If you’re a little bit broke and a whole lot bored, try doing what I just did. I searched on YouTube yesterday for “cheap home recording studio” or something similar, and I found a guy who shows how he built one for under $150. I watched the video. And then I did some searches on Amazon, Reverb.com, and Ebay. Now I too will have a home recording studio for under $150. All in, with shipping and tax, it was $128.63. I got:
- A USB audio interface. This lets you plug a mic or a guitar into it and it squirts the signal out the other end via USB into your laptop. It’s got one or two dials and functions on it, but essentially that’s what it does. Specifically, I got an M-Audio Fast Track USB unit used on Ebay, With shipping and tax, $68.56
- A cheap SM-58-style vocal mic. Amazon Basics brand for $20.99
- An Amazon Basics mic stand with a boom for $19.99
- A pop filter for the mic (prevents Ps from popping the mic – an amateur mistake) for $7.99
- A cheap 10-foot mic cable for $7.97.
Unfortunately in these tough times I won’t actually get everything until about 3 weeks from now. I guess I have some time to think in advance about what I’d like to record. As for my DAW (digital audio workstation) software, I suppose I’ll just use Garage Band. I already have it and it’s simple to use. No need to look further unless I develop a good reason to. And even then there are some quality free options.