Have a look at the various recording studio types, ranging from the small home-based ones to the big commercial ones, where music is recorded and mixed. Producing your own music has never been easier and with recording gear becoming affordable, you can easily set up your own music recording studio at home. Though most home studios are quite small in size (usually one room), commercial studios on the other hand can have several rooms, each dedicated for its own purpose.
Commercial Studio
If you have ever been to a commercial music production studio, you will find that the studio is usually split into several rooms, the more important ones being the control room and the live room.
Though you might not have the luxury of devoting that much space to your home studio, you can definitely try to incorporate some of the acoustics designs of a pro studio.
Live Room
As the name suggests, this is where live sounds are recorded, that of musicians and vocalists.
These rooms are acoustically isolated / sound-proof.
Different studios can have different live room layouts, depending on the main focus of the studio.
Some studios have their live rooms designed for recording rock bands, whereas others may be more suited for orchestras, and so on.
Most live rooms usually also have a vocal booth, for the singer.
Commercial studios will often have one larger live room, alongside one or many smaller rooms that are used for different recording needs.
Control Room
This is where the producer, engineer, and musicians sit and listen to what is being recorded in the live room.
It’s the place where everyone chills, when they are not recording in one of the live rooms, often relaxing on the studio furniture.
It’s not that it’s a completely relaxing area because the mixing happens here, once the recording is done.
Just like the live rooms, the control room will have its acoustics specially designed, so that the mixing can occur in a space that is ‘acoustically neutral’; where the room layout and design doesn’t negatively affect what is being heard coming out of the monitors.
Home Studios
In a big commercial studio, recording and producing music usually involves several people playing dedicated roles. You’ll find musicians, songwriters, recording engineers, and mixing engineers.
But then you do music production at home, you’ll have to don multiple hats and manage several roles at the same time.
The home studio, or project studio, is much smaller compared to the commercial recording studio and is usually setup in the bedroom or garage of a house, as most music enthusiasts tend to have a limited budget.
If you have a big room to spare, you can actually consider setting up a separate live room and control room.
Home studios have exploded in popularity over the last few years, thanks to:
- Powerful computers
- Reduces cost of recording equipment
- Advancements and reach of digital technology
Common Studio Configurations
Here are the most common type of setup people use at home, to get started with electronic music production.
Minimum / Basic Setup
Here’s a setup that will help you get started; good for novices and absolute beginners:
- You just need a computer (PC or Mac) with good specs.
- You need a Music Software; you can start with a free loop arranger or MIDI sequencer.
Good Setup
This is a much better setup that gives you all the tools needed to produce high-quality music (especially demos, background music for games & YouTube videos, and so on). It contains:
- A powerful computer (PC or Mac)
- Modern Music recording software (DAW) such as Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Digidesign Pro Tools, REASON/RECORD, etc.
- Professional Audio Interface for low audio latency, high quality inputs and outputs for better overall sound.
- MIDI Interface: Usually included with the audio interface (or even as part of the midi controller keyboard) and enables you to “play” the software instruments/sounds (VSTs) contained within your computer/software.
- MIDI Controller. You may use a MIDI keyboard or guitar to control the various virtual instruments provided by your music software, and also control the various transport controls such as play, rewind, forward, etc.
A Pro Setup
There are many who can use the above setup to produce excellent music, but that would only come through lots of practice. However, an experienced person would still find it limiting, and would need a better setup to produce really pro-quality songs. A professional setup would ideally include the following:
- A really powerful Computer (PC or Mac)
- Modern Music recording software (DAW) such as Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Digidesign Pro Tools, REASON/RECORD, etc.
- Professional Audio Interface with multiple inputs so that you can record from multiple microphones (vocals, guitars, etc.)
- Preamps, in case the audio interface doesn’t come built-in with one
- More hardware, more/better microphones, external processing units, etc.
- High quality (flat) Studio Monitors to get an accurate depiction of the recorded sounds (without any added colors).
- An acoustically treated room
As you can see, it starts getting expensive here, but there are many who do own such a setup. There are several possibilities when it comes to buying more hardware, and it needs to be done depending on what you wish to achieve.
Recording studio setups of top stars, artists, DJs
Checkout the Recording studio setups of top stars, artists, DJs.
