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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Music recording technology has come a long way from the earliest days of the mechanical phonograph cylinder and gramophone disk to magnetic tapes and digital recording. Recording engineering has now gained the status as the separate branch of science dealing with sound recording and reproduction.

Recent developments in music recording technology and editing have revolutionized the record, movie and television industries. Whether it is live musical performance, radio and television broadcasting, filmmaking, and recording music for selling (for example, CDs), all have to depend on sound recording and reproduction technology. To all major movie production houses, radio and TV stations, and musical groups have their in-house recording studio. The subject matter of recording music and reproducing it thorough diverse media is concerned with electrically or mechanically inscribing sound waves produced by spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or various sound effects.

The two main divisions of music recording technology are analog recording and digital recording. Analog recording is achieved by means of diaphragm of a microphone that detects changes in atmospheric pressure created by audio sound waves, and records them graphically as sound waves on media such as a phonograph, a magnetic tape or a CD. The same process is inverted in reproducing or transmitting the music, when the diaphragm of a bigger loudspeaker modifies atmospheric pressure to form acoustic sound waves. Digital recording and reproduction uses the similar technology employed in analog process, the difference being the added digitization of the sound data and signals, allowing it to be stored and transmitted on a wider variety of media.

A Los Angeles Recording School, Musicians Institute has been established with the intention of imparting education in the area of recording arts. This recording college has developed a comprehensive recording program covering the entire gamut of learning the essentials of audio recording and reproduction. Individuals can learn audio recording at this institute and after passing out can find a career as an audio engineer or sound engineer. Audio engineers in general deal with the design, installation, and/or operation of sound recording, sound reinforcement, or sound broadcasting equipment, including large and small format consoles. In a recording studio setting, the audio engineer deals with recording, editing, manipulating, mixing, and/or mastering sound by technical means in order to realize an artist’s or record producer’s creative vision. While generally associated with music production, an audio engineer deals with sound for a wide range of applications, including post-production for video and film, live sound reinforcement, advertising, multimedia, and broadcasting. When referring to video games, an audio engineer may also be known as a computer programmer.

Keeping in view the hectic lives of people and the need to relax at the end of the day, dance, theatre and music have become an integral part of one ’s life. Advancements in the field of technology have made the entire experience of music a truly wondrous one and a well-equipped recording studio with every necessary recording studio equipment can contribute a lot to fine quality music.

Basically, recording studios are sound-proof rooms designed on the principles of the room acoustics for recording sound with accuracy and precision. The material with which the surface of this room is built is able to absorb and diffuse the sound and it may also have an added room that is especially designed for recording voices. This room is generally known as vocal room. There are mainly three rooms in a recording studio: the studio or the live room in which the sounds for recording are created, the control room in which the sounds are manipulated and recorded and the machine room in which all the audio recording equipments are kept. A recording studio equipment is kept in a separate machine room because it may create a lot of noise that may interfere with the process of sound recording and may affect the quality of the sound produced.

Some of the audio recording equipments that are a must in a recording studio machine room are mixing console, microphones, multi-track recorder, digital audio work station, music work station, compressors, equalizers and reverbs and reference monitors and loudspeakers. A mixing console is used to control each musical instrument to achieve the desired effect and sound and the role and importance of microphones is beyond mention. With the help of multi-track recorders, it has become possible to record singers and instruments separately on different tracks at different times on the same tape. A single analog tape is able to contain 24 different tracks and a master tape is then printed which contains all the recorded tracks.

All the artists are able to use a home studio or a project with synthesizers, microphones and multi-track recorders for making inexpensive recording products on digital hard disk. A keyboard is also highly realistic recording studio equipment, allowing great ease and variety to the sound recordists. If you are also looking to set up a recording studio of your own, then you will need all these audio recording equipments in your studio.

Hope you have been practicing singing in the past week and your vocal chords are now prepared to take on the nuances of getting on with the real thing- the actual recording.

Moving on from where we left off the last time around – here are the rest of the gadgets you will need to set up your very own recording studio.

Gadget 2 – Your Microphone:

While your standard microphone may be adequate to chat with your long distance friend, you may require something more technical for your recording needs. You’ll need one that will record your music perfectly. Microphones are the most important feature in recording your music because their quality varies widely and they are what you hear.

There is a wide range of microphones available such as condensers, dynamics, tubes and many more .It has been observed that live mics are not always great for the studio. Generally, wide diagram condensers are what you want for vocals. That again you have to decide seeing your pocket. Remember that if you are going to record in groups, or different types of instruments, you’ll require more than one microphone.

