Setting up an in-home recording studio sounds exciting, but it certainly won’t be easy. Before you buy or build or even alter anything, you need to do a lot of research. Once you have done your research, you need to make a plan. It’s important that you fully understand the requirements of setting up your in-home studio, and then take a leap towards it. This article will take you through some of the basics of setting up your own studio at home.
First things first: A voiceover studio can be simply a storage room with a mic on a mic stand attached to a laptop. On the other hand it can be soundproofed room, acoustically treated, and equipped with an advanced mixing board and top of the line speakers. Things being what they are, the first decision you need to make is how much studio space you need and what your budget is.
The need to have a quiet space: The problem that often comes attached with opening a recording studio at your home or apartment is the need to have a quiet space. The essential need of a studio containing a microphone is long periods of uninterrupted quiet. Now if you do not have a quiet space in your apartment or home, the next best thing you can opt for is soundproofing. Once again, many questions arise with the usage of sound-proofing. For soundproofing to really work, there are a lot of factors that need to be considered. The materials need to be heavy and dense; but how heavy and dense? For more information regarding soundproofing, click here.
Let’s talk software: Software is again extremely essential, and you can’t say your recording studio setup is complete unless and until you have the perfect software to go with it. Whittam says, “If you’re using a Mac, TwistedWave is by far my weapon of choice for recording voiceover tracks. Audacity’s a good way to get your feet wet, and some use it all the time. However, it’s free software, and therefore technical support is completely based on the user community answering questions. There’s no formal user manual…and it doesn’t have the most elegant user interface.” Besides these, some other choices that you have include Garage Band, Adobe Audition and Pro Tools.
What Else: Besides the basics, there are some other things that are just nice to have in your recording studio. You might not need a lot of them but it would still be a good idea to have them around in your studio because sooner or later they will most certainly come in handy. These include blank CDs to mail your demos, iTunes or similar software for converting file types, USB Flash Drive to backup your hard drive, Music Stand to prop up your scripts and headphones for live direction.
Alternatively: If you do not have the funds to invest in a recording studio at the moment, you can easily opt for cheap voice over actors online to get the job done for you. It won’t cost much, you’ll save yourself from a lot of hassle and trouble; and the best part is that all of it will be done easily online.
