COURSE OVERVIEW

Learn how to design and operate your own home recording setup in The Essentials of Home Recording, a hands-on audio engineering course for beginners and intermediate engineers who want to record themselves or other artists across virtually any genre.

Led by professional audio engineer Steven Clark, you’ll learn how to acoustically prepare your space, choose and position microphones, understand signal flow, and record vocals and small instrumentation from home. You’ll also dive into EQ, dynamics, effects, routing, editing, tuning, mixing, mastering, and critical listening.

By the end of the course, you’ll have the foundation to record, engineer, and mix complete projects from your own home setup, with skills that can also translate directly into professional studio environments.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Home Studio Design & Acoustic Treatment – Prepare and treat your room for better recording and mixing.
Microphone Techniques – Select and place microphones for vocals and small instrumentation.
Pro Tools Workflow – Learn essential tools, shortcuts, routing, and session setup.
Recording & Editing – Record, comp, edit, and tune vocals and instrumentation.
Mixing & Mastering – Use EQ, compression, effects, and critical listening to create polished mixes.
Home Studio Gear & Signal Flow – Understand interfaces, microphones, monitors, headphones, and how your setup works together.

EXPERIENCED INSTRUCTOR

With decades of experience and know-how behind Pro Tools in the worlds of Rock, Pop, Indie, Metal, Jazz, Acoustic and much more, instructor Steven Clark will teach you the techniques behind professional recording and show you how to apply them to your own home studio. In 10 weeks, you’ll have the skills and confidence to record, engineer and produce high-quality music right from home.

1-ON-1 INSTRUCTION

This course is conducted exclusively in a 1-on-1 format because home recording is highly individualized. Every student has a different space, equipment setup, software, experience level, and recording goals. Individual instruction allows the curriculum to be tailored specifically to the student’s needs while providing hands-on practice and dedicated guidance they can immediately apply to their own home studio.

10 LESSON CURRICULUM

**LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION**

Establish individual student goals

Install necessary software & plugins

Understand a full DAW Overview
Setup of audio interfaces, computer hardware & components

**LESSON 2: ACOUSTICS**

Learn about the basics of sound including the human ear and speakers
Understand the importance of acoustics
Design wall treatments and acoustics for your home studio

**LESSON 3: MICROPHONES**

Learn all microphone types & use proper micing techniques
Choose the right microphones for what you’re recording (vocals, guitar, bass, etc)
Optimize setup to capture the clearest recordings

**LESSON 4: PRO TOOLS WORKFLOW**

Build a professional digital workflow.
Navigate the Pro Tools interface and shortcuts.
Set up sessions with proper naming and organization.
Manage plugins, templates, and recall for maximum efficiency.
Create a full session from scratch using pro-level standards.

**LESSON 5: SONIC FLOW FUNDAMENTALS**

Shape the sound before it reaches the DAW.
Control gain structure using preamps, compressors, and EQs.
Blend analog warmth with digital precision in hybrid setups.
Create vocals chains

**LESSON 6: RECORDING SESSIONS**

Prepare & setup the room, the mics, the interface & computer
Student chooses to either record another artist or themselves (choice made based on students goals)

Edit and prep the session for editing & tuning

**LESSON 7: EDITING & TUNING**

Learn how to comp & edit in a comfortable, efficient workflow
Understand crossfades, clip gaining and phase alignment

Apply tuning techniques with both autotune & melodyne

**LESSON 8: MIXING**

Stage gain, sculpt EQ, and compress for track clarity
Design reverb and delay spaces to enhance emotion.
Balance mixes against industry references.

**LESSON 9: MIXING CONT. & MASTERING**

Group channels, bus effects, and automation
Apply parallel compression, saturation, and stereo imaging.
Understand mastering chains & ensure mix translation across multiple playback systems.
Mix a full session to professional loudness standards.

**LESSON 10: THE FULL SESSION**

Practical: Student set ups of microphone & gear
Practical: Student sets up of session in pro tools, gear, etc.
Practical: Student runs a full session start to finish (tracking, editing, tuning, mixing, mastering)

**SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF COURse**

After successfully completing the 10-lesson course, students can apply their foundational knowledge of audio engineering directly within their own home studio setup. The goal is to build the confidence and practical skills needed to navigate a home recording workflow, properly use their equipment and software, and understand the fundamentals of recording, editing, vocal tuning, mixing, and mastering their own music and creative projects.

**INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY**

Graduates who want to expand their experience beyond the home studio also have the opportunity to apply for an unpaid internship at Clear Track Studios. Interns gain exposure to a professional studio environment, with access to all five studios and opportunities to observe and assist engineers during recording, mixing, and mastering sessions. This optional next step allows students to build upon the skills learned in their own home setup while gaining valuable real-world studio experience.

MORE INFORMATION

ELIGIBILITY: Anyone (beginner or intermediate) interested in learning the fundamentals of audio engineering and how to record, edit, mix, and master music from their own home studio setup is eligible for this course.

LENGTH: This is a 10-class (46 total hours) course that delivered as a group or 1-on-1 instruction. 10 consecutive weeks: Nine 4-hour lessons. The final class is a full day (10 hours) of practical.

PRICE: $5000 for 1-on-1 instruction. The 1-on-1 price reflects a highly specialized curriculum, dedicated studio time, flexible schedule and personalized attention to the individual student. Ask about our payment plans!

TO REGISTER: We require a 50% deposit to reserve your seat. The balance is due by the start date of the course OR you can participate in our payment plan. There are no additional costs.

NEXT COURSE COUNTDOWN: 1-on-1 courses have “ongoing admissions” and can begin whenever you are ready. Scheduling is flexible for holidays.