Another negative for using computer microphones is the connectivity issue. Many microphones have a balanced output cable. You are likely to be on the right lines if your sound card or audio interface has the corresponding input slot. If not, you will have to go in for an alternative like running it through a mixer or a pre-amp. Another possibility is to acquire a pair of good dynamic microphones that use an unbalanced jack which you can insert to get the desired output. You could also get an adapter for your sound card. As far as recording into digital multitracks is concerned, it should not be a problem as they are usually made for all microphones.

Gadget 3 – Audio Interface Recording Sound Card:

Much as we have seemingly maligned the computer, it is still required even if you’ll be recording externally as you’ll still need to get the sound into the computer for audio mastering, burning, MP3 upload or whatever else. If you want to get it in a high quality, some of the factors to look for are types of input, quality and connectivity.

The advantage of using a digital multitrack as compared to a purely analog one is that it doesn’t lose music recording quality when copied to another device. Your digital multitrack can send it’s music out digitally, so its better to have a sound card that can accept digital data as well. The standard formats are called “spdif”, and come in two categories, requiring two different types of cables: optical (spdif/o) and electronic (spdif/e).

Gadget 4 – Studio Headphones, Playback Gear:

As you will be playing the new vocals with the backing tracks you have to make sure your backing tracks are synchronized to the device you will be recording your vocals to.

A computer program generally does this automatically. If, however, you are using a multitrack with a computer, your synchronization may need to be tweaked a wee little bit. While doing your home recording, all you will be required to do is connect the computer and multitrack via a MIDI cable and then specifying on each (the program and the multitrack) which sync signal (MMC, MTC, SMPTE) is sent/received. Besides, you also need to check the frame rate, which device is the master and whether pressing ‘Play’ on the master starts playback at the beginning or at the song position of the master.

Use the tips of this article to have a wonderful recording experience. Soon your name will figure amongst the successful singers.

In today’s recording industry, hundreds of thousands of dollars can be spent producing just one album. There are recording studios, however, where the word retro applies to finances as well as the overall vibe of the place. Take Arizona music studio Uranus Recording of Tempe, where less than $10,000 can produce a world-class recording that would cost $50,000 in most comparable studios. Yet the price tag is not the only thing reminiscent of years past at this world-class Tempe recording studio. Its Atomic Age theme emulates the classic music production studio of the Fifties and Sixties when musicians understood and appreciated the possibilities and value of Live Room acoustics.

Gin Blossoms lead singer Robin Wilson built this retro-style Arizona recording studio inside the Tempe Creamery Complex – a registered historical Arizona landmark. The Live Room in Wilson’s Tempe music studio is a 22′ x 24′ x 10′ space featuring hand made acoustic treatments, allowing musicians who record here to achieve a fuller, more organic sound than in the acoustically “dead” booths and studio rooms typically favored since the Seventies.

Of course, the best acoustics in the world mean little on an album without the right recording equipment for quality music production. Wilson’s full-service Arizona recording studio is equipped with Pro Tools HD and a Neve sidecar mixing console, as well as a host of mics, guitars, amps, pedals, and electrical outlets too numerous to mention. In addition to the Live Room and control room, Uranus Recording has a vintage bank vault turned custom-built isolation booth, and what’s become a famous signature wall in the bathroom where musicians mark their permanent place in the rich musical history of this Tempe recording studio.

Some of the biggest names in music have recorded in this Arizona music studio. The Gin Blossoms wrote and demoed material there for their Platinum LP, “Congratulations I’m Sorry.” Lee Hazelwood and his legendary guitarist Al Casey, who together pioneered the Arizona rock scene and went to write number one hits for Duane Eddy and record some of the biggest hits of the 1960s, recorded here twice. And Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Arizona’s biggest live draw, called the recording of their most recent album, “No More Beautiful World, at Uranus “the best time we’ve ever had making a record.”

When it comes to producing an album in the modern music industry, musicians often must choose between top-of-the-line music production and affordability. But at Tempe music studio Uranus Recording, you get both – access to the world’s finest equipment and professional acoustics for a fraction of what you’d normally pay for the best record you can possibly make.

What if I tell you that -

a) You can make a better than decent living out of your passion in music?

b) Your passion results in a life long romance and an opportunity to see and visit places?

c) A number of persons have created a great name for themselves in the profession of a disc jockey and are earning more than the top ranking CEOs of some big companies.

Sounds like a dream? Doesn’t it? Well here is all that you want to know about various options available to you in the field of music.

