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Home Audio

3 Parts of a Home Audio Setup

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Choosing Your Performance or Recording Space

Avoid Hard Surfaces

Most rooms in a home are not ideal for creating quality recordings. Try to find a spaces that has very little reverberation and few exposed, hard surfaces. This allows for better control of the reverb when editing a recording later.

Reduce Room Noise

Consider adding material like heavy curtains or towels to walls to help create a “dead” space, turn the AC or heat off to avoid additional room noise, and remove any loose objects that might rattle during performance.

Choosing Your Microphone Setup

For Multiple Microphones

The Large Diaphragm Condenser

A large diaphragm condenser microphone like this one provides an accurate capture of all instrument types and voices for recordings and live sound.

Speaking Microphone

A headphone microphone is useful for speaking during live lessons over programs like Zoom. If a headset mic impedes your performance, consider a designated speaking mic such as the Shure SM58 on a mic stand.

For a Single Microphone

Consider a USB Microphone

USB microphones are budget friendly and can be used without an interface. The Blue Yeti is a relatively inexpensive option that does not require the use of a downloaded driver for use.

NOTE: Standard microphones require the use of an audio interface such as the  Scarlett 2i2, to connect to your computer. This also enables you to use multiple microphones at one time and more easily control the input volume of each microphone.

New to home recording? Consider purchasing a pre-made kit to get started!

Choosing Your Audio Software

Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition is available for free to all FSU faculty through Adobe Creative Cloud and includes several tutorials to introduce users to the software.

Using an Apple Product?

GarageBand is free software available on all Apple products and works well for simple projects. Consider purchasing Logic for larger projects.

ProTools

ProTools is a more expensive software but is an industry standard for audio production. Avid also offers a version of this software called ProTools First.