10 Must Have's for Your Home Studio

Comfortable Chair: A major necessary for your music studio would be to have a comfortable chair. After all, the studio is where you'll be spending most of your time and I'm sure you don't want to do it standing up. Investing in a comfortable chair would benefit you in more ways than one.

Computer: Having a computer is a must in every home studio no matter what anyone else tells you. Sure the days of analog still exist, but it's only a matter of time before all products go digital. Having a computer to store your files on and samples is an easy way to stay organized and cuts down on a lot of problems.

Music Software: Music software can be purchased for as low or as high as you're will to pay for it. Having good software is the key to any perfect mix and arranging vocals. Must software enables you to perform multiple tasks at once so this is a very necessary element to completing your home studio.

Good Lighting: Having good lighting while working long hours in the studio is a must. If the lighting is bad in your studio it has a possibility of damaging your eyes if you're reading music or staring at a computer screen. Take note that dimmers can cause hum to be added to your audio recordings. Just as a basic rule of thumb, make the lighting easy on your eyes to prevent strain.

Adapters: Having backup adapters and connecters for everything is just a safe way to be prepared. It's no telling when a piece of equipment is going to need or extension of if you're going to have to refresh the adapters you were using. It's best to keep all of them in one spot so you can quickly access them in time of need.

Acoustics (Insulation Padding): Take care to treat the walls in your studio by making them sound resistant. This will avoid the sound from bouncing off the walls during your final mixes and basic recordings. Pad the walls until the sound doesn't bounce back, a simple way to check if you've done this is to do the "hand clapping" method. Stand in different parts of the room and clap your hands, everywhere you hear an echo you should put more insulation.

Cables: Cables are just like adapters, it's good to have an over supply of them just in case anything goes wrong. A lot of times cables give out after being used a number of times for long periods. It's always best to have some you can alternate between just in case the one you're using gets a "kink" in it.

Screwdrivers, Wire cutters ect.: Having all these basic tools in your studio guarantee's you that you have the necessary tools to fix everything in case things go wrong. Screwdrivers are good for assembling gig racks as well as other things that involve screws. Wire cutters and other tools can be used to make simple or drastic modifications on the spot.

Snake: For those that don't know that this is, a "snake" is like a cover that you can run all of your cables thru. Instead of having them lye around everywhere and risk your equipment getting trashed by you tripping over them, you should run your cables thru a snake. This keeps everything neat and out of the way when it comes to mixing boards and other equipment.

Level Surface: You must have a level surface such as a desk, table or other. This guarantee's you that you equipment will be safe and has no accidentally falls due to the surface being lopsided. This is really important for items such as your computer or mixing board.