I am sure there could be a thousand and one items under this heading, but here are a fewƒ

Headphones are most essential. There are always times when you want to hear something just that little bit more clearly. They are useful for dealing with noise-conscious neighbours too (you tie them up with the cable!). If you intend to drive foldback headphones for musicians’ monitoring from a power amplifier, then you should use high impedance models, preferably all the same type. Make sure that the impedance is 600 ohms or greater

NAB adaptors are for fitting 10 1/2 inch spools onto stereo tape recorders.

The thread adaptor is the bit that goes between the mic clip and the stand. For some unknown reason, mic clips will usually not just screw straight on. Thread adaptors are somehow very easy to lose.

Patchcords are necessary for hooking up equipment via your patchbay. The notebook is for the obvious purpose. You can take too many notes during a session. But when you discover an interesting combination of settings, it is useful to make a quick record.

Spare fuses, of course, are vital. Sooner or later one will expire from old age and if you do not have the right spare to hand, then either the session grinds to a halt or your equipment’s safety (yours too) will be compromised by using a fuse of an incorrect rating.

When you have all of these items in your home studio, you can consider yourself well-equipped. Actually, it depends on your particular circumstances what you need, and you might have a use for some things I haven’t mentioned. But as far as small items go, the most essential thing to have is a knowledge of where you can get hold of something when the need arises. That and a good idea of what’s available. So, in addition to the bits and pieces shown here, you need catalogues from the studio equipment suppliers for your bookshelf. They make interesting reading, I can tell you (but be advised that some suppliers make a charge for their catalogues). The suppliers I use regularly are Canford Audio, Electromail, Future Film Developments and Studio Spares. From a combination of these four, I find that I can source pretty well everything I need, at the right price (I don’t get a discount for plugging their services unfortunately). But I would certainly recommend any home recordist to investigate the other companies. They may have bargains I haven’t discovered yet.

If you have read 'How to Set Up Home Recording Studio’ right through, then by now you must have formed some ideas on how to go about actually doing it. As I have said from time to time along the way, it’s not my intention to present a complete blueprint for a home studio but more to supply a collection of ideas, all of which are relevant and, added together, will supply a large proportion of the necessary information. As I have begun to realise over the years, audio is a very 'bitty’ subject. There is no straight-line path from ignorance to complete mastery. Gradually, you pick up more and more information, then suddenly it all gels together and you really do understand what’s going on. At this stage in 'How to Set Up a Home Recording Studio’ it is time to reflect on the process of assembling a studio system. To go back and examine the key facts so that knowledge gained will hopefully be knowledge retained. Here are some of the questions I have been asked by home and project studio enthusiasts. I hope the answers shed more light on the subject for you.