Someone asked me this week to share with them what equipment I use at home for making demos and recordings. I’ll be honest, I’m not a producer or engineer, so my set-up is pretty basic. My purposes are purely to be able to record decent voice tracks for auditions, interviews, and demos. But for many of you looking to get into home recording, this would be a great place to start.

Roland Duo-Capture EX

This console is what turns the sound from your instruments/mics into something your computer sound editing program can read. This is a very basic console with two inputs, so you could record vocals and an instrument at the same time if you wanted, say if you’re making a video.

Sure SRH440 Headphones

When recording vocals or instruments, you’ll want to listen to your background music or the click track to make sure everything you record lines up. I like these because they had the least sound bleed into the mic of any I tried.

Yorkville Speakers

Great studio speakers for listening back to what you’ve recorded in high quality audio.

Ultra Mic Stand

This is a standard boom mic stand, which is always the ideal. Boom stands bend and allow you to position the mic with the stand away from your body, if let’s say you are wearing a guitar or want to put a music stand in between you and the mic stand. Be careful not to wrench the joints while they’re tightened, as this will break the stand. Always loosen the joints and retighten to reposition the mic stand.

Audio-technica Condenser Mic

Condenser mics are standard for recording, because they are more sensitive and get a crisper sound from a wider range of space. For this reason they are not used much for live performances, where they can cause a lot of feedback. Make sure you are singing into the “logo” side where the sound is actually being picked up.

Shock Mount for Condenser Mic

You’ll want one of these to hold your condenser mic while recording, so that any minor movements or adjustments don’t mess with your mic and your sound. Traditional mic stands do not come with the attachments to hold condenser mics, so you’ll need to get something.

Pop filter

This pop filter screws on to the mic stand and is totally adjustable. Pop filters help to reduce sibilance and other noise from your plosive vowels that is hard to edit out in post. You know, the hissing s’s and the popping p’s! It seems like a small thing but it makes a big difference when using such a sensitive mic.

What do you have in your home recording studio? Let me know in the comments!