My home recording set-up and gear list

I write and produce songs in my home studio. I usually play/program all the parts myself, and I find that you can get a nice sounding end result by blending real instruments with virtual ones. A few people have asked about the gear and software I use, so here goes:

iMac (about four years old) running Logic Express – I’ve never felt the need to upgrade to Logic Pro. Typically one of my songs might have around 20 different tracks, and the iMac is almost always able to cope – touch wood!

Apple Mainstage - a cheap download that gets you lots of extra instruments and sounds.

An Alesis USB midi keyboard, plugged straight into the iMac.

An SE2200A microphone – this is a great mic, on a long-term loan to me from a generous friend. Apparently it was Amy Winehouse's favourite mic.

A Behringer Tube UltraGain 100 mic pre-amp – this boosts, warms and slightly compresses the signal from the mic. I use it very sparingly, leaving plenty of room to work with the vocal later on in Logic.

A Roland UA-1G audio interface. Effective, simple to use and a bargain… but they don’t make them anymore. You might find one on eBay.

Yamaha HS50M powered studio monitors (70w) – these are designed to be very frequency-flat (but they’re still lovely to listen to music on), so you can hear what you’ve got rather than what a pair of hi-fi monitors tries to flatter you into hearing. But… most people don’t listen to music on frequency-flat studio monitors, so you must check your mix by listening through something a bit more mundane too.

Audio-Technika ATHM-50 headphones – again, these are designed to tell it like it is, frequency-wise.

A cheap bog-standard electric guitar.

A tambourine and a shaker – very useful for adding life and human-ness to a track that’s mostly sequenced.

A Roland Juno-D keyboard – nice, and surprisingly lightweight, but only really gets used for gigging.

My voice and songwriting prowess!