Daniel Dehaan

SAM - Technical Requirement & Recommendations

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SAM - Technical Requirement & Recommendations

Laptop Requirement:

All music students are required to own a laptop that will allow them to engage in both in-person and remote classes, complete their coursework and assignment while both on and off campus, and record/produce their music while using their own recording equipment or on-campus resources.

Desktops are discouraged as you will always need to have your computer with you.

Please see the Audio/Music Laptop Specifications page for more information on the current laptop requirements.

Support Specifications:

While your instructors and our I.T. department will do everything they can to support you, at this time, Columbia College Chicago has no dedicated technical support for equipment that is NOT owned by the college. As a result, students are highly encouraged to bundle their computer purchases with a support package provided by the manufacturer or retailer (e.g., Apple Care+).

Cloud Back-Up Requirements:

All students at Columbia College Chicago are provided with 1TB of cloud-based storage via Microsoft’s OneDrive. All music students must utilize this, or any other cloud storage service, to organize and create regular backups of all their coursework and related materials so that in the extremely likely event that something happens to their computer, none of their work is lost.

Additional Hardware Recommendations:

Wired, Over-Ear, Closed-Back, Studio Monitoring Headphones:

We are all here to study, explore, and create music starting from the moment of inspiration through to sharing it with the world. Throughout this process, it is important that everyone is able to hear every detail of both the music we study and the music we make. Since we can’t always be in a professional listening environment, like one of our on-campus recording studios, it is important that all music students have a quality pair of studio reference headphones.

Unlike consumer-grade headphones (e.g., Bose’s line of noise-canceling headphones) which are all designed to make music sound as good as possible, studio reference headphones are designed to deliver sound as “honestly” or “transparently” as possible. Meaning that we can hear almost every detail of the sound, even the undesirable parts.

Furthermore, these headphones should connect to your computer, portable recording device, or audio interface via a cable, NOT via Bluetooth. While wireless headphones can sound great, connecting headphones to your computer/device wirelessly adds an additional delay between when you make a sound and when you hear the sound played back inside your headphones. This delay can make recording or other musical performance situations impossible.

Finally, these headphones should be both closed-back and over-ear. This style of headphones insures the best acoustic isolation between the sounds inside versus outside the headphones which is essential for recording and listening.

Several examples/recommended headphones:

More information on headphones can be found here.

Basic Audio Recording Equipment:

All music students are required to regularly produce basic audio and video live-streams and recordings of themselves performing with their instrument(s). These performances will often be given in real-time to audiences of their peers/instructors and will incorporate live sound sources (e.g., the student singing into a microphone) with pre-recorded sounds (a.k.a. performance tracks).

Below are several recommended equipment options ranging from the most cost-effective to professional studio-grade setups. All music students are required to have something equivalent to one, or both options:

Option 1: Portable Recording Device

There are many “all-in-one” audio recording devices that are simple to setup/operate, portable, and sound great! These devices can be used as either standalone audio recorders or can be connected to a computer (usually via USB) to record into audio editing software (see below for specific software recommendations). These can be a great option for beginners seeking a cost-effective audio recording solution.

Several examples/recommended devices:

More information on these types of devices can be found here.

Option 2: Recording Studio Setup

For more advanced students, or those wanting to begin building their own home recording studio, here are the basic pieces of equipment you will need and some specific recommendations:

Audio Interface:

The audio interface is the hub of every recording studio. It is responsible for connecting the analog and digital worlds. More specifically, the audio interface is what enables you to connect traditional microphones to your computer, or your computer to external speakers or professional-grade headphones.

Several examples/recommended audio interfaces:

More information on audio interfaces can be found here.

Microphone(s):

There are many types of microphones and which microphone you choose to use will often depend on the sound you are trying to capture. However, there are serval popular and affordable microphones that can work great for a variety of recording situations.

Several examples/recommended microphones:

Instrumental microphones:

  • Shure SM57 ($89)
  • Shure SM58 ($89)
  • Audio-Technica AT2020 ($99)

More information on instrumental microphones can be found here.

Vocal Microphones

  • Shure SM58 ($89)
  • Shure Beta 58A ($159)
  • Rode NT1-A ($229)

More information on vocal microphones can be found here. Or you can hear the difference between popular vocal microphones here.

Guitar Microphones/Pickups:

  • Electric Guitars: A simple audio interface is ideal for recording an electric guitar. See the section above on audio interfaces for more details
  • Acoustic Guitars or Guitar Amplifiers: Any of the “instrumental” microphones listed above are all great options for recording acoustic guitars or guitar amplifiers.

Drum Mic Packs:

  • Shure PGADRUMKIT5 5-piece Drum Microphone Kit ($249)

More information on drum microphones can be found here.

49-Key USB MIDI Keyboard:

All music students are required to develop basic keyboard (piano) skills. In addition, a MIDI keyboard is an essential tool for composing, producing and performing impactful and expressive music.

All music students should own a MIDI keyboard controller that connects to their computer and be powered via a USB cable and has at least…

  • 49 keys
  • A Pitch bend wheel
  • A Modulation wheel
  • 8 drum pads
  • 8 faders
  • 8 knobs

More information on MIDI keyboard controllers can be found here.