Call it the democratization of music. We’re long past the days when recording studios were lavish, expensive destinations only available to established artists. Everything you need for practicing and recording at home is well within your reach — and your setup can be portable enough for a live gig, too. If you’re looking to build a versatile setup for practicing, recording, and performing with basically any instrument, you might be surprised at how accessible it is.
I can only call myself a professional musician on a technicality (I got paid to play exactly once), but I am a guitarist who’s gigged weekly for fourteen years. In my pursuit of a guitar setup that would work on the stage and at home, I’ve tried out a wide range of hardware for music practice, production, and performance: laptops, audio interfaces, guitars, headsets, amp modelers, direct boxes, and more. I still have some pieces that I want to improve, but my current setup is incredibly versatile and portable, with plenty of room for customization. Here, I’ll walk you through the basics of building a similar setup, with some tips and tricks for maximizing your budget.
Establish a control hub with a PC
When I first started researching PC hardware requirements for music recording, the conventional wisdom was that you didn’t need much. The minimum hardware requirements for most recording apps are pretty modest. You don’t need much in terms of connectivity — a spare USB Type-A port is all you need to connect your music gear, and the port doesn’t even need all that much bandwidth. Following this advice, I simply repurposed an old desktop as my first PC for music recording.
What I’ve learned since is that the conventional wisdom holds true, but only to a point. While the basic apps that most folks use for recording music can be easy on the hardware requirements, the plugins that musicians often use with this software can be resource hogs. My old desktop simply couldn’t handle the performance demands of certain plugins. The breaking point for me was when I tried a new grand piano plugin for my keyboard MIDI controller, and I heard distracting crackle every 5-10 seconds. I replaced that desktop in a hurry.
The other side of the equation is cooling. Audible fan noise is an absolute no-go anytime that you’re recording with a microphone. Unless you have the physical space to completely separate your recording from your recording equipment, you need a PC that stays silent while under relatively heavy CPU workloads. Too many standard thin-and-light laptops don’t live up to that requirement.
Based on that experience, here’s what I recommend for your PC:
- Prioritize great cooling. Find a laptop or desktop with large fans, good airflow, and thick heatsinks.
- You don’t need the most powerful PC out there, but you’ll easily run into the limits of an entry-level model. A PC with a modern AMD Ryzen 5 or Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU should be your starting point.
- You’ll need room to grow when it comes to connectivity. If you’re shopping for a laptop, opt for one that offers more than a barebones USB selection. A docking station or USB hub can fill in the gap.
With all that mind, I usually point people toward midrange gaming laptops for music recording. Since they’re built to keep both a CPU and GPU cool under load, they usually have more than enough headroom to stay quiet while you’re recording, especially if they offer a “silent” performance mode. Gamers also tend to connect a wide variety of peripherals, so their laptops often have more USB ports than your average laptop.
While you won’t get much use out of a gaming laptop’s GPU while you’re recording, it will come in handy if you branch out into video editing. Considering how many of today’s musicians are getting their start through online platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok, streaming and video editing might become part of your music life sooner than you think.
Get your equipment talking to each other with a USB audio interface
After you have a PC set up and ready, it’s time to create an access point for your PC to receive the signal from your instruments. What you need is a USB audio interface.
These small boxes facilitate three kinds of connections. First, they connect to your PC via a USB cable, letting software on your PC control the show. Second, they give you line/instrument inputs, along with controls for each line. Finally, they give you audio output options, either to a headset or to your studio monitors. These outputs are vital. Since they come right from the interface, you get direct monitoring of whatever instrument you’re playing. Running your monitoring through your PC introduces intolerable latency. It’s basically impossible to create music when you hear every note you play a heartbeat after you play it.
You’ll find a variety of USB audio interfaces out there. They’re differentiated first and foremost by how many instrument inputs they offer. Entry-level interfaces let you connect just one, which is fine for getting started, but they’re easy to outgrow. As you pick a USB audio interface, look for the number and kinds of available inputs, the quality of the preamps, and the bundled software.
Hook up your instruments to your audio interface
USB audio interfaces can be quite flexible when it comes to accepting audio signals, but the picture is that you need to find a way to take whatever sound you’re creating and run it through a wire to your interface, whether that’s through a balanced input (XLR) or through a ¼” cable.
A microphone is your standard play here for vocals and any instrument that makes audible noise. I’ll let other folks weigh in on which microphone to buy, but I’ll argue that you shouldn’t need to spend much more than $100 (USD), if that, for your first recording setup. It’s possible to spend a lot more, and there are reasons for doing so, but you won’t regret having an all-around workhorse mic in your studio, even after you upgrade down the line. Just make sure that it’s not a USB microphone, as those won’t play nicely with most audio interfaces out there.
