Setting Up A Home Studio For Under 500$

So you’re out of cash, and your band has these new tunes just waiting to be recording, no way could you buy that new 1000$ soundcard you’ve always wanted, and yours is too much of a piece of junk. Well, for the cost of just a few hours in the studio, you can setup your own
home studio without having to sell your soul to Satan.

Recorder 300$: If you don’t want to dish out 1000$ for a professional soundcard, find a reasonably priced multi-track recorder on eBay (200-400$) (I got a Boss digital 4 track with 32 virtual track, a drum machine, and digital output for about 200$), and get a USB memory card reader (about 30$) so that u can transfer your music to your computer without reducing the quality by using your cheap Creative soundcard.

Mixer 59.99$: Then you should get a mixer because most 4 track recorders only allow 1 instrument and 1 microphone to record simultaneously. You won’t need anything fancy here, I got a portable Ki-sound 4 track mixer with a small preamp in it for 30$. But a better one would be this Behringer one for 59.99$.

Microphones 59.99$: You’ll want to get some good microphones but since you’re on a budget, you can’t afford those 300$ Shure mics. Here’s your solution, Behringer sells a great package of 3 microphones with clips for only $59.99, they offer descent sound quality for both vocals and instrument recording.

Headphones 49.99$: You might want some real monitors to hear yourself or the playback when recording, so I suggest you search on eBay and at your local pawn shops for used ones, but the alternative to these are a descent pair of head phones. I had two old speakers in my garage, and they work fine as monitors but headphones are always better. Musicians friend has a great deal on two pairs of deluxe studio headphones for only 49.99$.

Audio Editing Software ???$: You’ll definitely be needing good software to mix and master all the stuff you recorded with your gear. Now these have a huge price range but you’ll always find a smart-alec somewhere who says they’ll get you a pirated version for cheap. I suggest you use Cool Edit Pro or Adobe Audition, they are in my opinion the best softwares for this. Now of course, pirating is bad! So don’t do it!

All you have to do now is find an empty room in your house (even your bedroom!) and since you probably won’t be having a drum set in there, then you won’t need to isolate everything. Be sure to have a thick carpet on the floor and put some padding around the door frame and windows (towels or rags should be fine) and if you want, you can hang some egg cartons on the wall, but it’s not necessary.

Pay attention to details! The slightest little thing could screw up your whole recording, make sure that you have no air-conditioning system or working ventilation ducts in your studio, the windows should be closed and heck, even neon lights can cause some static with your gear. Also, use good wires to connect everything together and make sure that all your power supplies are grounded!

There you have it! You can now set up your own basic recording studio for under 500$ now that is about half the price of a professional sound card, and you can just about get the same quality! Just remember that when you see a piece of gear somewhere, you can probably get it somewhere else for cheaper, and it’s just waiting for you to go buy it. I also found out that if you set up your studio so that it looks very proffesional and have people hear some stuff you recorded in it, they might like it and pay you to use it! Heck, it happened to me. Have fun!

Comments

[*Arch Dandy*]

First, great article 100%

[n_punx]

I also found out that if you set up your studio so that it looks very proffesional and have people hear some stuff you recorded in it, they might like it and pay you to use it! Heck, it happened to me.

are u serious?

[icebreakeribs]

nice

[Ember Ellusion]

i dun get it why no air condition....but anyway v gd article lol i might stop goin to prof studios and buy my own

[psychodelia]

nice article

[hololos]

Nice article

[starbomb13]

the thing is- i don't even think i have 500 dollars- i'm practically f*ckin' broke.

[no_quarter05]

^Word. good article though

[tauket2]

well, if you go to any proffesional studio, you won't gaind any air conditioning in or around the control room cuz they make noise, and can interfere with your gear..... also starbomb, go see my article in the columns forum, in the same thread as this article, i wrote one called hobome recording..... for under 30$ !

[tauket2]

^^ you won't find*

[Guy Snowden]

cheers for the info - nice article

[hololos]

Nice Article. Makes me wanna start a Home Studio

[Wilson8]

what he means by air conditioner is that they blow air so you need to have absolute silence for a better quality recording.. and also if you are f**kin broke for 500 bucks then record your sh*t in your answering machine loser!

[Mechanick]

^ lol... i tried that...

[tauket2]

if y'all wanna hear the sound quality of my own studio....... check out www.soundclick.com/chrisvalente

in my opinion, the sound quality is very good.... all the instruments are recorded in my studio except for the drums....

[AuthenticBass]

this is exactly what we need for a "cheap" recording
i found a shure mic for only 50 bucks at like Radio Shack or somewhere like that, works great.
If you go into a guitar store w/ limited money lookin for a recorder, the bastards will try and throw you a pair of $300 AKG hesdphones. All we need is a recorder, and a mixer!! w00t

good article, next step... write an article onhow to make an easy 500 bucks

[WrappedInCold]

if you don't believe in god, pm me...ill help you make you 500 dollars an unorthodox way!!!

[AuthenticBass]

^^ clean your PM box out!!!

