Recording Studio Accessories that are actually useful and not for showing-off

Recording Studio Accessories that are actually useful for recording.

Introduction

When you are learning the ropes of recording music, accessories don’t matter much. What you need is a functional studio with the essential basic components so that you can create some music.

However over time, when you get serious about music production, every gadget that has the potential to make your sound better or helps you accomplish more in little time is a welcome addition to the studio.

Here are some recording accessories that truly offer value to your studio, and are also reasonably priced.

Cable Winders

If you indeed spend a lot of time in the studio or even onstage, this one is a no-brainer.

Not only does a cable winder help in keeping things clean & clutter-free, it also helps you to clearly see how the cable is connected.

So no winding and unwinding cables at the beginning and end of each recording session. You can use a cable winder instead.

Couple of recommended options are the Stage Ninja XLR-60S, and the Stage Ninja INS-26S (a smaller portable version).

Cable Snakes/ Junction Boxes

Another great accessory, if you have a big studio with lots of equipment, is to use a cable snake to simplify your cable routing.

With the Hosa Little Bro, you can literally clean up the back of your rack by turning 8 cables into one. You can direct all your mic inputs from the back of your rack, to literally anywhere in your studio. Keep all of your inputs labelled so you always know exactly how everything is connected.

With a cable snake, and other related accessories, you can literally save yourself hours of unorganized setup time.

Microphone Extension Arms

In case you record a lot live acoustic instruments and vocals, a microphone extension arm can come in handy, especially when you have to setup things real quick.

A microphone extension arm that can mount several microphones, all on the same stand, provides you with multiple microphone options, all ready to go at a moments notice without having to change much.

A recommended product is the Latch Lake Xtra Boom, a rock solid & easily adjustable arm that won’t let you down in the heat of the moment.

Monitor Isolation Pads

You obviously need good studio monitors for your recording setup, but are you wondering why they’re not performing up to their potential sitting directly on your desk?

Because they need some acoustic isolation, which can easily be provided by Monitor isolation pads.

When you spend so much money on your studio monitors, spending a tiny fraction of the cost of the monitors on a simple accessory such as the Auralex ProPads does make sense, especially when you can see a noticeably difference in the overall performance.

A DAW Remote

Do you really need one? It depends on how busy you’re with your work. The majority of us work as a musician and engineer, at the same time. It means on several occasions, you wish you could be at two places at the same time.

A DAW remote lets you do that easily.

Its basically an ‘app’ that can be downloaded to your iPhone or iPad, which you then mount on a microphone stand, and you’re ready to go. You can now control the basic transport functions from anywhere in the studio.

You can also easily re-position the stand in just a few seconds.

Studio Monitor Stands

In the beginning, the desk is the first place where most of your equipment would go, because its convenient and because you don’t want to spend on any other accessory unless you see the benefits.

With experience however, you realize that in order to extract the most accurate sound from your studio monitors, you have to position them at the right spots and at the right height, something which the desk cannot offer.

A better option is to invest in a pair of studio monitor stands such as the Ultimate Support MS-100. They look quite elegant as well, besides offering you several positioning options.

Little Labs IBP Stereo Tool

Here’s another tool for the busy musician/engineer that can help you save time.

Phase alignment problems are common when doing stereo recordings, where you encounter weird phasy sounds. You can always fix them later in the DAW edit screen, but why wait and do it after it’s already recorded?

You can always take care of it, before the actual recording takes place, using a tool such as the Little Labs IBP. It allows you to adjust the delay on one channel (milliseconds at a time), so you can actually hear in real time how much phasing is happening, when the channels combine into stereo.

Final Thoughts

There are several recording accessories available for your studio, but these one are definitely worth their weight in gold.

Useful Read

• Microphone Accessories: For Live & Studio Use
• Various Instrument/Audio Cables & Cords
• ALL Musical Instrument / Gear Accessories
• Best Recording Studio Furniture