What would you suggest a 13 year old get for a bedroom studio set up...under $4,000?

OK...as question asks.

Last spring I found myself conducting a workshop on recording studios...and what they are to a bunch of high schoolers up here in our mighty community. Today, I was asked by one student who went and worked his tailbutt off this summer to come up with $4,000 with which to get certain hardware to put together a bedroom studio.

He has a couple of things now, a guitar and an amp...guitar being a Squier and said amplifier being a Viper 15(?)... and the other thing, which I forgot to mention, was that he has an i7 based laptop with Audacity already loaded on it...

So, what would you suggest he look into?

First off, my utmost admiration for your student for working and saving that kind of money for a dedicated end.
If he put that kind of dedication into making it happen, I can only imagine what he will do with it.
The first and most obvious choice is an interface that serves his needs.
He doesn't want to go cheap here, but a decent quality unit with limited inputs may be sufficient.
A MIDI controller is a huge benefit at reasonable cost. Next to my interface, my controller is probably the best investment I have ever made.
Is he interested in drums (who isn't?) There are several reasonably priced e-drums on the market.
Monitors. Another biggie. At a minimum, 6", preferably 8" drivers.
My own setup includes Alesis Monitor 1 MkII passive  monitors with a Samson 300 watt power amp. Not the most popular choice, but I love it.
I would suggest he thoroughly research his options before buying. Buy overkill before barely adequate. There is nothing like being left short on what you wanted.
And of course Sonar. We want to keep this kid in the fold, right?

First... KUDO's to the kid for earning $4k working a summer job.

I would recommend that he start out with only what he needs to get started, and spend and add what he needs when he is ready to move to the next stage..... he will know when that happens.


The temptation to spend the $4k all at once to get "the ultimate bedroom studio" is very strong. But he should resist it.

Since he has a laptop, a guitar and a small amp..... here's what I would recommend.

1.  MC6 $40 or X1/2 essential $100?
2.  a decent USB interface  $250
3.  a POD for the guitar  $300
4. nice set of studio monitors 5" cones $350/pr
5. sub woofer  $300 to $400
6. head phones... between $100 to $200
7. good condensor mic  $400 or less

All that will set him back around $1500 to $1800 give or take. It will get him started and allow him to learn the basics and do some really nice recordings based on his experience level. 

Beyond that... as the need emerges, drum software and other things to make the recordings sound better can be bought..... 

I do not recommend that he walk into a store and announce that he wants to set up a studio and has $4000 to spend to do it..... they will sell him $4k worth of stuff....and he may not need it. With the list above he gets started and only spends half of what he saved. I think that is a reasonable way to get started. Heck I got started for much less than that and added what I needed as I realized I needed a better way to do something. 

Industrious lad for certain. 

The main thing is to advise him to spend wisely. Which, if he earned that in a few short months.... I would assume he has a good head on his shoulders already when it come to finances. 

PS... don't forget the Lava Lamp. 

Through hard experience I've learned to concentrate on, if not high-end stuff, high-quality.  If he is doing acoustic work (which is sounds like) and has his monitoring taken care of, my suggestion would be 1.  decent room and 2. decent input chain.

A typical bedroom doesn't necessarily sound bad - with a bed for absorbtion and shelves and dressers providing some diffusion you can make it work w/ a quilt in the corner.  A few hundred dollars in some professional quality pieces can make it sound better - both monitoring and recording.

Most interfaces provide good enough conversion and preamps.  I use TC and the TCK 6 for $200 is a best for bang interface if you don't need midi (which usb can add cheaply) - Martin Walker (I think but one of the SOS writers) claimed it the best sounding lower cost interface.  FW only, and 1 preamp and 2 outs.  The Twin is a step up w/ none of those drawbacks.  But Focusrite or Roland or just about any modern interface should work.  Just be careful about shorting your ins/outs - you really need 4 outs at least.  I haven't found much difference in quality among the same pricepoint - not enough to sweat over, anyway.  If he has the money - lynx or RME would be a step up from $600 or more.

