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RapStudio

- A rapper that wants to record his music needs to know how to build a studio without buying a home-studio book that only fulfills the needs for mainly rock, pop, country groups and singers, This book is specialized to tell you the precise type of studio a rapper should build, minus all the excess clutter you usually find. There is no discussion on hip hop non-issues such as "drum-kit microphone set-up techniques" and "amps" and "guitars". This is 100 percent specialized for the studio lyricist. -www.RapManual.com

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RapStudio

- A rapper that wants to record his music needs to know how to build a studio without buying a home-studio book that only fulfills the needs for mainly rock, pop, country groups and singers, This book is specialized to tell you the precise type of studio a rapper should build, minus all the excess clutter you usually find. There is no discussion on hip hop non-issues such as "drum-kit microphone set-up techniques" and "amps" and "guitars". This is 100 percent specialized for the studio lyricist. -www.RapManual.com

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The Acoustic Foam

Acoustic foam is a specialized foam material used to absorb large quantities of noise. You use acoustic foam to treat the audio rooms and for your equipment. Bass trapping foam may be used for your monitors, foam may be placed around your microphone to deaden sounds around it. Foam may be placed around the walls to deaden the total noise of the room or around equipment to lower the noise of the computer and the electronic hums vibrating as they operate. It is important that you get standard professional quality foam and not just substitute it with black egg-crate foam. Although similar in appearance, egg-crate foam is for comfort and for being underneath beds and furniture, but doesn't do much to deaden sound as it is too light and not dense enough to handle loud noise, especially bass.

RECOMMENDED ACOUSTIC FOAM (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Primacoustic W-Foam Primafoam UT Acoustic Foam
Price: $369.99

- 2" thick acoustic foam
- 8 24' x 40" x 2" (W/H/D) panels for 53 square feet total


Auralex Roominator Project Z Acoustic Control Kit
Price: $549.00

- 24 Studio foam 2' x 2' x 2" wedge panels
- 8 LENRD bass traps
- 5 Tubetak Pro adhesives

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The Audio Interface

An audio interface works in the same way as a soundcard except instead of being manually installed in your computer by way of PCI, it sits on the outside. It is connected to your computer via USB or Firewire. The difference between USB and firewire used to be large. As USB 2.0 became a factor in the field of music recording the difference is less than before when firewire kicked USB's ass, now they're just about the same.

- Max speed USB 1.1: 12mbps
- Max speed USB 2.0: 480mbps
- Max speed Firewire 400: 400mbps

Just like a soundcard, you must make sure your external audio interface is compatible with your operating software (Windows or Mac OSX) and that it is atleast "24/96", has 1/4 inch stereo jack inputs and outputs, as welll as an XLR input and output (The large black solid circle with the three holes) for plugging in studio-quality headphone, monitors, microphones, mixers, pre-amps or phantom power if needed. Installation with an external audio interface is simple, you plug the USB or firewire card to the input on your computer and WHAM!, plug & play handles it and you're finished. Still check the installation directions and install the necessary drivers needed from CD/DVD if included. Prices for audio interfaces range from $150.00 to $500.00. Popular external audio interfaces include (G) the Digi-Designs M-Box which is bundle with Protools software, M-Audio's Mobile Pre USB which comes with Ableton Live LE software.

RECOMMENDED AUDIO INTERFACES (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Line 6 Toneport UX7 USB Recording/Modeling Interface
Price: $89.99


CME Matrix K Firewire Audio Matrix Interface
Price: $149.99


Digidesign Mbox 2 Mini
Price: $295.00


M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB 2.0 Audio Interface
Price: $349.99

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The Cables And Adapters

Not everything plugs in right, just like not every cinderella shoe fits a bubble butt brazilian female, or every rapper can sing (scratchy voice rappers, please stop singing, leave it to the females) For example if you went along with some cheapo headphones you're gonna have to pay to plug it in your new audio interface or soundcard. To convert it's small 1/8 inch plug to fit in the 1/4 inch input of the soundcard or interface you need a 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch adapter. Your monitors may also not plug in directly into those inputs, so you'll need to convert it's RCA output to 1/4 inch stereo. So you'll need to buy a RCA to 1/4 inch stereo adapter.

