by Donna Buckheit
When deciding how and where to record your next music project, the list of factors to consider is as long as Elvis Presley’s discography. There’s cost, quality, space, flexibility, and efficiency, to name a few. Two ways indie artists or smaller musicians can go are to build an at-home recording space or to book time at a professional studio. There are a few artists like Billie Eilish who started out making successful tracks from their bedroom studios, but this is rather unorthodox. In order to make a track sound professional at home, you’d need the right equipment and a great deal of know-how. Here’s why you should consider making the trip to a professional music studio to lay down the track.
Space
The first tricky part of building an at-home studio is finding the space. First, the area needs to be big enough to store microphones, a computer and DAW, amplifiers, and possibly other large instruments like a drum set or piano. Next, you’ll want to make sure that the space is in a quiet location, or that it has sound proofing elements. Hard, dense materials like concrete, tile, and hardwood are best for flooring, and concrete, vinyl, lead, and steel are typically good for walls. It can be difficult to find any space that meets these requirements, let alone one inside your home.
There are other factors to consider, such as heating and cooling for the space. It needs to be done, but in a way that won't add jarring noises in the background. Musicians with band experience know: it can get very hot with a full band of sweaty musicians rocking out in one room for several hours. How you plan to heat and cool your at-home studio is one of many overlooked factors that could wind up having a big impact on the process, and in turn, the final product.
Time
If time is an important factor for you, then booking a session in the studio is the way to go. Not only can you skip the undertaking of building and refining a home studio, but you can cut out all the time it would take to learn how to use each and every microphone, DAW, amplifier, soundboard, and software. A studio professional might be able to create the sound you're looking for on a synth in a matter of minutes, due to years in the field and familiarity with the equipment. This would certainly bypass the copious amounts of YouTube tutorials and Sweetwater forums needed when first learning the basics of any new hardware or software. An expert will also likely have higher quality equipment that runs faster, with less bugs and glitches that eat up precious time and break focus. Should a technical error arise, the expert will be able to resolve the issue swiftly. If production expertise is what you seek, there are many exceptional recording studios in Rockland County to explore.
Quality
When it comes to your music, quality is the most important factor. You want the words to sound crisp through the microphone, and the instrumentation to be rich and full. You also want access to the endless possibilities of sounds that can be created through a top-notch studio and a knowledgeable producer with a creative vision. The opportunity to have your work checked and exposed to the perspectives of another artist who understands the anatomy of successful songwriting and production is the advantage of collaboration. This is truly what gives professional studios their edge; quality sound and artistic wherewithal will make for the best music possible.
Cost
I know what you're thinking, the whole point of an at-home studio is to save money. But when you consider the investment it takes to build a quality at-home studio, the numbers start to add up. Foam walls for proper acoustics run for about $100 per crate and could require up to seven crates for larger rooms (that’s a lot of foam!) A good digital audio workstation (DAW) goes for a couple hundred bucks, a decent microphone around $500, digital software to edit the tracks could cost up to $900, and a good MIDI keyboard at least $300. So, all together, an at-home studio that yields decent quality results will add up $1,200- $2,400 at the lowest. This is no small investment- and that’s only for a very basic, bare-bones set-up. More advanced at-home studios with all of the proper bells and whistles to produce industry-grade sounds can amount to a whopping $30,000. That’s right, you read that correctly- not 30,000 doll-hairs, but 30,000 dollars!
Recording Studios in Rockland County
There are some very reasonably priced recording studios in Rockland County, where you’d likely spend less for an EP or album than you would to build a professional-grade home studio from scratch. At RCT Music Group, you can record in a professional studio with access to a variety of recording equipment, amplifiers, microphones, and instruments. You can book a four-hour recording session here for $250, which comes out to just over $60 an hour- a very solid price. Call today at 845-358-1236 to schedule your session and make some magic in the studio!