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Recording Home equipment Introduction This is a guide to the basic equipment you'll need to record your music at home. As you are probably well aware, the cost of recording equipment has dropped over the last few years and it's now possible to put together a high quality system for a couple of grand. Read on for: Digital multitracks Computers Mixers Microphones Mic pre-amps Reverb Other effects "My first album was made, literally, in my bedroom. The mixer I've got you can get for about £300 second-hand now." Adam F Digital Multitracks There are two types of digital multitracks.  These use a hard disk like a computer does. This will give you lots of tracks to play with but you'll have limited memory. Once the hard disc is full, you'll either have to start deleting your work (!) or buy a back up device for a couple of hundred more quid, that you can use to transfer some of your music onto. To get round this, other digital machines work on removable media such as MiniDisc or a JAZ drive.  It's a trade-off, these machines won't run out of space - you just use a new disk for every song. But they run slower than multi-tracks that use a hard drive which can seriously limit the number of tracks you can record and play back simultaneously. There is a limit on the amount of data that you can fit on a single disk. Most will quote you this figure as the 'mono track time.' That's the total amount of audio you could record as one long track. Let's say the figure quoted is 16 minutes. If you want to record four instruments, then you can record four minutes of each. If you want eight, then you're down to two minutes. Computers The hardest thing about using a PC for your recording and sequencing is knowing what your system requirements are in the first place. The joke is, you won't really know what you need until you get going! The advantage of a computer based set-up is that you can build your system up over time, adding or upgrading individual parts as you need them. It might seem frustrating at first but it's probably better to start with a basic system and expand once you learn what's missing. Check out as many websites, books and magazines as you can so you know what's gwaaning. We've listed some resources to help you get started at the end of this section. It's a huge subject, so we'll only cover the basics here. If it's software advice you are after check out 'How to... Buy music software' . Machine Spec The more you want to do, the more processing power you need. Recording audio takes a lot of processing power and a lot of disk space. The speed of your disk, the speed of your processor and the amount of memory that you have will determine what sequencer software you run, how many tracks of audio you can record and play back, and how many plug-ins you can use simultaneously. Some effects plug-ins use more processing power than others. If you're planning to use a lot of complex effects, then you'll need a bad bwoy machine. If you're not, then you can buy something older and a bit less powerful. Ins and Outs MIDI messages are not sent via leads that plug into the back of whatever module you're using and then the other end needs to plug into the computer. Well, surprise surprise, there are no MIDI inputs on a computer! (We know. It's a straight up money ting!) That's why you'll need a MIDI interface and soundcard in order to record things. There are loads of these available and many different configurations. You need to get a clear idea of what you're going to be doing with the machine in order to narrow the choice down to the few that are right for you. Mainly it comes down to how many modules you'll be using. If you've just got a keyboard and a sampler then you might only need one or two inputs but the chances are you'll be looking to expand at some point so leave yourself room for this if you can afford it. Soundcards There are loads of different cards with many different configurations. The card will fit inside your computer and what's called a 'breakout box' sits outside. This contains all the ins and outs that you'll need for your audio connections. You can buy cards with 16 or more inputs and the same goes for the number of outputs but you'll only need a card that meets your immediate needs. If you're just starting out, a soundcard with 4 ins and 4 outs should meet your requirements. Mixers The mixer is where all the elements of the studio combine together. Each instrument is assigned its own channel on the mixer. A channel is the physical input, plus a series of controls for fine tuning the sound. As with most home studio gear, it's a buyer's market and you can get something basic for a couple of hundred quid. If you're using a computer you may be able to mix all of your audio internally and not need a hardware mixer at all. Chances are though, if you're serious about home recording and you want to save on processing power, you'll end up needing one sooner or later. When you first look at a mixer it can just look like hundreds of buttons, knobs and faders! But scope it out and you'll see that most of the knobs