How To Produce Music In Your Home Studio Part 2 |
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Aug 1 2022, 03:18 AM
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Let’s continue with our series on producing music in your home studio. Last time, we talked about the basics such as what a DAW is and which one you might pick to get started with making music at home. The next step is to look at ways to get music into your computer. The primary way to do this is with an AUDIO INTERFACE. It’s the device that sits in between your instrument/voice and your computer. If you have anything to add to this please do share. I know it’s probably unlikely, but I wanted to make the call to action anyway. I’m the only one making these types of articles, but it’s open to anyone with a paid membership to create content here on GMC. I’d encourage everyone to do so. In simply trying, making an attempt to write, we often learn far more than we did before. To wit…
INTERFACE YOUR FEARS So what is an “Audio Interface”. Well, it’s basically an audio/sound card. Typically, these are external to your computer. Though they don't have to be. You can get started recording music using whatever gear you have to hand including any computer of any description and a free copy of REAPER for example. Every computer has some audio ability. As such, you can, for example, get a simple converter plug and plug your quarter inch guitar jack directly in to your computer's eighth inch input. So don’t think you have to spend money. You don’t. Any computer built in the last 10 years will get the job done for a start. Once you decide it’s time to invest in your first audio interface, the most important question is budget. How much money can you spend? The good news is that really good interfaces are available for a very modest budget. Of course, the sky's the limit. If you want to spend thousands on your interface, you sure can. You just don’t have to. One of the most capable units for the price is from Scarlett. It’s called the 2i2 and it’s amazingly powerful given it’s cost. You can get a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for under $200. It’s got 2 mic preamps which means you can plug two microphones in to it. It uses “Combo Jacks” which means you can plug your guitar or a microphone in to each of the two inputs. It connects to your computer over USB and is bus powered which means the usb cable provides it’s required electricity. These are very nice units for the price. Here is a link to get one on amazon. https://amzn.to/3Jro3Du I’ve owned this unit and I can speak from experience when I say its’ got great bang for the buck. Not only a great sounding bit of kit, but a great support network to back it up. You have nearly unlimited options getting an interface. This one is hard to beat. Here is a video about the series. If you want more inputs, you can have them. You can even link several interface units together if you like, using an ADAT light pipe (an optical cable) which I’ve talked about in other articles. For starters, let’s keep it simple. Once you have selected a DAW and an Audio Interface, you can start adding virtual instruments and sound libraries as needed. If you are creating music by yourself, in your bedroom or basement, you’ll probably need a software drum plugin, (if your daw doesn’t have one built in) and you’ll need a software bass guitar plugin (if your daw doesn’t have one already) and some midi/sound loops to fill things in. Let’s look in to that in Part 3. *Here is a link to part 1 of this series. https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...c=63185&hl= *Here is a link to part 3 of this series https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...t=0#entry800209 This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 30 2022, 02:14 AM |
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