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You can copy me and take away all the guesswork. If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s build a beginner home recording studio from scratch for very little money.

It’s hard when you’re first starting out, I know. You’re confused about what to buy, what you can get for free, if the components are compatible with each other, if you’re going to have to buy something else to get this or that gadget to work properly.

It can be very frustrating. Let me tell you a short story about an experience I had when starting out, and you see if it sounds familiar.

Forget the Home Recording Studio EXPERTS

I did some research on the internet and decided I needed a new MIDI device, or a MIDI cable to hook up my existing keyboard. I wasn’t sure which. So I went to a “reputable” music store. I asked the two salespeople what I needed, and do you know what I found? They knew even less than I did! I was throwing out terms that they had never heard of. I was shocked and dismayed.

Then I went to another, even more reputable, music store and asked about the MIDI device I had pretty much decided to purchase. But I had one question…whether or not I needed a new sound card. This salesman acted like he knew exactly what he was talking about when he told me, “The sound card has nothing to do with it.”

Even I knew that wasn’t right. So I decided I would have to go it alone.

The DIY School of Home Recording

Through trial and error, (and NO help from anyone at any music stores!) I finally built a really cheap and top-functioning beginner home recording studio on your computer.

Here’s what I use and recommend to all beginners looking to get started:

Cheap Multi-Track Recording Software

The home recording studio software, which is the foundation of your studio, is very important. Get the wrong one, and you will be either stuck not being able to do much with it (the free stuff), or not being able to understand it and use it easily (the expensive stuff). The one I use is EASY, CHEAP, and FEATURE-RICH. That’s the winning combo, folks, and I’ve only come across it once in my search.

Good Home Recording Studio USB Microphone

The microphone is the next most important factor. Most of them require extra equipment just to be able to use it with your computer. I know a great one that is a USB plug and play model (unusual), very high quality, and also doubles as an audio interface for your guitar or other instruments.

Cheap MIDI Controller with Great Features

Finally, the MIDI device. This is not required if you just want to play guitar and sing, like unplugged recordings or something. But if you want to add virtual instruments to your mix, and control all the parts easily via a keyboard, then you need one of these. And I will personally confess that this is the coolest piece of equipment you can get for your studio. Highly addictive and fun to play with. If you don’t think you need it now, you will wonder what you ever did without it after you’ve used it for a couple of weeks!

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