54 part 2 Recording If you want to have sounds and virtual "instruments" above and beyond real world, organic vocals, guitar, drums, and the like, a MIDI keyboard is a cheap and valuable investment. If you're not a keyboard player per se, though, it should be noted that you can just as easily use your com puter's keypad to record simple notes (or manually place them with your mouse) for similar manipulation with software as basic as GarageBand. headphones You will certainly use headphones to record in any studio (it's usually how you hear background tracks when overdubbing), but if you start producing yourself in a home studio where you have to mix without disturbing the neighbors, you will begin to appreciate headphones in a whole new way. Studio headphones (vs. consumer headphones) are like monitor speakers in that they're designed for the most accurate and least sonically "colored" playback as possible, and there are a variety of types and models designed for specific studio applications. Some are meant to be as accurate as pos sible, while others are meant to provide maximum isolation, "isolating"