| Once you have determined where your home | | | | between the artists and the engineer. The best way to |
| recording studio is going to be, it's time to start the | | | | do this is to build a wall and just divide the room into |
| design of the space. Most often a home studio will be | | | | two rooms. This would provide the most isolation, |
| confined to a single room such as a garage or a | | | | although it is also the most costly and time consuming |
| bedroom. If this is the case with your home studio, you | | | | method. Another option is to build a sort of isolation |
| may need to divide the room to create some isolation | | | | booth within the control room. This can be done by |
| between the performance space and the control | | | | setting up screens, hanging heavy curtains, building |
| room space. | | | | partial walls, anything to isolate the sound of a vocal or |
| In traditional professional recording studios, the space is | | | | instrument. Having the engineer use headphones to |
| typically divided into several different rooms. The hub | | | | monitor in addition to whatever isolation you can |
| of the space is the control room. This is where you will | | | | create with a booth should be adequate for most |
| find the mixer, recorders, and other outboard | | | | recording in a single room. Of course you will likely be |
| equipment. All the other rooms, called tracking rooms | | | | limited by the size of the room to recording just a |
| or isolation booths depending on the size of the room, | | | | single vocal or instrument at a time. This method of |
| are connected to the control room. While the | | | | recording does usually take longer than recording an |
| performer(s) sing and play in the tracking room, the | | | | entire performance at once, but the availability of |
| engineer records the performance and monitors the | | | | simple multitrack recording hardware and software |
| sound in the control room through loudspeakers or | | | | should allow anyone with patience and desire to make |
| headphones. | | | | quality recordings. |
| This same arrangement can and should be created in | | | | If you plan on just recording yourself as a solo artist |
| your home recording studio. It is important for the | | | | for demo purposes, podcasting, or even just for fun, |
| engineer to be able to monitor the sounds in an | | | | then isolation becomes even less of an issue. If you're |
| isolated environment like a control room. This is the | | | | doing it all yourself, you will just have to experiment |
| only way he or she will be able to accurately judge the | | | | with mic placement and listen to some test recordings |
| quality of the sound signal being recorded. If the artists | | | | until everything sounds right. Once you get the setup |
| were in the same room as the engineer, the engineer | | | | right so that the recordings sound clean and accurate, |
| would only be able to hear the live performance and | | | | you can then go back and mix it down using whatever |
| not the signal being recorded. | | | | effects you desire. |
| The most ideal setup would be for your home studio | | | | One last issue to consider when designing your home |
| to have one room be the control room and another | | | | studio is while the layout of the space and isolation are |
| room be the tracking room. If this is possible, then | | | | important when designing a home recording studio, just |
| setting up the space will be quite easy. Although it | | | | as important is the "feel" or "vibe" of the space. Your |
| would be nice to have a window between the rooms | | | | studio should be a place that makes you feel |
| so the engineer could see the artists during the | | | | comfortable and inspires creativity. Use some of your |
| recording process, as long as cables can be run | | | | own personality to decorate the space. If your studio is |
| between the two rooms this setup will work just fine. | | | | drab and uninspiring, the performances within will be |
| If your home studio must exist in a single room, there | | | | too. |
| are a few things you can do to create some isolation | | | | |