Articles-music production and setup

When a business is in startup mode, usually the entrepreneur looks for ways to cut costs while obtaining all of the necessary objectives to run their business. In the case of a voice talent, building a home recording studio is paramount to their success and fundamental to conducting business on a daily basis. That being said, a voice talent entrepreneur's highest expense when getting started is the equipment to build their home recording studio. Ideally, a professional-grade home recording studio comprises of a computer, recording and editing software, a professional microphone, a microphone stand, head phones, mixing board, speakers (to hear the balance of your mix with), and a proper room to record in. This recording studio, or room, may be a full-out sound booth or a spare bedroom depending on the resources available to the voice talent. To give us an idea of what's out there, professional recording studios are worth tens of thousands of dollars. The most expensive recording studios cost well over 1 million dollars to construct. On average, a professional-grade home recording studio costs in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $25,000. Smaller project studios or freelance voice talent home studios could range between $2,500 to $5,000, brand new. Regardless of industry sector or creative background prior to the start of an imminent voice career, the purchase of a professional-grade home recording studio is the largest, most tangible investment that will be made in the life of a voice-over career. The equipment, once purchased by the business owner, becomes a hard asset, and if need be, can be sold in order to raise funds to purchase newer, more efficient equipment in the future. Keep in mind that these hard assets are also subject to depreciation. In Canada, computers and electronic equipment depreciate at 50% a year. That's quite a hefty sum, meaning that a new piece of equipment could depreciate significantly in less than 3 years. When someone is in the market to buy gently used recording studio equipment, the odds that they will be getting a great deal and equipment in good condition are definitely in their favor. There are many places that buy and sell used equipment ranging from the local newspaper classifieds to online listings on eBay. There is no shortage of second-hand equipment looking for a good home, that's for certain, but how can you tell if the equipment is worth the asking price and if it will happily meet your needs? First off, always be sure to seek out photographs of the object you are interested in. If you are networking locally with someone, setup a meeting to evaluate the equipment in person, including a test-drive of what the piece can do for you and how it operates. Check for scratches, dents, loose items, and quality. Brand names the likes of Shure, Neumann, and Digi002 are high-end whereas a microphone from an all-purpose electronics store in the mall may be less professional. Ask where the item was purchased, how much it was purchased for, and when it was purchased. Knowing these variables will give you the leverage you need to decide whether the price for the equipment is fair or way off base. You can also request a copy of the original receipt. Ask for original boxes, warranties, and user guides. This documentation will prove that you are purchasing from the original owner. Some manufacturers offer "transfer of ownership" papers allowing you to benefit from free software and hardware upgrades or promotions in the future. The serial number would then be registered under the purchasers name, thus making you eligible to receive bonuses and free upgrades by virtue of your business dealings. Your return on investment will be evident in good usage of your equipment. As long as you are learning how to use it, you will get something out of it. By: Stephanie Ciccarelli

Home computer music recording has become extremely popular, both as a hobby and as a legitimate means of live recording and mixing. For the serious musician or recording technician, the computer/software combination offers ease of use and lower cost, and it requires less space than traditional methods of recording. Recording can be accomplished by using a "mixing board" to pre-mix multiple signals with their corresponding analog effects (if desired) before sending them to the computer, or each "plain" signal can be recorded independently to its own track through a computer audio interface, software effects applied, and the individual tracks then mixed together. Using a mixer and analog effects, one could conceivably record without the benefit of multiple tracks, resulting in the need for less expensive, more simplistic software. For much greater control and a more polished sound, a quality multitrack software with effects is preferred. Although more difficult to learn and use, multitrack software provides many more options for the user. The cost for quality multitrack recording software can range from $40 to several hundred dollars. Don't let the low prices fool you though, many a great recording has been made with shareware recording software. If you aren't experienced in multitrack recording, purchasing at the low end of the spectrum makes sense. It's best to choose a product that will accept plug-ins, though. Plug-ins are small pieces of software that provide various functions (typically effects) that can be installed into the multitrack software, providing greater flexibility to the sound engineer. Several companies produce audio software plug-ins of the vst or directx variety that will work with even low cost software. A number of the plug-ins are actually offered free of charge. For the more serious enthusiast, the computer (pc) should contain at least a Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 processor, 200gb, 7200 rpm IDE or Serial ATA hard drive, 1 gigabyte of dram, a good video card, and a high quality sound card. Any on-board video should be disabled in the cmos setup and a quality graphics card with at least 64mb ram installed. A flat panel monitor with a 19" screen is preferred over a crt. With the large viewing area, the video resolution can be set at 1280×1024, enabling more of the audio recording software to be viewed on the screen at one time. On-board audio (if available) should also be disabled and a high quality sound card installed into the computer. Also, invest in a pair of quality, amplified, near-field monitors. These speakers are designed specifically for music recording. Remember, if you're serious about your recordings, you'll want the music to be reproduced as realistically as possible. A computer audio interface of some sort is a real necessity. It should have 1/4" inputs for instruments such as electric guitars or keyboards, as well as XLR inputs for microphones. 48v phantom power should be avaiable for condensor mics, as well. A mixer could even be plugged into the audio interface if more flexibility is needed. More and more, musicians are realizing the high quality and low costs associated with producing their own recordings, while those interested in the technical side of recording can see the increased benefits of digital recording, mixing and mastering. By: Steve Leedy

