PRO GRADE HOME RECORDING STUDIO

Pro Recording Studio

This course is designed educate you regarding the essential components and skills required to achieve professional grade music masters in a home studio setup.
At the end of this course you will be able to:

  1. Find that fine balance between home studio cost, performance and complexity.
  2. Confidently plan, research and build a professional grade home studio.
  3. Achieve the best results with minimal investment in money and time.
  4. Build a modular studio setup that you can upgrade as your skills improve or as you get more financing.
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The Course

Registration fee: $235 (donation)

Course fee:  n/a

Duration: 4 weeks

Class time: 2 hours

Next available dates:

October 2019

November 2019

 

Topics Discussed

    • Essentials of a professional home studio setup.
    • How sound works.
    • Planning a recording studio for your space.
    • Hearing health – taking care of your hearing.
    • Effective research for studio components – getting the best bang for your buck.
    • Balancing cost vs. performance – what you can go low cost on and what you CANNOT skimp on.
    • The Build – getting the various components to work as one unit.
    • It’s rare that two studio are exactly alike – mastering your studio setup.
Week One

Technology as an equalizer

  • How to achieve the same or better professional grade masters in a well-built home studio as a  million-dollar studio.
  • Understanding sound – what are sound waves, how do they work, what properties of sound do I need to master to run an effective studio.
  • What is the difference between analog and digital audio?
  • What type of computer should I get?
  • What DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software is the best choice for me?
Week Two

Digital Audio Interfaces and other hardware for your studio
• Getting the right cables
• Getting the right stands
• Why do you need a pop filter?
• What is sibilance and why it’s NOT my friend in the studio.
• Do I need a soundproof booth or not?
• How can I manage background noise if I don’t or cannot afford a booth?
• What is an audio gate, how to use gating to eliminate background noise?

Week Three

Essential tools of the trade
• Ear health – your ears are actually the most vital component of the home studio – how to take care of your ears inside and outside the studio.
• Stay away from “gimmick” headsets and speakers and how to guy professional gear.
• What is a flat frequency response curve and why does that matter in professional recording equipment?
• What is a cardioid microphone?
• What is a studio microphone vs a stage microphone?
• Optimum sound recording levels.

Week Four
The Basics of Mixing and Mastering

  • How to hear as an audio engineer.
  • How to hear as a music producer.
  • Let’s talk about frequency, headroom, sound pressure levels (spl)
  • What are decibels?
  • What is the difference between 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit sound?
  • How to use comparative analysis to achieve that elusive commercial sound.

 

Materials, Resources & Prerequisites

 

  • Students should bring a laptop
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