Possible to get a pro sounding recording in a home studio?

kayDUB

So, a few questions... ?

1. Do you think it is possible to track in a home studio and then send the tracks away for pro mixing/mastering and get a top class sounding recording?
What gear is absolutely necessary and what is good to have?
Would you use acoustic drums or an electronic kit?

2. What would you add to my current setup in order of importance?

Currently I have: (not too inspiring :? )

- A 3 x 4m untreated room
- Presonus FP10
- Shure SM57, SM58
- P4 2.8 :-[ running Ubuntu/Ardour, 22" LCD (its way too loud for recording!)
- Old Sharp hifi for monitoring :-[
- cheap pair of PC headphones.

On my current to buy list (eventually) is as follows:

- monitors (krk rockit 6s or similar)
- upgrade PC, not really sure software wise, possibly cubase?
- power conditioner (one of the Samson range possibly)
- compressor
- headphones (sennheiser HD 202)
- some sort of minimal room treatment - need to research more
- an affordable condenser mic for a room type sound with guitars etc - is this worth it in a 3x4m room?

The thoughts behind this are while working on your own time and not paying per hour you are free to experiment, be creative and tweak things until the cows come home. Of course the downside is you have less to tweak! ?

suggestions, thoughts, comments or general "you're crazy!" statements? ? Keep in mind that the goal is best possible outcome, least possible cash - but within reason!

Keira-WitherKay

ok heres my take on this............

if you 1) have the money to set up a top quality home studio ...meaning no inferior gear ..... everything up to pro level standard

2) have the recording skills....yes a top class recording requires a top class engineer and producer they add more to the product than the gear ....and if you think recording skills is stand in front of a mic and press record .......do some serious reading

3) what style of music you gonna do...... if you doing dance music a small room is perfect cos nothing is "live" everything is drawn from samples and can be done digitally ......... but if you doing jazz/po/rock anything requiring a "live" sound and real drums........... you will need a good sounding drum booth and that can double for a guitar booth (to mic up a cranked up amp ) but if you don't have a separate guitar booth it will mean removing the drums each time cos they will rattle and add noise which will be picked up by guitar amp mic)

4 ) define top class recording .................... to me it's a recording that would be indistinguishable from anything one hears on any international cd/radio station.crack that level and you styling

5) mastering .....don't forget that is another specialist stage but thankfully on can just send your recordings(separated tracks) to a mastering specialist anywhere in world ..so to me your concern is the basic recording

for me i would rather pay to get into a pro studio when your project is ready ............ home studios' as "project" studio's are fabulous and every muso should be able to record themselves at home and these days it's cheaper and easier than ever before .. but don't kid yourself that it's equal to a 1st rate studio ..( which i think you refering to when you say "top class recording" .cos it aint....... unless you have the space /money /room acoustics/ mic's ect ect ect as i mentioned above ......

i have heard great home recording and many are good enough for demo's even small release of cd to sell at gigs ect ect

but i suggest spend the cash for just one day in a "pro studio" and i mean a good one .......... too many studio's pass themselves off as pro studio's but are no better than project studio's you can have on your pc............. but find out for example where parlortones ? or someone/anyone on the radio recorded their last cd or where someone local who's sound you love recording.....pay the cash to lay down just one song there ..... and take it home and use it as a test recording to try build your skills /equipment up to........ and if your gear can get that sound you on your way .. if not ......... keep working at it ... cos magic is in the engineer/producer.......... NOT the gear if it's top end

AlanRatcliffe

Some good advice from Keira already...

+1. It's possible, but it takes some good gear and lots of learning.

Most good home studios are built over time and a lot of the knowledge comes from spending time recording: working with the gear, reading up with tutorials/books/forums and applying the theory - basically practising the art and training your ears. A book can give you the basics like how mic positioning affects tone, but you have to spend lots of time experimenting with your gear to find out how it applies to that - each mic, mic preamp and effect has a different character which influences the results.

Word of warning - you thing guitar GAS is expensive? It's nothing to studio GAS. Be prepared to invest lots of money over time. I spent more on software and software upgrades the last few years than I did on guitar, amp and effects pedals combined.

OK - your priorities as I see them:

0. You have a decent interface with preamps already. Fine for now. Ditto on the PC - A faster computer is nice for more FX processing power, but not essential for now.

1. Monitoring. If you can't hear it properly, you can't judge it properly and you cannot get a decent result.

2. Closed back headphones for tracking. Lets you hear the tracks that are already captured with minimal leakage into any live mics.

3. One decent large diaphragm condenser mic for vocals and acoustic instruments.

4. If you need facilities for a drummer - an electronic drumset, which will cost less than enough mics to mic a kit and room treatment. Also makes getting a decent drum sound easy. If you have a MIDI interface, you can record the MIDI output rather than the audio, which will let you edit the drum tracks easily and even upgrade sounds later using software drum samplers.

4a. If you don't have a drummer, far easier/cheaper to use a software drum machine or buy a couple of CDs of decent loops.

Room treatment you can get away with minimal and common things you already have at first - if you just apply them intelligently. We've discussed this before in other threads.

