What equipment is used in a recording studio?

Answer 1

Essentially all you need is a mic, an interface and a computer. You can even get more basic than that, but in my opinion that's the most basic way to get GOOD sound.

A studio needs a lot of mics if they are going to be able to record large bands. The drum kit can take 8 mics alone just for the kit. You don't have to use that many, but the more you have, the more you can control.

After mics, you will want pre-amps. The pre-amp boosts the mic level to line level to allow you to record. Recording consoles and interfaces will usually have pre-amps built in, or you can purchase your own outboard pre-amps.

Once you have those, you will need a way to capture that sound. In the old days this was in the form of a big recording console, but now, an interface and a computer does the same thing. An interface allows you to connect instruments and mics to your computer via USB or firewire. Then rather than moving the faders on a large console, you click the mouse and move the faders within your computer. Note that you will need software capable of doing this. Most interfaces will come with the software, but if not, you can purchase it seperately.

At this point in the process you will need to hear what you are doing. Studio monitors are key for that. However, if recording with a computer, you can use the computer speakers, or route through a stereo or even use headphones. For quality, you want professional studio monitors. Headphones are terrible to mix with because of how they are made (bass boost, etc). Also, if using a computer, be cautious of feedback loops when recording.

Once all of that is set up you need a way to actually record what you are playing. Again, back to the old days this would be a big heavy tape machine. Now this can all again be done on a computer. You can save everything to your hard drive (i would recommend an external) and burn it to a disc.

As a side note. Many professional studios use a mixture of analog and digital gear. For example, they would connect their instrument panels to their big console. Out of the console the signal would go to their computer. This way they will still use the faders and everything from the analog console, but would have the convenience in editing with their computer software, saving to a hard-drive and burning to a disc.

Those are the basics of what is at a studio. Most studios will have a fair amount of outboard processing gear such as reverbs, eq's, compressors...etc. With computer recording all of those can be purchased as plug-ins which would save space in a studio. Also studios will have DI's, random instruments, and cables and all kinds of other stuff.