The Music Recording Studio and How it Works
The music recording studio is the place where our music and production ideas can take shape and be made real in front of our eyes (and ears!).
Creating and producing your own music can be exciting and stimulating, but it can also be frustrating and emotional. Learning the basics of the studio is a good place to start if you’re thinking of becoming a music producer, whether professionally or just for your own love of music.
Home Studio Production and Studio Design Articles
Music Production in the Home Studio
The growth and popularity of the home studio has exploded over the last twenty years. There are lots of different reasons for this, but some of the main ones are:
- the increasing power of home computers
- the lowering price of recording equipment
- the explosion of digital technology
Studio Design
Studios can range from professional commercial studios all the way to small home-based studios.
Commercial studios often have many different rooms, each with its own purpose – the main two being the control room and the live room. They’ll often employ a few different people who specialize in their own roles – a few examples are the recording engineer, the producer, and the mixing engineer. The acoustic design of the rooms is also very important.
Home studios are usually a lot smaller, as they’re often found in residential houses where space can be limited. But home studios are free of the time and money pressures that can come with a commercial music recording studio – this is why they’re perfect for those who want to create and produce their own music.
Live Room/Control Room
Live rooms are where musicians and vocalists are recorded. These rooms are acoustically isolated, or sound-proof, and they’ll usually have a vocal booth as well, designed to capture a singer’s performance.
The control room is where everyone in the studio can relax and listen to what’s being recorded in the live room through the studio monitors. It’s also where the mixing takes place once the recording has finished – just like the live room, the control room will be specially designed to give an ‘acoustically neutral’ space where the best musical results can be achieved.