Building Your Own Home Studio- Should You?

To answer the title question: Yes, by all means build your own recording studio. But, know your limitations. Recording a song is much like building a home from the ground up. There are so many different phases involved in the overall process from drawing up initial plans, laying plumbing, pouring the foundation, laying blocks, putting up the roof and so on. Even those that take on the challenge of building their own home know that they must employ the expertise of others to make sure that the final product has the same appeal as one constructed by a team of master builders. Cutting costs, not quality, is the objective.

By the time you hear a song on the radio, or purchase a CD or download of it, it has gone through various phases to get it to the level where it can hopefully be properly enjoyed and appreciated. Unfortunately, you can sometimes tell the really good-quality songs from the not-so-good ones. It's a shame, too, because you hear that beautiful vocal that's just not quite sitting where it should in the mix. Or, the skillful guitar parts that, although well performed, were featured a little too much.

What I'm getting at is this.... Even the greatest singers and musicians won't magically become skilled recording engineers simply because they went out and bought a few thousand dollars worth of recording equipment and built a home studio. And, even those that become good engineers need to find out what "type" of engineering they are good at. I hope I didn't lose you with that last statement. Ever heard the saying, " A jack of all trades, but a master of none."? I'm sure there are those that are exceptions to this "rule", but I have only met one or two. The point again is that one must accept his or her limitations. If there is an engineer or studio that can perform a task better than you can, and if you afford to employ their expertise, it's better to either have them to complete the task or train you how to. Forget pride and ego; what you want is the very best quality recording you can get.

OK, let me break this down a bit, starting with the three most obvious (to me, anyway) phases of recording; tracking, mixing, and mastering. Each of these phases will affect the other, therefore, making each just as important as the other. This means that it's easier to mix a song that has been recorded (tracked) properly, and how good a final master can be greatly depends on how well it is mixed. A lack of expertise at any phase will negatively affect the final product. And, any mistakes not corrected in one phase becomes harder to correct when carried over to the next phase.

First, tracking is the task of getting everything that belongs in the song (instruments, percussion, vocals) onto or into whatever recording system you're using, while avoiding all the things that do not belong. The basic system could be some type of portable hard disk recorder, a computer-based system, traditional reel-to-reel system, or some combination of any or all of these. An experienced tracking engineer will know about proper microphone placement and positioning to get the best quality vocals, live percussion and drums and anything else that needs to be recorded through a microphone. Tracking with microphones at the proper recording levels will also be important; too low and you get noise, and too "hot" and you get distortion, which is irreversible. This rule even applies to digital recording. Effects & plugins while tracking, especially those that stand out (echo, reverb, delay, chorus) should be use sparingly, if at all. Contrary to popular belief, it's not always possible to simply "fix it in the mix". And even when you can fix it, it's often a pain to do so. Any mistakes with instrument parts or bad vocals should be corrected before moving on to mixing phase. The more care that is taken in the tracking process, the bigger and cleaner the sound will be once it's on the recording system, making the mixing phase easier.

Mixing, by simple definition, is taking everything that you've recorded (or tracked) and blending it all together with proper volumes, equalization, effects and so on. This is the phase where you want to consider employing the expertise of a specialist; if you can afford it. The task will require a different set of skills, a different hat, and a different set of ears. What I mean here is that if you are recording your own song or project in your home studio, you will need to step away from being the artist/singer/songwriter and become the producer/mixing engineer. Consider what would appeal to not just you, but to the fans of your music and genre. Unfortunately, many artists & musicians will lean more toward the elements in a song that drives them only. It's so common to hear a song that is produced by a musician to be dominated by the main instrument they play, with hardly a second in the song passing by without that instrument blaring in your ears. Drummer-produced songs will often be loaded and blasting with all kinds of percussion overlays; singer-produced songs are sometimes filled with so many strong and loud harmony vocals that the main lead vocal is hardly ever heard "solo".... and I could go on and on. But, even if you ARE just the mixing engineer, it's important to know how to manipulate frequencies and effects so that you don't have a bunch of recorded sounds fighting with each other for dominance in the mix.

Although the purpose of this article is not to focus so much on the technical aspects of the recording process, I will point out one thing when it comes to mixing: It's important to mix at least 3 versions of most songs. The reason for this is that mastering has a way of amplifying certain elements in a mix, specifically high and low frequencies. So, you might want to try a mix with the cymbals, hi-hats, overheads and belltones significantly lowered; a mix with the kick drum and bass lowered; and a mix with everything where you think it should be, but with the vocal(s) raised or lowered. I usually do 3 to 5 various mixes before moving on to mastering. An experienced mastering engineer will usually review each mix and choose the one he thinks has the best potential for a final cut. A reputable masterer won't even try to work on a mix if he thinks it's not done well enough, sending you back to the mixing process.

By the time you get to mastering a song the musically-creative part of you should be left at the door. This process is totally & completely technical. Even if there was something different you wanted to do creatively with a vocal or instrumental performance it is too late now; this the last phase of post production. As a matter of fact, creative changes should be made before the mixing session.

You may find that a few engineers are what I call "backwards qualified": An experienced mixing engineer may notice if a project was tracked properly. A mastering specialist WILL know if you've a got a workable mix. I won't elaborate much on mastering because it's way too complex for even an above-average engineer. One might possibly become good at it by a little trial and error and experimenting, but not usually. The task requires more talent than any other phase of recording, in my experienced opinion.

My personal expertise is in MIDI programming, song & vocal arrangement, and tracking. I've been often told that I turn out great mixes. But, mastering is something I do ONLY as temporary thing. When it's important (and it usually is), I have 3 expert mastering engineers on file that I use. I think that learning the art of commercial music mastering (when people are counting on YOU to make sure it's right) requires hands-on training, long-term mentorship with a good mastering studio, and hours of experience.

So... Still wanna work in your own home studio? I hope the answer to that question is yes. I don't want to discourage anybody. Having your own studio saves you money and gives you all the time you need to be musically creative. Do yourself a favor and never stop learning to be better and better at it everyday. Goodbye, and happy tracking.