WHAT EQUIPMENT A RECORDING STUDIO SHOULD HAVE
When you think of a recording studio, you probably just imagine a band in a room, with someone outside fiddling with some controls. Actually, there is an awful lot more to it than that. This article will show you what equipment a recording studio should have in order to produce great music.

Professional studios normally contain three main rooms with the option for several more, depending on the size of the company. The first is the studio room itself, where the music that is to be recorded is played. It should be large enough to accommodate the maximum number of musicians you think you will need at one time. There is also the issue of fitting in equipment other than the usual guitar/microphone/drums/. Is the room big enough to fit a grand piano for instance?

The second room is the control room, this is where the engineer uses their skills to record the music, altering it as it they see fit. This is usually the home of extremely advanced and expensive equipment, often with the capability for 24-track digital recording, as well as mixing and mastering.

The third room is the machine room, an area reserved for the any machinery that may generate too much noise, thus affecting the recording. The more upmarket studios will have a lounge, containing a kitchenette, and ample room for clients to relax between sessions.

All recording studios need an isolation booth. This is a room within the studio that is soundproofed for two reasons. The first is to keep out all external sounds like passing traffic and so forth, otherwise these noises will compromise the quality of the recording. Second, it needs to keep in all the internal sounds and should have high quality insulation material spread all over its walls. One of the key methods used by professional studios is to create a double wall with space between each wall, this space is filled with insulation material also.

Again, depending on the studio, there may be two isolation rooms. The first will contain just the vocalist and the microphone usually. The main studio and control room should be able to see the singer in this room. The second isolation room is much larger, as it contains equipment such as amps, as well as additional musicians.

As you can see, a professional recording studio contains a large amount of expensive equipment, but this expense is justified by the quality of the music that emanates from it. And if the studio gets frequent visits from professional musicians, it will pay off its cost in no time.