First things first. You need to decide the field you want to specialize in. You may be a super performer, a great entertainer. All these professional choices are open to you for further advancing in your career.

There are a few things which you need to bear in mind before embarking on the great musical journey of your life. Having decided to make a career in the field, you would definitely be brimming with skills and talent. What you may require is perhaps some ideas about what options are available to you in the vast field of music.

Let us concentrate on the profession of a performer. A performer gives shape and his personal touch to music and gets maximum accolades for a nice performance. You can be a part of a band or independent. If you are a band member, you can be a vocalist, a drummer, a pianist or a guitarist. In that case, one of the avenues available to you is to give a live performance at many places such as night clubs, weddings, holiday parties, company functions, music stores, star hotels, cruise liners, grand openings and so on. There is a great demand for a disc jockey and you may end up earning good amounts as you gain experience in the area.

Another area you can explore is to cut and place your own CD for sale in the market. It is a good idea to package your music and create a bit of hype around it. Remember it is show business. You may be a powerhouse of talent but would still require some publicity to sell it.

Teaching music is yet another career choice available to you. This is a wonderful profession, which does not require a college degree or certificate. All you require is better than average credentials, word of mouth publicity and the ability to play an instrument. In fact, you can even take this up part-time along with any of the other options; you are sure to find hordes of eager students in your locality.

You can also work in a recording studio and help people make their own albums. Of course you would need to be a more discerning in various genres of music such as Jazz, Classical, Country, Rock and Urban etc. so as to be able to offer sound advice and make a difference in their music. You would also need to be conversant with techniques such as audio mastering and digital music recording to be better off.

Music is a vast field and the sky is the limit for those who want to make a beginning. Believe me; your life will never be same again.

Despite all that has been said about being politically correct MnM Recording Studio is the UK’s Number 1 Exclusive Gospel Recording Studio situated at the heart of North London Providing Excellent sound Recordings. 

Initially when I heard about it I thought OMG not another freaky company, to my amazement I was pleasantly surprised and when I checked out what the studio had to offer in terms of the equipment, production and just the general vibe! It was truly divine (if that’s the write word for it). 

When I asked the owners why Christians only, he said he was Christian and believed that in order to produce divinely inspired music you had to be in the rite atmosphere, fair enough I said.

I spoke to a few locals who to be honest didn’t seem to care much about the subject, but a few did give the impression that it was about time the Christians stood up for their faith! without apologising for it, other faiths are doing it so why cant they?  good question I thought to myself.

This episode made me realise that the only reason I as drawn to this subject as because i being Christian myself have felt especially in the last few years uncomfortable about speaking freely about my faith, i guess i was afraid about the consequences.   To my surprise i feel born again again in the sense that my research on this subject has connected me back to my roots and foundation. 

so here goes!! Good for you MnM Record!

MnM Recording studio truly the home of the modern gospel artist!!!

 

For many years I have supplied music for and played in bands that provide music for corporate entertainment. Clients have included Audi, The Evening Standard, Sainsburys, P.C. World, Safeways, Large corporate clients at Henley and Ascot, I.T.V. and H.M. Treasury. Because of this experience I felt it would be relevant in putting down some pointers in helping clients choose the right kind of music for their particular corporate entertainment.

Interestingly enough, most corporate hospitality entertainment work tends to require music as an ingredient to a larger recipe. What I mean by this is a great deal of corporate events are offering a multi service package. Typically an organization may be putting on an evenings entertainment to thank its workforce for a particularly successful year. They may be offering music, food, comedy, a close up magician, a casino and a caricaturist. The corporate client organizing needs to decide what part the music has to play in the days/evenings entertainment.

Questions he or she needs to ask are:

Is the music specifically for entertainment or is the music for background listening?

Do we need one style of music early on in the proceedings and then a change of style later in the days/ evenings entertainment?

Do you expect the corporate clients to be networking and discussing business or are they just there for a good time?

What overall atmosphere do you want to project with the event?

Is there going to be a change of location for the music as the entertainment event unfolds?

Different styles of music bands lend themselves to different corporate hospitality situations. Below are a number of typical corporate hospitality events with music suggestions for suitable music entertainment.

Corporate entertainment model 1.
Evening reception with dinner and speeches.
In a situation such as this you will typically need music from the outset as part of the meet and greet of the corporate evening. A four-piece swing or Latin group is ideal with a larger ensemble for particularly large gatherings. A professional outfit can pitch the music at just the right decibel level so your guests can talk and enjoy the entertainment without it encroaching on conversations. The musicians would typically be dressed in Lounge Suits or Tuxedos (or the female equivalent) to mirror what the guests are wearing themselves. The music portrays an atmosphere of sophistication, which again hopefully reflects the evenings overall ambience.

