Choose your location. A basic home recording studio doesn't have to take up a lot of room, and can fit in nearly any area you have some extra space. When choosing a location for your set up, consider how much equipment you will want to use, the number of people who will be using the studio at the same time, and the need for some amount of sound isolation. An unused bedroom, basement, attic area or garage are typical choices and will offer privacy and the ability to install sound dampening materials. If none of these areas are available, consider sharing space in your bedroom, dining room or family room.
Purchase the equipment. The amount and type of equipment you purchase are determined by your budget and needs. Home recording studio set ups are flexible and can be purchased in many configurations to fit nearly any budget. To start, you can purchase a new computer for your studio or use your existing home computer or laptop. Your computer set up should include one or two quality microphones and powered studio monitor speakers with a sub woofer for the best sound. One large diaphragm microphone and one condenser microphone should be enough to start with. A midi keyboard, drum machine and recording mixer are also popular options, but can easily be added later. Turn-key home recording packages are available from many music retailers.
Choose your recording software. If you didn't purchase a turn-key studio computer package, you'll need to invest in some recording software. Prices can range from nearly free for downloaded, shareware programs such as Audacity or Ableton Live, to thousands of dollars for professional programs such as ProTools or Cakewalk. Assess your budget and immediate needs before buying and test drive some different programs. Most of the popular programs offer trial downloads or demonstration CDs. Ask a music retailer if they have recording studio demonstrations set up for evaluation.
Set up the studio. If you have the benefit of an isolated space such as an unused bedroom or garage, the primary concern will be sound dampening. Hanging rugs on the walls, replacing the window curtains with heavier cloth versions and covering any other openings usually will suffice for most home studios. Install acoustical foam panels or false walls to kill the transmission of sound. If you have to share space, consider purchasing or building temporary wall sections that can be dismounted and stored when not in use, such as a freestanding, PVC frame with heavy cloth curtains.
Test the configuration. When you have everything set up, test the set up configuration by recording a few test samples. Check the sound quality for background noise, be sure you have enough room available and that everything seems to be working together well. Make any adjustments necessary to eliminate issues before you begin any serious recording project.