21 ways to assemble a home recording RIG

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A Tour through the Diverse Home Studio options available Today

Rig #19 Acoustic/Electric Songwriter's Studio

Who it is for:

Multi track recorders are great for recording bands, jam sessions, even gigs if you get one with enough preamps and i/o.  The smaller ones make great songwriter's tools, particularly for guitarists who don't want to mess with a computer.

Hooking it up:

The two MTRs shown below have all the connections you need right on the unit.  Both have USB ports for connecting to a computer for transferring files if you want.  Guitars, keyboards and Monitors connect directly to the unit.

The days of tape are gone now, perhaps forever.  It's a digital world of computers as you have seen above. Yet many of us don't want the burden of hooking up a computer every time we want to record in out living rooms.  Hence, multi-track recorders are more popular than ever and over the past few years they have dramatically increased in power and flexibility.  The 2 multi-track recorders I list above have hard drives, and with the Roland shown above you can add a mouse and computer monitor.  The huge advantage here is it can go where you want to record--great for bands, setting up a jam session at a friends house, on location at a gig, or best of all, on the kitchen table where you can edit and tweak down a master recording with the only cable being a set of headphones.  Or grab your guitar and a your notebook of lyrics and go to it, without the distractions of computer issues redirecting you. 

Other than microphones and studio monitors there is not a lot more to buy later, unless you want to interface with computers and larger mixers.  The units come with good FX units built in and the Roland's are developing their own add-on effects cards.  I like that these units help keep the focus on music, that is a very important feature in itself.  Another interesting multi-track option is the Korg D3200

See my article on what to watch out for when getting a multi-track

Rig #20 It's got to be simple keyboard/guitar/vocal/Studio--No Computer!

The nice thing about these units is that they have much of what home recordists want in an easy to deal with format. There's a built in 40 GB drive, effects, XLR mic inputs--with phantom power--so you can use nice condenser mics.  Thanks to S/PDIF and USB 2.0 you can export tracks to a computer if you want.  Nice for recording somewhere else in the house then editing later. The Korg is a bit newer and I like the no nonsense design on both.  None of that data compression going on here.  In the end, you get CD quality 16 bit/44.1 recordings on either. 

I choose the KRK RP5 again because for the money, they are hard to beat.  For Mics there are of course many options, but if I had to go with one, the NT1a will excel at vocals and acoustic guitars. 

I mean a simpler studio:  Removable Media MultiTracks

Rig #21 I mean even simpler than "digital" studio

Who it is for:

People that just want to get the idea down and don't give a flip whether it sounds like it was recorded in a studio.  In fact they may want it to sound like it was done at home. These people are into an old school gestalt.

Hooking it up:

OK, it does not get simpler than this.  You stick a tape in, plug something in to record and press a few buttons and it works.  A great song on tape will still win more hearts than an average song done in Pro Tools HD.  Hook it up to your stereo and have some fun.   If you want to record with a XLR studio mic with these you can, but you'll have to get a mic preamp. 

Fostex X-12 or Tascam MFP01 or the Tascam Porta 02 Four track cassette studios	M-Audio Nova Condenser Microphone
ART Tube MP Studio Microphone Preamp	Shure SM57 Cardioid Dynamic Microphone
Add the monitors of your choice For a passive system, consider Alesis Monitor One MK2 Studio Monitors	Headphones of choice

Rig Accessories Audio for Video Podcast Add-ons

Tascam HDP2 Hi-Res Portable Stereo Recorder	see more Lavalier mic systems

Getting good sound on a video shoot is a lot different than getting good sound in a recording studio, though all the same principles apply.  The hard part is that the talent tends to move around and the mics and recorder must follow. Of course you can use the built in microphone on your camera, but often times we want better quality.

The Tascam HDP2 is a great new 2 track "on location" recorder with many features that the podcast maker wants.  It records at 16 or 24 bit at all the popular sample rates, and can sync via SMPTE.  With preamps with phantom power, you can use a variety of mics.  By getting in close with shotgun and wireless lavalier mics, you can get the clean sound like you hear in professional productions, and minimize the problems of too much overbearing environmental noise.  Back in the studio, the broadcast wave files made on the HDP2 will export through firewire direct to your DAW and its audio video software.  Because the files are time stamped, you can line them up in perfect sync with the video frames.  This lets you take your audio-for-video to the next level. 

Finishing Up this section

Hope that helps a bit to give you a sense of how many different products fit into the overall scheme of things.  Of course you can mix and match many items and substitute the ones I have shown with higher and lesser quality items. There's many ways to do it right, but many more ways to do it wrong. My hope is that I have helped you find the combination that works for you.
 

Happy Configs to your rigs!

Tweak

 

Want to Discuss this topic?  Go to the CONFIGURING your RIG Forum

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Cool Quote: "I have learned that there lies dormant in the souls of all men a penchant for some particular musical instrument, and an unsuspected yearning to learn to play on it, that are bound to wake up and demand attention some day."  Mark Twain

 

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