Pick a room for your sound studio. It need only be a small room, tucked away in the basement or attic. In fact, the smaller it is, the cheaper the studio will be to soundproof. The room needs to be connected to the mains as recording equipment runs on electricity.
Use a powerful computer. Apple Macs and PCs are both fine---music software packages are available for both---but the computer needs to have a lot of memory and RAM. Ideally, the computer should have at least 120 gigabytes of memory and 512 megabytes of RAM. Unless you have a powerful computer already, you will need to upgrade if you are serious about building a recording studio.
Choose and set up a music software package. Gone is the need for lots of expensive hardware. One piece of computer software performs all of the same functions and more. Cakewalk Sonar studio recording software is a good option for PC, while Apple Logic Pro works well for the Mac. Steinberg Cubase SX recording software can be used with both Macs and PCs.
Hook up your audio interface and a MIDI interface. MIDI---Musical Instrument Digital Interface---is the process allowing myriad musical inputs to be registered by a computer so that one person can create multi-part music. MIDI does not record audio, though. It simply registers input and frequency in computer language. For those changes to be transferred back into audio, you need an audio interface, or "mixer." If your budget is extremely tight, the sound card with your computer will perform the same function, but the quality of your recording will be severely affected.
Set up the microphone. The microphone is the most recognizable piece of equipment for your sound studio. As with the other equipment, quality varies drastically. There are mics available for a few dollars, others for a few thousand dollars. While it is not necessary to spend thousands of dollars, you do need a decent microphone to ensure a crisp recording with no background interference being picked up. Now you have all the basic recording equipment you need.
Lay a soundproofing mat over the floor of your studio. Attach empty egg cartons and foam padding to the walls and ceiling of the room to create a studded effect; then cover the floor, walls and ceiling with at least two or three layers of thick plasterboard. This creates a room within a room. Double glaze any windows and you have a fully functional, soundproofed recording studio.