B. Thomas Cooper
Editor
Once upon a time, not too long ago, mind you, building a respectable home studio' required a rather substantial investment in time and money. Back in the day, so to speak, we were still recording in analog, and a decent eight track tape machine cost a few thousand dollars at a minimum. Then there was the console (desk, mixer, etc.) consisting of perhaps twenty-four channels, which cost another couple grand. Of course, no home studio was complete without at least a couple racks of outboard gear. We had doozles and raddoids and multiple compressors and delay devices, each guaranteed to muddy up the mix. All of this was then routed together with cables and wires and strewn about in disarray. Getting it all to sound good was never an easy task.
These days things are little different. The advent of digital technology has changed much about how we record sound and music. Oh, we still have our share of doozles and raddoids, but now they are called add-ons' and they are included in the recording software. Most of the clumsy cables have long been chucked into the trash. We like to run a clean shop around here.
Over the years, I have designed and overseen the construction of countless studios. It's one of those things I do. From coast to coast, from sea to shining sea. Big rooms, little rooms they are all the same. The trick is to create an environment conducive to the recording process. The best advice I can give is learn to keep your sound pressure levels under control. Deafening volume levels are not a good idea in small enclosures. When in doubt turn it down.
There are numerous companies offering digital recording software at reasonable prices. Take your choice. For beginners, I would recommend Sonar for the initial recording and SoundForge for the mastering process. It's really not as hard as it sounds, and these days even a caveman like me can afford it.
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