[Chemicalwarfare]

my friend did that but its costing him 1,500, cuz he has monitors, but he doesnt use his computer

[Rock 101]

Nice article!Very useful!

[caughtoffguard]

nice article. now if i could only get $500.......

[hobo8917]

great, now all i need is $500

[RevelationStorm]

I suggest you use Cool Edit Pro or Adobe Audition

Also, there is a program called N-Track Studio. It is what I use and you can get excellent quality out of it. Also, Sound Forge is a great mastering software program. If you want to check out the quality of these software programs, click [URL=http://www.throughthestorm.net/Thunder.mp3]Thunder[/URL]. Chow. Good article.

[sithian476]

hm... im gonna get $600 minus 10% commission for doing a website... perfect timing?

[RevelationStorm]

sorry, messed up. It's www.throughthestorm.net/Thunder.mp3. And it's case-sensitive so be sure you capitalize the "T" in Thunder.

[hoobariffer87]

Recording setup for under $400

Buy a Digitech RPx400. Yeah, that's pretty much it. I got mine off eBay for around $270. It has a XLR Mic input, stereo line input, unbalanced stereo output, balanced stereo XLR outputs AND USB 1.1. Also, it comes with recording software, although it's a bit complicated. I use Cool Edit Pro with it. You can record one stereo signal and one mono signal simultaneously. Also, you can record a dry guitar track and then reamp it through the effects. Yeah. It rocks. Throw in a Mic ($50) and headphones ($40) and you're pretty much set.

[~Rock~Guitarist]

nice article, very informing and to the point

[BASS-PUNK-2010]

a great article !

[bc2skaterpunk]

hey nice article, but what about ppl that r completely broke?

[fender rocker16]

hey good article. ^^^^^ and that just sucks for them.

[Adam Burgess]

great article man

[tauket2]

bc2skaterpunk........ if you're going to set up a homestudio, your going to have to give yourself a reasonable budget... you can't say "tell me how to set up a studio with 30$!) it just can't work..... if you don't have the money, then just save up for a while or stop complaining...

[Backup Guitar]

Another option I oughta mention is that you can choose to skip the recorder and buy quality sound software with the money. It all depends on what you want to do, of course, but if you have a high-quality computer w/ good sound card, a recorder isn't necessarily an option.

But if you have a cheap computer with an ordinary soundcard, you may well as forget it, as far as quality goes.

Great article, man!

[TuckJoeL]

that leaves you 30 dolla for software SWEET

[cconq9]

Okay question: what exactly do you need the mixer for? Do you use it to record multiple mikes/instruments on one track of the multi-track?

[KillerMonkey89]

Who buys software these days anyway?

[BarryMcBatt]

this is a good idea, if you have the $500. i've got a genius one if you don't.

get a computer, get KRISTAL Audio Engine from KREATIVES.org, get a cheap mixer, your instruments, plug your mixer into the audio input of your sound card. viola!!

works perfectly, thats what we do in my band.

then if you want to put it on a cd get a cd writer 'n' just burn the files onto the cd (KRISTAL automatically records the files as *.wav). you can even record the instruments separately.

PM me if you need help finding it or using it.

[BarryMcBatt]

oh another thing KRISTAL IS FREE!!!!

[BarryMcBatt]

and another thing (im very forgetful) kristal has a built in mixer and a few effects

[AndyGray]

i got an adapter for £2 and now i can just plug my guitar and mic into my computer, wayhey, i use music centre pro, its complex and ***, the manuel took 3 football pitches of tree's to make

[atc228]

good

[Jerman]

Cubasis VST is the program I use for mixing, and it's awesome. It's a couple hundred bucks, but my dad's office had a copy so I just used that, but the money spent would be well worth it. It's got tons and tons of instruments that you can add to your recordings digitally, and there are a lot of websites where you can download plug-ins for more instruments. If you're looking to spend good money on an editing program, Cubasis is my recommendation.

[Homer Gibson]

good job

[n_punx]

well how big is the difference recording with a crappy soundcard compared to getting those recorders?

[teo_huat]

great,very exiting ...

[bigrd15132]

A friend of mine, who I used to play with, recorded our band in his computer room. Excellent quality. We used Line 6 POD for the guitars, PC Drummer, a $70 off brand condensor for the vocals, and my bass amp's XLR D/I. I don't have any completely finished recordings, otherwise I'd send them to you. Oh, and we use Cool Edit Pro to mix it all. That information probably won't help you with your home recording problems, but I'll make a suggestion...record extra tracks. Try dubbing vocals in the chorus and stuff like that. If you're a band with one guitarist, record the guitar part twice and maybe add the tiniest amount of delay to it. Also, try adding some lead to it, if you're only playing rhythm and vice versa. That's all I have. Godd article, by the way...

[SRVGuitarFreak]

hey I might set one up, that's be sweet.

[cannonball_900]

wow
i heard a lot bout ebay,but really didnt trust it to spend hard cash in there

nice article!

