Stuart Charles
Founder
Stu has been dabbling in Home Recording, Beatmaking & Music Production since 2007. Over the years, his “Stu-dio” has undergone many different changes resulting from a lot of experimentation, failure, and success.
When he isn’t writing content or working on the site, you’ll find him making videos, working on a graphic design project, painting, or doing something artistic while listening to John Coltrane, Big Band, or an Indie Pop love song. 😛
Check out some of his work over at Painterly Stew!
Marlouzel Mabunga
Contributing author
Marlouzel is a passionate writer and music enthusiast. She writes about culture, music, and the arts while listening to a variety of music – from 1920s Jazz to current indie bands like Belle and Sebastian.
Mission Statement
Home Studio Basics believes wholeheartedly in:
- Helping you make sound decisions according to your specific circumstances.
- Providing excellent, in-depth content to you the reader!
- Delivering the truth about the products, concepts, and topics in question.
- Teaching and educating in a way that makes sense for people in all walks of life.
Sound Decisions
If you’re making a sound decision, it’s sensible, logical, effective, reliable, thorough, healthy, etc. It involves the use of good judgment. Our goal is to help you do this by eliminating confusion, circumventing the hype, and outlining why you should or shouldn’t buy a particular product. We want to enable you to make the best decision possible with regard to your unique situation.
Excellent Content
We strive to deliver the best content on the web, and our content is always updated to reflect the current market – for better or worse. We regularly receive emails, site comments, YouTube comments, and sometimes even donations thanking us for the work we do.
It makes us feel good knowing that people are not only making good decisions but are fully and completely satisfied (even ecstatic) with our recommendations once they receive their purchases.
It’s a creed that we live by!
The Truth
The truth is something that we always want to expose, whether that be something like The Law of Diminishing Returns, an ever-important question such as What is Sensitivity in Headphones? (why it matters), and anything in between.
The truth about the products themselves is very important to us as buyers, as well as our readers who also may be looking to purchase something. We’re here to help you make an informed decision based on data and science rather than emotion. Stu’s experience with over 130 headphones and 70+ Amps and DACs also contributes to the expertise provided in his articles and recommendations.
That said, sometimes we get excited about stuff that’s good, and rightly so!
Teaching & Educating
One of the most important things that we adhere to and live by is explaining things to people in a way that makes sense. How often have you started researching something only to be even more confused than when you began?
Unfortunately, techies like to speak in jargon and while they may indeed be smart, that doesn’t help the average reader trying to find a simple and concise answer to their question.
We can’t promise that the content will always be short (Stu tends to get REALLY long-winded, lol), but it will most certainly be super informative and written in a way that’s practical and logical. I can promise you that! 🙂
Now a little bit about where I came from…
People call me many different things. I have been referred to as Stu, Stew, Stewie, Stewy, Stewey, Stuart, Stewart, Suart (misspelled lol), Bluart Stack (Stuart Black), Stuie, Stuie Charlie Blackie, Stu Boo Charlie, Stubear, Studabega, Stu Pickles, Vegetable Stew, Beef Stew, Stu-bird, Stu-pot, Stuhoff, Stusker, Stu Ball, Stuart Little, Studebaker (Stu-da-baker….Stu, the baker, get it? LOL because I used to work in a bakery :P), Stu-pendous, Stu-perb, Stu-riffic, Stu-bert, Stu-lark, True Blue Stu, Stu-hurt, Brunswick Stu, Box-Stu, Stu-barticus, Stu-barticus Rex, Stu-bearto, Disco Stu, Stu-licious, Stumaster, Stupocalypse, Stuopolis, Stuell Angel (from A League of their Own), Sexy Stu, Stu-Man, Baby Stu, Stu Ferrigno (instead of Lou Ferrigno), Stuey Armstrong, Stui Generis, and a ton of other stuff that I can’t even think of right now 🙂
Just imagine Bubba from Forrest Gump explaining to Forrest all the different types of recipes he can make with shrimp. Lmao.
A Beatmaker at Heart
I have been making beats on and off since 2007 (Life gets in the way sometimes). I messed around with Reason for a while and noodled with different equipment (some unnecessary) before I discovered my true passion in 2009: The art of sampling.
I still have the first beat that came from a sample and will never forget it. A song called “On Sunday” by New Buffalo. Music has always had a way of digging itself into my soul, and this song was no exception.
I remember being so excited about the beat I made. I showed it to a co-worker at the time, and he instantly fell in love with it. It made me feel amazing to connect with someone musically and have them be affected by the sound. I asked him if I should add a bass line and he said to me “Never ever change this beat, keep it the way it is”. To this day I have not altered it in any way.
People have compared some of my work to the likes of 9th Wonder and J Dilla, and that in itself is truly flattering. I appreciate comments like those because it does make me feel good to be compared to some of my biggest influences. I’ve always made beats for the love of the craft, and at this point, I can truly say that without reservation given how long I’ve been doing it. I think something that you’d still do even if you made no money from it is an example of true passion.
Here’s an example of one of my more popular beats!
Nowadays, I am constantly digging through old vinyl, forever in search of amazing sounds, some of which get lost in .25c bins at my local thrift store. I have been told I have a good ear for music, and enjoy chopping samples, laying down sweet basslines, rapping, and playing around with synthesizers like the Korg Volca Keys.
Building your own studio doesn’t have to be a difficult process. You can bypass many of the obstacles and failures that I endured by reading through this website.
If you ever need feedback or support with anything, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below, or contact us. Also make sure to regularly check back here, as we’re always updating the site.
With that said, are you ready to find the perfect headphone?
All the best and God bless,
-Home Studio Basics