Tips For The Solo Musician: Your recording studio

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010

Copyright 2006 Curse Buster Sound

Every musician should have his, or her own recording studio. Just as each individual has chosen the instrument of their choice, on the same token, a recording studio is a must.

Think of it as an ultimate tool for the perfection, and promotion of your musical career

With today?s technology, there is no excuse for not having some kind of recording studio. It can range from the smallest; 2, or 4 tracks; to a huge; 24, to 50 track monster; whatever you can afford. You can actually obtain a 4 track studio for as little as $100, to $150.

I would like to point out to those who say that it is not possible for them to obtain, or run their own recording studio, you can accomplish whatever you set in your mind to do!

If you can?t obtain the kind of studio you want at first, start with what you can afford, and build on it. You will be surprise to find that over time how fast you can reach your goal.

I would like to point out here that I am just a plain old ordinary guy, nothing special at all. I am blind, and I must accept that fact and get on with life in general. When it comes to recording, I don?t have any extra ordinary skills, or hearing. The myth that blind people have extra ordinary hearing is just that!...A Myth. The truth is, that blind people pay more attention to sound as a necessity. So,?a blind persons hearing becomes, and I stress,?becomes keen, and sensitive to the softest of sounds do to that fact.

The purpose of your recording studio is to perfect your personal sound, record your music,? and promote yourself, or further your music career.

Having your own recording studio will:

1. Give you a tool to see what you really sound like.
2. Give you a tool to make your own CDs.
3. Give you a tool to record other people, and make money.
4. Give you a tool to make tracks, jingles, ring tones, etc.
5. Give you a tool to do just about whatever you can musically think of,?The sky is the limit.

Here is a general outline of my home recording studio, and how I go about utilizing it.

I use Cakewalk Homestudio 2 XL to record all of my tracks. I have found that this works best with my screen reader: Jaws for Windows. I also use an 8 channel Baringer mixer; a Fostex 12 channel sub mixer; Korg M1; Yamaha keyboard; Del demention 47 computer; Sonar Producer 4 plugins;Alto, Tenor, Baritone saxophones; Peavey microphones; Boss octave divider; Boss stereo panning delay; I have 352 Gigs of recording space, including backup.

Recording is done in my well insolated living room in our peaceful Texas home.

Since I am blind, it is a necessity for me to be as organized as possible. So, I have made a template inside my cakewalk software that I use any time I record.

I imagine what ultimate band I would like to have, and I build my template based on this idea.

A 40 piece jazz orchestra. Including rhythm section; woodwinds; brass; strings; percussion; and audio tracks.

When I get an idea for a song, I immediately bring up my template and lay down the keyboard track with the appropriate drum track(session drummer) I then go back and record all the other tracks in order from rhythm section, through percussion, strings, horns, ECT.

I find that each recording gets better, as I find better techniques to work with.

Peace, and quiet is the key here, I wouldn't want it any other way.

(I am on constant guard against my lovely wife attempting to drench my equipment with soap and water)

Some great resources are:

http://www.homerecording.com

So,?Go Ahead!...Make that recording!