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All lovers of music can agree on the advantages of having their very own home studio- the ability to produce music their way, having access to music instruments all the time, and being able to use them anytime- the experience is extremely liberating.
Building your studio setup is incredibly exciting. But it can be pretty daunting as well! Even if the task of building a studio appears tough, it can be surprisingly fun if you have a solid plan. In this article, let us take a meaningful step towards your dream of building a spectacular studio by looking at the top 10 things that you must know before building your dream studio.
The first thing you need to do is decide on a vision, that is, what you want to do with your studio setup. It depends a lot on your interests and preferences. If you want to produce electronic music, you will need a room with little isolation and a monitoring chain.
On the other hand, if you want to do dubbing or voice-overs, you will have to invest in a good quality mic, and if you want to record multiple artists simultaneously, you would need different kinds of instruments at your studio.
With a focus and a finalised budget, the next step for you would be to understand your needs. If you want to do voice-overs, you will need a premium mic, but if you want to produce music of bands, as mentioned earlier, you would need various types of music instruments and many microphones to accommodate all the members of the bands.
Now that you have decided on a vision and understood your requirements, it is important to know your budget since the aesthetic shall depend upon it before you design your home studio. Not only would you need a computer, monitors, interface, software, microphones, and musical instruments, but you would also need cables, furniture, lighting, tables and other requirements. You can plan out your needs and buy accordingly. Instead of buying as you go, try to plan out what you are buying beforehand.
Keep in mind that compromising on quality should be avoided at all times. Do not buy inexpensive microphones for buying a high-end summing mixer and pricey AD/DA converters; instead, invest in better microphones and preamps and gradually buy all other necessary pieces of equipment.
Once you know your needs, determining your space requirements is easy. The space shall depend on a lot of things. If you are a mixed engineer, a modest amount of space will do. However, you would need a lot of space if you want to follow bands because you would need to accommodate all the members, a lot of instruments and microphones, with an appropriate amount of sonic isolation. You may also need a sitting area if you want to make the studio setup cosier.
Choosing the location of the home studio is the next step. Why is this step important? It is because, ideally, you would want to avoid places that are close to traffic, airports or railway stations where unwanted noise can hinder your practice. You would also need to consider your family members and neighbours so that no one is disturbed because of your music.
Choosing a room with natural acoustics is always a great idea. Finding a spacious room with asymmetrical walls and a high ceiling will be better because the music would sound incredible there. Also, keep an eye out for adjacent rooms.
If you're mixing and recording modest acoustic projects with the odd incursion into huge ensembles, you can always set up a control room in a smaller area and use a neighbouring large space as needed. To keep the room extra quiet, use sealants to prevent sound from leaking. Treat the parallel walls with acoustic treatment, too, for better results.
Now that most of the important things are done and dusted, let us look at the wiring needs before you design your home studio. You need to plan for this step because you would not ideally want every instrument to be connected to a single plug. Keep the option for cables and plugs in the room so that you do not have to plug-in electronic items from other rooms.
In some cases, you may even need to get permission from your municipality or residential complex before building your studio. This is because some may not allow it for various reasons and the last thing you would want after investing so much money is to stop building your dream studio. Nothing would be a bigger disappointment than this. So, always get permission before starting the project.
Make your home studio comfortable. If you are not comfortable, you would not want to spend long periods in the room. Make your monitors and keyboards easily accessible, keep a couch and chairs at hand and customise the room how you want it to be. Ensure proper lighting to prevent straining your eyes. You can also decorate the room as you want, maybe stick posters of your favourite bands. Do what inspires you!
The last piece of advice to design your home studio is that you need to be organised. If you haphazardly do everything, you would soon lose your way and not be able to understand what you ideally require. Plan ahead and understand what you want. For example, the placement of cables and extension cords would determine where to place your computer and electronic instruments. Hence, you must be organised about the whole matter.
Final word
In a nutshell, building a home studio requires time, money and dedication. However, making a studio can be very rewarding. Your personal home studio allows your creative brain cells to flourish and lets you customise the place according to your needs and desires. It also provides you 24X7 access to music instruments and music production at your place.
To set up your studio, don't forget to check out the premium-quality music instruments available with Music Majlis. Build your studio with top-notch pieces of equipment from Music Majlis, practise all you want without any fear of judgement, learn new skills, and make all your dreams come true!