It is rare for corporate clients to want to dance especially as clients there relationship is business not pleasure! In most cases it is more important that the band is flexible in when it is needed over the course of the evening i.e. At the top of the night for the reception, a smaller version of the band (The pianist maybe for the dinner), stopping for speeches and then after the speeches to play until other entertainment is put on for the corporate clients. In this situation give the band a clear idea of how you expect the evening to go. What to wear, when they will be needed, when they need to get their instruments in the building and be set up, when breaks will be required, let them know if it is convenient or not to feed them and then finally how they can leave when finished so as not to disrupt the rest of the entertainment.

Corporate entertainment model 2.
Company Party.
Still corporate entertainment, still corporate hospitality but a totally different set of requirements for the music. Ask yourself these questions: Are your work force the type of workforce who will want to dance at some point in the proceedings? If they are, then a professional band with flexibility is essential. My experience is that people of all ages will join together to dance to music from the sixties and seventies. Whatever background music you require earlier in the day/evening be it Latin, Swing, Rat Pack or Lounge, if you are hoping to provide entertainment that will get people dancing remember this fact. Sixties and Seventies. For some inexplicable reason this is the music that gets people up on their feet.

When choosing your music ask the band if they can cover this part of the corporate entertainment requirement. Get samples of their music if need be. There is nothing worse than an ill equipped band struggling through alien repertoire. However good the band is, if they do not play the right repertoire, the right style of music then the corporate entertainment will fall on deaf ears.

Let me at this point provide a caveat. Your workforce work together They are not always going to be the best of friends however professional their relationships are at work. Answer truthfully, will they really want to dance together or is it asking too much? I would say that in all the years of providing music for this kind of corporate entertainment / hospitality , as long as the music is right, the workforce tended to dance 30 or 40% of the time. It could be said that a workforce who will enjoy each others company in this way is a reflection on the talent of senior management to create a happy team!

Corporate entertainment model 3.
Company Fun Day.
These come in two types. The type to entertain your own workforce or the type to entertain prospective clients. Both types of corporate entertainment require music that is fun. This means that the music must be perceived as fun and the band must be perceived as fun. In both cases Jolly Dixieland Jazz or the summer sounds of Latin music are most suitable.

Ask yourself these questions: does the band need to be mobile? Meaning do you want the music to move around the site at various points in the proceedings? If so then the jolly jazz route is most suitable. A good professional outfit of four or five players can play acoustically and move around a site as directed.

If the band can be static and close to electrical power then either Jolly Jazz or Latin Music is suitable.

Is the event outdoors or indoors and do you have provision for bad weather? This is England, never trust to luck, assume the worst! Any band that needs power cannot play in the rain for health and safety reasons. At the first hint of inclement weather a band will have to breakdown their equipment. Build this situation into your corporate entertainment music decisions.

How do you want the band to dress? It is a fun day after all! In the past I and my musicians have dressed as Elvis, Cavemen, Circus Clowns, in fact all manner of characters in the name of corporate entertainment and corporate hospitality. Good bands will have suitable outfits for most situations but don`t hesitate in providing something off the wall for a special event. Most professional players have a strange urge to jump into such costumes at the earliest possibility! As someone who has played at a nudist camp and for a toga party, both dressed accordingly, take my word for it!

To draw this article together let me say this. Choose the right kind of music for the event. Brief the band accordingly but make sure you have a professional and flexible outfit, things can change over the course of the event and you want to make sure the band are both co-operative and able to fulfill your needs. Don`t hesitate to ask the band for any special requirements you have. Do it in plenty of time so they have time to prepare.

The corporate entertainment and hospitality you offer to your guests reflects directly onto your company. The music and musicians must be the type who are aware of this. Dont go for second best just to save a small amount of money. You need a well prepared, well dressed band who are both polite and charming to your guests. They need to play the right kind of music for the event in order to help make the day or evenings corporate entertainment a resounding success!

About the author
Jeff Williams is a London based trombonist and vocalist who has worked all over the world in most areas of the business. He also runs a successful, specialist, live music agency using the best of London musicians, servicing both private and corporate clients playing all over the country. He would be happy to advise you with your own event or party and offers bespoke solutions for the perfect occasion.

