Setting Up a Home Studio – Final Update

Music is a means of self-expression – like talking, miming and dancing. A home studio lets us keep a record of our expression – like writing, painting and video recording. And home studios go even further than that. They give us new ways of making and altering sounds, and present new options in the process of audio production.

I’m currently working on my third home studio. I put together my first home studio in the 80s, consisting of a four-track recorder, several synths and drum machines, and some rack-mounted effects modules. My second studio in the 90s was different – it was centered around a MIDI sequencer on my small laptop, which I connected to multi-timbral keyboards and sound modules. Not only was the gear different, but I had to learn a whole new way of thinking.

And now I’m doing it again. Everything has changed again in this last decade. Now in a very real way the computer is the studio, and everything else is a peripheral. Digital audio workstation software controls virtual instruments, and MIDI (important as it still is) has taken a back seat to audio.

I’ve been hard at work researching, thinking and buying since August, and this article describes my progress. This is my third (and final) chapter in this series. You can read the previous posts here and here.

Audio Interface

An audio interface is used to get sounds from the real world onto your computer. It isn’t needed if you’re only using virtual instruments, but if you’d like to record your voice, your guitar, other acoustic instruments, or ambient sounds from the world around you, you’ll need one.

I decided fairly early not to buy a cheap and dirty interface. I decided that there were enough advantages to Firewire interfaces to leave USB alone, and chose a Focusrite Saffire 24.

As soon as I set the interface up, I noticed a huge difference. Not just with recording music, but playing it as well. The music sounds much cleaner and crisper now. Even first-person shooter games felt more exciting.

The device has four inputs. I use the rear inputs for my MU-128 module (in stereo), which leaves the front inputs (which have preamps) available for microphones and guitar.

And to make the most of the Firewire interface, I bought a new computer – a 27″ iMac, my first Apple computer. I didn’t just buy it for the music. Now that I work full time in my home office, a desktop computer makes more sense than a laptop. I’m loving it.

Which audio interface did you choose? Why did you choose it? Are you happy?

Keyboards

I love playing keys, but recently my keyboard has been frustrating me. I’ve had an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 for four or five years, and recently some of the keys feel “spongy” – they don’t have the same volume as other notes, even if I hit them hard. Apparently it is caused by the Australian humidity wreaking havoc with the sensor ribbon. I decided to do something about it – buy a new keyboard.

Although I love big weighted keyboards, I was also a bit sick of the amount of office space mine was taking up. I decided to buy a small MIDI controller keyboard that I can place on the desk when I’m playing, and put away when I’m not playing. I started looking around, debating with myself how many keys I actually need, and what features are important to me.

I ended up with a fairly long short-list, but in the end decided on the M-Audio Keyrig 49. This was mainly because of the price – at just AU$150 I could afford to take a risk and see if I’d be happy playing unweighted keys. And the unit is very compact, making it perfect for what I wanted – a keyboard that I can put on my desk when I’m playing. It’s the sort of keyboard that’s handy to keep even if I decided to go back to weighted keys.

After playing with it for a month or so, I’ve decided that it is definitely a handy keyboard to keep around, but not the keyboard I want to spend my life playing. In fact, even if you want unweighted keys, I can’t recommend this as a primary keyboard. The keys don’t have a lot of travel, and it feels a bit clunky to play. Two of my kids have just started learning, though, and they love it.

Then I discovered Yamaha’s new 88-key weighted MIDI controller, the KX8. Although it looks a bit ugly – like it’s been dragged kicking and screaming from the 80s – it has a great keyboard (designed in a way that should cope better with the Aussie humidity), isn’t too heavy, and is unusually inexpensive at only AU$700. After thinking about it for a while, I went to pick one up yesterday.

After a second look, a brief chat with the sales guy, and some paperwork, the deal was done. The sales guy brought out the boxed keyboard on a trolley, but I noticed the label said “MM8″, not “KX8″. I mentioned it, but the sales guy just made a vague comment. I didn’t want to get stuck with the wrong keyboard, so I asked if they were equivalent models, or whether there was a difference. He said they were about the same. This sales guy is pretty knowledgeable, so I trusted him, and brought my new toy home.

When I opened the box, I discovered it is a very different keyboard. The design is similar, but the Yamaha MM8 has a different shade of gray, and seems less ugly. And the MM8 has loads of good Motif-based sounds, and a ton of other features. I looked it up online, and found it is normally sold for AU$1700. I think $700 was a good deal. I’m still wondering whether the sales guy made a mistake.

I was only after a MIDI controller, so the sounds are a bonus. They’re pretty good sounds, though they only have 32 voice polyphony. I particularly like the Power Grand piano sound.

What is your favorite keyboard? What do you like about it? Do you have any good stories about picking up an unexpected bargain?

Software

I’m still in the early days of testing software and finding the best workflow. My strategy is to try a range of different digital audio workstations, learn their features and philosophy, and find the one that suits me best.

I’m currently playing with a long list of Mac and Linux software, including the limited editions of software that came with my purchases (Ableton Live and Cubase), some of the better Linux programs (Ardour and Linux Multimedia Studio), Garage Band, which I’m also using to teach my kids how to play piano, and Mulab, which AudioJungle author Mihai Sorohan recommended to me. I’m also using Audacity for some jobs, like digitizing some of my cassette collection.

Now that my major hardware purchases have been made, I’ll probably start setting my sites on some software to purchase, with Logic Pro and Reason fairly high up the list of alternatives.

What DAW are you using? Are you happy with it? Would you recommend I give it a go?

Inspiration

What has been sadly lacking in my home studio experience so far is a reasonable amount of playing and recording music. Although I have been pretty busy over the last months, I think that a lot of the blame goes to lack of inspiration. Every time I’ve sat down at my keyboard to play, I stopped in frustration when it didn’t respond the way I wanted it to. Dead notes and stuck keys aren’t fun.

But all of that has changed since my purchase yesterday. The new keyboard is a delight to play. Even though yesterday was a busy day and I finished work after midnight, I found myself playing piano (wearing headphones) for an hour before going to bed. And today my work has been punctuated by many bouts of playing.

Inspiration is an important an allusive aspect of the creative process. Owning gear that is dependable and a delight to use is one less impediment to finding inspiration. And I often find inspiration in the sounds I hear, the notes and chords I find myself playing, and the way an instrument responds to my touch. I’m looking forward to making lots of music over this holiday season.

How important is inspiration to your creative process? What inspires you? How difficult is it for you to become inspired?