To record your own music at home and start out making a studio you need some basic components to get going. They are:

1. An instrument and/or microphone
2. Something to record into like a basic mixing board
3. An port from your mixing desk into your computer
4. A computer with adequate speakers and/or headphones.
5. Some software to record and manipulate your work.

These days you can buy a combined solution for items 2 and 3 in the form of a computer sound recording interface. This is a device that you can plug an instrument or mic into and the other end is connected to your computer either as a soundcard or via a USB cable. This will work as an audio input and the mixing desk part is all dealt with in the software package.

Depending on your requirements this might be the way to go or it might not. If you intend on only putting down one audio part at a time then a computer audio interface makes sense. If you need to record a whole band with several parts at once then you'll need a mixing desk with sufficient channels to handle this.

One thing you will need to handle when attaching your interface and putting down your instruments and voice is latency. This is the time lag between the sound you make and it being played back to you by the computer. Latency can altogether throw off your timing if you don't minimize it. A way to achieve this is to use ASIO drivers for your computer interface. You can download free universal ASIO drivers at asio4all.com. Also be sure that your interface includes a preamp.

When you have your audio interface set up and can record and monitor your work without latency you're nearly good to go. All you want now is some adequate software to behave as a mixing desk, sequencer and sampler. Just about every good computer interface will come packaged with some recording software, normally a cut down version of a full product but sufficient to get you started.

Alternatively there are several low cost and even free programs you can download. There are also numerous communities on the web where you can share your ideas, get help and support and pick up royalty free samples to use in your music.

Those really are the bare requirements for a home recording studio setup assuming you want to record your own material (as opposed to just play with loops) and that you already own an instrument and/or mic with the appropriate leads. Aside from these it's also necessary to have some good speakers and earphones. These days things like effects and processors can all be found in computer software, although as you advance you may want to get some hardware versions of these down the line.

You'll also need to make sure that the acoustics in your recording environment are optimal. Don't forget soundproofing as well. There is a lot to learn and do to get a good home recording studio setup but in the beginning you can just focalise on the essentials. A decent computer, an audio interface and some software can start you out very nicely. For more information there are some good free guides you can download off the net to get you going.


Peter Webber is the owner of dot-funk.com which has a free ebook download Home Recording 101 which will get you started on your home recording studio setup