All you need is a computer, some software and a couple of mics.

Once upon a time, doing your own recording meant thousands of dollars worth of equipment, clearing out a space in the basement or a spare room, and struggling to make it all work.  And unless you had a penchant for audio technology or access to a more experienced recordist, this was not a task for the faint of heart. 

Back then, if you and your band mates didn’t want to plunk down a 50% deposit on a chunk of studio time, then pay additional hourly rates for mastering and a whole lot of other charged-by-the hour tasks, you either found a friend with a home or project studio or tried to assemble one yourself.

What a difference five years makes. 

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, the recording studio business has come full circle.  The big commercial studios – as many as 50% of them gone today - that started out in spare rooms and garages have now fallen victims to the artist recording himself or herself at home.

If the sale of recorded music has taken a serious hit in recent times, the sale of computer-related recording equipment and software has exploded.  According to NAMM, the trade group for music retailers, the market was $140 million in 1999.  And a half billion in 2008.

According to recording engineer Tom McCauley in the same article, “You used to patch everything into a big console. Now you can plug everything into a computer," he said. "And editing music using tape wasn't easy. Now you just click and drag a mouse across the screen.”

Is it really that simple?  And what essential tools are involved?   We asked Shure Applications Engineer, part time musician and part time home recordist Gino Sigismondi to break it down into its three most basic elements.

The heart of your recording system has to be powerful enough to manage a fairly substantial amount of information because manipulating sound is CPU-intensive.  A faster processor shortens the wait time while you are manipulating sounds files and reduces the likelihood of glitches during the recording process.

According to blogger Dave Fancella on linux.com, “A dual-processor computer will make the work go faster, though a faster front bus and more memory will serve you even better than a faster processor. Sound files are also very large, so you'll need lots of memory to make sure there's plenty of buffer space and lots of hard drive space to store it.”
Fact is, almost all computers today are capable of at least recording a few tracks of high-quality audio, but if you plan to record more audio tracks, you’ll need:

• More processing power
• More RAM
• More hard drive space needed for higher bit rate and sampling frequency

PC or Mac?
If you want to follow the lead established by most professional recording engineers, the answer is probably Mac.  But if you’re a PC jockey who has, so far, resisted Apple’s attempts to make you feel like a nerd – or you want to build your studio without breaking the bank, Windows machines are a perfectly acceptable way to go.
Let’s look at the pros and cons.

PC
Inexpensive compared to Mac
Wide variety of applications
More susceptible to worms and viruses
Easily upgradeable
Operating inconsistencies that can result from the legions of manufacturers

Mac
Considered the industry standard for music production
Slightly better integration of audio with OS
Cool factor
Much more expensive for comparable power
More difficult to upgrade
The bottom line here is that either will serve your purposes.  The real determinants are these: what you’re comfortable with and how much money you want to spend on hardware.

Basic System Requirements
These vary widely depending on what you want to do and what kind of software you intend to use. 
The truth is that almost any ‘modern computer’ (for instance, one that has been manufactured in the last three or four years) will probably be able to handle your recording challenges.
Here’s what you’d need to run a robust program like Cubase 5:*

Mac
Mac OS X version 10.5.5
Power Mac G5 (Intel Core Duo CPU recommended)
1024 MB RAM                                    

PC
Windows XP Home or Windows Vista
2 GHz CPU (dual core CPU recommended) processor 1.4 GHz minimum
1024 MB RAM


* Source: Manufacturer’s site – www.steinberg.net


If you’re going to be recording a vocalist, instruments or sampling your own sounds, you’re going to need a microphone. Once again, your options are pretty much determined by what you’re recording and how much you have to spend.

Since every microphone has a distinct sonic signature, along with its own characteristics in terms of transducer type (condenser or dynamic) and polar pattern (unidirectional, cardioid and supercardioid), it’s important to revisit those lessons.

