Home Studio Soundproofing

What kind of equipment would I need to make my own little home studio for recording music? I’m tired of using Acoustic Mixcraft and pointing my 5 dollar mic towards my amp, I was thinking of getting a Boss BR - 600 for recording Guitar tracks, but was also thinking of getting a M - Audio Axiom 25 for producing beats, would I need anything else, like a Mixer, Monitors, etc?

get an audio interface that comes with recording software. an interface will allow you to connect mics and instruments to your computer via USB or firewire. the price will vary from around or under $100 to over a few thousand. it all depends on the size and brand. the software will allow you to record and mix directly from your computer so you would not need a mixer.

what i like about the an interface is that you can take a mic (i recommend the Shure SM57) and mic the amp, as well as taking a direct line into the interface as well. then inside the software mix the two tracks and make one big guitar track with it. the software will allow you to record things individucally and mix them together into one, or you can get a big enough interface to multi-track with a full band.

i work the M-Box brand of interfaces. i really like them because they come with protools. protools is industry standard software that you could take your tracks into most professional studios and use their equipment for a final mix. the only downside to these interfaces are the price. for a lot of people just getting into home recording, sometimes it isn’t worth the money. you could easily find cheaper stuff that will do the same things, just wont have all the bells and whistles.

get good mics if you want good recordings. for guitar and pretty much everything except vocals a good bet is the Shure SM57. it’s only around $100 and you will find them in almost all studios and live events. for vocals i would recommend the Rode NT1a. it’s a bit more expensive at $240 but the sound is amazing. i would lump it in with the thousand dollar mics. for bass i would recommend a good DI box, but there are a lot of mics out there that will work. for a kit i would get a few SM57’s, maybe a yamaha sub-kick ($500 but it puts the bump in the kick), and some good room mics.

if you plan on using any MIDI gear, make sure you get MIDI inputs on your interface.

as far as monitors, it’s best to have them, but not nearly as important as the other stuff. you can use headphones for a while until you can get some monitors. whenever you are ready to do something more professional sounding, make sure you mix with monitors. headphones will distort what you actually hear. its not a huge deal for the most part, but depending on what you are recording, this can cause problems mostly in the low end where most headphones have a bass boost.

as far as producing beats there are a lot of options. a lot of recording software will come with some virtual instruments that can give you some basic abilities to make beats. you can usually buy packs to expand them with more insturments and loops. there are also tons of software specifically for beat production. they are virtual 808’s and other MPC’s as well as software that comes with sounds and loops specifically for different types of beats like dirty south and reggaeton.

check out sites like these for more info and prices
sweetwater.com
musiciansfriend.com
guitarcenter.com

i got mixcraft 5,a pro mic,pro headphones,a filter and my booth is installated with soundproofing. what else do i need? thanks

Greetings,

First, get rid of Mixcraft 5. That is not a professional product but a consumer toy. Look, if lightning does strike and someone decides they like what you do, you’ll be unable to send your session to any professional. It makes you entirely incompatible with anyone that does this kind of work for a living.

Logic or Protools - those are pretty much your choices though I have nothing bad to say about Sonar.

What is a "pro mic"? Most hip hop is recorded on the AKG C12. You can pick up one of these microphones for about $5000. If that is beyond your budget then I would suggest the U87 or even the Blue Dragonfly.

Pro headphones? Great but what is your monitoring system? I know a lot of engineers but I’ve never heard of any professional mixing on headphones - it just isn’t done.

It sounds to me like you really need to rethink what you are doing. Go visit some recording studios in your area to see what is "pro" and then you’ll have a very good idea as to what you will need.

Good Luck.

I have a Nikon D200, and it has a ‘Noise Reduction Long Exposure’ Setting on it. I know that it obviously reduces the noise from the sensor being exposed to light for a long time, but how does it work? I’ve heard something about it takes a ‘black frame’ or something like that…

It takes an exposure for the same time as the original exposure, without letting any light hit the sensor (black frame). Then it looks at the dark image, and sees where there are any bright spots or hot pixels. Then it goes into the original image and fixes the individual pixels.

It works best if the temperature is constant throughout the two exposures.

Do a search, some people have modified their cameras with Peltier chips to keep the sensor cool. The other way to do it is shooting on cold nights, much less sensor noise.

here’s a 12 minute exosure, almost no noise, 17 degrees outside:

http://cgipix.com/Portfolio_Utah_Vacation_Travel_Arches_Canyonlands.htm

I am about to buy a new one and I have no clue why I should do that? Are computers louder then last year?

Me personally.. I would not. I would take that $50 save it for some liquid cooling… then you can just take most of the fans out and that will be your noise reduction right there. At least then you would be spending your money on something that would benefit you.

im looking to buy new headphones and i really don’t know what i want. i know i want a sennheiser but i see that they sell audiophile headphones, noise cancelling headphones and idk which one to get. i want a sennheiser that produces the very best quality especially for music and movies and is comfortable too and i want to know which one is more suited for me. should i get the sennheiser HD-555 or the HD 280? or any other suggestions from sennheiser?

Audiophile headphones are phones for music lovers (Sennheiser, Bose etc). They are excellent sounding and pretty pricey. Noise Reduction headphones only mean that they block outside noise interference (subway, children, car horns, neighbors, etc.). The HD-555s are excellent sounding phones that give you a spacial concert hall type of sound but they are open ear phones. This means they don’t block out noise.The HD-280s are also excellent sounding phones which are also noise reducing. They both range in price from $65-$75. Final thought: For home listening, video gaming, or computers with excellent sound cards i’d get the HD-555s. For deejaying, listening in noisy environments where attention is not required, or any niosy situation i’d get the HD-280s.Either way you can’t go wrong!!!

