My Professional "Home" Studio

Written by: Kelechi Emeonye

"Home studio" is a term that has become two things in recent years; More common, and widely misused. With the advent of the digital age, all things that seemed largely far away and unattainable are becoming easier to access everyday. One of those things is the ability to compose and create music. 10 years ago, it wasn't common for a preteen to be able to come home from school and create an instrumental before it was time for dinner. It also wasn't common for that same kid to be able to record and mix that track before his bed time. That same track can be uploaded and listened to countless times all before he leaves school the next day. Today the ability to be sonically creative is becoming more affordable, accessible and unfortunately, taken for granted and highly over-glorified.

I'm not trying to bash home recording, because it can be a very useful tool. Home recording helps artists in that it allows affordable, and convenient ways to lay down reference tracks, demo songs, and mixtape material to be given away to fans. It is also convenient to have a makeshift booth ready to record as soon as inspiration strikes. Home recording hurts artists because since the tools are so widely available, more and more people are doing it...meaning more and more untalented people are doing it. This makes it difficult for those who are serious about their craft to be competitive using home-based material. Also, with so much home-recorded material in circulation around the internet and the streets, the standard for quality audio has dropped severely. No matter how many times your homies say it sounds "pro", it isn't rivaling professional recording and mixing.


The answer: INVEST IN YOURSELF AND YOUR CRAFT


Book Professional sessions at Professional studios like Patchwerk! Recording at home isn't a crime. It is a great tool for artists, but use it appropriately. Listen to your rough tracks to know what to do in your REAL sessions. Having them as a reference will show you exactly what to do in the pro studio so that your booked session is a breeze and you can get more bang for your buck.

What's your take... leave your comments below.