If you want to have a truly versatile recording studio, then you will need a selection of microphones. Don't skimp on mics - if you don't capture a good sound in the first place, there is no equalizer or effects unit on Earth that will help you. A good mic is particularly important for vocals. I would recommend a large diaphragm capacitor microphone from one of the major manufacturers. These can be extraordinarily expensive, but there are a number of cheaper alternatives coming onto the market which are worth checking out. The advantage of a large diaphragm capacitor microphone is that it gives a very crisp clear sound and vocals really stand out in the mix. Small diaphragm capacitor microphones can be more accurate, but accuracy isn't always that necessary. Since small diaphragm capacitor microphones are less expensive than the larger variety, you can aspire to owning several eventually. Dynamic microphones are valuable too since classic models can be bought for just over £100. The Shure catalogue is the one to look into. Once upon a time I might have said that you shouldn't even bother looking at anything less expensive, but I have a feeling that manufacturers are going to take the budget end of the market a lot more seriously in future. But you'll still need at least one high class mic for vocals, if you do buy inexpensive mics, make sure that they have a balanced output or you may damage them with phantom power - there'll more on balancing later.

In a recording studio, your musicians will need to be able to hear themselves clearly, and also hear what they has already been recorded on the tape. For this you need a headphone amplifier and several pairs of headphones. Some studios just use an ordinary power amplifier, but you do have to take certain precautions to avoid blowing the headphones. A proper headphone amplifier with sockets for four or more pairs of headphones is best.

One final note on multitrack tape before I go on. You may be led to believe that because digital recording is very popular at the moment that it is the only way to record. If that was so, why would just about every top commercial studio be fully kitted out with analogue multitrack recorders, with digital available as an extra? Two inch twenty-four track recorders will used until they wear out, and don't forget that there are plenty of budget multitrack analogue recorders available on the secondhand market.

A pre-production studio is one where the owner starts off a project on his or her own basic equipment with the specific intention of taking it to a commercial studio to finish. Working like this has tremendous cost advantages because you don't have to pay an expensive hourly rate until you need to. And if you start work on a song and find that it's not really going anywhere, at least you have only wasted time. Basically, all a pre-production studio need consist of is some MIDI instruments and a sequencer, with amp and speakers for monitoring obviously. Don't acquire more MIDI equipment than you think you'll take to the commercial studio however otherwise you'll end up being a full-blown home recording studio owner when you probably don't want to be. The problem with doing pre-production in this way is that you have to take the whole MIDI system to the studio to transfer the basic tracks to tape. You might be better off having a multitrack recorder at home onto which you can record the basic tracks, together with timecode, and just take the recorder and tape to the commercial studio with you. A digital multitrack will fit nicely into the boot of a car. As an extension of this philosophy, it is also quite possible to do pre-production at home, do some recording in a commercial studio, copy the tracks to digital multitrack and then do some more work back at home. You will need a bit of technical knowledge, and you will have to choose a helpful studio, but this way you really do get the best of both the project and commercial studio worlds.