Some rocket scientists (Or rapper scientists) will insist they sincerely do not have the money or the need for a condenser microphone (which will also need phantom power) so they will use that logic to buy a pro-quality dynamic mic and try to plug it into their soundcard's inputs. They then find that their Shure 58 doesn't quite fit the input by a long shot, so they go back to the music recording store, curse out the guy at the register, ask for their money back, but instead their ego feeds them the solution that an exchange to a mic with 1/4 inch stereo connections are better. The front register guy tries to persuade him, just to get a cheap pre-amp with the 1/4 inch outputs, but the rapper won't listen to his advice a "second" time. So the rapper goes home happy and the guys at the music store are shaking their heads at this moron.

Since these microphones have larger XLR connections you will need to buy a specialized XLR to 1/4 inch stereo adapter (Which I don't recommend, in fact I just say get an interface that can take in XLR inputs and the solution would have been solved). Most of these analog to digital converter suck ass (Hey, I used to be a rapper scientist too) unless you spend big bucks. But why spend money, this would have me to ask the question on why didn't you just buy a small mixer or audio interface instead? You may want to plan on buying several 1/4 inch stereo connection wires in the case you'll be using the ouput of your soundcard or interface in funky little ways like connecting it into other gear, stereos, mixers, line-ins, and anything else.


RECOMMENDED CABLES AND ADAPTERS (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Live Wire XLR male to female Stereo Adapter
Price: $2.99


Hosa Stereo Y-Cable Mini Male to Two RCA males
Price: $4.99


Live Wire XLR (female) to stereo (male) Adapter
Price: $10.99


Monster Cable Rock 1/4" Straight Instrument Cable

3 foot - Price: $29.95
6 foot - Price: $34.95
12 foot - Price: $39.95
21 foot - Price: $49.95

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The Computer

Your computer is the main cog in the clockwork of a home studio. A slow or outdated computer can lead to latency issues, the inability to run current professional audio-editing software, small insufficient RAM, no hard-drive space to put your gigantic .wavs and multiple MP3s on and much more. A computer running on windows may crash, leaving all unsaved date gone from existence and even some saved date corrupted and therefore gone. The pros about a windows computer is that most multi-track software and other programs you may want to add only works for windows. Mac and Linux both run on the highly stable platform of Unix, so a crash is less likely to happen. Actually on since Mac OS X (OS 10) has mac been running on Unix, so make that a consideration. The con about Linux and Mac are that the audio programs you love so much and heard about may not be able to run on these systems or ever (think Adobe Audition).

RECOMMENDED MINIMUM COMPUTER SPECS

- Windows 2000 or above, Mac OS 9 or above
- 400MHz Processor (.4 gig)
- 256mb RAM
- CD Burner
- 40 gig Hard Drive

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The Condenser Microphone

Condenser microphones are the delicate cousins of dynamic microphones. These can break easily with aggressive use and are not meant to be handled by your hands as you speak into it, so don't grab them and wild-out like it's a dynamic or thats your however-many-hundred-dollar mistake. In order too operate, condenser microphones need a source of power, namely phantom power. Unlike dynamic microphones, they will almost always have XLR connections. Other features a condenser microphone may include are built in phantom power by way of battery, a bass filter cut-off switch or high-shelf cut-off switch to automatically cut the lower unneeded frequencies from a recording. Another feature is a red LCD light indicating that the microphone is connected to an operating phantom power source, and also perhaps a switch to turn the microphone on and off.

The main difference between dynamic and condenser microphones is the quality. Whereas a dynamic microphone will record what's close to it, a standard quality condenser turned up will record the whole room plus some. Aggressive rappers do not need to spit flows loudly into a condenser as it will pick up even the faintest of sounds. Treatment for an overly sensitive condenser is the pack the room in professional quality acoustic foam, if not done you may pick up sounds from automobile traffic, children screaming and playing (seems like they don't know how to whisper), dogs barking, neighbors arguing as if it's right in front of you, and that's just naming a few of the types of distractions and audio anomalies.

They are many different types of condenser microphones, what you will be wanting to record your flows on is a large diaphram condenser microphone (the recording style of cardiod, omni-directional is your choice) as the other main alternative is a "shot-gun" condenser microphone which is usually in the style of a 1-inch width-wide, tube cylinder shape with the part to record a flattened wire screen.

