A few months ago I bought an old (2008) iMac with the idea of using it as a basis for getting into home recording. The iMac was in near mint condition, ran fine, and at only $30, a great deal. The plan was to start off cheap, with older equipment, and gradually update into newer apps and hardware as I gained proficiency. Coincidentally, all gear and software picked up for the first stage of this project was made in the mid 2000s.
One upside to having a relatively ancient iMac is the ability to run an older operating system (Mac OS 10.6.8) that supports obsolete yet otherwise fine sounding audio interfaces. For example, the M-Audio Firewire Solo that I picked up for $25, including a boxed Logic Studio disc. For a beginner the Logic recording app seemed a bit too advanced, but $5 at the local tech recycling place bought a set of iLife '08 discs, which includes GarageBand 4. That app, with its colorful "Fisher Price" graphic user interface, is an intuitive and easy to learn introduction to computer based multi-track recording.
Other recent purchases include a made in Illinois Shure KSM27 large diaphragm condenser microphone (like new, $120 from Music Go Round in MN), and a mint condition Utah made Bellari RP503 Tube Channel strip w/ tube preamp, optical compressor and EQ ($75 locally on c.l.).
From my gigging days, I already had a few dynamic mics and cables and other misc stuff such as old junky instruments. Our teenage kid, who's taken a few audio production courses and is way ahead of me in all this, loaned an Akai MPK Mini keyboard controller and a microphone pop filter.
Older Japan made Sony MD7506
headphones, modded with BeyerDynamic velour ear pads, do monitoring duty. Yamaha RH1C open on-ear 'phones are an alternate reference. In other rooms of the house, high quality vintage speakers - 1970s JBL,
'50s Electro-Voice, and '90s Boston Acoustics - are available for checking mixes. And a portable Firewire backup drive adds some digital security.
The recording equipment was first set up downstairs, but it's sometimes noisy on street level during the day:
Diesel trash trucks and delivery vehicles accelerating up the hill can really kill a good recording buzz. The quietest spot in the house, aside from the bathrooms, is our recently re-painted and newly re-rugged upstairs bedroom. The thick all wool Scandinavian patterned rug really brought the room's ambient noise level down.
As far as bedrooms go, it's not large, or small - basically 11' x 14', plus an alcove at one end with a sliding door to the bathroom on the left, cabinets and sink in the middle, and a roomy walk-in closet on the right. Between the big Victorian style chest of drawers and the foot of the bed is enough space for a cozy working area:
In the above picture, a green camping towel draped over the end of the white duvet cover keeps things clean, and family life harmonious.
As well as being quiet enough, the bedroom has a nice recorded sound, with a good balance of reflective and
absorptive surfaces. Here's the alcove at the west end of the room - this mostly reflective surfaced space really lets an open back tube amp breathe:
Converse sneakers and an old Shure condenser mic - a great combo:
Every night after putting the iMac to sleep, all the odds and ends get picked up and put away, a 10 to 15 minute job, and the little table goes to its bed-time spot.
We discussed moving the 1940s dresser chest, and putting a studio desk along that wall, but the idea of having an easily taken down setup appealed to me.
I met a guy at a music store who had a cautionary tale: He'd gotten the
studio bug, remodeled a spare bedroom into a recording space, including sound treatment panels, and bought
over $20,000 in equipment and software. After his studio sat mostly unused for 5 years, he realized he didn't
have many ideas to record, and ended up selling his gear for pennies.
In my case, no doubt an extra few $ worth of high end hardware would result in a better recorded sound. But it's only a fun hobby, and so far I've spent (checks notes) less than $300. That's low buck, and the audio quality is beyond good enough for my far from golden ears. Plus, I'm fairly sure my own imagination is at least equal to my low budget.
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Click or tap on any picture above to see larger, higher def images. All photos taken with a Lumix ZS25 travel zoom camera.
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