Let’s look at two ways to connect a microphone to a computer – the newer USB mics and the more traditional XLR microphones combined with an external interface.

USB microphones

This type offers simple connectivity.  Fewer connections and cables are required, so you can get up and running quickly.  But here’s the downside: you’re limited to recording one track at a time and there’s only one microphone choice.

Shopping Tips
Here are the features you want in a USB mic:

1. Plug and Play with your OSS
2. Headphone output with “zero latency” monitoring
   Without this feature, you will need to monitor through your computer’s headphone jack, and the amount of latency (delay)between what you are recording and what you hear back from the computer will make overdubbing (recording more than one track) impossible
3. Monitor “blend” control
   Allows you to customize the blend between pre-recorded tracks and live mic signal when overdubbing
4. Analog gain control
   Lets you optimize the signal level before the A/D (analog to digital) conversion. Mics that don’t have this feature require additional processing that can degrade sound quality (for example, adds noise).

Traditional (XLR) microphones
Using traditional analog mics requires an external interface to connect them to your computer, but doing so gives you the flexibility to use whichever microphones you choose, and if your interface has multiple inputs, you can record more than one track simultaneously. No discussion of computer recording interfaces can be complete without comparing USB to Firewire. Traditionally, Firewire interfaces allowed more tracks of audio to be streamed to your computer simultaneously, but the USB 2.0 standard has much greater throughput, making modern USB interfaces roughly equivalent to Firewire.
Some interfaces still utilize PCI cards that are installed in the computer, but these are becoming increasingly rare.
Shopping Tips

1. If Firewire is not an option, look for interfaces that utilize the  USB 2.0 standard.
2. 48V Phantom Power
   And preferably switchable. 
3. Bus powered
   This means the interface does not need to be plugged into AC-wall power, the computer’s USB port will power the interface instead. This is a benefit when used with a laptop for remote recording applications.
4. Zero-latency Monitoring
   For the same reasons you want it on a USB mic!

This completes the trio of what’s essential in your basic set-up.  Again there’s no shortage of choices, beginning with...

Free or Shareware Software
This is a perfectly acceptable alternative, especially if you’re trying to save money, because there are lots of great recordings made with software like Audacity and GarageBand.  But here are a few considerations:

• Except for user groups and blogsites (and there are literally hundreds of these), there often isn’t very much in the way of developer tech support.
• Software may be “crippled” with restrictions and limitations.  Remember, you get what you pay for. 
• Stability, maybe even security issues relating to viruses and worms.  A whole evening and an inspired moment can be gone forever when the save function doesn’t work.
• Wide variation in the quality of plug-ins (add-ons that give you more ways to manipulate the sound)– does it provide everything you need? Effects?  Headphone mix? MIDI functionality?

If your computer is a Mac, you probably already have GarageBand.  For PC (and Mac) users, Audacity is wildly popular and downloadable for free.  For a rated review of free audio engines (along with some free trial versions), check out Software4Free.org.

Paid

If you’re decided that you’re not comfortable with the sometimes dodgy nature of free recording software, you may be ready to step up to the paid version that most professionals use.

• They are feature rich, which can make them a little daunting in the learning curve phase.
• Technical support exists.
• Upgrades and bug fixes are readily available.
• There are blogsites and user posts, offering tips, tricks and troubleshooting in abundance.

Costs range from about $149 for the educational version of ProTools to $499 and more for Propellerhead, Apple Logic Studio 9 and Cakewalk software. Some interfaces include trial or “Lite” versions of popular recording programs.

When you first learned to play, the process demanded a little talent, a lot of mistakes, practice and experimentation. And you probably loved it. Mixing and recording works the same way and brings your artistry to another level.

What’s right in recording – from the PC or Mac that you use or the microphones you like to the software that feels comfortable – is what’s right for you. You don’t have to be an engineer to make good recordings using tools that you may already have or can get for free.  A mic, a computer and some basic software are all you need to get started.