Recording Studios of top DJs
Nicky Romero, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, Hardwell, The chainsmokers, Martin Garrix, Armin Van Buuren, QB2 acoustics
Dresden (Germany) techno artist Jacob Korn’s Studio Tour
Checkout the studio of Dresden based techno artist Jacob Korn (hugely influenced by Kraftwerk and the sound of 90’s techno and house music).
Korn takes us through his studio, talks about his DIY Formant synthesizer and also shares his thoughts on the appeal of analog gear that has come to define his work.
Jacob Korn loves to experiment with new recording styles and production techniques, and also like to develop his own music tools. He as performed live in clubs and at festivals in Japan (Ageha-Tokyo, Triangle-Osaka), Chile (Mutek-Santiago), Uruguay (Soco-Montevideo), Canada.
Austrian Apparel take us through their DAWless live performance rig
Live electronic music duo Austrian Apparel (Dominik Traun, Sebastian Wasner) take us through their DAWless live performance rig.
The Vienna-based duo were invited to Red Bull Studios Cape Town to demo their computerless live setup. Here’s what they have to say about the video:
Gear used: Virus TI, Arturia Keystep, Realistic Concertmate MG-1, Roland SH-101, Elektron Analog Rytm, 2 x Korg Kaoss Pad 3, Korg Kaoss Pad 3+, Korg Kaoss Pad Quad, Korg Pitch Black, TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb, Boss RE-20 Delay, Boss VB 2, Moog Moogerfooger MF-102 Ringmodulator, Digitech Whammy IV, 2 x FMR Audio RNC, FMR Audio RNLA, Pioneer DJM 900, Claves and miscellaneous other Percussion stuff.
Watch: Austrian Apparel performing live for the closing weekend of the club with the best parties in vienna.
Also See:
Keyboard Rigs of professional keyboardists and composers
Interview with Founder of Vibe Studio (Egypt)
Ahmed Mohamed Sakran, founder of Vibe studio, talks about the young and budding musicians who enter the studio and also reveals his plans of business expansion.
Ahmed Mohamed Sakran, known in the field as Siko, together with partners, Youssef and Nour, Siko picked a large location to give birth to “the first and only integrated music complex in Egypt,” as we read on Vibe’s website, offering six rehearsal and three recording rooms.
“Work, sweat and a whole lot of time were invested in the project that is now Vibe for Developing Arts. My ultimate dream is to buy a large piece of land and create a production city for the musicians to rehearse, record and interact on many levels,” says Siko.
With music production technology already entering homes, studios across the world are finding it difficult to sustain themselves. In Egypt, this challenge is compounded by the economic difficulties. Siko does not seem discouraged by the obstacles, however. He feels the revolution brought about many new opportunities and young musicians who need support, a place to rehearse and record.
“Until the revolution, many studios worked mainly with mainstream musicians; it was in 2011 that underground bands came to the surface. They needed a platform. We are mainly a rehearsal studio, I believe, one of the best in Egypt – however we do some recording as well. Understandably, the rehearsing process for rock, hip-hop, heavy metal, reggae or any other genre cannot be conducted at home and this simple fact will always draw musicians to us.”
“Underground musicians’ tastes do not represent the mainstream productions, they like what they do, they rehearse whether they have a concert or not. Many of them explore music genres which are not embedded in our culture, rock for instance. On the other hand, and naturally, their audience is limited in number and this makes is more difficult for them to find financial support. Many such musicians pay for the studio hours, the instruments or a workshop out of their own pockets. Though Vibe is a business, and we do not provide services for free, sometimes we do help by discussing individual payment terms, etc.”
Siko realises that his studio does not offer the cheapest packages in the city. It is the quality of the equipment, the general ambiance and additional activities that draw in young musicians. The studio offers a multitude of courses – most of them for free – that cover a variety of areas.
“The underground scene can learn about many technicalities related to studio recording, study mike techniques and stage presence. Some young musicians play guitar or keyboard, but lack knowledge of the many aspects of those instruments; some still need to deepen their knowledge of different genres. Very few know how to read music which is an essential component of musicianship. I believe Vibe can help boost or develop their knowledge in many more facets of the music world.”
A few television screens in the studio corridor and waiting area screen music performances from the studio’s playlist. Yet with some bands refusing to have their songs screened, Siko still needs to work on formalising the internal TV circuit. In future months, Siko hopes to boost recording services.
