$3,400 GRAMMY WINNING HOME STUDIO

You don't have to have a multi-million dollar studio to crank out Grammy-winning hits! In this video, I show you how just $3,400 can get you the same quality home studio setup that won more than 5 Grammys in 2020 for some of the top-selling and streaming artists like Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Halsey, Pink and many more!

It also needs to be said, as i did in the video, that you DO NOT have to spend even $3,400, especially if you are new to music and music production to produce hits or win Grammys. The list I have here, minus the Yamaha monitors, are what you will find in most professional tracking or overdub studios, personal or commercial. Lots of gear manufacturers make quality gear that will allow you to make music that can become successful. RME, Lynx, Apogee, Antelope, and yes, even some of the more pro-Focusrite gear is very good and can accomplish your goals. The main thing and key to being successful in the music production world is learning the gear you have and then as you get better at your craft, adding and increasing the quality of the gear to your setup that meets you and your client's needs.

What matters most is that you learn the craft and develop a style of your own and any gear that makes that possible is the gear you should have!

Since there have been some asking, here is a list of the gear in my studios:
Interface: 2 Universal Audio Apollo 16x (32 Channels)
Mic Pre's: 8 Neve 1073 / 8 API 512c / 1 Martech MSS-10 / 1 UA 4-710
Compressor: TubeTech cl1b / UA 1176 (BLUE FACE)
Monitors: Focal Alpha 80 (Overdub/Vocal Room) / Focal Twin6 Be's (Tracking Room)
DAW: Pro Tools / Logic / Luna
Console: Argosy Halo

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📷GEAR:
Sony FX9
Sony FE 55mm F2.0 Zeiss Lens
Sony FE 28mm F2.8 Zeiss Lens
Sony 10-18mm APC Lens
Sigma 20mm Art F1.4 Lens
Sigma 30mm F1.4 Lens
Atomos Ninja Flame Monitor/Recorder

[ustulo]

I started producing band driven artists back in 2003 with what was out at that time. I had what most project studios had...a Digi 002 running PT native, a power mac, an 8 channel ADAT connected preamp unit for extra inputs, Mackie 8 inch monitors, a large diaphragm condenser for vocals and drum mic package. I think I spent 7, 000 on that first set up with some extra Waves plug-ins. I ended up engineering tracks that made it on the radio with that set-up. I think what Steve is saying here is that for a basic but effective set-up this is what he is recommending from what is available and what is the best value at its price point. I agree on the sm7b...that mic is incredibly versatile, from screaming to whisper light females. You just have to have enough preamp gain to run it. I've owned the 8 inch Yamahas with a sub and the 5 inch versions before...in my opinion they are very harsh and will punish your ears on long sessions. At their price point not much else is better, as they are somewhat true in the low end due to a closed cabinet design with no ports, but I would recommend spending a little more for something that's more listenable yet still flat. The Apollo I want to try, as I'm planning a set-up for electronic pop production that is separate from my current PT rig. If I don't love the UA daw platform they include, I can always go into PT. The Komplete 12 package is a lot of dough, but I think his point is that it's the most bang for your buck if you are doing all electronic production with a vocal, and it will be something I will look at. In reality, I do believe there are many pros who are using the set-up he describing even with some of the components switched for others around the same price point. And yes, if it's for bigger artists, they are probably not doing final mixes and masters on it, but for the rest of the world releasing indie music on youtube, it's more than a competent solution.

[natestrayhorn]

You don’t have to have $3400 to make platinum hits.

[chriscuthbertson]

I've just swapped my Neve desk for an apollo interface.... can't wait for the Grammy's to come rolling in. ;)

[axeman]

Can't buy the talent to use it....

[MrHumphrey]

Don’t hate on this guy, he is doing his job, he is getting paid to do this. Don’t throw away your interface.

[TheOfficialDamefame]

Micheal Jackson used a Shure SM7 on Thriller, not the Shure SM7B. Just clarifying🙏

[jonathanbolger]

Let's be real, none of those artists songs were mixed or mastered in 3, 400 dollar studio

[bce]

My band (no names will be dropped) had a $200k budget for our last record. We used millions in analog gear and every penny plus some of our budget. Nearly every album review mag stated that the sounds and samples we used were dated and sounded cheap, haha. It was all actually played real gear!! Everything we did with plugins only on a quarter of the budget had much more commercial success, comparatively. Ill never make that mistake again. Ever.

[prodslim]

Hey after I bought the *one* Yamaha HS8 for $400, my mixes have been sounding worse.

Plz help

[nirobispruill]

I’ve used the Apollo and I didn’t like it compared to my SSL 2.

[rapgentry]

Back in the day, I used to have friends who made the most incredible music out of their closet with an ASR-10 and a bunch of Radio Shack mixer and cheap mic. I would be blown away asking what they used until i actually went to their house and saw the closet for myself. This 3400.00 studio would be an upgrade for them and can just imagine what they would produce with it.

[Podcastage]

As soon as I used the Arrow, I was all in on the UA ecosystem. Then I got the x8 for my main studio, and then got the Twin X for my testing rig, and it is pretty much my perfect interface. Two great preamps. Processing. And expansion if you want.

[TheSteveFreeman]

Thank you guys or watching! I would love to hear about your studio setup here in the comments. What's your "Go-To Gear"?

[ricogaming]

its not about what u have and how much you spend its how you use what you have u dont need all this to make hits if you know what and how you use what u have then be good with that if one believes in his or herself u will make it no matter if u spend 300.00 or millions of dollars keep this in mind for all the young producers coming up

[sheetknows]

What "tons" of instruments does luna come with? You have to buy them separately and they're freakishly
I also, i doubt VERY much, that anyone watching this video would own focals or barefoot.
I will also argue that most people don't have rooms that justify having 8" monitors.

[hughsauci]

This video leads to a misunderstanding of what is really necessary to make a hit.

[boomanchu]

Don’t get me wrong. This is all fantastic equipment and as someone who has been doing audio engineering and music production for almost 20 years and music merchandise in retail I’d say you’re spot on with your choices and reason for picking them. But, there are still a lot of things missing. First off cables and stands. Anyone can tell you even just decent cables cost a fair amount and none of that equipment comes with the necessary audio cabling to hook everything up. You’ll also need something to put those monitors on to isolate them. Otherwise you’re going to get inaccurate mixes. A decent set of headphones are needed for vocal takes as well. Lastly room treatment. It doesn’t matter how good the equipment is if your room is lying to you. It doesn’t take much but it’ll go a long way to helping you get accurate mixes and better sounding vocal takes. All in all still a great video and a great choice of gear. Honestly it’s a lot of the same gear I recommend to my customers who wanted to build a high end home studio, and I’ve definitely sold my fair share of SM7B’s with the “It’s the mic Michael Jackson used on Thriller” mention.

[e.apollis]

plot twist: You can get all this for $2000, 99 on Ebay😉

[liege]

EARS beat GEAR.
I can still play, program plug-ins and mix in my very first PC (p4, XP, internal card) to this day whether its 32/24 or 16 bit.
Every popular DAW, PIECE of GEAR, COMPUTER, MICROPHONE has a HIT record in history.
We all need to engineer our own systems, gear, working strategies and sound.

[Francisco-dryi]

Failed to mention Billie and Finneas pay $1000+ per mix to have someone mix it in a professional studio