Need advice on home recording equipment

[Kbass6319]

First, I know absolutely nothing about what I am asking here…it’s for my son. He’s a very talented young man who has a great voice and will randomly sing with friends who have bands. He also plays guitar and harmonica. I want to set him up a nice studio and need help determining what equipment I should get to do the following:

1) Voice Tracking – Something like karaoke where he can sing along with a song, but remove the original artist voice track. Is that possible? Maybe just a high-end karaoke system.
2) Have multiple inputs for mics, guitar, drums, keyboard, drums, etc.
3) Allow him to mix music/tracks
4) Quality amps and speakers

Like I said, I really don’t know much about this and would like to put together something nice and surprise him. If possible, I would like the equipment rack mounted so we can move amps, etc. easily. Any suggestions on what would be needed and where to buy would be greatly appreciated! Budget is about $25k

[James Perrett]

One tip - don't buy everything at once as he may well find all the new gear overwhelming. I've seen it happen a few times where a musician has decided that they want their own studio so they go out and buy a package of gear and then end up never using it. So the best approach is to start with something basic but expandable so that it can be expanded later if needed.

Do you have a room set aside for the studio? Do you already have a computer? Does your son have any experience with recording software and, if so, what software?

[John Willett]

Re 4 - active speakers are normally better than an amp and separate loudspeakers as they have an active crossover and separate internal amplifies for each driver - better quality and less cables.

Are you in the UK and can yo get to London.

If so, go to KMR or The Studio Shop - they will give good advice, let you see the items and let you try them out.

Certainly a good way of getting it sorted.

Your son is extremely lucky to have a father like you.

[MOF]

It might be better to fund a session in a studio with one of his bands first to see if he warrants that level of investment.
Is he interested in home recording or performing live and does he compose his own material?
If he does want a home studio I wouldn’t spend anywhere near £25k unless that includes a space for a full band, control room and sound isolation and acoustic treatment.
Items one and two are very different setups, the first is easier and much cheaper and yes you can get backing tracks without vocals on for your son to add his vocal to.

[Mike Stranks]

The OP has said he has 25k$ to spend...

Therefore he's unlikely to be in the UK... even in these sterling-troubled times most of us haven't got that desperate that we've switched our calculations to another currency!

[Mike Stranks]

OP: Surprising him is a nice touch, but it could go wrong...

Do you know for sure he wants a recording facility?
Do you know for sure that he wants the sort of set-up you envisage?

If you're potentially spending this amount of money I'd suggest that being sure that it'll be money spent appropriately will be important.

Sadly, sometimes surprises can backfire... but I wish I'd had a dad who could have afforded to splash that equivalent on kit for me when I was young! Good for you!

[Wonks]

Combining what MOF and Mike have said, It may be worthwhile first buying him some time in a recording studio to fain familiarity with the equipment and the process.

If you read through this forum about home studios, the foremost advice is to install as much acoustic treatment as you can. It's not glamorous, but it can really make a huge difference in how the studio sounds, what the recordings sound like and make it much easier to get good results that translate well to different playback systems/locations.

Going DIY for this is the cheapest route, but there are reasonably priced treatment kits available (also some overpriced kits).

[The Elf]

Surprises are nice, but this isn't the time for one. Get him involved and go get professional advice. And spend no more than a fifth of that to start with - the rest can go into a savings account until he can determine for himself what else he needs.

[Sam Spoons]

Where is the studio going to be? Bedroom, living room, dedicated room at home or commercial space? Only the latter really has the potential to produce release quality recordings of a full rock band (unless you live in an unusually large house) and acoustic treatment will probably leave you without any money left for equipment.

[MOF]

Looks like another time waster!!!