do the same thing. Any horizontal row of knobs will all have the same labels. And any vertical row - or channel strip - will have one of each type of knob. In order to describe what they all do, we'll walk through the path that the signal takes through the mixer. Mixers: Gain The signals coming into a mixer can vary greatly in their levels. Some may be microphones from the vocal booth while others may be line levels from synths, which will be many times louder than any mic signal. The gain knob is there to balance out all the basic levels. That way the signals will be at the ideal level - not too loud, not too quiet - for the rest of their passage through the desk. Gain can also add 'bite' to sounds. Mixers: Aux Sends Aux sends - auxes for short - allow you to take a piece of the signal from each channel and create mixes which are separate from the one at the mixer's main output. For example, you can use auxes, to make a mix for a vocalist to listen to in their headphones while they're recording. You give them the exact balance of instruments that they are comfortable with, without having to mess up the main mix. Alternatively, you can use auxes to add effects. If you want to add the same reverb effect to every element of a drum kit, you can use an aux send to draw off some of the signal from each element of the kit. Then you send that little mix to the reverb unit. Smaller desks may have only one or two aux sends while larger analogue and digital ones may have 8 or more. EQ and Pan EQ stands for equalisation and is concerned with shaping the tone of the instruments on a channel. A basic mixer will allow you to cut or boost the bass and treble but more expensive models will also have one or two 'swept mids'. A swept mid is a tone control of two halves. There's a cut/boost knob and a frequency control. That allows you to home in on an exact frequency and bring it out or back it off. Mid-range is an important part of the sound of an instrument because it's where your hearing is most sensitive and fine control over mid-range can be vital in getting a good mix together. The pan knob allows you to move the sound of a signal from left to right in a stereo mix. It can be useful to separate out similar instruments and will help create a full sound-stage in your final mix. Mixers: Routing A higher spec. desk may have two or more 'sub-groups.' Sub-groups are an extra fader in between the channel strip and the main output fader. They allow you to control the overall level of several instruments using only one or two faders. On a desk with sub-groups, there will usually be a set of push-button switches for each channel. These allow you to route each signal, either to a sub-group or straight to the main output of the desk. PFL and Faders While this button is pressed, the other channels will mute so that you can listen to the one instrument on its own. PFL stands for Pre-Fade Listen. The signal is tapped off before the channel fader. It will also go to a visual meter somewhere on the desk. You use it when adjusting the 'gain' control at the top of the channel strip. You can set the overall signal level knowing that what you're seeing on the meters isn't affected by the position of the channel fader. Faders are the final element in the chain. These control the overall level of the channel. When choosing a mixer, you'll need to think about the number of channels, aux sends and sub-groups that you'll need and how advanced you need the EQ section to be. Also think about how many mic pre-amps you might need. Dynamic Microphones Dynamic microphones are usually quite cheap and hardwearing. They don't require any kind of additional power supply, and are pretty versatile. Dynamic mics are usually directional, which means that they only pick up the sound that's coming at them from the direction in which they're pointing. That's another reason why they're popular for live use and why they can be good for home recording because they'll usually ignore any background sounds. Capacitor / Condenser Once you start to get serious about recording, you'll find that a capacitor - or condenser - mic will find its way onto your shopping list. Dynamic mics are great for live use but can sound a bit dull in a recording studio. It's all to do with the 'polar response' of a mic. That's how it responds to sound from different directions. Directional mics, like most dynamic ones and some condensers, have a polar response known as a 'cardioid' pattern because it's shaped a bit like a heart. Other condenser mics will have an omnidirectional pattern. They pick up sound equally from all directions and that's why they're better suited to professional environments. Capacitor mics require power to operate. Some will take an internal battery but others need to be powered remotely from the mixing desk. Microphones can be fed power down the cable connecting them to a mixer by a system known as 'phantom power.' It's a cool method because it won't damage microphones that don't need additional power (like dynamic ones) but will supply ones that do. Make sure your desk can supply phantom power if you're buying