Home Recording Studio?

Question

I was hoping someone could explain how each piece of equipment would be used in a small home studio to produce your own music.

Mixer - What excatly does it do, what will it be hooked up to, and what should be hooked up to it.

Microphone - to record the vocals where should this be hooked to.

Midi interface - what are these and what do they do.

Audio Interface

the keyboard how does one record the sound from it, is it like the vocals.

Also is their anything else i would need, besides a computer.

lol i kno its alot but if someone could explain how all this stuff works it will be really helpfull.

Answer 1

Big questions...Let's start at the beginning...

A mixer is a device that takes audio sources and combines them together...These are commonly seen in the middle of the audience at live concerts...Most modern recording programs have basic mixers included in the software...

MIDI is a computer language used mainly by keyboards and other electronic instruments...On contrary to what many people think, MIDI is NOT audio, merely data...A MIDI interface is a device that connects these instruments into your computer...

Vocals and other acoustic instruments like violin, mandolin and horns are recorded with microphones...The microphone translates acoustical energy into electrical energy...Keyboards, on the other hand are already electric, so no microphones are needed...They can be recorded with "Direct Boxes" which use the audio outputs on the rear of the keyboard, or with MIDI by using a MIDI interface and a sequencer...

An audio interface connects these sources to the computer...

If you're looking to start recording at home, take a look at Digidesign's MBox...It is a computer-based audio package that will record, edit and playback your performances...It has a small MIDI interface with microphone and Direct Box inputs...It has a nice editing feature and has the ability to mix your recordings as well...

Its a great place to start..Happy recording...CP