Nowadays, there are several great freeware DAWs out there such as Audacity, Garageband, and Reaper and a wide range of quality mics and interfaces that are both affordable and relatively easy to use. So why go to a recording studio when you can do it all yourself? Well, the unfortunate reality is that the quality of recording really does depend on a wide range of factors that artists do not always consider before making home studio investments. So before you go out and blow your paycheck on recording equipment, make sure you do your homework. If you don’t, you may end up spending a lot of money and not getting the results you expected.
Unless the necessary skills are present, artists run the risk of improperly tracking their audio and misusing the equipment and/or plugins. The financial investment in technology needed to create a polished product is often steep, and quality recordings are still not guaranteed even if the artist does have the necessary recording experience and equipment. The acoustic environment of tracking and control rooms is perhaps the most overlooked investment in DIY audio production. The physics of how sound is disseminated in a room are a huge factor when recording, mixing, or mastering. This means a lack of proper acoustic treatment could yield poor recordings and inhibit the mixer’s ability to accurately perceive the sound. If the tracking and control room acoustics are poor, that’s how the quality of the recordings and mixes done in those spaces will be.
So if you did just drop 3 months of rent on audio equipment and plugins, make sure you don’t neglect your recording and mixing environments and find some good resources that will help you plan out the most cost effective way to get the results you’re looking for. If you’re looking to invest in a home studio and are an artist with some recording skills but no knowledge of room acoustics, your best bet is probably going to be investing in the most affordable mic and interface you can find and using that equipment for demos to be eventually re-recorded at a professional facility. Doing this will allow you to get an idea of how you want the end result to sound on your own, and you will be less likely to waste time trying to hammer out ideas in the studio. If you don’t have any recording or mixing experience and are just now thinking about investing in a quality home studio, you definitely have your work cut out for you!
By choosing to utilize a professional recording studio, you will automatically be saving yourself time and effort spent trying to do it all yourself. On top of that, you will be able to concentrate entirely on the music and let a qualified engineer focus on recording, mixing, and mastering. Before making any kind of investment into your music, I’d argue that it’s always going to be a good idea to lay out what you’d like your money to achieve. What are your short and long term goals for your investment? Are you taking the necessary steps to ensure your music is able to compete in one of the most cut-throat industries out there? Or are you looking to get some new gear to learn about recording and start making demos to be re-recorded at a professional studio? Investing in your music is not the same as investing in a studio, so make sure you know the difference before spending your hard earned dollars.
By Alex Reese
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