Studios are the foundation for every artist but the age of having to go studio outside has long gone. Could it have been COVID-19, could it be finances or other strange reasons?
The answer is yes to all of the above.
Covid:
Can you believe it was just 5 years ago, we all got told to stay indoors by Boris, while he was partying… We didn’t go out, studios for the most part were closed and in my case, for at least the whole of my first ever year in uni, it was strictly online. It was hectic and I couldn’t use the hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment. So what do I do? I hit up my lecturer, (not gonna out names.) But he is a lifesaver, he gave me all the game regarding the equipment to get, I still have it all and it’s been 4 years. If anyone wants to know, keep reading until the end!
I have recorded 90% of my catalogue at home, and haven’t been in a studio to record anything since 2022. I have never paid an engineer in my life, not sorry to say. I am an engineer myself. And I am the one who knocks. I learnt what I needed to learn at home. Now I don’t need to pay to use the studio etc, I can do it myself at home. However, I do miss the studio days, and I will go studio when I need to, I do love the change of scenery.
Your argument for always going outside is that “All the big artists use studios.” I agree 1000%, they do use the big studios, but do you forget that they get the funding from the label, along with having engineers for their session at all times?
Big Studio Cons:
The studio is expensive long term as independent, let’s be real. Say you want to book a studio, an average hourly rate is between £30 to £40 for a session with an engineer involved. But, let’s say you wanna go to Pirate Studio, it’s £10.50 an hour with no engineer present and if you want to be there for 4 hours it will cost you £42. It takes a few minutes to set up with your laptop cause you would need the Scarlett set up (cause that’s their system) and if you are by yourself, aiming to punch in while recording is a myth. (The mic is not nearby). With this in mind, you won’t finish as many songs as you realise. You repeat the cycle for let’s say 4 times a month recording. £168. You would have spent £2016 in a year on studio time. Or let’s say you go 14 times a year in the studio, then it would be above a grand of your money spent, excluding travel etc. Lastly, most people don’t even finish their music to a great standard when in those particular conditions. So they go back and repeat the cycle.
Solution:
- You could have brought an interface for £200 that has 2 inputs and outputs (UAD Volt or Komplete Audio 6).
1. Then buy a mic with a stand and pop filter for £250 (Rode NT1 set up).
1. Headphones from Audio Technica for £50 or Beyerdynamic headphones for £150.
1. Speakers for £250 (KRK Rokit).
1 . Male to Female XLR (to connect to your microphone), £10.
1. Buy 2 TRS Cables (£15).
1. DAW: Logic Pro £200 (1 Time payment)/ Fl Studio £200 (1 Time payment) or Pro Tools (£15 a month, £180 a year).
Seems like we’ve covered everything you need to make music. (I presume, you have a laptop, and you can now make music worldwide. And it’s around £1000. This set-up is going to stand the test of time. And you can make infinite amounts of music in your own time forever.
Look at it logically, you don’t need all the fancy compressors or the crazy plugins. You’ll get that with time, just use stock plugins for now or be on the alert for free plugins. I hope this helps someone, please share with someone who loves creating music! Thanks for reading!
CL-CL-CLIFFS
Leave a Reply