Bedroom Recording Made Easy

Bedroom recording artists are born every day, and the good news for them is that high quality recording interfaces are becoming smaller, cheaper and even more reliable. The Focusrite Scarlett provides the amateur and professional with a great solution tailored to every budget.

Starting with the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, we have a low budget, straightforward USB recording interface, capable of recording 2 audio tracks at once. There are 2 XLR/jack inputs at the front (standard on all Focusrite Scarlett models), with gain control and a toggle switch for easily switching between instrument and microphone settings.

At the back, we have a USB input and 2 standard jack outputs. This model also comes with Ableton Live 8 (one of the best music production suites out there) and a host of audio plug-ins (EQ, Compression, Gate and Reverb, all you need to get started!).

This is perfect for the guitarist/vocalist, as it contains everything you need to get started on recording high quality demo tracks. Guitar players just need to purchase an amplification plug-in, such as Guitar Rig, and the need for setting up a huge cab and fine-tuning the settings pre-recording simply fades away.

More importantly every Focusrite Scarlett model provides an industry standard, perfectly clean 24 bit signal, which is the difference between a well recorded take and a muddy, messy noise.

Moving up the range, we have the Focusrite Scarlett 8i6, which is capable of recording 8 audio tracks at once (including the S/PDIF) alongside MIDI in/out.

This model also has the Scarlett MixControl (an 18/6 DSP mixing desk) thrown in for good measure – all of this, for less than a hundred pound more – it’s well worth considering.

This model includes even more than the previous model in terms of software – not only do you get Ableton Live, and the plug-ins mentioned before – you also get a package of royalty-free loops and samples, AND a soft synth. This means that the singer/songwriter can plug their keyboards in, build a composition, and be up and running in no time.

Lastly, if you need more tracks, there’s the Focusrite Scarlett 18i6, which allows up to 18! This is perfect for full-band recordings of demos, and is portable enough to be taken on the road to record your band’s gigs – simply hook it up to the PA system at the venue for a crisp, high quality recording.  This means you can actually start distributing your own stuff to friends and fans.

Whatever your needs, there’s bound to be a product in the Focusrite Scarlett range for you. For the bedroom enthusiast, the 8i6 is perfect, as it includes a MIDI input for keyboards or other MIDI devices. This is a