Any artist would agree that, for them to create the best, they need to be in an unrestrained environment. The same goes for musicians, amateur and professional alike. Truth be told, good music may spontaneously be made with you one day sitting with your guitar and strumming a good tune. But, what good is music if you can’t share it with the rest of the world?
These give you all the reason to make a room wherein you can fully concentrate on the music without inconveniencing your neighbors. Besides, home studios have become commonplace that all you need to put together your own is already available in the market. Now, read on and find out what it takes to preserve your music in its best quality with the help of a room that sparks creativity with all your equipment within an arm’s reach:
Location
It would be best if you have already identified an area in your house that you can convert into your studio before buying additional equipment. After all, you want to make the most out of the available space for a long-term hobby you didn’t originally plan on doing. You would be surprised how a room as small as a former walk-in closet or garage could serve you so much.
In designating a room for your studio, it is best to choose somewhere with the least foot traffic or where people tend to dwell like hallways, living, dining, and bedrooms, so then you would not disturb anyone when you’re working. Also, you would want to cover the room’s window with a curtain because windows reflect sound waves which will warp underlying nuances in music.
While you can always opt for the conventional acoustic wall treatments and foams for your room’s walls, one notably good alternative is preserved reindeer moss. It is a type of chemically treated moss to keep its vibrant green color and feel and that, like other types of moss, is used to cover a panel, which can then effectively trap instrumental and synthesized sounds. In turn, this improves the quality of music you create.
Of course, you could add potted plants to increase oxygen circulation in your room and to absorb any harmful pollutants. But, what sets moss walls apart are their non-allergenic and anti-static properties that could even repel dust, which makes them easy to maintain. Besides, you would rather have this than a monochromatic wall for how much it adds to the aesthetic value of your room.
Workspace
Starting with an empty room, you would want to install a desk that could accommodate your computer and an ergonomic chair to help you stay comfortable during those long workdays. . In fact, you can have your computer, MIDI controller, chair, and table and call it a day. But, you make it a point to allocate space for other equipment like synthesizers, which you anticipate moving forward.
Equipment
You can have the best-selling synths or musical instruments and yet find that its features don’t sit right with you. While it could be a manufacturing problem at times, chances could also be that you haven’t found what’s right for you yet. That is why it is worth knowing ahead that it takes several trials and errors before you could find your holy grail music-making gizmos.
Headphones come in all forms and for different purposes. Choose ones that stay comfortable on the head even after long hours of wear. The market offers all material types from plastic, metal to those wrapped with vinyl or velvet. It really depends on how tacky you feel it gets when you sweat or how constricting you feel it gets the longer you wear them.
If you sing and play instruments, you will also have to invest time to arrive at the best microphone for you. You have to consider aspects such as condenser quality to ensure no household noises are picked up when you are recording. Also, it would be practical to have dedicated microphones for both voice and instrument recording.
There is more audio interface equipment out there but a MIDI or musical instrument digital interface controller is niche terminology. Somehow, it is a central controller and by manipulating its knots, switches, and sliders you can have a MIDI-equipped keyboard, synthesizers, or wind instrument sound a certain way.
Perhaps, you started with the built-in music production app on your mobile device or computer and that doesn’t make you any less of a creator. But, with more sophisticated tools, whose prices have been more democratized to the delight of every creative soul, you know you are very capable of refining your art. Also, chances are people living under the same roof or, God forbid, those in adjacent houses could be disrupted by the noises you produce when you work.