Realizing that many independent artists and bands are more than just curious about the re-emerging possibility to offer something more than just a digital file. We thought it would be interesting to do an interview to get some vinyl manufacturing tips.

From our research and communications with several pressing plants, we have discovered that there is a substantial difference between services and costs across the offering table of vinyl manufacturers. But what we have worked out, is, that if given a few concerts, a supportive family, and active myspace page you can manage to sell between 200-300 records, you will be able to break-even on costs with a price per record as little as Euros 2-4 or USD 3-6.

So to learn more about the process of making vinyl records we contacted a vinyl record pressing plant in Germany and asked them a couple of questions. We found a dedicated and service minded team that taught us a lot about the process of producing vinyl records. Moritz Illner answered some of our questions about how to get one’s music out on vinyl.

Thomas: What is the history of Duophonic? Who is behind the company, and what is your position in the company?

Moritz: Duophonic was founded in 2002. We started as a reseller of CD-Pressings and did small runs on our own CD Duplicator. Me as the technical chief and David did all the controlling and project management. We both, David Jahnke and me were great Vinyl fans so we discovered a way to combine our hobby and our job. Step by step we bought more and more Studio equipment especially old vinyl- cutting rags…

Thomas: When did your start focusing on vinyl, and why?

Moritz: I was always fascinated of the miracle to conserve the stereo-sound information in a little groove. In the mid 90ties when I finished my sound engineer training, this was far more exotic then nowadays. But I always bought vinyl instead of CDs so the way a good record has to sound gets very familiar to me over the years. Then a few months after launching Duophonic we found the curious guy near our hometown how had constructed a vinyl recorder. We bought one machine and started doing small runs for Djs and Producers in the end of 2002 with our own vinyl cutting ‘lathe.

Thomas: There are different ways of vinyl production, what are the main ways? And, what way of production does your company offer?

You can cut records directly in vinyl as a one-off or small run production. This is only interesting for DJ or home use, not for sale, because its not cheap (round 40 euros at duophonic).

If you run a label or band and you want to sell your LPs or singles you have to press your records. Then you can choose two different ways of cutting your Master. DMM -cutting; there you cut the groove into a copper plate. The second is lacquer cutting, the groove is cut into a lacquer coated aluminium plate, and it’s the most popular way. The pressing process itself is nearly the same. Duophonic has a Neumann VMS 70 Lacquer cutting Lathe and we are very happy with its sound.

Thomas: Should artists use different cutting/pressing methods for different types of music (electronic, indie, rock, punk)? If so, why?

Moritz: The most records you can buy nowadays are lacquer cuts, because there are only a few DMM lathes left and the only advantage cutting into copper is the longer playing time. If you want to have loud records for example electronic 45er Maxis it’s better on lacquer, because DMM can’t cut so deep. This is important because your playback stylus have to move very fast if the record is loud and therefore he needs a proper guidance. If you have a lot of stereo information in your music than you need a deep cut too. For example if you have massive panned guitars on a punk rock single.

The big advantage of Dmm cutting is the longer playing time per side. The maximum on our VMS 70 is 24- 25 min per side. With DMM you have up to 30 min. But a record with a playing time like a CD couldn’t sound good anyway.

Thomas: How long would it take me to get 200 new pressed 12″ records delivered to my home in Norway if I gave you an audiotape today?

Moritz: It takes around 14 working days. But I would advice to make 300 pieces because all the paperwork and the pressing get much cheaper then.

Thomas: There is little doubt about the current vinyl revival, which is occurring in the midst of an industry going through major structural changes. Have you seen development in the demand pattern for vinyl during recent years?

Moritz: Not having the big major customers, we’re not affected by this “Madonna makes vinyl again” phenomenon. What we see the last years is much more diversity in genres and scenes the last years. All “electronic dance music” is decreasing because of mp3 DJ software. All other independent stuff is increasing especially 7inches (punk, garage, ect.) and Metal LPs, obscure small runs of everything between art and music..

The editions gone down, the average is around 300. But the packaging and the records itself becomes more individual and sumptuous. Things like engraving or double grooves on the record, or silkscreen printed covers are very hot at the moment. There are fewer labels but much more bands that want to sell their product on concerts and so on. They need more help getting a real professional finished product, so we as a company do a lot of consulting work depending artwork specification, sound mastering and so on. For Duophonic the change in music industry is not bad at all .

Thomas: Where do you see vinyl in 10 years? (Still going strong?)

Moritz: Hopefully! Don1t know, but as a niche product it will survive I think.

Thomas: What are your all-time top five records?

