Doni’s Hardware
This is the Hardware I use to create music! YES! That’s all! It took me a while to figure out what I really needed and what I could emulate with software for less money, but I have stopped upon this as the ultimate home hardware setup! With this setup, I am able to record all of my own solo music, my band, The Martial Artists, and pretty much whoever I want (except for like, an orchestra; but stay tuned to Doni Music and you’ll learn how to replace an orchestra with a synthesizer.) This setup isn’t the bare minimum you need to make music on your computer, and it isn’t the extreme either. This is, however, a highly optimized setup for the home studio; maximizing cost, space, efficiency and sound.
I’ll take you through my Hardware setup piece by piece so you can get a better idea about how the parts work towards the whole:
1. KRK Studio Monitors Solid, solid, solid recording speakers! These are pound for pound the best quality and best sounding speakers in their price range. You can literally hammer out sound with these things all day long and they keep on tickin’. If you are just starting with sound production, you might not need a pair of these right away. But if you are serious at all, you need at least a pair of these for your home setup! Read more about KRK Studio Monitors here.
2. Ye old Personal Computer (PC) Ah yes, I use a PC to record! Blasphemy, right? Wrong! If you were to ask me if PC’s and Mac’s were on the same level for sound production, I would have said without a doubt that Mac’s are better. But the fact is, I bought my MacBook Pro to replace my PC and I couldn’t because half the plugin’s I used did not work on Mac. It was also around this time where Core2duo processors and RAM was getting cheaper, so buying a stinking fast PC solved this problem instantly. Mac recording studio’s are for those who use a fairly standardized setup, like a Pro tools setup for example. Of course, those setups are ridiculously expensive and really absolutely inflated in terms of their ability to create “better sounding” mixes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what setup you have if you do not have any production knowledge!
3. Presonus Firebox This tough unit does all of the most important things very well for an inexpensive sound card. If you are looking for bang for your buck, look no further! This is the ultimate soundcard for the beginner to the advanced producer on a budget. Check out my article on the Presonus Firebox here.
4. APEX460 Large Diaphragm Vacuum Tube Condenser This Microphone is EXCELLENT if you want to record your voice or anything else consistently well! This microphone records a very clean and fuzz free sample. I could get technical here, but I would rather let the folks at Apex electronics handle it for me, so click here for more info!
5. M-Audio Oxygen 49 USB MIDI Keyboard Controller The perfect keyboard/controller to get your synth on! This is great for banging out synth lines and whatnot. Pretty basic stuff here. It works like a keyboard, only you can play any sound out of your computer that you have a synth for. Now if only you paid attention at piano lessons you’d be a regular Elton John by now. Don’t laugh, Elton is a knight and he will slay you if you laugh. The Queen hath decreed it be so, bitch.
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