The Simple Computer Songwriting Setup

In this ongoing series, we’re talking about simple and affordable setups for writing music at home. We’ve talked about portable recorders and what questions to ask to determine exactly what the right recording setup for you is. Today, we’re moving on to details on how to build an easy-to-use, computer based songwriting setup.

Design goals

The aim here is to build a simple, affordable, 2 channel computer-based songwriting setup. We want this to be all the gear you’d need to get most music writing tasks done at home. And, we want to keep everything as simple to use as possible, to maintain focus on what matters: the songwriting process.

This should be gear that you could pair with any number of different free or paid Digital Audio Workstations. Lots of options to choose from:mApple’s Garageband is great for quick and easy song demos. I like using Logic Pro for more professional production work, and a lot of people also like using Ableton Live for its strong creative sampling and sound manipulation tools.

Who this songwriting setup is for

This is for the songwriter who wants a more powerful option to write on than a portable recorder can provide, but without their writing setup also being super complex to use.

The gear discussed below will give you a whole lot of creative mileage. There’s a lot of room to grow into this gear list, for many years to come.

For your 2 channel microphone setup, I suggest pairing a very nice dynamic microphone with an affordable condenser microphone made by a trusted brand. It’s handy to have one of each style of mic. For more on favorite microphones for use in a home setting, and a quick primer on the different microphone designs, you can reference this series. It’s a great place to start if you don’t know the difference between a dynamic and a condenser mic.

The gear

Some quality yet affordable home studio gear options

Notes on audio interfaces

Here’s two solid options for affordable two-channel interfaces:

The classic red Focusrite interface won’t always get you super professional quality, but it is certainly good enough for writing and simple demoing at home.

I also like recommending a newer 2 channel interface by SSL called the SSL 2+. This is not an affiliate link-I don’t make money if you buy this.

I use an SSL 2+ myself for some simple recording tasks. I like the quality of the preamps, and you also get two headphone outputs built in. That’s really handy for writing at home with a partner. SSL is a trusted pro audio brand, and the 2+ interface is affordable-under $300 at time of writing.

Prices of the listed gear

All of these prices are current as of when this article was written, and may change over time.

SSL 2+: $270

NT1A condensor microphone: $229

RE20 dynamic mic: $449

Cables and mic stands: $150-ish

So, that’s about $1100 for enough audio gear to get you some really great sounds at home, and to grow into for many years as you continue to learn and write music.

To get the total cost under $1000, you could save even more by switching the RE20 out for something under $200 by Sennheiser. Or, buy used gear where you can. There’s also often sales going on for gear at this level; I recently saw the SSL 2+ on sale at $225, and the NT1A down to $200.

This gear list would pretty much completely outfit a nice little computer based demoing setup. You’ll need a computer, which I’m guessing you’ve already got. And you’ll need audio software; lots of free demo versions out there to try before you buy.

For many home songwriters, this could be everything you’d need to grow into for a very long time.

This gear setup would also be decently portable using a laptop. Everything except the mic stands should fit inside a backpack.

Have fun! I’ve got an even more comprehensive gear guide for outfitting your home studio available right here.