Use acoustic foam if you're in a more permanent space, but make sure it's the commercially available professional (and fire retardant) type.

Some pros advocate a live-end/dead-end arrangement, where the mix area is set up at the dead end of the room, and the recording space is in the live area.

If you have a choice between a rectangular room and a square one, choose the rectangular room as square rooms tend to create problematic 'standing waves.'.

Make sure windows are covered with fabric treatments – the heavier, the better.

Cover hardwood floors with carpeting or area rugs.

Here are some tips for improving your home studio's acoustics: You'll want the space to be as sound-neutral as possible, limiting wave reflections that make it hard to capture the music and mix it later accurately. Professional recording studios built on floating slabs require the services of acoustical architects and cost tens of thousands of dollars. But this shouldn't deter you from making the best of your available space. If so, you'll want to think about acoustic foam and other sound absorbers to handle less than ideal sonic characteristics. While recording is an art, acoustics is a science.

Let's start with where you're going to set up. Ideally, you have a spare room or a basement that can be reserved solely for your project studio. Thanks to more powerful computers, digital audio workstations (DAWs) now provide virtually unlimited channels and effects rivaling some of the greatest professional studios of yore. But these days, advances in technology have vastly changed the calculus. Recording at home used to be a largely modest affair, with eight-tracks, small mixing consoles and maybe a few racks of effects.

Want to build your own home recording studio, but aren't sure how to get started? From considering acoustics to choosing the right gear, we've got everything you need to know.

Professional recording studio builders