For guitarists — or anyone using a pickup to capture the sound of their instrument — I recommend starting a pedalboard that will go between your instrument and the audio interface. Pedals will give you versatile ways of adjusting and modulating your instrument’s sound before it hits the interface. An electric guitar basically requires some kind of amp modeler in this scenario, as these guitars are simply not made to be heard without the tone-adjusting qualities of an amplifier. I’m also a big proponent of a direct box / line isolator combo, as it will give you balanced outputs so that you can connect directly to a soundboard whenever you’re performing live. And once you’ve started a pedalboard with these components, you’ll have the room and the setup to add in other elements, like reverb, distortion, equalization, compression, modulation, and more.
Start editing and recording with software
Using your USB audio interface with your PC will involve a bit of setup. You’ll get basic functionality just with some drivers and control software. For instance, you’ll be able to plug a guitar into the USB audio interface, hit a note, and hear it through the headset that you’ve plugged into the interface’s monitoring jack. You’ll even be able to play along with a song that you’re streaming on your PC, hearing both yourself and the track through the same headset. But to record audio and make music, you’ll need a digital audio workstation (DAW).
It’s quite likely that your USB audio interface will be bundled with a DAW. For ease of use, it’s always tempting to roll with that option. You do have options beyond the bundled software, of course. Apps like Logic Pro, Ableton Live, and FL Studio are all out there, each with their own claim to fame. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of Reaper DAW. It’s free to try, has very low system requirements, offers cross-platform support and a highly customizable interface, and it’s very affordable if you decide that you like it.
Make some noise: headset or monitors?
With your instrument connected to your PC via a USB audio interface, you now have some incredible possibilities at your fingertips. You can load up a song on your PC and play along with your instrument, listening to it all through one headset. You can record a track in your DAW so that you can play it back and record a second track with it later. Everything from professional-grade recording to low-stress practice is right at your fingertips.
You will need a way to hear yourself play, though, and for latency reasons it should be a headset or set of studio monitors that you can plug in directly to your USB audio interface. Typically, that means ¼” jacks, not USB-C or wireless. You might need a 3.5mm to ¼” adapter to connect your wired headphones, but those adapters are cheap.
In my experience, a headset is vital and monitors are a nice bonus. If you’re laying down vocal tracks, for instance, you can’t have your backing track pumping out through a set of speakers. Your microphone will pick that up, muddying up your recording. Monitors also require you to be thoughtful of your neighbors. If you live in an apartment, or a home with other people, you might not be able get as loud as you’d like.
Some thoughts on buying headphones
The question is what headset to buy. And that can be a tough decision. Google the phrase “best studio headphones,” and you’ll find options with prices ranging up to multiple thousands of dollars. Those price tags can be a tough pill to swallow for a musician just getting started.
For my needs, I’m quite happy with my latest headset, the ROG Kithara. This open-back headset uses planar magnetic drivers to deliver pristine audio with an absolutely massive soundstage, which is perfect for my stereo pedalboard. Since they have an open-back design, they do leak a bit of audio into the room. That may be a concern if you’re recording vocals, in which case a closed-back headset might be your best play. But for mixing and recording instruments through a direct line, the Kithara is an excellent choice.
I’ll throw out one more thought about headsets: every headset I’ve ever bought has been put to use outside of recording and mixing. Once I find a headset that I like, I tend to put it to work just about everywhere, and by everywhere, I mean gaming. That’s why I tend to gravitate toward headsets rather than headphones: the additional versatility provided by the mic makes me feel better about the purchase, because I know that I’ll get more use out of it.
Last but not least: take your rig on the road
At the start of this guide, I promised that you’d end up with a portable, road-ready setup for your audio. But then I started talking about PCs and audio interfaces, and perhaps you’ve getting concerned that I’ve lost the plot.
But here’s the thing: once you have a pedalboard equipped with an amp modeler and a DI/LI output box, you’re only one step away from being able to connect to any soundboard in any venue out there. All you need is a pedalboard case. Pack up your instrument, sling your pedalboard case over your shoulder, and you can connect to a soundboard with a standard XLR cable. Your sound technicians will love that you’re not filling the stage with noise that they have to work around, and you’ll have incredible control over how you sound.
Back at home, it’ll be easy to plug things back in and start practicing. With your pedals already hooked up on your board, you’ll just have to connect a wire or two to your audio interface, and you’ll be jamming in no time.