Because they are easily damaged if handled improperly, condenser microphone usually sit in the comfort of shock mounts with a pop screen filter nearby. A condenser microphone can range from $150 to $2000+ depending on the brand and quality, of course the more expensive the microphone generally the better. Good brands to look for are Rode, AKG, Audio Technica.


RECOMMENDED CONDENSER MICROPHONES (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


MXL V63M Studio Condenser Microphone
Price: $89.99


MXL 990 Condenser Microphone
Price: $99.99


Audio Technica AT2020 Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
Price: $99.99


AKG Perception 200 Condenser Microphone
Price: $199.99


MXL MXL 4000 Multi-Pattern FET Studio Condenser Microphone
Price: $299.99


Rode NT1-A
Price: $299.99


Audio Technica AT4033CL Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
Price: $399.99



TOP OF THE LINE CONDENSER MICROPHONES (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Shure KSM44 Studio Microphone
Price: $799.99


M-Audio Sputnik
Price: $799.99


AKG C 414 LTD
Price: $1199.99


Electro-Harmonix EH-TM Vacuum Tube Studio Condenser Microphone
Price: $1699.99


Beyerdynamic MC 840 Studio Condenser Microphone
Price: $1799.99


Blue Kiwi Microphone
Price: $1999.99


Neumann M 147 Tube Condenser Microphone
Price: $2499.99


Blue Cactus Tube Microphone
Price: $2499.99


Blue the Bottle Studio Condenser Microphone
Price: $3999.99


Neumann U87 Microphone
Price: $3999.99

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The Dynamic Microphone

Dynamic microphones are the most sturdy stage microphones that people use for performances and announcements. These microphones can be used with or without foam mic covers, can be thrown on the ground, beaten with a whip and still work perfect (Although you may need to replace it's removable wire-mesh crown). Some rappers are very aggressive with microphones and a dynamic mic is the perfect solution. These microphones also do not need phantom power in order to operate. Never get a professional dynamic microphone "clone" that doesn't use XLR connections. If the microphone does not carry a XLR connection it refers to the facts it is not professional quality and probably only a 1/4 inch stereo plug microphone where the extreme importance of pro-quality is compromised for affordability to the masses entertainment. Prices for a professional dynamic microphone ranges from $100 to $400 as they also come in wireless form. Good brands to look for are Shure and Sennheiser.


RECOMMENDED DYNAMIC MICROPHONES (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Behringer XM8500 Microphone
Price: $19.99


Shure SM58 Dynamic Microphone
Price: $99.99


Shure SM57 Microphone
Price: $99.99


Shure Beta 58a Dynamic Microphone
Price: $159.99


Electro-Voice N/D967 Super-Cardioid Concert Vocal Microphone
Price: $199.99


Heil Sound PR 35 Dynamic Microphone
Price: $249.99


Sennheiser e945 Super-Cardioid Dynamic Microphone
Price: $299.99

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The External Hard Drive

A computer can only hold so much data until it fills it's maximum capacity. Prolific rappers who need to save the full quality of their beats in WAV form can swiftly overwhelm their computer's storage capacity and may have to make crucial decisions on deleting unneeded files or lackluster songs. This does not have to done. By buying a external hard drive you can store your large instrumentals on there and overall triple or quadruple the amount of space on your computer. You may want to buy as many external hard drives as your budget allows and be happy that you never have to delete another song for the rest of life due to space constrictions.

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The Headphones

Headphones will be needed if you live in a claustrophobically closed-in residential area, if volume is an issue , you live in an apartment complex, your mom and pops is in the bedroom next door, if you just want to hear the minor imperfections of your recording that you couldn't catch out loud, or if you are proud of your work aka conceited. If all you want to do is just listen because you "mix" and "masteR" your tracks with your monitors (speakers) then buy some cheapo $20.00 headphones and skip this info. If you're still reading that means you want high quality headphones. What's the difference? Think of standing by the sea as normal headphones, for those high-quality bastards think of being in the pacific ocean on a small raft suffering from scurvy, harsh winds and preparing to fight a fifty foot man-eating octopus. "What the heck!?!" Yea, that's the first thing you'll say when you put on your first ultra high-quality studio headphones. Of course, everything has it's imperfections and studio quality headphones suffer from being too intimate with your ear, too clear, or too muggy, too crisp, or too flat, too much on the high end of the audio spectrum adding unnecessary sparkle to your mix that just isn't there in actuality. What I mean is that these headphones may "flavor" or "color" your sound. Color? Like surround sound for example, voiceovers in a movie weren't really made with the intention of being heard by your ear, feet and spinal cord at the exact same time were they? So what you'll need are headphones that while great, reproduce your material with all it's ugliness hanging out in the sunshine with full glory like a fresh high school pimple. Professional headphones cost about $100-$400 depending on the size and brand.