"How do I soundproof my garage, basement, or a bedroom in my single family house or condo so my 4 piece rock band can practice and record and not bother the neighbors?" If I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question, I would be in the Bahamas right now, instead of writing this article. Many factors need to be considered prior to beginning your studio or practice room-soundproofing project. Some of the questions you should be asking yourself are: What type of amplification will the band be using, are the drums going to be acoustic and miked or are they digital. Are you going to be recording live late at night or are we going to be doing "line in" recording only? These questions and many more need to be considered before the actual construction begins. If live recording and rehearsal are the plan, then maximum soundproofing will be needed. The most effective way to soundproof a garage, basement, or bedroom is to actually construct a room within a room (go to www.auralex.com) and download the free booklet "Acoustics 101", this is a wonderful resource for the home studio builder. Their ideas are solid and applicable to any studio soundproofing project. The room within a room concept utilizes the sealed dead air space that is captured between the inner walls and the outer walls to help greatly with the soundproofing endeavor. It is probably easiest to frame the walls on the floor and then tilt them up into place thus making dry walling the outside of the walls much easier. It is also highly recommended that another ceiling be joisted out for the room within a room, however, this is often times not possible due to space constraints. In this case, the existing ceiling and ceiling joists may be used as the ultimate ceiling for the studio, provided that it is adequately soundproofed with materials such as the mass loaded vinyl or a combination of closed cell foam mat and MLV. I will elaborate on these materials, as we get further into this article. Once the walls are framed out and the right amount of "Dead air space" is determined, then it is time to install the soundproofing. The first order of business is to consider what needs to be done to the wall cavities prior to installing a barrier and finally the wallboard. I like to line the inside cavities with a closed cell vinyl nitrile foam mat such as American Mat. This mat (generally 1/4" thickness) is adhered to the inside cavity walls as well as the studs and joists using a contact cement to adhere the mat. Keep in mind that the American Mat is used to line the cavities only, not to fill the cavity. If thermal insulation is needed, use products such as rock wool, mineral wool, cut wool fibers, or my favorite, Roxul. Roxul is a great thermal rock wool based batt type insulation that has great soundproofing qualities. If thermal insulation is a requirement for the practice room or studio, then Roxul is the way to go. Now we come to a crossroads, it is time to determine if decoupling the walls using resilient channels or American Sound clips is a necessity. De coupling is used when impact transmission or low frequency noise is a factor. Impact would come primarily from the drums (acoustic type) or the bass amplifier. However, if the band is using Marshall high powered amps (50 watt amps with 4 X 12 cabinets for example) along with miked acoustic drums and an Ampeg bass system, then decoupling will most likely be necessary. These methods and procedures will be explained in later articles. If decoupling were determined to be unnecessary, then the next step would be to find a good barrier material such as American mass loaded vinyl (which is a high grade mass loaded vinyl barrier). This barrier could be stapled directly to the studwork on a wall assembly or directly to the joists. This is a method that is used if cost or space constraints are factors. If the barrier material is to be stapled directly to the stud or joist framing then it is best that the seams be over lapped, caulked (using OSI acoustical caulking compound) and then taped with either a lead tape or a heavy-duty PVC seam tape. Once the Mass Loaded vinyl (MLV) is installed and sealed, it is time to install the final layer of drywall. I always recommend using 5/8" drywall as the final layer because of its mass and its sound blocking abilities. . It is always advisable to butter the edges of the last layer of drywall with acoustical caulk. You want to grab every STC (sound transmission class) point you can when trying to make your new studio as soundproof as possible. Finally you will tape mud and paint your final layer of drywall. Now you have a great soundproof home recording studio. We will discuss acoustical treatments for your studio in subsequent articles, but for now you are well on your way to having a professional grade recording studio in your home. By: Various Audio Enthusiasts