I can’t afford the latest gear, only second-hand stuff. Does that mean my recordings are going to be rubbish?

Not necessarily, but make sure that you give the equipment a thorough test before you buy, and ask to see the owner’s original receipt or you may be buying stolen goods which will be taken from you when the police catch up with them. Secondhand reel-to-reel tape recorders can be a particular source of trouble. Test every track, and check the amount of head wear. The wider the flat patch on the head, the sooner it will be time for an expensive replacement. Tape handling must be smooth. Secondhand DAT machines are best avoided since they are full of high precision components. A DAT machine may be able to record and play back perfectly, but its tapes may be unplayable on any other machine. If you are buying a secondhand mixer, test every channel. Check knobs and faders for 'scratchiness’. If you are buying a synth, test every note and every knob, control and switch.

No! And tell your parents that I said so, if they are trying to put a block on your ambitions! If you think about how much you have paid for all the gear, then it obviously deserves a dedicated home all of its own. Four places that spring to mind are the basement, loft, garage or spare room (not the cupboard under the stairs - although I have seen some outside broadcast vans that had smaller sound control rooms!). If the room you choose is subject to damp, as basements often are, then you will need to take steps to ensure that the equipment doesn’t suffer.

Yes, the basic equipment is most important, but after that it is what you hear that will affect the quality of your recordings most, and that is governed by the acoustics of your studio. If you were thinking of buying an extra synth for a few hundred pounds, it might be better to think of spending that money on some basic acoustic treatment.

Soft materials will help reduce the sound levels inside the studio. They will absorb a large proportion of reverberant sound that is mostly unwanted anyway. Apart from that, they won’t stop much sound getting out. If a piece of foam absorbs 75% of the sound that hits it, that is only the same as a 12dB reduction. Sound insulation, rather than absorption, is governed by the mass of a partition and whether it is well sealed or has any gaps around the edges. Covering the walls of a studio with cardboard egg boxes is an old myth that never seems to go away. The right type of egg boxes will provide good acoustic treatment (not insulation), but only at high frequencies. You must consider all the frequencies in the audio range.

Reel to reel tape recorders need regular cleaning - the heads, guides and rollers. Other equipment seems remarkably maintenance-free, apart from digital recorders which need to be serviced every so often. If things do go wrong, don’t take your precious recording equipment to your local Mr Fixit - he may be reasonably good with common or garden TVs and videos, but a dodgy digital effects unit might be outside his experience. If in doubt, contact the manufacturer or distributor. They should have their own service department, or they will be able to recommend someone competent.

That should be enough questions for the moment. But are you still asking yourself "Should I go ahead and do it?". Well of course you should! It’s a great way to have fun. But a home studio is not simply a collection of fancy equipment. It is the fashioning of that equipment into a tool for creating music. And it is a tool that will work best when you design it according to your needs. You are bound to come up problems along the way, perhaps problems that have not been covered in this book. But your solutions will go towards making your studio unique and totally unlike anyone else’s. From that uniqueness, hopefully, you will find your own individual style of recording.

I wish you luck with your home project studio, and as much pleasure from your home recording as I get from mine.