RECOMMENDED STUDIO HEADPHONES (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


AKG M 70 Headphones
Price: $29.99


Vic Firth SIH7 Isolation Headphones
Price: $45.99


Yamaha RHSMA Headphones
Price: 49.95


Audio Technica ATH PRO5Vs Monitor Headphones
Price: $69.99


Sennheiser HD280 Pro Closed-Back Headphones
Price: $99.99


Sony MDR-7506 Headphones
Price: $99.99


Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Studio Monitor Headphones
Price: $149.99


Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro-80 Closed Studio Headphones
Price: $199.99


Ultrasonic Pro 750 Stereo Headphones
Price: $399.99



TOP OF THE LINE STUDIO HEADPHONES (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)



Sennheiser HD650 Open-Air Pro Headphones
Price $499.99


AKG K 701 Ultra Reference Class Stereo Headphone
Price: $499.99


Audio-Technica ATH AD2000 Open Air Dynamic Headphones
Price: $799.99



PROFESSIONAL QUALITY VERY SMALL STUDIO EARPHONES


M-Audio IE-40 Triple Driver Pro In-Ear Earphones
Price: $399.99



PROFESSIONAL QUALITY WIRELESS HEADPHONES


Sony MDR-DS6000 Wireless Surround Sound Digital 2.4Ghz RF Headphones
Price: $299.99

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The Lyric Notebook

So you stole your little brothers school work paper and wrote your lyrics on them, now your brother is failing his class and your mom is bitchin' at you. Or "you" are the one in school and you write lyrics all over and the back of your worksheet assignment only to become depressed when you have to turn it in for grading. Or you work most of the day and the only piece of anything to write on are napkins, you've stashed a large amount of these together and are quite proud of yourself, but then a co-worker has a runny nose and takes the napkins from your shirt pocket and before you can do anything mucous mibranes soak your precious bars to oblivion. You're devastated.

Every serious rapper has a rhyme book and those that don't have one keep their work on computer, sometimes printing them in sheets if the need arises. Without a rhyme book you will be left with rhymes in your head fleeting from memory and stuck in sticky situations. Now, you've decided to purchase a rhyme book and you say to yourself internally that any 70 page, two dollar spiral notebook will do. And that's the problem, pretty soon you'll write through that book like there's no tommow and buy another and another and another. Stop the madness. For a little extra dough you can buy a giant notebook spiral with hundreds of pages, five or six times as large with hundreds of pages, included with dividers (which you can use to sort topics, hooks, lyrics, ideas and more). With this type of notebook it might take a a half a year or much longer to fill. This is the better alternative that going through 20 "book of rhymres" a year, wasting time and money going back and forth from Fred Myers, K-Mart, Office Depot, Office Max, Safeway, Staples, Target or Walmart, it's just not worth it.

For those at work they often find themselves in a place where bringing in that large notebook of rhyme may be deemed unprofessional, embarrasing or not allowed, they can become very emotional because of this. The time spent working can set off hundreds of potential rhymes during boring, tedious, laborious tasks. In desperation you may sneak in paper to write on or napkins to ward off being scrutinized by your boss for your unproductive behavior. Since they "are not to be seen" you must fold them on the way to and from work. Opening the paper back up at home after a hard days work reveals a smudged mess of graphite art, adding to this is the fact that once paper is folded or crumpled it cannot become perfectly flat anymore. This lead to a folder full of messy papers.

The solution for work, school and other similar situations that call for this type of risky maneuver is to buy the proper smaller material to write on. Memo pads are perfect and cost less than a dollar, you'll pay more for the thicker fancier kinds with a large amount of paper. Those black and white composition books you see as an alternative to the spiral notebooks make versions the same size as memo pads and do not have the annoying spiral rings. The cost of the mini-composition books is usually slightly greater than a single dollar, but worth the extra cents.