As he lays down the short and long term plans, Siko expects that in upcoming months – and probably years – there will be greater financial difficulty, the first victims of which will be the underground musicians. “We are all in a difficult position. When it comes to Vibe, for as long as I can, I will try to look for new sources of income before raising the prices.”
Siko has developed extensive knowledge of the underground scene. As he develops dynamic links with the musicians and watches them grow, he points to many whose futures he believes to be secure and to others who will need to revalidate themselves in order not to succumb oblivion.
“Many people surfaced due to the revolution only; their lyrics were commentaries on political and social issues,” Today needs to be infused with new creative ideas to gain the sustained interest of the audience.
Even if some musicians were lucky at a certain stage, hard, sustained work is the recipe for a long-term artistic survival.
“It took Dina El-Wedidi only three years to reach substantial success through very hard work. She works on her music; she composes, does arrangement. In parallel she works on her stage presence, relations with people; she has knocked on the many doors, worked on marketing, applied for funds and workshops. Dina does not sing to accompany the revolution, she focuses on the music, artistic and personal development. Massar Egbari, in the market for almost a decade now, is another great example of remarkable perseverance and development. Definitely what helped Massar Egbari is the opportunity they got to work in Ahmad Abdalla’s movie about Alexandria’s underground scene, Microphone,” he says.
“While I work on increasing our income, I hope to be able to extend more support to the underground scene, beyond standard studio services.”
Source: english.ahram.org.eg
Singapore Music Producer is Performing Musician, Runs Home Music Production Studio & Creates Sound Art
Lured by the prospect of being his own boss, Singapore based James Lye Music Producer is not only on stage musician (plays the guitar) but he also runs his own business – his home based Music production studio & creates sound art pieces.
Lye, who first started taking formal lessons on the guitar at the age of 16, says he was always interested in sound and began exploring the idea of starting his own business when he was a freelancer.
Today he’s living that dream.
Making a full time living as a musician can be challenging, and most of the time, one has to wear several hats. and that’s what James Lye also does.
From rocking it out on stage to dabbling in theatre, music production, and exhibiting sound art installations, James has done it all.
When on stage, he’s a performer, he’s a guitarist who plays pop, funk and R&B collective The Momma Shop, which has performed with a myriad of artists including homegrown pop/soul artiste Gareth Fernandez.
And when he isn’t rehearsing or playing gigs, Mr Lye is preoccupied with running his production studio and creating sound art pieces.
Mr Lye plays with the band The Momma Shop and artistes Gareth Fernandez and Cilla Chan
As with most musicians who cannot afford the “ridiculously high property rental costs outside”, Mr. Lye also set up his music production studio at home.
How Much Money Did He Invest to Start his Own Business
He spent around $8,000 on renovation costs and another $15,000 on acquiring studio equipment.
“I applied under the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) Scheme scheme and if all is smooth, my $15,000 investment on equipment can be claimed. Fellow musicians have also received grants and funding from the National Arts Council to launch their EPs and to even showcase their music abroad.”
The PIC scheme is a government initiative which offers tax rebates and cash payouts for businesses that engage in innovation, research and development, automation, and training.
Did education help?
Mr Lye excelled academically when he was a student, and was awarded two scholarships to pursue a music degree in Keele University.
Polytechnic gave me the industrial-based training that taught me the skills to develop and sell a commercial product to clients who focus only on the numbers. And for clients who pay more attention to their art, Mr Lye’s degree in fine art has trained him up to meet the challenge.
Managing his Business
Mr Lye makes sure that he’s got helping hands and he’s not the only one doing everything. He has a small team of three staff who manage the technical, marketing and music generation aspects of the business.
Mr. Lye wants to build his brand name so that he becomes the go-to man for any work related to sound art and music production.
Despite running his business, Mr Lye says, “As a music producer, music remains the top priority of the normal working day”.
Producing music for clients
“I usually have a few projects on hand to work on, so I will find out what style the clients are inclined towards and experiment with a few beats on my computer, produce a demo and then bounce it off to those involved,” he explained.
How to avoid being ‘repetitive’
He admits that there is always a danger of producing a “safe” repetitive brand of music, making him constantly on the prowl for new collaborations.
