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Can you really record high quality music at home? Music is becoming more and more accessible by the day. What used to involve a trip to your local Woolworth's or HMV and forking out £3.99 for a single, is now at your fingertips at all times. Making music isn't immune to these big changes in technology and now producing radio quality music is becoming simpler and more affordable than ever. So today i'll briefly go over what you need to start making hits at home. This is everything you need to build a home studio.

DAW

Most modern laptops and PC's are powerful enough to be capable of running some basic recording software such as Audacity. If you want to record music, you need somewhere to record everything into. The most popular DAW's are Logic Pro X, FL Studio and Reason as they include a range of industry standard extra's and are compatible with the most popular plug ins. All have their pro's and con's however they will usually have similar workflows. Logic Pro X is a natural progression from Apple's Garageband so if you are an Apple customer, it can sometimes be easier to progress to Logic.

Audio Interface

focusrite scarlett solo, focusrite, audio interface, studio gear The next thing you will need is an Audio Interface. To put it simply, this device enables you to connect your analogue equipment (microphones, instruments etc), to your digital equipment such as your laptop. A good audio interface can make the world of difference. What you are looking for is something that is as low latency as possible. A good audio interface will also give you plenty of headroom for extra gain without adding extra noise to your signal. The last thing you need to consider is what you will be recording as it will determine how many mic inputs you would need. A good starting point is something like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo which starts at just £94.00

Studio Monitorsyamaha hs8, yamaha studio monitors, speakers, hs series

Now that you have all the audio going in, you need something to produce the music coming out. A good set of monitors can completely change how a song is mixed. Each brand of studio monitor tends to have its own distinct sound however the idea behind a studio monitor is to add as little colour as possible to the sound produced, to try and give as accurate of a representation of the original music as possible. Some will be more bass heavy than others and some will have more detail. So your choice depends solely on the style of music you make. KRK monitors are usually pretty punchy so they tend to be ideal for Hip Hop music and dance music. For a more neutral sound there's always the iconic HS range from Yamaha, starting at £350 for a pair of HS5's.

Microphone

audio technica, at2020, microphone, condenser microphone, studio mic Many producers or musicians just starting out often believe you need to spend thousands on a studio microphone in order to get a radio quality recording however this is becoming the case less and less. Once you have a quality audio interface, combining it with even entry level microphones such as the Audio Technica AT2020 will give you a great sound! Starting at just £89.oo its a far cry from the thousands people expect to spend. I would also recommend buying a pop filter which can cost as little as £10.99 and make a huge difference cutting out unwanted breaths etc.

Headphones

sennheiser, sennheiser hd26 pro, hd26 pro, headphones, studio headphones Unless you have the money to spend on a sound insulated recording booth i would suggest a good pair of headphones. These will be used to hear yourself back while recording otherwise any sound from the speakers will be picked up by the microphone. They are also key in your final mix. I always recommend listening back to your music on lots of different sources, including a pair of headphones. Popular brands include Sennheiser and Audio Technica.

Midi instruments

Last but not least is some sort of midi input. This can be anything from a keyboard to a drum machine. There are more and more midi instruments being released, so finding a way to interact with your sounds and digital workstation is becoming easier than ever before. Many keyboards now include weighted keys and foot pedals to give a close feel to a real piano and products like the Native Instruments Maschine Studio have truly revolutionised how you can make music, giving people a new creative way to come up with ideas. You can buy a usb midi keyboard starting from just £64.00 for the Akai APCKEY25! Conclusion So that's it. Everything you need to start recording music at home. What was once out of most musicians budgets is becoming more and more affordable. So what are you waiting for? All you have to do now is convince everyone that you CAN sing! All the items featured are available to buy online at www.djtechdirect.com