Why use a recording studio when I have my bedroom and pro tools on my pc? Garbage in, garbage out.

zwiener0
Dec 4, 2024
3 min read

Let's explore why recording studios are likely to remain relevant in the foreseeable future despite the pc based reality of many bedroom recording artists

The Irreplaceable Elements of a Recording Studio

A few things that literally can’t transition to software (as far as my mind can guess).

1) preamps

2) mics

3) monitors and ways to monitor

4) space

You can achieve a LOT with plugins these days . Audiophiles will argue forever about this piece of gear does this, but what’s reality?

Reality is getting the signal INTO your pc isn’t going to become easier with software and is a perfectly valid thing to have analog input gear. Your guitar is real. Your drums are often real. Your voice is real. You have to get that into that PC somehow and that’s not always easy or cheap. There’s still plenty of use for a studio in these regards.

Preamps

Preamps take the signal from the mic and make it sound good. Those preamps aren’t cheap. Good ones cost thousands of dollars… an input! Yes, an input. You want to mic a drum kit? Ehhhhh how many thousands of dollars did you want to spend on those preamps that you thought you could just make pro tools DO the work for you? It’s not like that. Pro tools is great. Ableton is great. Working in the box is nice and affordable but you do need to get the signals and sounds INTO that software still.

Microphones

Same goes for mics. Many of you might be younger than me and don’t remember the blues brothers scene where Elwood goes to pick up Jake from prison and he shows up in a used cop car that he traded a microphone for. I laughed and laughed at this scene

but later found out mics can indeed cost what a car costs. Haha. Jokes on me. And guess what, you need a lot of those to record and get that pro sound that your favorite artists are putting their music out on .

So again, Pro tools is great. Ableton is great… but how do you plan to get your sounds into those software packages?

You need mics. You need preamps.

This is not changing so long as you want to record a voice, guitar, drums, etc. People can argue all day and night over software replacing this and this piece of gear. It’s not changing the need for solid mics and preamps.

Hence, the studio will stand and serve a very real need. Saving you from needing tens of thousands of dollars in mics and preamps .

Monitoring

Next on the plate is monitoring. Can you imagine a full band recording and what that requires? You like to hear yourself right? You sort of need to hear yourself, right? Ok, each band member probably wants that same ability. That’s not as easy as it might seem when you’re dealing with bands. Multiple people needing monitoring to perform the best they can on a recording. That requires separate mixes for each individual (at least that’s certainly nice to have). Multiple people also need multiple places to perform their parts. Separate rooms that are acoustically treated. Again, this isn’t being replaced by software.

You need physical space. You need monitoring systems and ways to get the song you’re working on to each member in a way that is comfortable to them, that makes their performance the best it can be. That’s not going away any time soon. The studio will persevere.

Some of you might wonder, why not just record all in the same room, live? Sometimes you can and sometimes you might not want to! Mics pick up multiple things . If your band can do a perfect take EVERY TIME GREAT. if not you might not want to record takes in a live room with 5 other instruments that’s parts bled onto your track and now can’t be edited out and fixed. Ya get the problem that that can become? On a live take in one room everything is stuck together in some aspects. So studio space yet again, is a real need.