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This website is focused on computer based recording using an audio interface (USB or preferably FireWire 1394) combined with DAW software. And you may have noticed the site has the word "essentials" in it's name. Well, "essentials" can have different meanings in different contexts I suppose. But in this blog post I want to get to what is really ABSOLUTELY essential. The things you need to have to get started recording and mixing music.

#1 A Reasonably Proficient Computer

At a bare minimum your computer should have 1 GB of RAM and 50 GB of available hard drive space. You should definitely shoot for at least 2 GB of RAM and 100 GB of hard drive space. Get as much of both as you can afford. The PC vs. Mac battle isn't one I'm interested in having. You can do fine with either. A PC based system is likely to be less expensive.

#2 A USB Or FireWire Audio Interface

I definitely recommend a FireWire interface, they have less latency problems than the USB models. You can get one of these (with just a couple of inputs) pretty inexpensively these days. The higher price models come with better mic preamps, more inputs, and better overall sound quality so yes they are worth the extra money but you can also get pretty good quality with a cheaper model.

If you are just recording yourself or one or two other people (and no real drum set) then you don't need to worry too much about how many inputs you have. If you are wanting to set up a "real" studio with real drums and the like then you'll want to get more inputs of course. How many? Well that depends on whether you are using a mixer (for mixing down drums, etc) prior to going into your audio device. If you are not you'll probably want 12 or more inputs (drums take a lot of mics/inputs.)

#3 Recording/Mixing Software (Sometimes Called DAW Software.)

You will need software to interact with your audio interface. This software will act as your "virtual mixing board." The good news is it's actually far more flexible and in my opinion easier to use than a "real" mixing board. The bad news is for those who just have to physically touch knobs and all of that because this will all be done with your computer keyboard and mouse. Click Here to read the article about choosing the right DAW software.

In the case of Pro Tools the DAW and the audio interface come packaged together (the cheaper Pro Tools interfaces come with stripped down cheaper versions of Pro Tools.) This is probably one of the things that draws people to Pro Tools. Although some other audio interfaces do come with other stripped down versions of DAW software like Cubase LE.

What does DAW stand for? Digital Audio Workstation.

#4 Monitors Or Headphones

Really you'll need both. But just to get started you obviously need some way of hearing back what you're working on. It's a good idea to listen back to what you are doing with headphones and monitor speakers. You could even burn your mix to a CD and play it in your car or on another stereo system. You want to make sure what you produce sounds good anywhere you play it.

That's It For The Absolute Essentials

While that's it for the absolute essentials you won't get very far with just that. You could plug your electric guitar or bass guitar into your audio interface and record that but that's about it unless you get some of the following items:

If you plan on recording vocals or acoustic instruments you will absolutely need a microphone (and the quality of the microphone you buy will greatly effect the quality of the sound that you get.)

If you plan on using drum machines, synths, or samplers in your music then I highly recommend Reason. It's extremely versatile software that can be used for all of that and more.

If you want to control your synths & samplers (in Reason) then you will need a midi keyboard. You can also control the drum machine in Reason with an electronic drum set (make sure it has midi out.)

It's likely that your DAW will come with some cool "plugins" but you will likely find yourself wanting more (better) sounding effects to work with. I can't classify these plugins as "essential" but you will most likely feel that they are.