Having a bare bones recording setup is not that expensive. Even the equipment for a mid-level studio is not out of reach for a lot of people (though, loans may be involved). Having a place to put it is the costly part. And how one does that often makes or breaks the studio's back.

The purpose of having a recording studio is to only allow the material you want in the final product into the microphones. There are a couple of things that recording studios do in order to accomplish this goal:

1. Isolate the recording from outside noise.
2. Create an ideal (silent/comforatble/stimulating/pleasing) environment in which to record.

With this in mind, I am creating a series of posts on the subject in which I will attempt to summarize, and link to various sources of free information on the web.

There is a plethora of information on the internet about designing and building a recording studio. In many cases, though, the information is provided by someone who has something to sell the end-user (you, or me).

Auralex is a good example of this. They have a PDF available for download called “Acoustics 101.” Its very good reading material, and I have nothing against their products--aside from the overuse of purple. This document covers the basics of building a studio, while promoting Auralex products. It is not “in-your-face” type advertising, but that is why they published the document.

[Note: I am merely using this company as an example, there are many others who do similar things. It is not wrong to do this, but it can lead to a one-sided assessment of one's needs. Hence the caution against it. I would encourage you to read “Acoustics 101” along with others I will suggest along the way, and weigh the advice using your own common sense.]

There are a great number of resources online, which, with the help of your favorite search engine, are only a click away. I have found a couple, however, that are particularly helpful. And, the main purpose is to help you have the best studio you can, not sell a particular product. [Click here for an example search.]

Some of the sources I will pull from are listed in links below. These are the best I have found, and will hopefully help you out as well.

• The SAE College site has some of the most comprehensive information out there. While I have never heard of the school, this site has great information on everything from building the room you are in, to setting up microphones, and tuning drums.
• I am not a fan of forums, but the Recording Studio Design Forum has excellent information, as well as free advice.
• Sound Control Room, Inc. is a studio designer and builder, but they also have some useful documents on their site. They also sell certain products.

There are other links as well, which will be included in future posts.

Violet Mics

I notice two things about this new stereo mic from Violet right off the bat:

1. It is incredibly cool looking. I want one.
2. It looks similar to the design theme found in Blue microphones.

It is possible, that the second statement should be turned around; the two companies are in a legal battle over who owns what, as far as design is concerned.

Well, I am not an attorney, nor do I wish to become one. Therefore, I will content myself at looking at a pretty picture of a microphone, and hoping that someday I can purchase one.

I have linked to the home-pages of the companies, both of which have links to documentation of the ongoing legal dialog.

I had the opportunity to go visit a recording studio here in Teresina last night. The owner/operator's name is Isaac, and he was gracious enough to power everything up and show us (me, my wife, and her father) around the place.

It was a bit surprising to me to walk in and see a Mackie 32 channel, 8 bus mixer sitting there. Not because one does not need a mixer, but because of the expense involved. Electronics here in Brazil are expensive because most of them must be imported, which at least doubles (and, as in this case, sometimes quadruples) the cost. My surprise was due to the fact that this mixer (and, arguably, a better one) is in the recording software on the computer.

At some point, though, he mentioned that the board is necessary, if only to convince musicians that this is a good studio to record in. The disclaimer here is that sometimes when dealing with technical explanations, translation gets very difficult for my wife.

He paid the equivalent of $12,000 (US) for this mixer. I looked on Musician's Friend, and the current price on this item is about US $4,000. The reason for this difference is the import fees/taxes mentioned earlier.
Here is a shot of the other gear in the studio. He is using a Motu 2048 for his A/D converter, and Nuendo for the DAW software on the computer. He mentioned that he was using Pro Tools, but found it to limiting in some way (though, I am not sure why). Above that unit is a patch-bay, and below it are two Behringer four-channel compressors, followed by a Sony Mini-Disk recorder, and two Alesis ADAT recorders. The two boxes on the floor are power inverters, as the power here is 220, and the gear likes that good old 120.

No idea on the specs of the computer, but, by US standards it seemed pretty slow (but they don't care as much here about that sort of thing). That is a Yamaha NS-10 on the wall, and in the foreground is a Korg X3 keyboard.

A couple of general observations: I have never been in a studio where the recording area was so dead. The buildings here are only made out of brick, which does not seem to do much for sound insulation, so they put foam on the inside to keep the sound levels appropriate for neighbors. The mix room was this way as well, but to a lesser extent.

The ability to make money back on your gear here is less here than in the States. As mentioned before, gear costs more here. He only charges about $1400 (US) for a 10-track CD, though. That makes for a long time before seeing a return on investment.

That is it for this “field trip,” but I know there are some other studios here in town, and I would like to visit them. Maybe I will get the chance, and if I do, you will hear about it here. In the meantime, if you have questions, I will do my best to answer them.

Yamaha Mixing Studio

Having not tried a Yamaha board for some time now, I can not give my recommendation, but this implementation looks cool.
Its a USB multi-channel mixer that comes with recording software. There are two versions available; the MSW10, and the MSW12, which have 10 and 12 channels respectively.

The included software is Cubase LE by Steinberg (which I have also not used), and will work with either Mac OSX, or Windows 2000/XP/XP Pro. The system requirements are fairly liberal, so most should not have a problem. Here is the product page.

If you have experience with this sort of thing let me know, I am considering something like this for my setup.

[via Engadget]