But doing acoustical stuff the input chain is the most important and mic(s) are the key.  If he has $4000 - 6000 a good mic is a must.  For $1000 the Fet Bock is a killer.  You can use it on most sounds and in the typical room and chain you aren't going to get much better sound even if you spent 10 times that much - certainly not 10 times the quality.  I use Oktava's here at home and for $1000 you can get 2 SDC and the 319 LCD and you don't have to worry about quality or when doing stereo.  I just had my 319 modded and it is an even better mic.  Another contender is the Cad 100 and series.  High quality and cheap for the sound, tho in the UK it might not be as cheap.  No, not a Newman despite the hype, but a fraction of the cost.

I have some good preamps, but starting out one doesn't have to go hog wild.  I just picked up a Warm preamp - very good for vintage sound.  The ISA One is a good, modern sounding preamp, lots of extras (headphone, transformer DI, routing).  Either can be had for -$500 and once the kid gets better at recording the attributes of a good preamp are cool.  But a more useful tool is a stereo comp.  Use it going in and coming out for stereo mixdown.  You can go hog wild on this - it is a once in a career buy.  A cheaper way to go is the Really Nice stuff - a stereo transformerless preamp hooked up to the RNC (stereo compressor) for $700 is a stereo chain you will use and can keep.  A little compression going in and more coming out through high quailty preamps.  The preamp makes the compressor balanced in/outs.  Any of the above stuff will give a good, professional base to expand your setup from.

@

Toss the KRK 5" for some real monitors! The 5" are especially bad. 6" and 8" are much better, but still very hi fi. The 5" suffers from one note bass syndrome. Very distinct hump sound at 80Hz ish in an attempt to extend the perception of bass response.

But seriously, if he's getting started, I'd tell him to expect to want to save some money for a monitor upgrade in the future, but the KRK 5" would be fine to start out on for now.


Most important thing though is to get him and his Dad to head down town, get some 503 and build a vocal booth/guitar cabinet! This is what's going to take things the farthest.

Then of course the student version of SONAR (same thing but cheaper - just not licensed for professional $$ making use).


I'd probably almost suggest getting just a cheap mic for now. Just like an AT2020 or something. That way he can learn the limitations of it and learn to make the most of what he has. Then is he breaks it it doesn't matter. It's good to have a cheap condensor your don't care about for just recording demo parts. That way you can just leave it lying around wherever for quick idea recordings. Of course a 57 as well. Some mic stands. Pop filter. Don't need too much. Maybe a Korg NanoKontrol and NanoKey interface for some MIDI. Those things are like $60 each. Great prices!

Sounds like they a serious about getting him setup and I try to keep in mind he is 13, but working hard for what he wants.

I wouldnt let him spend it all-I like the college thing as well

What ya do get, get quality and try and persuade to save some and not dump it all. 

Id start with enough to keep him busy and occupied then let him get more after that as he sees or is ready for it.

PLEASSSSEEEE!

Protect the youngster from the magazines.

;-)

Get him set up with free subscription to TapeOp... which is dedicated to speaking about the craft of making records.

All the other magazines are dedicated to the craft of shopping.

:-)




I'm curious... what sort of music is he interested in?

I'd hope to guide oe encourage him towards playing with other humans if he has even the slightest interest in that.

Does he have some buddies and is he playing some with them? Learning how to be creative in a small work group is a very valuable experience.


Anyways, just more of my personal opinions...

all the best,
mike

Reddi DI $500 (bass, guitar, synths)
Apollo $1450 (All in one ADDA, multiple preamps, killer plugins)
Copper head U29 microphone - $1000 (used but just a great vocal mic)
Pair of pencil condensor $500
SM58 - $100
Protools $600
GIK Bass traps $ 500

Well, under the original budget I would have reccomended the above.

At $2000 I would get on ebay or CL to build out. Also GC used site.
Find a used Apollo and a $500 mic. You are set.