11 Handy Home Recording Tips for Advanced Beginner Music Producers & Beat Makers

Your mission is of course to capture the magic.  This doesn't just happen.  It takes some prep and good execution to ensure your session is a success.

Run through your basic recording strategy before you hit the studio.  Your plans may change on the day,  but some plan is better than no plan. Set up and test every piece of gear you may want to use. Make sure instruments are in tune.  Re-string, replace and tune anything that needs it.

Some pro studios are known for the sound of their rooms.  The A Room at Sound City is a legendary example:

"Studio drummer and Toto member, Jeff Pocaro, insisted that you only had to set up the drums in order to get a good drum sound. When asked to guest drum on a Nine Inch Nails recording, Dave Grohl’s replied: “I’ll do it if you record at Sound City."

In a smaller studio your room sound can be your best friend or worst enemy.  Usually it's the latter.

Does your room add something special to your vocal, guitar or drums?  It would be wise to capture that when you record.

A working knowledge of mic techniques is of course worth its weight in gold. That said,  you can AB, XY or Blumlein all you want and still get it wrong if you don't listen to what you're doing.

Now, at home, you probably won't have an assistant to move the mics around while you sit, listen and adjust in the control room.  A good trick is to use good headphones to listen as you set  up mics. You could even put your head where you plan to put the mic to hear what it sounds like in that position.  You may want to skip this last suggestion when it comes to your kick drum! ;-)

It's easy to fall into a habit of using the same gear. Try different mics, pre-amps and other toys on your instruments or vocals if you have the option and time on the day.  Also, test different combos in your recording chain. Choose the gear you'll use based on how it sounds and not what's "supposed" to work.

Otherwise, try out different options and choose the best combo you've got for the job. Don't ever just stick something up if you have a choice.  A quick shoot-out can make a world of difference to your final result.

So, before you hit record...

... test.

Kinda basic but worth a mention. You want to make sure you don't clip the signal at any stage of your signal chain so don't set levels too hot.

Digital distortion is a thing.  Not a pretty thing like some analog distortion.  Avoid it like a fiend.

Back in the analog days another consideration was the noise floor of analog gear.  This meant you wanted to get a decent level on your signal because a low signal-to-noise ratio would make life difficult during the mixdown. The reason is obviously that you cannot raise signals in a noisy track without raising noise at the same time.

Recording at 24-bit/44kHz is fine. You can get away with less but you start to sacrifice options if you go lower than this with your recording quality. 

You can use up to 48kHz if you can handle the storage requirements. 

Anything above that is probably overkill in most cases.

Click the image of the interface icon to read more about the ins and outs of audio interfaces and sound cards.

Nuff' said!

Let's talk cans...

9. Learn Some Studio Vocal Mic Techniques

Great tracks start at the source and when you record the source is the performance.

You may the vocalist, in which case you may want to read and apply these basic home recording tips for vocalists.

Working with an outside vocalist?

Your performers are there to perform.  Your job is to capture the magic.  Nothing technical should get in the way.

Test your gear before the session as mentioned.  Make sure your DAW software is primed and ready to go. Have extra back-up cables ready. Have extra everything available as much as possible.

There is nothing worse than having to wait around for technical issues to be resolved when you are ready to lay down the mother of all takes. Can anyone say mood killer?

There's a reason lava lamps became a cliche in studios.  Same for subtle LED lights, candles, salt lamps, plush furnishings and Persian carpets.

The mood or vibe of the space translates into the performance which either allows you to capture magic or regret the whole session.  Spend some time on aesthetics and the vibe to make sure you create a space where art can happen.

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