Popular Home Music Studio Articles
ISO 226 Normal Equal-Loudness-Level Contour Calculator
Handy calculator for anyone who wants to determine detailed data contours for Phons between 0 and 90.
What is a 2-bus in Mixing and What is it used for?
The beauty of the 2-bus is that it focuses on final mix processing, allowing all the tracks to be treated simultaneously.
How to Get a Killer Bass Sound in Your Home Studio
It's not that difficult to get a great sounding bass in your home studio if you are willing to take some time to prepare and get things right.
How to Set Up a Simple Home Music Studio in 4 Easy Steps
You will be surprised how much can be achieved and learned, with just two fundamental pieces of equipment. Get on track in no time at all without spending a single penny.
Should You Mix Your Music with Headphones or Monitors?
Headphones are useful for details of tracks and for non-critical mixing tasks. But is there more you should know?
Budgetting Calculator For a Home Studio
Dreaming about owning your own home studio? Wondering how much cash you will need to part with? It can be challenging to estimate how much you want to spend and weigh up different options and scenarios.
What is the Difference Between Dual-Mono and Stereo?
What are dual-mono, stereo, mono, stereo-linked, crosstalk, and stereo-interleaved?
Guide to Mastering in Izotope Ozone
The Ozone mastering plug-ins can be used individually in a mix, or in a chain as part of the mastering process. In this article we will look at each module in turn and provide some useful information for those who are new to mastering.
Home Studio Mixing Music Checklist (with PDF)
When learning any new activity, it is difficult to keep track of the things that your learning are picking up and need to be carried out to assure a good quality end product.
16 Home Music Studio Essentials You Need to Know About
Having the best gear is not going to make you the best home recording, mixing, or mastering engineer. But having access to information, practice resource, a like-minded community, and understanding the skills required to take on a new venture are.
Top 17 Audio Mixing Effects for a Home Studio
Effects are generally used to thicken sounds, add a sense of increased stereo dimension, and probably most importantly help define instruments positions in the soundstage. Read about the top 17 effects in this handy article.
How to Get Great Sounding Vocals In a Home Studio
Vocals are arguably the essential part of any song. Getting your vocals to sound clear and upfront isn't difficult as you'll see in this helpful article.
Home Studio Audio Compression Explained
Whenever live instruments are recorded, microphones pick up the quietest and loudest parts of a performance. Compressors are useful for reducing the dynamic range but do you know how they work?
How to Get a Killer Kick Sound in Your Home Studio
The kick drum is used to keep the pulse in many genres of music, and along with the snare drum provides the underlying rhythm. In this article we learn how to get a great sounding kick drum.
59 Home Music Studio Tips That Will Save You Time and Money
This is the list of tips I wish I had ten years ago when I first got into home recording, mixing, and mastering my own music!
What's the Difference Between Analog and Digital Audio?
In this article Guest Producer Andy Bell takes us through the debate and differences of Digital and Analog Audio, and how each have their unique place in a professional and home studio.
What Is the Difference Between Regular Headphones and Studio Headphones?
When I first started putting together my home studio, I wondered if I could use my normal headphones. After a little research, I realized there’s a big difference between normal and studio headphones.
How to Get Quality Professional Studio Sounding Vocals for under $100
When I first started recording vocals in my home studio, all I had was my snare drum’s Shure SM57. I soon realized that by spending a little time and effort I could get a pretty good vocal sound.
Do I Need to Use XLR Cables in my Home Studio?
When I first set up my home studio I was more than a little confused about which kinds of cables I’d need to connect things up. Could I get away with not buying expensive XLR cables?
How Much Does It Cost to Mix a Song?
What may seem like a simple task of finding and paying a suitable mix engineer to work on your compositions, has more to it once you scratch the surface.
What Acoustic Treatment Should I Use in My Home Studio?
Acoustic treatment is imperative when it comes to a home studio. Ensuring you have the proper equipment, whether you choose to use insulation and a sofa, or bass traps and acoustic panels, these will help to reduce noise, reflections, and frequencies.
Mixing and Mastering Frequency Charts Revealed and Explained
Mixing and mastering audio is the process of balancing instruments, frequencies and tones within a song. How do I know what frequencies to adjust for different instruments in a mix, or how to change the tone of my finished mix?
What Is the Difference Between Mixing and Mastering?
Many people inside and outside of music production misunderstand the difference between mixing and mastering. What is the difference? And can I do both?
How to Get a Killer Snare Sound in Your Home Studio
The snare drum is arguably the signature percussion sound of any music track. Snare drums are distinctive and unique and can make mixes pop out if mixed well or fall on their face if not.
What's A Pop Filter and Do You Need One in Your Home Studio?
A pop filter is a handy tool to have in your home studio. You will likely be recording an inexperienced vocalist at some point, and a pop filter will definitely help to tame those plosive pops. Prices start at $10, so buying one won't break the bank.
What Causes Ear Fatigue and How Can it Be Avoided?
As a home studio owner, you need to manage sound levels and understand the risks of ear fatigue in and out of the studio.
How to Get Rid of Crackling Noises on Home Studio Monitors?
Are you experiencing annoying crackling noises coming through your monitors? This is a common problem, and troubleshooting can be tricky - but don’t worry help is at hand in our step by step guide.
What Makes The Avantone Cubes So Special? Is It All Just Hype?
Based on the late 1950s Auratone 5Cs, the Avantone monitors deliver a heavy mid presence with few low and high frequencies. But what makes these little speakers so unique?
Overcoming Phase Issues On Overheads When Mixing Drums
Phase errors introduced during the recording can cause drums to sound thin and lifeless. Read this article to understand what's going on and how to put things right.
Home Studio Monitors Against Walls and in Corners
Should Studio Monitors be placed against a wall or not? What effect can room walls and corners have on my mixes?
The Best Mix Bus Chain for Mixing
In this article we discuss a mix bus chain that will add instant low-end, high-end, depth, and width to your mixes.
Is the Pink Noise Generator in Pro Tools Any Good?
The Pink Noise generator in Pro Tools has mixed reviews online. We ask is it useful or not?
How to Read Fletcher Munson Curves in 3 Easy Steps
Fletcher Munson curves are sets of contours on a graph used to explain how humans hear across different frequency curves. Reading values from the contours are straight forward and are described in this article.
Home Studio Monitor Set Up Guide and Calculator
Correctly set up studio monitors are fundamental to providing the best listening position and a productive working environment. Read how you can make the most of your home setup.
Roey Izhaki 'Mixing Audio' Book Review
Mixing Audio Concepts Practices and Tools Book Review. We ask Is ‘Mixing Audio’ a good read and worth the $45 price tag?
About Me
Hello! I’m Tim Williams.
Back in 2009, I bought myself a copy of Pro Tools and recorded some home made music. It was challenging to start with, as I had no idea what I was doing. I made many mistakes on my journey - some fun, some expensive, and many time-consuming! I find running a Home Music Studio a fascinating and rewarding hobby and still enjoy it every day. This website is where I’d like to share everything that I’ve learned.