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The Lyric Stand

There is something that all human beings on this planet Earth cannot do and have not done since the history of man. It is for one person to be able to use more than two hands (Feet are not a substitute for hands, we are not monkeys) at the same time. Although this is an obvious fact, many rappers try and fail at their attempts to do this exact impossible feat. They will have a cup of "brew aka brown water" in one hand, something to eat in another (magic brownies), have a dynamic hand in the same hand as the "drink" and hold the lyrics in the same hand with the "snack". Then they get annoyed when they keep pressing record, but cannot catch the beat and their lyric papers keep making a "crumple" sound with each take.

Let me solve some problems for this unfortunate rapper. Don't eat or drink next to your music equipment (One slip could be a $2000.00+ fatal mistake) or smoke for that matter (try opening up a computer or your equipment after a couple packs of smokes clog the air) and never hold your lyrics. I know it's cool to hold your lyrics, but you do that to show off in front of your friend. Business means business, you would never sag the pants of a men's dress suit so why would you let something as unprofessional as paper crumples ruin your mix.

For rap lyrics (your perfect 16 bars or 4 bar hooks), someone has already invented your solution. A music stand. Yes, music stands are for sheet music for musicians, yet they make the perfect tool for rappers. They are also going to be one of the cheapest equipment purchases you can buy, where price range sometime below the ten dollar mark. Being as cheap as they are, and the potential for you to take your vocal tracks a notch up in professionalism, there is absolutely no excuse for a rapper making a home studio NOT to have one, and maybe more.


RECOMMENDED MUSIC STANDS (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Manhasset M48 Symphony Music Stand
Price: $34.99


Proline Conductor Sheet Music Stand
Price: $39.99


Petersen Designs Folding Music Stand
Price: $39.99

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The Mic Stand

Your microphone stand is what holds your microphone in place correctly and raised to your level for when you spit flows. There are a few different variations. Normal mic stands use a heavy weight at the bottom of their pole in the shape of an upside down bowl. Tripod microphone stands make use of a series of three bars at their base in 120 degree spacing from each other to hold up the stand. A boom stand is an attachment to the bottom of an otherwise normal mic stand that angles high or low and is ble to rest the mic far underneath you or far overhead of you. As a rapper, all you'll need is a normal mic stand with no boom added unless you are very tall then of course add the boom. Cost for a mic stand ranges from $20-$80 depending on if it's normal or tripod based with no boom or boom added. Any brand will do as long as it's sturdy.

RECOMMENDED MIC STANDS (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Musicians Gear Die Cast Mic Stand
Price: $12.99


On-Stage Stands Tripod Mic Stand with boom
Price: $19.99

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The Mixing Board

A mixer will be able to take in your XLR cable through it's input. Through it's outputs you will be able to connect it your soundcard or audio interface by 1/4 inch stereo cables. The mixer will usually also come with phantom power, which is necessary for the operation of most condenser microphones. As a rapper, all you need is a mixer with one XLR input, maybe 4 max if you have multiple microphones and are too lazy to unplug them.

I agree, as a newbie, mixing boards look tight as hell and at the same time intimidating, especially those big 48+ input mothers (Ahhh....Solid State). Sadly, these mixing boards are for orchestras, rock groups, live bands, stage performances, and professional studios that need most every single input for their obscene number of outboard sound equipment. Those knobs that go up and down, these are for professional engineers who mix and master tracks using that onboard analog (I doubt it though, they probably just load all the tracks in protools when nobody's watching) with each turn adjusting different frequencies by way of parametric equalizer (Which shits on graphic equalizers by the way) and panning system. In fact, the only thing you should be concerned with is wether those green and yellow dots hit red, letting you know your microphone is peaking to loud and to turn down the levels.

I know you're saying "I saw this video. And Eminem and P. Diddy and 2pac was sitting behind the gigantic SSL mixing desk and they was touchin' the knobs and I jus wanna be like them, and if they can do it so can I, so that means you're wrong!" Well I'm telling you now that they were schooled by the best sound engineers the record labels Interscope, Bad Boy and Death Row can buy. Well I'm assuming you weren't, so just brush those thoughts to the side for now.

In the previous situation, each track on those fancy mixing boards has a little sticky tape with permanent marker writing on it showing what each instrument is, some with frequency levels, vocal tracks and so on (hint, hint). As for myself, I developed into a sound engineer (graduated 2002, school of Hard Knocks, Philadelphia) over the years, but I'm telling you for your own good, leave those knob alone! Those same knobs are in the professional audio-editing software installed on your computer, where in it's safe non-destructive environment you can tweak and freak em' all day.