Moritz: Hard question, after typing 12, deleting 10, typing 13, deleting 3, typing 5, deleting 12. Here’s the list:

Die Goldenen Zitronen – Economy class – LP

Beck – Odelay – LP

Trio – Trio – LP

Fugazi – Self titled – EP

Tortoise – Millions Now Living Will Never Die – LP

Speed, power, and storage capacity that can rival some of the top desk top models, throw in the portability factor and it’s a no-brainer. You don’t need a big desk top anymore to have a powerful computer to run your home recording studio.

Laptops in general have become very powerful in the last couple years and now there are a few models that are designed specifically for us music makers. This also means your hardware compatibility headaches and problems are over.

What made this change-over so appealing to me at first was the portability of it all as I travel a bit and the idea of sitting on a plane or hotel and working on a song’s arrangement or mix was exiting.

You can also take your home studio to another home or even pro studio and integrate your project into their set up or simply transfer your tracks. Having this option has saved me lots of time and money as well as improving on some of the quality of some tracking I wasn’t able to do at home. After which, you simply pack up your laptop and go plug it back into your own home studio with all those new tracks to play around with.

Which laptop?

The choice for PC users has come down to this: Intel Core 2 Duo Pro. Luckily for us, they have tweeked these laptops and made them truly high performance music production machines. The key point here is the Intel Core Duo CPU processors. Yup, two processors to make these laptops run many times faster than any high powered desk top you may have be using.

Everything from the CPU to the FireWire card to the optical mouse has been designed to make these laptops a high powered studio recording machine. No need to worry about the chipset models or if you have the right soundcard anymore. Take it out of the box and hook it up and start recording… really. (For laptop model and a full list of features see link below).

Mac Computers

Same thing applies to macs. The new Mac Powerbooks have Intel core 2 duo as well, making them faster than anything we’ve seen yet. These are truly amazing at only 1 inch in thickness and up to 4 Gig’s of memory and 250 Gig hard drives. Two CPU’s will ensure your sessions don’t get bogged down in speed or freeze. Applications like Final Cut Pro or any other video editing will take advantage of the dual processors.

Considering these kind of features and their portability and small usage space on your desk, any home recording studio enthusiast would be crazy to even think about a big ol’ desk top anymore.

Johnny Ferreira is a professional musician and home recording studio enthusiast. Choose the perfect Laptop For Home Studio Recording and more ideas for

To record your own music at home and begin building up a studio you need some elementary parts to get going. They are:

1. An instrument and/or microphone

2. Something to record into like a basic mixing board

3. An port from your mixing desk into your computer

4. A computer with decent speakers and/or headphones.

5. Some software to record and manipulate your work.

These days you can purchase a combined solution for items 2 and 3 in the form of a computer audio interface. This is a device that you can plug an instrument or mic into and the other end is plugged in to your computer either as a soundcard or via a USB cable. This will work as an audio input and the mixing board part is all managed in the software program.

Depending on your requirements this might be the way to go or it might not. If you intend on just recording one audio part at a time then a computer audio interface makes sense. If you require to record a whole band with a few parts at once then you’ll need a mixing desk with enough channels to handle this.

One thing you will have to handle when attaching your interface and putting down your instruments and voice is latency. This is the time lag between the sound you make and it being played back to you by the computer. Latency can completely throw off your rhythm if you don’t minimize it. A means to do this is to use ASIO drivers for your computer interface. You can download free universal ASIO drivers at asio4all.com. Also be sure that your interface includes a preamp.

When you have your audio interface set up and can record and monitor your work without latency you’re about good to go. All you want now is some decent computer software to behave as a mixing desk, sequencer and sampler. Just about every good computer interface will come packaged with some recording software, normally a cut down edition of a full product but enough to get you started.

Other than that there are several low cost and even free programs you can download. There are also many communities on the internet where you can share your ideas, get help and support and find royalty free samples to apply in your music.

Those really are the bare requirements for a home recording studio setup assuming you intend to record your own material (as opposed to just play with loops) and that you already have an instrument and/or microphone with the necessary leads. Apart from these it’s also necessary to have some high quality speakers and headphones. These days things like effects and processors can all be found in computer software, although as you develop you may want to acquire some hardware versions of these down the line.  

You’ll also have to make sure that the acoustics in your recording environment are optimal. Don’t forget soundproofing as well. There is a lot to learn and do to get a good home recording studio setup but in the beginning you can just focalise on the essentials. A sufficient computer, an audio interface and some software can start you out very nicely. For more information there are some great free guides you can download off the web to get you started.