a condenser mic that won't take batteries. You should be able to pick up a decent quality capacitor/condenser mic for about £200. Pre-amps Mics put out signals which are amplified at the input of the mixer using a circuit called a 'mic pre-amp'. This brings them up to a healthy level before they go to the recording device. Initially, you'll probably do this using the pre-amps built into your mixer or soundcard. However, due to their cost, mic pre-amps on some cheaper mixers are severely limited in quality and to include high quality ones in the desk would increase the price hugely. Also, the quality of a mic pre-amp in a soundcard can be limited because mic level signals can be subject to electrical interference from other components in the computer. This can limit the quality of your recordings because a poor quality mic pre-amp can make even the wickedest mic sound wack. For this reason, there are loads of stand-alone boxes on the market which offer a single, high quality pre-amp which you can use instead of the ones in your desk or soundcard.  The box will put out a line level signal which you plug straight into your recording device. Many offer compression, EQ and a gate for processing the sound before it's recorded. You can pick up signal processors like this for as little as £100. Reverb Reverb stands for reverberation, which is an effect formed by the reflections that a sound makes as it bounces around the room and back to your ears. Reverb, when added to an instrument or vocal, can make the sound sweeter and seem fuller. The other effect of reverb is to bring the elements of a mix together. Reverb often comes as part of a package in a multi-effects unit. You buy one box and get a whole range of effects that you can get dangerous with. Reverb is another area where a little money can buy a lot. For less than a couple of hundred, you can get something that will add some class to your productions. Just don't over do it - it's easy to go overboard and add it to everything, which can make your mixes sound a bit wack. Other Effects In its simplest form, a digital delay will add distinct repeats of a sound. There'll be a control called something like 'delay time' which sets the time interval between repeats and one, usually called 'feedback,' which sets the number of repeats that you get. Using a delay, three other effects are possible. 'Phasing' - that kind of whooshing effect that you often hear in D&B tracks, 'Flanging' which is kind of like phasing only a bit more metallic, and 'Chorus' which adds a lush sheen to instruments. These are all created using one or more very short repeats and continually varying the delay time. You'll probably also find a 'tremolo' effect which is like you're turning the volume knob up and down really quickly and is great for creating weird sounds.  You may also find a gate and/or compressor. A compressor is a device which can control the loudest parts of a signal. For example, a singer in a vocal booth may switch between quiet subtle moments and loud dynamic shouts and this can be hard to record without gaining unwanted distortion. Adding compression can control these peaks while still picking up the quietest moments of their performance. A gate is also a device which reacts to the level of a signal. In its normal state the gate is shut. The gate is opened when the input signal reaches a certain level, known as the threshold. Then it simply lets the sound through. A gate can be used, for example, to filter out noise from a signal. You set the threshold just above the level of the noise so that the gate shuts it out. Then, when the signal you actually want comes along, it will push the input over the threshold level, thereby opening the gate and letting itself through. When the sound of the instrument dies away, the level at the gate's input drops below the threshold and the gate shuts again. You'll find that gates, compressors and other effects can really alter the sound and feel of your arrangements. Although effects and dynamics do have rules for correct usage, it's all about experimenting and pushing the boundaries, so don't be shy about getting into them. Get separate on them! More... from How to... Home recording basics http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/1xmusic/recording/homebasicsp01.shtml Buy music software http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/1xmusic/recording/softwarep01.shtml Choose tracks for a demo http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/1xmusic/recording/whatrecordp01.shtml Press CDs http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/1xmusic/distribution/cdsp01.shtml More... from elsewhere Magazine: Sound on Sound Advice for studio owners, equipment reviews and articles on the industry in general. Very friendly forum and gear review archive on their website http://www.sospubs.co.uk Magazine: Future Music As Sound on Sound but more dance orientated http://www.futuremusic.co.uk Magazine: Pro Sound Professional trade publication http://www.prosoundeurope.com The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites (c) BBC 1Xtra 1XMusic 2006