I want to make a studio with the sum amount of £5,000 the studio must have be capable of doing the following –

• Recording a band
• Composing for film and television
• Mastering stereo recordings

The equipment i need:

• A mixer
• A pair of monitors
• A soundcard
• Enough microphones to track a band live
• A computer system and software.

If anyone has any ideas on what i should get and why i should get it, then it would be a great help.

I'm no expert on the manner (ask rexxz for that) but 5000 pounds? You're going to have to be buying pretty cheap equipment to do all that for 5000 pounds...

What about investments on the room itself? Sound insulation, getting rid of unwanted echo/reverb?

5,000 can probably get you some alright equipment but definitely not enough to record an entire band as well as a proper mixing/mastering setup along with software and a decent set of monitors.

Just setting up a good, DAW for mixing will probably run you a couple thousand if you pay for everything (could probably get away with pirating all the software).

This, too.

For microphones I would definitely go for SM57's, they are versatile and produce a very clear sound. Can be used for guitars, vocals and drums (although I would personally use an AKG on the bass drum).

Here's a link.

http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/ ... LC_content

They cost under 100 quid so they should fit in nicely with your budget.

I know you can't do much with £5,000 but it can be done this is what i've got so far,

Mixing desk -

Mackie 1604 VLZ3 Series Compact Mixer: £629.99

Computer - RAIN Audio “Solstice”. Inc 19” widescreen monitor. £1,079.25

Soundcard - Digidesign 003 Rack Factory FireWire-Based Pro Tools LE Audio/MIDI Workstation: £725.22

Monitors - the Dynaudio BM 5A 2-Way Active Nearfield Monitor (Pair): £654.76

Microphones -

Shure SM57 Vocal / Instrument Microphone: £78.29

AKG D 112 Large-Diaphragm Dynamic Microphone: £103.73

AKG C 451 B Small-Diaphragm Microphone: £225.10

AKG Solid Tube Vacuum Tube Large-Diaphragm Microphone: £369.99

Thats what i'm intrested in so fair any tips or help or why i should get other stuff.

Is a mixer completely necessary for you? Is using ProTools also a necessity?

Knocking off both of those (using alternatives in the case of software) can save you a bit of cash and you won't be confined to using Digidesign gear if you ever want to get a better interface...

Do you have a link for that computer?

I need some sort of music software as i'm planning on using plug in's and i find pro tools to be better then cubase.
And i need a mixing desk to mix down my work and record as well.

This is the link for the computer -
http://rainrecording.co.uk/products/solstice

You might want to put aside £100 or so for a headphone mixer/amp if you plan to have more than one or two people at a time monitoring through headphones.

I'd build my own computer instead of buying a premade. you'll save a lot of money and get the same quality components. I put together my desktop for around $800 including a 22" LCD monitor, and its a quad core 2.4GHz with 4GB of RAM and two 320GB hard drives.

Additionally, I'd recommend the Audix D6 over the AKG D112. The D6 sounds much better to me.

Is there any reason you need a big mixing board? I'd rather have a Presonus Firestudio or two linked up to get 16 inputs, and mix in the box with the assistance of a Presonus Faderport. That's basically what I am running right now, except with only one Firestudio Project. Also the Presonus gear is MUCH cheaper than the Digidesign. Cubase, Sonar, and Reaper are all great alternatives to Protools.

All that frees up a lot more money, I'd invest in more microphones. Audix D2/4 for tom drums, two Shure SM81s for overheads, and a Shure SM7b for vocals. Maybe some upgraded guitar/drum equipment.

I was thinking about building my own computer, i don't really have much of a reason for a mixing board i'll have a look into Presonus Firestudio.
I have used Cubase not a big fan.
And i'll keep in mind about the mics thanks alot for the help.

If you are planning on recording live drums I hope you are thinking about the room itself. Making the room suitable can eat up all that money in about 2 seconds.

The room is all done.

I'd really think about building your own computer as opposed to buying premade one since it usually is cheaper and you can get a better product at the end. I just put one together myself and am very happy with it

Do you have a drumset or any amps? Amps are probably more of a secondary thing since it's not too big of a deal for bands to carry those around with them and they usually like using their own stuff, but having at least a basic kit would be extremely helpful since a lot of drummers will usually just bring cymbals, snares, occasionally a pedal, etc...

well for all your software i would suggest...aquiring... it off of the internet
should save you alot and then you can use the rest on hardware
EDIT:
this i show i got my software.. i use sonar 7 producer and its amazing

If you are just fucking around and recording your solo project or your band, this is fine. But if you are making money off of recording other bands, you need to buy the actual software. You wouldn't like it if a band came in and ripped you off, don't do the same to the software companies.

I still don't know if i should build my own computer because that rain computer is designed for studios and software and is 100% for music only. I know making a computer would be alot cheeper and i do know how to do it but not sure if a computer i'd make would be as good for music as a computer designed just for music.

Also I have 3 Vox amp's and a cheep drumset in the studio ready.
Thanks for the help.

You can very easily design a computer for music. My recording desktop is an Intel Q6600 2.4GHz quad core, 4GB of RAM, dual 320GB HDD, SIIG 1394a card, and a Biostar motherboard with onboard video. I could upgrade the processor and get better performance, but I haven't even went over 60% resources used with my most complex/massive arrangements. The computer cost me around $800 and that is including a 22" Acer LCD monitor.

The Rain computer is going to be basically the same thing, but put together nice and pretty for you, and probably double the cost of parts.