I assume that the reader is trying to build up a mobile or home studio within a affordable budget, without compromising quality. It covers every aspect of music production ie recording, programming, mixing and mastering. So lets directly get into the business without wasting any more time. [with affiliate links]
1. Natural Sound Creators: There should be a throat that can produce sound, or, its very important, that U carry at least one guitar/Keyboard with u, or u have access to one(Acoustic or Electric).because Keyboard/Guitar is a very important instrument in almost all contemporary arrangement. It speeds up your workflow a lot.
My recommended Keyboards:
Below 10000 rs:
CT-S300 Casiotone - https://amzn.to/3eFjMhI
YAMAHA PSR-E273 - https://amzn.to/3xZkZIB
Rs 10000-15000:
Casio CT-X870IN - https://amzn.to/3tKebeq
Yamaha PSR-E373 - https://amzn.to/3uGmFVp
Rs 15000-20000:
Casio CT-X8000IN - https://amzn.to/3o8wTeu
Casio CT-X9000IN - https://amzn.to/3eEBTEE
Roland EX-20 - https://amzn.to/3tFCRVt
Roland E-X30 - https://amzn.to/2ROVk4t
Yamaha PSR-E463 - https://amzn.to/3uIkxfB
2. Microphones: This is what which is first in the conversion chain. It converts sound energy (or mechanical energy) to electrical signal. This is crucial, u can’t afford to go bad here. Once the sound enters in DAW, almost nothing will be good enough to change it inherent characteristics. It is recommended that you should have at least one piece of condenser and one dynamic microphone. If u are going to buy a condenser, ensure u have
1. access to a quite and acoustically good room,(of course you can create one check out our room treatment guide)
2. the mic has a cardioid polar pattern
3.you have phantom power source.(It can be either a audio Interface with phantom power or a Preamp)
Lav Mic:
Boya B1M1 - https://amzn.to/3fgjiOc
Maono AU-100- https://amzn.to/2RNJOXn
Maono AU-103 - https://amzn.to/3y3p927
Dynamic Mic:
AKG P3S - https://amzn.to/2SFbeil
Shure SM57-LC - https://amzn.to/3eFkxaN
Shure SM58S - https://amzn.to/3oaK3Yy
Rode PodMic- https://amzn.to/3hfBBWy
USB Condenser Mic:
Blue Snowball- https://amzn.to/3biDFta
MAONO AU-902 - https://amzn.to/3oao2cd
AKG Lyra- https://amzn.to/2RP6rKJ
Samson GTrack Pro- https://amzn.to/3oaO3bw
Rode NT USB- https://amzn.to/3o8HmXv
Condenser Mic below 10000:
Behringer C3 - https://amzn.to/3hhyYUd
AKG P120 - https://amzn.to/2RPwHoh
AT2020 - https://amzn.to/3y3R6XB
below 15000:
AKG P220 - https://amzn.to/3y64bQg
2.5 POP Filter: It can save you hours of editing of removing glitches, and Samson PS 01 comes around 1200 bucks($25).Its also affordable. So its always recommended that u carry one of them, to make glitch free recordings.
3.MIC Stand: yup! most of the time, no one includes this in a studio set up, but hey buddy! you have to have GOOOOOD one! The absolute Must!
DO NOT go for plastic Stands. Use Heavy weight Steel or Iron Stand. You can get one from local shop!
4.Cables: yup, they are also absolute must! U should Have at least one copy of
XLR male to female
TRS to TRS instrument cable
U can get them locally within 500 bucks($20). Don’t buy a too cheap version as they are important signal carriers.
BTW, Hosa and Mogami Clables are the best
4.Audio Interface: There are lots of options. Some of them are
Less than 10000:
Behringer UM2- https://amzn.to/2SOs1jn
Focusrite Scarlett Solo- https://amzn.to/2QaP7zt
More than 10000:
Audient EVO 4 - https://amzn.to/3odA58W
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 : https://amzn.to/3hqM7KN
PreSonus Studio 24c- https://amzn.to/3vTXG0O
Audient iD4- https://amzn.to/2Qhc4kM
All of them comes around 10-25K.Not to forget , Apogee , RME are also a Great option, but they are comparatively costly, that’s why I kept them outside. feel free to consider them, if there are lil restrictions on your budget.
5. MIDI Keyboard: It’s a absolute essential for programmers, And it have to be 25 or 32 key, coz u cant carry a 49 key keyboard with u all the time.Nowdays they are all USB interfaced, which is great! u don’t have the fear of losing adapter anymore! The question which will must come to your mind once is,25 /32 or 49 key?
If you are a electronic, dance, hip hop producer, may be 25 key is sufficient for you and you will need some knobs to tweak, as in M Audio Oxygen 25.But,if u are a keyboard player, its pathetic that you will not be able to press a full G# Major with your both hands. Then just go for a 32 key, at least it will give your hand at least one shift-over place. Even if it don’t have lots of knobs, you can adjust all parameters in your daw.
Options to consider:
Samson Graphite M25 - https://amzn.to/3tHfif0
AKAI MPK MINI - https://amzn.to/2RbCHYA
Nectar Impact LX - https://amzn.to/33EjDoK
Nectar LX 49- https://amzn.to/3y65HBO
Keep an eye open for what software/vsts you get with it ;)
6.DAW: According to me, Don’t get confused with buying DAW. The final quality of the song depends much more on the programmer and mixing engineer, rather than the software. Same quality u can achieve with any of them, be it Studio One, Cubase, Nuendo, Pro Tools, Logic, Sonar.
7.Headphones : A good headphone supersedes monitor many ways. they are completely portable, produce much more uncolored sound, and cost far less.
Behringer HPM 1000 - https://amzn.to/3uJ5ZfI
ATH M20 - https://amzn.to/2R5VKDW
Sennheiser HD 280 - https://amzn.to/3hhLaUU
Beyerdynamic DT770Pro- https://amzn.to/3fiYy8O
8.Speakers: Its of course arguable that whether I should include a speaker in a portable studio set up. But its not arguable that keeping a headphone on your ear for hours and trying to mix a bass line with drums can be literally painful. It will be sensible if u can use a combination of monit and heados, if u can afford buying monitors.
The most compact studio monitor, as per my knowledge, is Behringer MS 16 active. (around 7000 /- or $80)They are comparatively small, and I ve read only good reviews for them. There are M Audio AV series, KRK Rokit, JBL LSR(my favourite), Presonus Eris, Alesis , Yamaha, Cali Audio too. If you want to high end, ADAM A7X or Genelec would be the right choice!
That’s it. Happy producing! Shoot me with feedback or any other things studioninekolkata@gmail.com.Stay hungry, Stay foolish. Keep getting stupid ideas and explore!
