Brightclub.com.ph

How much does it cost to build a home studio? 1 million dollars? Not quite, but it kinda felt that way. I've spent a year planning and acquiring brand new and second hand items to fulfill my dream of having my own home studio. And I'm happy to say that it is finished. It's been about a month since it's completion, so I think this is a good time to look back and do a tally of all the gear we have so far.

	Alesis Multimix 8 Firewire Probably the single item that is use the most. I use this mixer to route all of the instruments and equipment I have for monitoring and recording. I got this item early last year, when I asked my mom to ship it from me from the states. This product has been discontinued but you can still buy it online from some retailers for around $250. Damage: 13k
	M-Audio Axion 49 This midi controller is permanently attached to my computer. I bought this last year from JB Music for around 12 thousand pesos. I use this primarily to map out keyboards parts for some of our songs. I also use it to use to play drums back when we were recording without actual drums. I mainly used BFD and BFD2 more recently for it, but I do use some other VSTs when the need arises. Damage: 12k
	Shure PG58 My first microphone! I bought this back at JB Music for around 4500 pesos. Not sure if they are still selling this though, I tried scouring online and all I found was the wireless version. Anyway, still a pretty solid microphone, especially when you are just using it for live situations. Damage: 4.5k
	Marshall Valvestate 8100 100w Half Stack I bought this 2nd hand item in the Philmusic Guitar Accessories Buy and Sell thread from philaxeman. Had to drive all the way to Dasmarinas to get it, but you know what? Totally worth it. Damage: 20k
	Hartke LH500 This is probably one of the priciest items I have bought so far. Finding a 2nd hand high powered bass amp was pretty hard, so I decided to get this one brand new. Norman recommended this brand very highly so I felt good buying it. It's 500watts, so I have yet to max out it's true potential but I am liking the tone of this bass amp head. Bought this one at Audiophile brand new. Damage: 26k
	Hartke AK410 I probably didn't have to, but buying a Hartke amp head made me want to buy a matching cabinet. This one was also bought at Audiophile as well. They do have other cabinets in stock that matches the amp head that I already have, but this one was the cheapest so I copped out and got it. Not bad for it's price! Damage: 22k
	Laney CXT-115 To be perfectly honest, I wasn't too picky when I was looking for speakers. I think I actually considered this purchase because of how it would look if we decided to shoot a music video. All things considered, this wasn't that bad of a sale considering I bought it at a discount during the JB Music Himig Lakas sale. Tone is a little bit on the tinny side but hey, it was quite a steal at 40% off. Damage: 4k x 4 = 16k
	Crown LPS-2500 Believe it or not, I actually did some research for this one. I bought the speakers ahead of time so I wanted to get the appropriate power amp that matches it's needs. Reading Philmusic's Music Technology and Pro Audio thread made me think that this was the best amplifier to get for the budget that I had so I bought these brand new at Audiophile. No regrets so far and considering the power this amplifier has. This thing is a beast. Damage: 17k
	Gretsch 5 Piece Catalina Maple Probably my favorite item on the list, I got this from JB Music Himig Lakas sale together with my Laney speakers. They didn't have the color that I wanted but I've grown to love the classy finish on this drum set. The package came with ZBT Zildjian cymbals and a Gretsch carpet. This doesn't come with instructions so you have to assemble it yourself, newbie buyer be warned. Damage: 42k
	Audio Technica MB/Dk4 Drum-Microphone Pack I bought this at the Music Source when I realized that I have a drum set and no means to record it. This is just a 4 piece set so I am missing a few pieces to have everything recorded properly. But since we are still going with VST drums, this works out ok. The package includes 1 mic for the snare, 1 for the bass and a couple for the toms. Positioning it correctly might be a little bit tricky but it's doing it's job just fine. Damage: 10k
	AKG K77 Headphones Bought these on a whim at Audiophile when I decided that I needed a more reliable pair of headphones. It's not the most sturdy piece of hardware that I have owned but it does monitor pretty well for its price. Damage: 2.5k
	Trimmings! I spent a hefty amount on stuff to make the rest of my gear work. This includes custom cables that I had custom made from Audiophile to hook up my gear to my mixer, instrument cables for a bass and 2 guitars, 3 Gibraltar drum thrones (excessive I know) just to have a few more seats here at the studio, and sticks for my drum set. Might be insignificant compared to the rest of the gear in the studio but boy, it adds up! Damage: Studio Cables 4k + Instrument Cables 3.5k + Drum Thrones 9.5k + Sticks 1.2k

All in all I've spent approximately
203,200 on the studio.
There is stuff I probably forgot about and some prices that might not be spot on, but you get the gist of it.

Not surprised really. I actually think this is pretty cheap in terms of how studios costs in the first place. Still it's a hefty sum and I've tried my best to ignore it ever since I've started but hey, fulfilling your dreams costs alot of money it turns out.

In the end, I'm pretty happy with it. The band is already recording for the EP and we can finally close this chapter in the Bright Club anthology. Moving forward I am happy to say that I already bought a camera and some lighting equipment, so you can look forward to our new series of articles where we try to make a music video!