One of the aims of Giant Pygmy Audio is to provide the necessary tools for musicians to produce music that cannot be distinguished from high-end professional studio productions. Studios look impressive with vast mixing desks with lots of buttons, but much of this is reproduced very effectively with decent software running on a good PC. For example, a good software multi-track editor/recorder will have anywhere up to 128 tracks (Sergeant Pepper was done on a 4-track). Furthermore a good choice of VST/DX effects combined with a multi-track host/recorder/mixer allows for very high quality 24 bit mastering.

The major difference between the professional studio and the home studio is: a) the analog equipment (microphones, amps etc.) and b) the acoustic environment. Thus, the challenge is to get the most out of your analog/physical equipment and then make up the shortfall as much as possible after the tracks have been recorded to hard-drive.

This section covers: 

• Routing: Equipment setup for monitoring
• Audio Capture: Monitoring, mics and acoustics
• Mixer: The interface between analog source and digital destination
• Soundcard: What to look for in a good soundcard
• Recording to Mastering: Recording, editing, mixing and mastering
• Effects: Powerful effects and effects hosts
• Summary: Modern methods of mastering - "Loudness Wars"