It is important that your recording obtains the exact sound you say before your audio chain delivers the signal into your audio recoding programs. If you wannabe a dumbass wanksta, be my guess.

As far as brand goes, I can tell you with mixing boards that it makes the world of differences (Alesis, Soundcraft and so on there's too many to name) This mainly has to do with the fact that different manufacturers pack in different pre-amps in their boards. Some with a higher quality pre-amp than others. Somehow, there is a correlation with better sounding mixing boards and better build or sturdiness Trust me, as a part-time studio owner, we broke more than a few behringers. Hey, but they would've broke anyways and most rappers don't know the difference between these nasty sounding cheap mixers.

There are many board manufacturer's, as a response to criticism I don't mean to take shots, but from the Big 3 companies I have to say it goes, Behringer, Yamaha, Mackie, with Mackie being the most expensive, yet having the best pre-amps and being the all-around best constructed. The irony is that I personally love Behringer and Yamaha equipment (Can't go wrong with a Motif and Behringer does wonders for my pocket), but I'm also picky on what I buy and am someone who goes through a ton of reviews before purchasing just that right product that fits me, with experience and after reading this book I'm pretty sure you'll be wiser too.

Like I said, if your financing can support it, buy a Mackie with Yamaha or Alesis as your second best bets. Prices for a 1 input mixer are about $40-$100, 2 input about $60-$150, 4 input about $100-$350. All prices are dependent on the brand.


RECOMMENDED MIXING BOARDS (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Behringer Eurorack UB502 - 5 channel compact mixer
Price: $29.99


Tapco mix.50 Compact Mixer
Price: $49.99


Tapco Mix.60 Compact Mixer
Price: $59.99


Behringer Xenyx 1002
Price: $69.99


Soundcraft COMPACT 4 Mixer
Price: $149.99


Alesis Multimix 8 USB 2.0 8-Channel Mixer
Price: $299.99


Mackie 1202-VLZ3 Premium 12-Channel Compact Mixer
Price: $299.99

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The Mixing Board Stand

First ask yourself, do you really need a mixer stand or is the money just burning in your pocket? If you took my advice and bought a studio desk you wouldn't even be facing this question right now. A standard studio desk costs $99.99. Guess what? A mixer stand costs about $99.99. Nevertheless, you probably still want it. A mixer stand is generally for mixing boards with at least 12 channels. They have the ability to expand or contract to almost whatever width you choose, from as small as a 1 channel mixer to a full blown 48 channel console mixing board. Mixing board stands usually come with a tripod of three wheels at their bottom, making them extremely convenient for maneuvering on a wood tiled floor. If you want the added look of professionalism to your home studio then I suggest you buy the proper stand for your mixer as well as each and every bit of equipment you have. If your money is tighter then buying a studio desk would be a great benefit, knocking out the need for this as well as other minor stands plus have the added benefit of outboard equipment. (And of course your computer)

RECOMMENDED MIXING BOARD STANDS (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


On-Stage Stands Mix-400 Audio Mixer Stand
Price: $89.99


Quik-Lok ZM-2034 Mixerstand (No casters)
Price: $99.99


Quik-Lok QL-400 Fully adjustable mixer stand (With Casters)
Price: $129.99

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The Monitor Stands

Your desk may be too small or crowded to pack some heavy monitors on there, which probably wouldn't be heard correctly anyway with your hand, headphones, keyboard, mouse, swisher sweet, blunt wraps, zig zags, bongs, 40 ounce bottle, and 70 pound platinum chain in front of them (Man, how I want one of those big-ass chains...) This is of course not assuming you bought a specialized studio desk that thought ahead for the space to put your monitors on. So since you didn't buy that desk it's gonna cost you ya' dig? Monitor stands are used because the bass and rumbles carry directly to the surface there on (making your downstairs neighbors furious and restless) unless sat on top of specialized bass trapping acoustic foam made for this precise reason. Still it is much easier to maneuver your monitors on a stand (and it looks tight too). They were made in mind of picky mixing engineers who couldn't possibly put their monitors on their precious mixing boards. Prices for a pair of pro-quality monitor stands are $100 to $250 depending on brand, sturdiness and their weight capacity. Just like the monitors that rest on them, many times they will be sold as a single and not a pair, so make sure you buy two.