“I try not to limit myself to dealing with music projects, I try to dabble in a variety of works like visual works and dance. I will go for meetings to talk about possible projects and collaborations. You need to invest the time to work on the collaboration first, especially if you want to try something new,” said Mr Lye.
Sound Art Can Be Big Business
In most countries, where the growing music scene may no longer be lucrative or offer job security, Mr Lye is ready to face the challenge, instead of shying away from pursuing his passion. He also is aware of the various opportunities that exists and is ready to tap into those areas. Sound art is one of them!
“In one of my art installations, sound – which was the primary medium – was derived from motion. Upon entering the interactive gallery, one’s body movements would be captured and turned into sound art,” explained the artist.
“I picked up sound art formally in university, so I learnt the history, expression, meaning, theory of it. If I know the client is receptive to new ideas, I will try to create something new for them. But of course, it depends on what the client wants. If they say, ‘I want my music to sound exactly like this,’ then I won’t push for it.”
What is Required to be Successful?
Most experienced musicians know, and even Mr Lye agrees here, that a career as niche as this one may not take off immediately, but he’s heartened by the increasing recognition that his work is garnering, and also is happy with the support from the government.
Although his portfolio has been promising so far, he knows that being an entrepreneur in ‘Music’ requires more than just a good skill set and recognition.
“You have to be really hungry, and forward thinking. You have to create your own path instead of waiting for trends to happen. Lastly, you must manage your expectations and know your limits. Otherwise, you end up regretting the things that you do.”
For Mr Lye, establishing a name for himself as an independent music producer means having his own spin on projects.
Interview: Ebonie Smith of Gender Amplified
Ebonie Smith is an accomplished music producer, singer-songwriter and audio engineer who would love to see more women enter her field. With this in mind, she founded Gender Amplified, a movement that aims to celebrate women in music production, raise their visibility, and develop a pipeline for girls and young women to get involved behind the scenes as music producers. The movement connects passion for music with technical skills that can be used in a wide range of scientific- and arts-based fields, areas in which women are traditionally underrepresented.
In 2013, Gender Amplified produced a highly successful music festival, which was held at her alma mater, Barnard College in NYC. In March 2015 Ebonie partnered with the Apollo Theater Education Program and did a music engineering and production workshop.
In a field where women are far few in number, especially in the audio engirneering department, her accomplishments are indeed commendable.
Here are excerpts from one of her recent interview, done just before the music engineering and production workshop.
Why create workshops on music production and engineering? Why is this an important time for these types of events?
Music technology has become a great tool to organize people. More than ever before, people are using affordable sound-generating technologies to artistically express themselves, affirm their unique perspectives, and form communities. Consequently, many are searching for resources like workshops to learn more about the fields of production and sound engineering. Women and girls are a subset of this larger group. It is exciting to witness and nurture this demographic shift and to use it as a means of addressing the greater conversation of gender neutrality in culture and society.
What is the workshop all about?
The workshop is called Engineering Culture: How Tracks + Beats Reinforce Cultural Ideas and Agendas in Popular Music. It will be 90 minutes in length. We will take a look at some of the technical tricks, tools and ideas that contribute to the beat making and music production process. We’ll be listening to a few hit songs and taking them apart element by element to get to the core of the production. Then, I plan to introduce the audience to some affordable music production applications that they can use to create their own tracks and beats.
What would you like young women and girls to take away from the workshop?
On the most basic level, I’d like them to leave the workshop knowing that music production and audio engineering careers are out there and available to them. The way to change the conversation about women in the studio and behind the console is by fostering dialogue between the sexes and creating balance in spaces that are traditionally gendered. I hope that by exposing the craft and telling my own story some of them will be inspired to learn more and research opportunities to join the field.
Source: huffingtonpost
Music Producer, Jingle Writer Chasing that Big Hit, Even After 50 years in the industry
While perseverance & networking is important for music producers, at times, you need a bit of luck as well to make it big. You might still survive in the industry, but you have to be a bit lucky to get famous and land those million dollar deals.
Here’s a music producer & jingle writer from Lewiston, who’s spent 50 years in the music industry, has done lot of good work, but is till eyeing that huge hit.
