Blog 5: Home Sweet Studio

Home Sweet Studio
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/arts/music/20pare.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

This article discusses the increasing popularity of musicians using home studios. In the past, musicians and bands would have to book expensive time in professional recording studios. You would have to take the time the studio had available and often you would work into the night.

With the advent of inexpensive computer software programs such as ProTools, now musicians can record their works from home. They will still need to invest in good equipment -microphones, amplifiers, etc, but the expense is greatly reduced. And, of course, the convenience is perfect.



This boon in home recording has helped musicians launch their careers. Many record in their home studio and then publish their works on the web using social networks like Myspace.

I am a musician myself and I've recorded pieces at home using the Cakewalk software. It is a wonderful way to record ideas and then full songs. I have recorded in professional studios such as Reflection studios in Charlotte and Mitch Easter's Drive-in studio in Winston-Salem (he has since relocated) and, yes, the professional studios are better. They have better equipment, microphones, and engineers. But, they are also expensive and most musicians can't afford to record in a studio. The process is simple. For example, I hook my guitar to an adapter. I then use the Cakewalk software to record the guitar. I can add effects (echo, reverb, phase shifting) if I want. I can add as many tracks as I want, then mix it down. I usually save the file as an mp3, but you can save in other formats as well. If I want to add vocals, I just add them as a track, it is all very seamless. You just have the learning curve of the software to contend with.

That is why I find this trend so liberating, it has given voice to a lot of musicians who otherwise would have been silenced.


References:

Home Music Recording, And The Album That Launched It
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/13/003046.php

Home recording
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_recording