I was wondering what equipment u would need 2 build ur own recording studio. Alot of musicians have their own studios (Prince for example) and obviously this is a great benefit as whenever u wanna record a song or just have a song idea or whatever u can record something so I think that your own studio is a cool idea. How much, price wise, would it cost 2 create a decent home studio, obviously on a limited budget.

If possible could u list the equipment and estimated cost, plus how do u 'soundproof' a room?, and how do u get the best acoustics etc.

I would appreciate ur advice

Thanx!

I've written two articles on this very topic:
The Home Studio Essentials
"Whether you have a $10,000 digital audio workstation or a fostex 4-track cassette recorder, there are a few essentials you'll need to turn out decent recordings, from good headphones or monitors to decent mics, to the critical must-have effects."
http://www.funkmusician.c...&Itemid=27

and...
Your first multi-track recorder
I recently got into a discussion via e-mail with a person who was looking into buying an analog 4-track recorder; their first journey into multi-track recording. We looked at what they wanted to accomplish and why they were interested in an tape recorder when digital recorders are so cheap now.
http://www.funkmusician.c...&Itemid=27

The first article should answer most of your questions, the second one focuses more on what type recorder would best suit your needs.

As far as recording your demo - which songs, how many, etc. I would suggest you start with the four that you feel like you know better than the rest. At least pick the first two that way, so when you're in the studio, (yours or someone elses) you're not wasting time (and money) trying to decide how the song should go... I've recorded songs for many friends and the most frustrating part is when they THINK they're prepared, but blow 5 hours of my time trying to write the song on my dime. Why waste your time in the studio, when hopefully, you've got other songs that you know inside and out? Once you've knocked out the first two, you'll have a feel for how the recording process works, and then if you're in the mood to get inventive in the studio, break out those two diamonds in the rough.

I hope this helps. I love nothing more than recording music. I don't do it enough these days, but I plan to return to it soon enough. The song-WRITING part has become a painful process for me, (it's NOT like riding a bike. if you don't use it, you lose it) but I love to record crap. That explains the horrific version of Adore that I've done (somewhere else on this forum) as well as my covers of "Do ya Wanna Funk?" and "Life Can be So Nice".

The most important thing - have fun. But don't suck. heh. that last part was just a joke. I'm kinda known round here for being an ass at times...

Depends on what music you're making.
If you wanna record drums and lots of acoustic instruments, you need to fix the acoustic first.

You'll need microphones, pre-amplifiers, a multi track recorder, a mixer (unless you mix on your computer) good monitors and amplifier (unless it's amplified monitors) and a bit of technical sense.
If you're not using a computer, you'll also want a multi effect or two, and a few dynamic processors, such as compressor, De-Esser and gate.

The better the equipment, then easier it'll be to get a good sound. But you still need to know how to use this equipment the right way, and not just know how to press the 'On' button, play a bit with the knobs until you think it's good.

At home I record and mix on the computer, with the best plugins available (wouldn't settle for less).
In the studio I do most of the sound processing with the outboard and analog console. I must say that I prefer the analog sound much better. Even if you work only with virtual instruments, you should go to a good studio to mix it through analog equimpent to give it some warmth.

Just some rambling below coming from someone (me) who has built his own studio some time ago (that studio doesn't exist anymore though, long story):

If you already have a half-decent computer, recording and mixing using the PC is a cheap and good solution. As for the rest of the equipment, better to use fewer things that are good than a whole lot of cheap crap. For example if I had to choose between 1 AKG SolidTube mic and 20 crap-o-matic mic's, I'll choose the SolidTube anyday, even if it means no live recording with a band.

If you are tempted to buy an analogue recorder for cheap, think twice. Tape is expensive, the recorder needs calibrating every now and then (calibration tapes are expensive), analogue recorders are usually old and expensive to maintain (replacing heads is very expensive for example). I generally recommend against it although I do like the sound of analogue tape very much.

If you are recording things yourself at home, layer by layer, just 1 stereo input will usually do. But get a good one. You probably won't even need a mixer as you're doing the mixing in the PC. At home I don't have a mixer anymore, just a little patchbox and a pre-amp.
Good monitoring is important too.
If you plan to record live (esp. with live drums), things will immediately become very expensive (more inputs, more cables (expensive too!), more patching, more mics, mic stands, a mixing desk with seperate outputs for headphone monitoring, headphones, headphone amplifiers etc.).
If you are on a tight budget, I guess you're better off if you go for the 'layered' approach at first and be able to spend more on fewer things. It's so easy to get tempted to buy a lot of equipment, only to find out you only use some of it.
If you build a soundproof recording room anyway, you can always gradually extend your equipment later so you can record live later.
On the long run it's very expensive to buy a lot of cheap crap and replace them by slightly better crap

I hope this helps. Even if it comes from someone who recorded vocals using a little plastic mic. for a long time

Many thanks 4 answering my questions Otan, Heavenly and ErikD!