Music producer Ed Boucher is 68 now and has been making music for more than 50 years; he recorded his first record in 1961. Among the speakers and the switches, the microphones and whirring recording gizmos, Ed Boucher found his place. When he heard those big Altec speakers at full volume the first time, he knew he was going to spend the rest of his life in the recording business.
Boucher is currently recovering from cancer surgery, but he’s sure in his mind that he’s not going to the grave without giving a hit.
So has he never tasted success?
Years back Boucher created EAB Studio, which as a hub for local music and business jingles. Local artists, including Rick Pinette and Oak, Bill Chinnok, Devonsquare and Nick Knowlton, all recorded there. Knowlton and the band Katfish scored a place on the Billboard charts, hitting number 52 with a 1975 cover of the Beatles’ “Dear Prudence”.
That was the most successful pop song Boucher ever recorded in the studio, and he says that success can indeed be intoxicating.
Just imagine when all the stations start to play your songs, and you’re mailing records to Dallas, people are talking about you, it’s a real rush.
And that’s what keeps him going even today! Read the full story.
Fire destroys legendary Le Studio where Rush, Bowie and others recorded
A fire destroyed the legendary Le Studio, a historic recording studio located in Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains, about 90 kilometres northwest of Montreal.
While investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, firefighters found evidence at the scene that suggests the fire may have been purposely set, says a cbc report.
The studio’s legendary clients included David Bowie, The Police, Keith Richards, the Bee Gees, April Wine, Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies and dozens of others, who made some legendary records in this studio.
‘It was like the United Nations. I had people from London, New York, Quebecois, all over the world,’ Andre Perry.
Famous Recording Studio in the 70s, 80s
The studio, built by legendary recording engineer and producer Andre Perry, was considered one of the best recording studios of the 1970s and ’80s. Canadian rock band Rush recorded several albums at Le Studio.
Le Studio had a laid-back energy, and musicians would just walk in on days off — like Sting, who stopped in one day after skiing nearby.
It was like a destination studio where artists could sit down, create, record, at any time of the day.
Not Operational since 2008
The studio however fell on hard times, it had not been operational since 2008 and had fallen into disrepair.
In the early 1990s, Perry sold the studio for millions to the Spectra group (runs the Montreal International Jazz Festival).
After realizing, recording wasn’t its core business, the company sold the studio for considerably less a few years later.
The dilapidated studio, stripped of all its gear, is in the process of being reclaimed by nature, and is increasingly becoming a target of vandals in recent years.
Some time back, the town had filed notice that it was going to auction off the property to recoup the unpaid taxes, which had grown to $18,000. However, the current owner of Le Studio prevented the auction from happening by clearing off the unpaid taxes.
Montreal musician Richard Baxter launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2015 to rebuild Le Studio. Its goal was to raise $2.4 million but it managed to take in less than $4,000.
Biggest Hits Recorded at Le Studio
Take a look at some of the biggest records and singles to come out of Le Studio.
Albums Le Studio
April Wine — First Glance, Harder…Faster
Bryan Adams — You Want if You Got It, Cuts Like a Knife (mixed at Le Studio)
Bee Gees — Children of the World, Saturday Night Fever
David Bowie — Tonight
Cat Stevens — Numbers, Izitso, Back to Earth
Chicago — Chicago 13
Julien Clerc — Julien Clerc
Roberta Flack — Roberta Flack
Serge Fiori — Serge Fiori
Glass Tiger — The Thin Red Line
Corey Hart — Boy in the Box, Fields of Fire
Luba — Between the Earth & the Sky
Kate & Anna McGarrigle — Love Over and Over
Kim Mitchell — Shakin’ Like a Human Being
Nazareth — Close Enough for Rock’n Roll, Play’n’the Game, Expect No Mercy
The Nylons — Rockapella
Northern Pikes — Secrets of the Alibi
Paul Piché — Paul Piché
Wilson Pickett — I Want You
Pilot — Morin Heights
The Police — Synchronicity, Ghost in the Machine, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (single)
The Ramones — Leave Home (mixed at Le Studio)
Keith Richards — Talk is Cheap
Rush — Permanent Waves, Signals, Moving Pictures, Grace Under Pressure, Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts
Sting — Dream of the Blue Turtles
Vladimir Vysotsky — Vladimir Vysotsky
Nanette Workman — Nanette Workman
(Source: André Perry Studios)
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