Est. Reading Time - 5 minutes
Est. Reading Time - 5 minutes
Affiliate
Below are services and products I can’t recommend enough!! If you’re looking for places to get music, host a podcast, start a website, or you’re in the market for a mic, interface, audio recorder…well I could go on. Fellow media nerds, this is your place!
Just a note, these are affiliate links! Purchasing any item below using the links will give me a small commission at no extra cost to you! That said, for physical products I’m only affiliated with Amazon (for now… 😉 ) and I’m sure you can find some of these things at a cheaper price! So shop around a bit if anything interests you!
You can read more about how I choose products to recommend and brands to partner with on my Ethics Policy post.
Services
Speakers
Speakers, studio monitors, or just monitors, are an essential for any audio and/or film production studio. Especially if you work in television and film.
Plus they’re one of those iconic symbols in a studio that we all just love to see!
Studio monitors come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities. The best way to know what you’d like and need is to listen to a bunch of them in a well setup audio space. But that’s not always possible for the beginner…but don’t worry!
Below are solid recommendations with my personal stamp of approval. I use the Kali Audio LP6 first gen myself but out of the list below I’m partial to the Adam line.
Podcasting
Ah, the humble podcast. Podcasting is one of my “bread-and-butter” loves. One of my first biggest opportunities working in audio was as a student worker at BYU – Idaho on their Broadcast and Post Production floor.
And what is a podcast if not a mini broadcast? 😉
Ok, maybe not entirely the same. That’d be streaming. But there are certainly some major overlaps and take-aways from my time mixing on a Euphonix and LAWO consoles that I can share with the home podcaster.
One such take-away…
"Where the heck do I even start?"
It’s a valid question. Podcasting is no small feat when you really start to get into it. And while it’s entirely possible, and even recommended, to start by using just your phone there will come a time when you need a better system.
So below are my top recommendations for microphones and a dedicated podcast recording/mixing “mini-console.”
Audio Interfaces
The audio interface. The heart of any audio studio.
To put it simply (more in depth blog incoming soon), an audio interface helps translate analogue sound into digital sound to be used or recorded by your computer. They’re also used to route, or move audio, from one location to another, such as your native computer sound (think YouTube playback) to a conference call on Zoom.
In short, an audio interface can be extremely basic or extremely complex in its features.
While I HIGHLY encourage, if not outright suggest that you study an interface before buying to get one that fits your needs, below are listed some beginner-to-intermediate friendly models that will get you started.
Audio Field Recorder
If an audio interface is the heart of the studio then the audio field recorder is the heart of any location or mobile recording, such as a film set.
Cameras are notorious for having a dumpster fire of an audio preamp. They just sound horrible. Which is why professional location audio mixers and sound recordists can spend upwards of tens of thousands of dollars building a location audio kit to capture audio for films, documentaries, sound design for games, etc.
Luckily for the common content creator, technology has advanced in such a way that you can have outstanding audio recorders for next to nothing…comparatively.
While these recommendations would have a hard time competing against the standard SoundDevice 633/664 model used worldwide in film, these are fantastic choices for YouTube, student or indie-films, and even podcasts.
Controllers and Keyboards
Controllers and Keyboards. You might be a bit confused as to why these two are categorized together.
Controllers help audio engineers or content creators by giving them quick and easy tactile solutions to improve their workflow.
In other words, they make working in the studio faster, simpler, and more fun!
Admittedly, “controllers” is a very broad term. There are all sorts of controllers.
Monitor controllers, such as the Mackie Big Knob, DAW controllers like the PreSonus Faderport or Behringer X-Touch, even dedicated panning controllers.
While these devices aren’t necessary they can certainly help smooth out your personal workflow.
Keyboards, on the other hand, have evolved to become an instrument/controller hybrid. Composers know this well as digital keyboards are a must for triggering library sounds when working. But these handy devices are also a high priority for the sound designer who wants a better way to craft sounds from a sampler while working!