MIKA-the-better-one

IS it possible to get a pro sounding record from a home studio? YES!

without mention to any gear you need, because you do not need much, other than a good ear, and a somewhat critical stance...... and maybe a few mics and stuff.

Many pro artists (big and small) record themselves.............. its not about the best most prostine studio sound, its a about what works for you, and where captires your sound the best, and if thats at home....... great.

kayDUB

Thanks for the comments all!

Keira WitherKay wrote: have the money to set up a top quality home studio ...meaning no inferior gear ..... everything up to pro level standard

I agree you need to have good gear, but I think more importantly you need to know how to get the best out of the gear you have and learn what the strong/weak points of each piece of gear are - comes with much practice!

have the recording skills....yes a top class recording requires a top class engineer and producer they add more to the product than the gear ....and if you think recording skills is stand in front of a mic and press record .......do some serious reading

agreed! this is one of the reasons I would like to go the home recording route, to build up skills which can be used and built upon in the future.

what style of music you gonna do...... if you doing dance music a small room is perfect cos nothing is "live" everything is drawn from samples and can be done digitally ......... but if you doing jazz/po/rock anything requiring a "live" sound and real drums........... you will need a good sounding drum booth and that can double for a guitar booth (to mic up a cranked up amp ) but if you don't have a separate guitar booth it will mean removing the drums each time cos they will rattle and add noise which will be picked up by guitar amp mic)

rock/pop I would say. drums wise at the moment I am thinking about using an electronic kit - like Alan said - easier to get a good sound in the limited space, or else just getting the drum tracks down in a decent studio at least.

I'll get back on the rest later - time constraints! ☹

Jacquesg4j

Yes it is certainly possible... Friends of mine, in a band called "Die Tuindwergies" recorded their EP in another friend of mine that plays lead guitar for ef-el 's room. They used mattresses for acoustic padding and just used good quality mics and I think they sound super... Quality is awesome! If you want to check it out, Die Tuindwergies on facebook... They have a big hit on radio as well! But the EP sounds fab!! Even recorded Acoustic drums...

inflames

I agree with Keira and Alan.

Just have a listen to Andrew Bryson (forum member) cd.
All home recorded and it rocks!

So yes you can ?

Manfred-Klose

Yes its possible.

The important thing is that you should be able to use your ear correctly.
you can get away with lots stuff by working your way around things.

Yes use digital drums, maby acoustic snare and cymbals if you want that really natural sound.

TomCat

Yes it is certainly possible.

+1 to all Alan and Keira have said above. We are actually in the middle if that very process at the moment...i.e. doing an album in our lounge.

To get a professional result you need basically three things:

1).....Professional Kit (not necessarily a lot of kit or very expensive kit).
A decent Audio interface. If you can afford it, get one with a least 8 mic preamps so that if the need arises, you can record live drums. We are using a Tascam FW1884 which acts as both the preamp as well as the DAW interface.
A high grade Condenser microphone. A good contender there is the AKG C3000.
As Alan has said.....good closed back headphones. My choices hare are Sony, AKG and my personal favourite....Beyerdynamic DT150
Have a look at Reaper as an alternative to other recording packages. Small download, light on PC resources, easy to use and works with most plugins.

2).....An educated ear
I say here an educated ear over a good ear (although a good ear helps) as you need to be able to hear and understand what you are hearing. The best Kit in the world won't help if you are not able to analyze and apply what you hear.....Educating your ears takes time and you never stop learning.

3)...Be patient. Getting good results takes time and you may have to re record the same thing over many times before it sounds right. The better the quality of the recording, the easier it will be to mix down later on.

Also be prepared to learn from others......

kayDUB

Thankfully I enjoy learning and also enjoy being creative, what better than to do it both at once!

My main problem with the PC atm is its just too loud... I need to see exactly what is making the noise and whether I can do something about it.
Some good points in here, noted!

@MIKA, I tend to agree with you, there are certain basic things that you can't escape from, but I think you can do a lot with a little if you spend the time and get creative!
One thing I have thought of is to not be tied down to the one room, but find other (larger and acoustically better) places to record vocals in, or to get that big guitar sound.

Hey Tom... didn't happen if there are no pics! ?

TomCat

kayDUB wrote: Hey Tom... didn't happen if there are no pics! ?

Ok....you asked for it......The proof is in.........The pictures..... ?

When your lounge looks like a Studio

Mariann doing some vocals

Andre on Acoustic

Andre doing some Bass on his own album earlier this year

kayDUB

Thanks Tom! ?

Thats the AKG C 3000, right? How much did that set you back?
Would love to hear a comparison of an SM58 and the AKG with the same vocal, just to get a feel for the dynamic vs condenser differences... catch me on google! ?

TomCat

The mic is the AKG C4500......Great mic. Vastly different from a SM58. Different application entirely. The mic is on a loan but the retail for one is about R 8k.

The AKG sounds very open without any EQ or effects added. It is even more open sounding than Mariann's Beta 87A, A very good live condenser vocal mic.