Setting up a studio in my garage - General

so for the past year I've been recording in my kitchen, since I don't have room anywhere else to record. but over the past couple of months I have been cleaning out my garage so that I can move my "studio" in there. at the moment I'm using a line 6 UX2 hooked up to my computer, an MXL 990 condenser mic, and a pair of AKG k-44 headphones since I dont have room for monitors. after I clean the garage I have to get an electrician to set up the garage with electric and then I have to put up sheetrock and then I'm all set to do whatever else I need to do such as soundproofing or whatever. I'm fairly new to home recording and studios in general. I have been inside a professional studio 3 or 4 times, once to record and the other times just to watch since my aunt is recording an album there. so I have a simple idea of what is required in a studio. but I figured I should probably ask on here before I jump right into it. I can take a pic of the garage if that would help here's a pic of my current set up: [IMG]http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/7854/computersetup.jpg[/IMG] so as you can see I really do not have any space for the moment. until I can move into my garage

That's pretty cool. I'm set up in my basement. How stable are temperatures in your garage? I know I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving all my equipment out in my garage.

[QUOTE=Gen Annoyance;39059382]That's pretty cool. I'm set up in my basement. How stable are temperatures in your garage? I know I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving all my equipment out in my garage.[/QUOTE] the plan is to also get air conditioning and heating so it should be good. if I had a basment that didn't resemble a dungeon hallway I would use it but yeah.

Be careful how you handle the air conditioning and heating, as both of these things can create a substantial amount of background noise, particularly with condenser mics, unless handled very delicately.

[QUOTE=falloutguy;39059432]the plan is to also get air conditioning and heating so it should be good. if I had a basment that didn't resemble a dungeon hallway I would use it but yeah.[/QUOTE] Don't you want to record everything with hall reverb? and yeah if you're gonna get heat/air see if you can get those put on a separate breaker than your audio. Remove as much interference from there as possible. I have a space heater that puts shit into my audio, so I have it plugged into an extension cord and ran to another room to get it off my breaker.

Thanks guys ill be sure to ask about that.

Make sure if you're mixing + mastering a track that the -acoustics- (thanks healthpoint) in your garage aren't shitty so it'll make like a bassy echo all around the room otherwise you'll have alot of trouble trying to perfect your track otherwise, great idea and I hope it goes reall well for you :)

[QUOTE=Dead Madman;39064302]Make sure if you're mixing + mastering a track that the [B]acoustics[/B] in your garage aren't shitty so it'll make like a bassy echo all around the room otherwise you'll have alot of trouble trying to perfect your track otherwise, great idea and I hope it goes reall well for you :)[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=healthpoint;39064690][/QUOTE] thanks i had a feeling i was fucking something up i hope everyone in mgr has learned to forgive me for my shittiness in the musical terminology department :C

Learn how to make your own bass traps with Rockwool and how to deploy them, the room will sound 100x better for it.

[QUOTE=Dead Madman;39064723]thanks i had a feeling i was fucking something up i hope everyone in mgr has learned to forgive me for my shittiness in the musical terminology department :C[/QUOTE] Don't sweat it, I was just being a dick :P. It was clear what you meant.

thanks guys. how would I go about making the acoustics better? I'm on a pretty low budget but I have a while before I can actually use my garage so I have time to save up

[QUOTE=falloutguy;39086364]thanks guys. how would I go about making the acoustics better? I'm on a pretty low budget but I have a while before I can actually use my garage so I have time to save up[/QUOTE] Google some diy methods of acoustic treatment. I can safely say though that if your room is a cube, you are going to have some trouble with sound reflecting off the walls. You need a soft material that will absorb the sound on the walls. Look up acoustic treatment for a better idea.

uhm i'd first consider the acoustics of the room you are recording in before you start thinking about acoustic treatment, if you're recording drums you probably don't want to have a soundproof room or else they'll sound really dead in my experience.

I don't plan on recording drums, I usually do most of that on my computer also the reoom is rectangular, not a square. my garage is completely separated from my house