These days, you can do almost anything from the comfort of your home; even get a good recording studio for hip hop! With a fast internet connection, an abundance of information, and so many great products at our disposal, it’s no wonder that independent music creators are thriving. Both the quality of products and recorded music has increased
This goes for any genre or instrument that you can think of. Yes, you need to educate yourself, get some skills and experience first. But after that, all you need to do is take your instrument, hit the record button, and even add super realistic-sounding virtual instruments.
Since many young hip-hop lovers are looking for ways to record good stuff all from the comfort of their home, we decided to do a little research ourselves and see what you need to have for an appropriate studio. It might not be that simple and easy to get things right, but it certainly isn’t impossible.
Computer and hardware
No recording studio for hip hop would operate without a proper computer. The first thing you need to do is to set the budget. While it is possible to create any kind of electronic music, even on a cheaper PC or a laptop, we do advise that you save up and get something decent. Having an SSD instead of an HDD is of great importance.
As for CPUs, you should look into more features than just the processor speed and number of cores. More threads allow you a more fluent operation with multi-track projects. In addition, having more RAM memory is definitely a must and we advise that you go with at least 16 GB.
Then you need to find a proper audio interface. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to create any remotely decent-sounding music. Things to look for are the recording sound quality (bit depth and sample rate), the number of channels, connectivity, and additional features like phantom power. If you’re trying to save up, we suggest that you go with a better-quality one-channel soundcard.
Recording studio for hip hop: What to know
You’ll mostly be recording just one vocal track at a time, and most of the other stuff will include virtual instruments. If you’re recording an additional instrument, like a guitar, one channel will be enough. More channels are an option if you’re recording more instruments at the same time or if you’re doing vocals with two mics.
Of course, you’ll also need a smaller keyboard, a sampler, or any MIDI controller to pair up with virtual instruments. These are usually connected via USB and work separately from soundcards. You can technically create drum and other instrument tracks using a mouse and a keyboard, but this will take a significant portion of your precious time.
If you’re really on a budget, there are some MIDI controllers or even USB mics with their own audio interfaces that will help you record and create music with near-zero latency. However, we do not recommend this method as it limits your options and won’t bring the best possible quality.
Having a small mixer might be interesting for a more complex setup. But as a beginner, you’ll do well with a simple soundcard with one or two channels.
Proper software – DAWs and plugins
DAW, or a digital audio workstation, is the program that you record in. It also works with all the required plugins and audio interfaces. The only thing you’ll need to worry about here is getting familiar with how they work. Other than that, there are plenty of very affordable and even free DAWs. A simple one like Reaper or Cubase LE can work well.
Up next, you’ll need to see what kind of plugins you’ll need for your type of work. This is a very broad topic and it differs from artist to artist. DAWs usually come with some basic plugins for processing effects. But when it comes to virtual instruments, you’ll need to buy them online. Certain services, like Splice, offer plugins by rent-to-own model, including entire plugin bundles for specific genres.
We should note that a significant portion of your budget should always be dedicated to proper virtual instruments and different VST plugins. The rent-to-own model will help you find proper stuff for your tastes and will allow more rational payment.
While we’re at Splice, such services also offer collaboration projects and you can see in action how other people are making their music and what tools and plugins they’re using.
Headphones and monitors for recording studio for hip hop
There’s no point in having a recording studio for hip hop if your monitoring is subpar. Even if you have a great computer and an audio interface, nothing of that matters if your speakers or headphones cannot reproduce that sound quality.
There are some basic features you should look into. The first one is their frequency range and how wide it is. Then you’ll need to look at their overall tone and how well they reproduce each part of the spectrum. For music like hip hop, you’ll need to think of slightly bass-heavy monitor speakers or headphones.
There are other things to look for as well, including open-back vs closed-back headphones. Both of these types of models have their own advantages and sonic properties.
Microphones and vocal booths
The standard choice for a vocal microphone would be something dynamic, like Shure SM58. It would also be a good idea to have one condenser mic for different types of vocals. In some cases, you’ll want to use two mics at the same time if you want to have a fuller audio picture.
But for recording vocals in home settings, a vocal booth should be set up; or at least an improvised one. There are plenty of “mobile” vocal booth options that will filter out all the noise and sound reflection in the room so you don’t have to do additional sound isolation. Sure, you can record vocals without them, but these mobile booths shouldn’t be that expensive, and yet they help you create better quality recordings.