Preferably not too expensive but all suggestions welcome.

The sad truth is that you really can’t soundproof a spare bedroom in a frame house.. at least, not CHEAPLY and not without STRUCTURAL CHANGES.

The problem is, wood framed walls are nothing more than HUGE sounding boards that will vibrate in resonance with drums.. and the larger and lower in frequency the drum(s) the more the walls will vibrate.. it’s just PHYSICS and you can’t change the laws of physics.

When I built the new studio which is attached to my house, I had to design it just like I would for a professional studio, because I am on good terms with the neighbors and wanted to stay that way.

You need a DOUBLE WALL.. basically a ROOM within a ROOM.. designed and built in such a way that NONE of the inside room walls physically touch the outside walls.. We built the inside studio room first then filled the walls and ceiling with sonax and fiberglass and then built the outside walls and roof over the inside room. The floor was double studded with a sand back-fill in the bottom, then a rubber cushion laid down over the studs and another floor built over that.

I can go on and on about that room.. but the part you will be most interested in is that it cost about $200,000 to build a 20 x 30 foot room. It’s completely silent and tests I have run on it show no sound leakage until I reach a SPL of WHITE NOISE at 165 DB which will produce a SPL about 5 db above background noise 3 feet from the foundation.

LIke I said.. THERE IS NO CHEAP WAY TO SOUNDPROOF A ROOM especially your bedroom in your home. You would be better off to go rent a GARAGE somewhere.. there is a reason why they are called GARAGE BANDS..

I heard a rumor that the P-47 could break the sound barrier in a dive
I am only level one so i can’t rate your answers but i would like to thank all of you who took the time to provide an answer to my question

I love it, "normally", "not officially"… How ’bout NO! If a propeller driven aircraft breaks the sound barrier, it’s in pieces.

I have a small walk-in cupboard that is 3ft wide by 8ft long that I want to turn into a project studio for music production. What cheap material can I use to reduce the bass frequencies in the room? - I will be placing the speakers on top of Aurolex Mo Pads on a mounted shelf . I have lots of spare carpet cut-offs but are these useless?

Thanks!

DO NOT USE EGG BOXES, that is a myth as an audio engineer the best way would be to get cheap sound proofing, or if you cant even get the cheap stuff you can make you own bass traps for fairly cheap there is plenty of tutorials around online, as for the actual sound proofing best to just buy it made

where wud i set up a home recording studio? and wut wud i need/use (ex. soundproof foam, etc…)

if i set it up in my room, how should i do so?

10 pts.!!!!
thanks!!!!!

I WOULD SAY USE YOUR CLOSET FOR SOUND PROOFING AND RECORD IN THERE, BUT I MYSELF HAVE BUILT A BOOTH 2 RECORD IN SO HERE’S WHAT I DID. I WEN T HOME DEPOT GOT SOME WOOD, I DONT REMEMBER THE EXACT DEMINTIONS BUT I KNOW IT WAS AROUND THREE FEET WIDE PANELS BY SEVEN FEET TALL. I USED 2X4′S TO MAKE THE FRAME. I JUST SAWED THE 2X4′S INTO 3FT LONG PIECES AND MADE SQUARES MEANING LIKE FOUR PEICES AND NAILED THEM TOGETHER. I DID THAT TWICE, ONE FOR THE BOTTOME AND ONE FOR THE TOP. I THEN NAILED MY PANELS TO THE SQUARES MADE FROM THE 2X4′S. AFTER I GOT ALL OF THAT PUT TOGETHER. I USED DOOR HENGES AND A LOCK LATCH TO CLOSE MY SWINGING DOOR SHUT. I TOOK MY STAPLE GUN AND PUN IN CARPET PADDING TO SOUND PROOF IT. YOU COULD PROBABLY ALSO USE OLD BLANKETS IF YOU DONT HAVE ANY CARPET PADDING. AFTER I PUT IN THE CARPET PADDING I STAPPLED SOME SHEETS OVER IT REALLY TIGHT AND SMOOTH, MOSTLY FOR A NICE LOOK. I RAN MY CORDS IN THRU THE TOP WHERE I DRILLED A 2-INCH HOLE TO FIT MY CORDS. AFTER DOING THAT I SEALED THAT OPENING WITH DUCT TAPE AND CARPET PADDING. I PUT SOME TAP LIGHTS INSIDE SO YOU CAN SEE AND ALSO HUNG UP A CLIP BOARD IN CASE PEOPLE WANTED TO BRING IN THEIR LYRICS ON PAPER THEY COULD READ THEM. I HOPE THIS HELPS. GOOD LUCK. IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS OR IF I LEFT SOMETHING OUT JUST E-MAIL ME.

Do the in-ear ear-bud type headphones (similar to skullcandy ink’d) have better noise reduction than an over the ear type headphone (actual "headphone"). Price does not matter.

Since price does not matter, I can honestly say it’s over-the-ear headphones. They are made by Bose and they’re $300-350. Believe it or not, they are the only over-the-ear headphones that beat all in ear headphones out of the water. Otherwise, in-the-ear acts as ear plugs, and if you were to purchase them with noise cancelling ability, they would be ALMOST as good as the king, bose… Hope that makes sense!

I’ve purchased 5 different headphones, and tried all the ones in various electronic stores, and the Bose regular headphones are the best.

By the way, Bose are not really all the expensive. People spend thousands for a single pair of headphones.