Studio in a Box
How Software Revolutionized the Home Studio
by Adam Dolge
It wasn’t too long ago when recording music meant shelling out lots of money in a recording studio. Today’s advancements in technology make it possible to record high-quality music at home at little cost. Bulky, expensive software programs have been replaced with affordable, easy-to-use, multitrack recording programs.
Click here to view History of Recording Timeline.
Digital audio editing workstations from software like Sequel 2, Mixcraft 4, GarageBand, and Audacity offer affordable and easy-to-use options for recreational musicians to record at home. These programs come equipped to emulate hundreds of instruments, provide effects like reverb and chorus, and allow you to create CDs of your music.
“It’s accessible now for the first time,” Greg Ondo, field marketing manager of Steinberg, creator of Sequel 2, says about home recording. “Before, to do something high quality you had to go to the studio, which a lot of the time compromised what you wanted to accomplish since it costs so much and you were often rushed. Now, you can do it at home, collaborate with friends, and come up with a fantastic sounding product for a fraction of the price.”
Recreational musicians may have different reasons for recording. They may want to develop a song, use recordings in practice routines, or share music with friends and family. Recording music on a personal computer may sound difficult, but once you learn the basics, it’s fairly simple.
Keep It Simple
Joseph Clarke, co-developer of Mixcraft 4, says the software is intended to be a powerful and easy alternative. “We really look at software as a way to make people’s lives easier,” he says. Clarke, an amateur keyboardist, has been involved in electronic music since 1988. He helped develop Mixcraft because he was using more advanced programs, and became frustrated with the complexity of features. “I was just trying to do simple things, like trying to mix down,” he says. “I had to go to the help menu a bunch. Finally, I realized I needed to upgrade and I had already spent $300. I just wanted to play around and make some music.”
Plug and Play
Mixcraft 4 (www.acoustica.com), Sequel 2 (www.steinberg.net), and GarageBand offer an extensive list of features in a simple interface that allows you to click and drag tracks and adjust effects on the fly. For recreational musicians, these
programs offer an affordable way to record various tracks at the click of a button.
All Mac computers come equipped with GarageBand. You can also find it at www.apple.com. Audacity is an open source audio workstation that works on Mac and Windows operating
systems. It’s free to use and download and can be found at audacity.sourceforge.net.
You’ll also need to hook your instrument up to the computer. The easiest way is to purchase a hardware audio interface (on right). Many come packaged with basic audio editing software.
Install the software, hook your instrument up to the hardware interface, and start recording. When you are happy with how your tracks sound, you can export them to a CD or to MP3 files for sharing.
Click here to view History of Recording Timeline.