RECOMMENDED MONITOR STANDS (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


American Recorder (ART) Studio Monitor Speaker Stand (pair)
Price: $119.99


Ultimate MS-36B2 36 Studio Monitor Stand (pair)
Price: $199.99

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The Monitors

No, this type of monitor doesn't show DVDs or Windows Vista and you can't have Xzibit put them on the back of the headrests of your 2014 Cadillac CTSWTFLOL on 35 inch rims. In the audio community, professional grade speakers are called studio monitors. Why? I don't know, maybe because they monitor the sound of your studio. Their look is distinctly different from your stock PC speakers in that it's as if looking at a speaker's smooth exo-skeleton. These rectangular smooth bodied boxes are what allows you to hear your material the ways it's supposed to be heard, meaning they let sound out that covers a enormous range of what your material will sound like to your consumer. This is why it is absolutely essential you have monitors that do not "flavor" or "color" your original mix. I'm not saying have em' too dead, but what I am getting at is whatever your monitors are great at "bass", "high spectrum", you can be sure that is the precise area where you mix is weak. This is because the monitor's flavoring has allowed you to let that "bass heavy" sound go unchecked, so when you pop it in your deck you'll be saying, "Hey, Where the hell did my bass go?". If it specialized in the upper high-end spectrum you'll say "Hey, why does it sound so f**kin' dull?". Then you'll scratch your head trying your best to fix the mix over and over again until you wind up in a mental hospital bitter from failure, toothless from fatal teeth grinding and balding from constant hair pulling. And to think it was all because you had faulty monitors. How sad.

Pro-quality studio monitors are priced from $200 to $1000+ depending on the brand and quality. Many times, studio monitors are sold as singles and not pairs, so watch out for that snag when you look at the price. Another quality that studio monitors have are the ability to be active or passive. Active means that they have a source of power, Passive means that they will need a source of power. This means that although active studio monitors generally cost more, buying passive studio monitors and then a power source may be more costly in the long run.


RECOMMENDED STUDIO MONITORS (Sorted by price, lowest to highest)


Edirol MA-I5D Digital Stereo Micro Monitors (pair)
Price: $179.99


M-Audio Studiophile BX5a 70-watt Bi-Amplified Studio Monitors (pair)
Price: $199.99


Behringer TRUTH B2037A Active Monitors (pair)
Price: $339.99


Event Tuned Reference 8 TR8 Active Monitors (pair)
Price: $499.99

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The Multiple Monitors

Studio Monitors are great in that they do their best to deliver sound of your song without bias. Unfortunately, all studio monitors have some type of bias. For example, your mom and little brother are not goint to listen to your music with professional studio monitors hooked up to their car's sound system and boom boxes. It is important to get another point of reference, as many as possible, to hear your audio in different aspects which show unwanted imperfections. It is also advised to keep a stereo boom box or pair of low grade headphones in your studio to hear it from those views as well. If your music is intended for ears then no better reference point is from an actual car to listen. Use different cars and many multiple variations of sound systems from these different cars to see the effects that cetain vocal mixing techniques have on them.

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The Musician Insurance

So you get the "hood" beefin' with you. You know any minute now somebody is going to pull a "liq" on your precious music equipment that you've worked so hard to get. The money comes from over three years flippin' burgers, being socially pimped by that clown with the red hair (McDonalds) that chick with the red hair (Wendys) the King (Burger King) or that damn chihuahua (Taco Bell). You will be god-damned before sum lil wannabe thug comes takin' your shit. You got straps, but you wanna handle it the legal way. Your stuff may just get jacked and you find it in the pawn shop down the street. Call the popos, it doesn't mean anything if you don't have any proof so consider it a loss.

For every purchase you make, write the serial number down and photograph it. Also photograph the equipment from various angles. Keep both of these in printed and digital format (In case that laptop gets stolen too).

RECOMMENDED MUSICIAN INSURANCE COMPANIES

Music Pro Insurance.com
http://www.musicproinsurance.com
- The insure musicians with break-ins, disability, equipment, health, instruments and life insurance. You must be registered with BMI or ASCAP to qualify (So register)

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
http://www.aftrabr.com

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