Home Studio Hub

Home studio advice usually starts with a shopping list. Buy this interface, these monitors, that microphone, and the music will follow. It rarely works that way. The people making the most interesting records at home tend to own less than you would expect, and they know their few tools very well.

So this hub starts with the unglamorous part: something to get sound in, something to listen on and something to record with. Our starter gear guide sets out what to buy first and in what order, and the headphone guides explain why the pairs engineers actually use are mostly old designs that never needed replacing. A pocket field recorder comes next, because it is the instrument most musicians never think to buy.

After that, it gets more fun. We follow the instruments that change how people write, from Teenage Engineering's small, opinionated machines to Buchla's West Coast synthesis and a revived 1930s Trautonium. We cover software with ideas in it, like Laurie Spiegel's Music Mouse, and the rooms where records get made, including a studio inside a 1939 lightvessel. Every post we have published on making music at home is linked below, each with a line on what you will get from it.

Start here

• Home Studio Starter Gear: skip the bundle: seven proven pieces, from the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and Shure SM57 to Yamaha HS5 monitors, and the order to buy them in.

Buying guides

• Best Studio Headphones: six pairs engineers and producers keep for years, from the Sony MDR-7506 to the Sennheiser HD 600.
• Sony MDR-7506 vs Audio-Technica ATH-M50x: the two default studio headphones compared on sound, build, repair and comfort, with a clear verdict.
• Best Field Recorders for Musicians: six pocket recorders from Zoom, TASCAM and Teenage Engineering, and why 32-bit float changes how you record.
• Teenage Engineering: Every Product Explained: every product family from pocket operators to the OP-1 field, and which one to buy first.
• Gifts for Music Producers: ten gifts that get used right away, from the EP-133 K.O. II and Arturia MicroFreak to a Moog you build yourself.

Deep dives: instruments and ideas

• Roland RE-201 Space Echo: a tape loop and spring reverb from 1974, and why it is still an instrument you play rather than a box you set.
• Torso Electronics S4: four stereo tracks through granular, filter, color and delay stages, and two years of updates that delivered the promise.
• Flexur: Sound Workshop revives the Trautonium, the 1930s instrument behind the bird sounds in Hitchcock's The Birds.
• Music Mouse Returns: Laurie Spiegel's 1986 intelligent instrument, brought back by Eventide for macOS and Windows.
• Intermynd Instruments DS-8 Drumstream: a modded PlayStation Vita turned drum machine, and music's fondness for dead hardware.
• Lightship 95: a working recording studio inside a 1939 Trinity House lightvessel moored in East London.

Latest news

• Teenage Engineering EP-2350 FX-MIC: the ting mic from the EP-40 riddim, reborn as a squeeze-to-talk lo-fi effects mic for the K.O. II.
• AnalogFX Larynx: the vocal, triple-filter sound of the rare 1982 Synton Syrinx under a 37-key keyboard, in a first run of 50.
• ASM Leviasynth Desktop: 16 voices of eight-oscillator algorithms into a real analog four-pole low-pass filter.
• CMF Clip Pro: open-ear earbuds with LDAC and Hi-Res certification at a budget price.
• Buchla Ziggy: complex oscillators, wavefolders and the lowpass gate in a $999 West Coast instrument.
• Nonlinear Labs C25: a performance synth with continuous sensors for position, velocity and polyphonic aftertouch under every key.
• WAVY: an iOS sound app built on recordings of Tibetan bowls, gongs and ocean drums instead of synthesized loops.

Further reading

For the history behind the machines, start with The 8 Best Books About Electronic Music, and for the records that came out of rooms like these, the Electronic Music Labels hub.

Where to go next

• Vinyl & Records Hub: turntables, speakers, record care and the reissues worth buying.
• Electronic Music Labels Hub: starter guides to Warp, Kranky, Mute, Factory and the scenes around them, plus new ambient and electronic records.
• Sneakers & Style Hub: heritage boots, raw denim, workwear and the stories behind the sneakers.
• Desk & Everyday Carry Hub: everyday carry, mechanical keyboards, minimalist and repairable tech, bags and watches.
• Design & Art Hub: Dieter Rams, the design books worth owning, patient makers and the artists worth knowing.
• Film & Games Hub: A24 horror, restored cult films, new releases and games that do more with less.
• The Unknowndivide Buying Guides: every guide on the site in one list.
• Incoming: the records, gear and films still on their way.