-friendly computer to get going. However, we do recommend saving up as much cash and being as patient as you can, since computers will be a long-term investment for the next 5 or so years.
As stated previously, they’re also the backbone of a home studio — without a solid music computer, your other gear won’t even work properly and will be useless. Uh oh, we’re not going to get into this debate. When it comes to music production, this debacle is quite overplayed. You need to understand that in the end both are merely just computers.
There is not a preferred “brand” of computer for music making! The only deciding factor for using a Mac or PC (in our opinion) is explained in the next bullet point (or if you’re loyal to a certain route, but that’s not our business). However, you can also read our article for more detail into this popular argument before you continue on.
What DAW are you using? Do you have your picked out yet? If so, this may steer you towards a specific Mac or PC choice. We would only go with Mac if you’re planning on using Pro Tools (they do have a Windows version out now), Garageband or Logic since they are Mac-only. Otherwise, both can work, but double-check on your preferred software’s compatibility. Desktop – Here’s another debate when it comes to computers for music.
Nowadays, I’ve heard of producers using laptops at home considering how powerful and capable they’ve become in recent years. One of the biggest deciding factors for a laptop vs. Desktop choice is if you’re planning on traveling.
If this is so, we’d grab a laptop since it’ll work amazing for these purposes as well as can hold its own while you’re at home in the studio making some tunes in between gigs (you can read our guide as well). Otherwise, grabbing a powerful desktop PC Mac has a lot of potential. We have mostly desktop below, so read our guide we’ve just linked in case you’re in need of a laptop — we did sprinkle a few below, too. These are all pre-built – We know many computer junkies out there who frown at those who buy computers that already have their insides picked out.
We wanted to mention this last since it won’t pertain to everybody. If you’re in the mood to just get going on making some tunes, pre-built is the way to go. Creating your own music computer does give you some flexibility when it comes to doing a little more work and researching the best RAM, hard drive and processor you’d like to mix and match with (which can probably save you a few bucks in the long run as well); however, many pre-built PC’s in the market are still amazing for recording and producing music, so if you aren’t into learning how to make your own computer right now, it’s no worries. We’ll leave that up to you. If you are indeed into, read our article for an in-depth guide.
Our checklist for computers for making music In order to get a feel for what specifications we actually need in our computers, let’s first compare and contrast with some of the most popular music software out there and what minimum system requirements they ask for. We can then use this as a guide to see what the absolute minimum is. Going above is always a good idea since a lot of software out there update quite frequently and sometimes increase their requirements, and you want to be set for the long-term, not just the “minimum”. Let’s review the three most popular software out there right now in Pro Tools, Ableton and Logic. Pro Tools is by far the most demanding software, so if you aren’t using it but still want a computer that supports it, you’ll be in the clear for literally anything else out there.