Blog - The Home Recording Studio

29Aug 2021 by Jon

How to fit acoustic foam tiles

Acoustic Treatment, Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Mixing, Recording, Recording & Mixing

If you've ever thought about improving the sound in your home studio you may have considered using acoustic foam. In this post, we explore how to fit acoustic foam tiles. For many home studio owners sticking foam panels to the wall is a worry. If you are renting a space then you might not want to damage the walls. Likewise, if you decide to move rooms or change your studio layout then you may want to move the panels at a later date. Let's take a look at some of the options in this video. https://youtu.be/AP4tNcLTv8s The benefits of using acoustic foam tiles are:- Medium to high frequency sounds are more controlledImproves recording of acoustic instruments and vocalsImproves mixing when monitoring on speakersLooks great on the walls! Depending on your…

03Jul 2021 by Jon

What is a Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone?

Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Microphones, Recording

What is a Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone? In this month's post we will answer the question: what is a Large Diaphragm Condenser microphone? Some characteristics of a large diaphragm condenser microphone are:- It is good for recording quieter sounds, instruments or the human voiceDelivers warmth and clarityHas a wide frequency response (Low to high frequencies)It has an extended dynamic range (Quiet to loud)Requires Phantom Power This type of microphone is designed for increased sensitivity. Therefore, it requires phantom power. It is likely that your recording device will have an option for turning phantom power on or off. Most importantly, always make sure you turn phantom power on after connecting the microphone. Typical uses Spoken Word (e.g. Audio Books)Narration or Voice Over for moving imagePodcastingRadio Studio recording or broadcastingVocals for music…

03May 2021 by Jon

Can you make money selling Stock Music?

Blog, Home Recording Blogs

Can you make money selling Stock Music? If you are a musician hoping to make a living from music right now it’s a pretty tough marketplace. Digital streaming platforms provide poor revenue from selling music. Landing a record deal is harder than ever. Fan funding is difficult. And finally, the pandemic has put a stop to live music, removing the only decent revenue stream left for some bands. So, what other ways can you make money from music? One option for musicians and composers is to try writing for stock music libraries. For the last six months, I've explored the subject: Can you make money selling Stock Music? Here are my findings so far. What is Stock MusicStock Music LibrariesWhat makes a good Stock Music Track?Is it possible to make…

19Mar 2021 by Jon

Home Recording Studio Essentials

Blog, Home Recording Blogs

In this post we are going to look at the Home Recording Studio Essentials. Here are the 4 essential components to any home recording studio:- A computer with DAW SoftwareAn audio interfaceA microphoneMonitoring (headphones or speakers) With these 4 things you can record sound, edit and mix sounds, and play back sound. Computer - Mac or PC? Personally, I would go for an Apple Mac. I have a Mac mini which is the entry level Mac computer. In my experience Macs are more reliable. They just work (most of the time)! However, not everyone with a home studio has the choice of what computer they use. It may be a shared device or issued by work. Windows PC’s are perfectly useable for home recording but you may well find yourself…

10Feb 2021 by Jon

Using AudioMovers for high-quality audio streaming

Audio Streaming, Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Sound Design, Sound Effects, Techniques

Introduction Recently I had to deliver my first online teaching session. The subject was sound design and I wanted the students to hear the audio at the same quality I was hearing in my home studio. For this I needed high-quality audio streaming. I knew what I wanted to achieve with the live stream, but I wasn’t exactly clear how to do it. My goal was to share my screen, while demonstrating Adobe Audition, through the Zoom conferencing App. I needed to route audio from my microphone and also route audio from Adobe Audition and possibly from other apps or my web browser. I also wanted to keep the audio quality as high as possible. So, this blog post is all about how I achieved High-Quality Audio Streaming alongside Zoom.…

31Dec 2020 by Jon

How to use Audio Watermarks

Blog, Pro Tools, Recording & Mixing, Sound Design, Sound Effects

For this post I’m going to look at Audio Watermarks and how to add them to your audio files. What is an Audio Watermark?Why do I need one?How do I create my own audio watermarks?How do I add audio watermarks to my tracks?Is there an easier way?Is there a way to automate this task?Audio Watermarking ApplicationsConclusion What is an Audio Watermark? An Audio Watermark is a short piece of audio which is repeated over the top of a piece of music (or other audio recording) to signify that it is a preview. It also serves as copy protection so that other people cannot illegally copy the audio. Not to be confused with digital watermarks, which are usually undetectable, audio watermarks are meant to be heard and noticeable. Why do I…

04Dec 2020 by Jon

10 Of The Best Home Recording Studio Blogs

Blog, Field Recording, Home Recording Blogs, Podcast, Pro Tools, Recording & Mixing, Sound Design, Sound Effects

Do you want to learn more about home recording but are unsure where to start? The Home Recording Studio blog is here to help but there are many sources of information out there. I’ve been thinking about websites, blogs and podcasts that I find useful for my own continuous learning and development. Through years of research, I’ve built up a selection of websites that I trust to give me top quality information. So here are some of the best online resources that I use on a regular basis:- Sound on SoundProduction Expert / Pro Tools ExpertWorking Class AudioWeathervane MusicCreative Field RecordingTonebenders Mindful Audio (George Vlad)Pro Sound Effects BlogProduce like a pro (Warren Huart)The Six Figure Home Studio Sound on Sound Sound on Sound is a long-standing monthly publication and it…

18Sep 2020 by Jon

5 Things that have improved my recording & mixing

Blog, Recording & Mixing

Lately I’ve been thinking about what has made the biggest difference to my home recording and mixing. Here, I’ve come up with a list of 5 things that I think have improved my recording and mixing at home and taken me to the next level. Audio InterfacePreampsMonitoringMicrophonesPlugins 1. Audio Interface. A few years ago, I decided to make an investment in a good quality audio interface. I had a budget interface but some technical issues with this interface, which almost ruined a recording session I was doing for a band, prompted me to reconsider. So, I wanted something that wouldn’t let me down. I also needed at least 8 inputs and the ability to connect my Focusrite Octopre ADAT interface to give me 16 inputs in total. This is a…

10Sep 2020 by Jon

Hello world!

Blog

Welcome to the Home Recording Studio Blog! This is my first post and I wanted to discuss why I started this blog and what I want to write about in future posts. I’ve been recording at home since the mid 90’s. I started in my parent’s house, in my bedroom and loft, when I was about 19. I bought a Tascam Portastudio, 4 track cassette- tape machine, second-hand, and began recording my guitar and vocals with just a Shure SM58. Soon after this I begin using computers to make music, with MIDI at first and then as the software and hardware improved, recording audio as well. This all seems like ancient history now and I can only imagine what it must be like for teenagers that have access to far…