[tauket2]

dude, ebay is very secure, go ahead and use it! you'll be pleased

[Cyberknight4000]

i have $30,000 in my bank account, what should i do with it?

[five_stars_rock]

give me...all of it!

[Axl_Duff_Izzy]

wheeeee

[turja293]

I love it when people whine about not having the money. Get a job, save some cash and take some good advice on setting up a studio.

[Alien_from_a_cd]

Great article. Hey Cyberknight4000, are u complaining about having too much money Hey pal, haven't seen u in a while, lend me some, will ya

[checkered stars]

Alien_from_a_cd:
Great article. Hey Cyberknight4000, are u complaining about having too much money Hey pal, haven't seen u in a while, lend me some, will ya

hahaha. lol.
anyways great article. 5 stars.

[Obie]

Ember Ellusion:
i dun get it why no air condition....but anyway v gd article lol i might stop goin to prof studios and buy my own

word \m/

lol

[Gibsonguy64]

give me 500 bucks and ill like ur artical

spam deleted.

[The Jin]

wut if u dont have 500 bucks...?

[moonraker]

live to play live

[Joey Joe Joe Jr]

But cant I just get my parents to pay for it & buy loads of expensive stuff?

[ultima15088]

Whats the deal with buying a mixer man?
I thought on a four track you would go:
Track One - Guitar
Track 2 - Drums
Track 3 - Bass
Track four - Vocals

And if uve got two geetarists then you play at the same time with a mic plugged in????

I am looking to record soon, i was looking at this 6 track CD studio thing for 600 notes, looks good to me, is this all i will need, no vocals either as of yet, just two guitars and bassist.

[metallicafan180]

good article, but it's still going to take me forever to get $500!

[The Axeman]

nice!

[playfielder]

He he mines free i borrowed it all from my dad, and my bands recording a single !!! if u live in sydney u might hear it playfield
Check out the site - plz sign up
http://groups.msn.com/playfield/intropage.msnw

[EatsP1es]

dude, gotta love being friends with the sound technician at my church :P

anything we want recorded, done for free on top-quality everything

[kirk_rules!]

im not quite as lucky as the dick-head up here^^^, but I was lucky enough to get Cakewalk Sonar 4 for 20 bucks. Its regularly $300

[VR05]

i have a question about kristal... can u like plug ur recorder into the comp and then upload tracks on it and thne mix them on it?

[VR05]

or would it be more efficient to just get a mixer

[PSL]

...but why do you thing that people like me spend huge amount of money to get a good sound quality?? Do you think that we are stupid? With 500$ i just bought 1 mic...not even good! Try to listen at a good quality rec...then we can talk about it again...

[PSL]

...but why do you thing that people like me spend huge amount of money to get a good sound quality?? Do you think that we are stupid? With 500$ i just bought 1 mic...not even good! Try to listen at a good quality rec...then we can talk about it again..

[limaro]

Dear ultimate-guiter
My name Is makumbi Robert from Uganda . am 22years of age.
I live with my aunt and my other two sisters and one brother. My father died when I was still young and my mother couldn’t take care of me. Am a high school graduate . I couldn’t join university because my aunt couldn’t afford to fees any more.

During my high school, I used to write and compose songs one day hoping that I would get a chance to record them. The way music in Uganda is don is different where by on e has to pay in order to his music recorded. But I can’t afford to pay for it .

There are other youth in my village mostly orphans who look up to me to help them because they also have a ream of being musicians. They anomaly at my place to give them some vocal training.

So please I was hoping that you would help me in the fundraising of some funds in order to start up a studio in my village.

I don’t get easy access to the internet where I go all the way to town to get access
Which is very expensive.
‘’PLEEAASE’’ help me and make a difference in my life as well as that of village mates.
Hope to hear from you and may God bless you.
Thank you for taking your precious to read my mail

Yours sincerely
Robert

[limaro]

Dear sir/maddam
My name Is mak Robert from Uganda . am 22years of age.
I live with my aunt and my other two sisters and one brother. My father died when I was still young and my mother couldn’t take care of me. Am a high school graduate . I couldn’t join university because my aunt couldn’t afford to pay for my fees any more.

During my high school, I used to write and compose songs one day hoping that I would get a chance to record them. The way music in Uganda is done is different where by one has to pay in order to get his music recorded. But I can’t afford to pay for it .

There are other youth in my village mostly orphans who look up to me to help them because they also have a dream of being musicians. They nomaly come at my place to give them some vocal training.

So please I was hoping that you would help me in the fundraising of some funds in order to start up a studio in my village.

I don’t get easy access to the internet where by I go all the way to town to get access
Which is very expensive.
‘’PLEEAASE’’ help me and make a difference in my life as well as that of my village mates.
Hope to hear from you and may God bless you.
Thank you for taking your precious time to read my mail

Yours sincerely
Robert

[switchback7]

Great article, I use a Tascam DP-01 and I mic my amps for guitar and bass. I use the Roland V-drums and use a B-1 behringer vocal mic and it sounds great except the occassion amp static. Thanks for the info.