Studio Setup

Basic studio information

improve the quality of your productions. Remember that the final quality of your music
depends on many variables, including your skills with and knowledge of sequencing techniques,
the equipment you use, the software, and the environment (meaning essentially
the studio) in which you work. In fact the studio is one of the most important elements
involved in the creative process of composing your music. I am not talking just in terms of
equipment and machines (which I will discuss in detail in a moment), but also in terms of
comfort and ease of use of the working environment, qualities that are essential if you are
going to spend many hours composing and sequencing your projects. Your studio should
have good illumination, both natural and artificial. If you are going to use electric light as a
main source for illumination, try to avoid lights with dimmer switches, since they are
known for causing interference with studio recording equipment. Acoustic isolation and
acoustic treatment of the room are also important elements that will help avoid external
noises and create well-balanced mixes.
Even though the subject of acoustic isolation and treatment goes beyond the scope of this
manual, here are some basic rules to follow when building your studio. First of all try to
avoid (if possible) perfectly square or rectangular rooms. These are the most problematic
because the parallel walls can create unwanted phasing effects and standing waves. You
will soon realize that, unless you build an environment designed specifically to host a studio,
most rooms are in fact rectangular. Therefore I recommend the use of absorption panels
to reduce excessive reverberation caused by reflective and parallel surfaces, such as
flat and smooth walls. Absorption panels (Figure 1.1) help reduce excessive reverberation,
their main function being to stop the reflection of high frequencies. As a rule of thumb, try
to avoid covering your entire studio with absorption panels since this would make your
room a very acoustically dry listening environment, which not only would cause hearing
fatigue but also would mislead your ears during your final mixes.
In order to reduce standing waves, you should use diffusers (Figure 1.2) on the walls and
ceiling of the room. The main purpose of diffusers is to reflect the sound waves at angles
that are different (mostly wider) than the original angle of incidence and thereby to limit
the audio artifacts caused by parallel walls.