I’ve been talking a lot about football on here recently and I thought I’d do a bit of a different blog for a change, to share some knowledge from my day job. A few people have been asking me recently for some tips on recording music at home. The internet makes it really easy for people to record and distribute their music and many bands start out by recording their own demos in their home, but it’s important to make sure that you make a half-decent job of it. Of course, if you’re planning to send your stuff to an agent or record label, you really need to get something recorded professionally, but there’s no reason you can’t get a good quality recording from your bedroom. I thought I’d put together a few tips for recording music at home – enjoy!
- Get a decent microphone. The better quality the mic, the better the recording – it’s that simple. If you’ve not got a good microphone and don’t want to buy one, ask to borrow one from a friend or even loan one from a shop. It really is worth it.
- Cut out the noise. Sounds obvious but you would be surprised at the number of demos I listen to that have dishwashers in the background, or friends chatting. Even less obvious things, like the background hiss from some electrical equipment, can make a difference, so make sure your recording space is as quiet as possible.
- Mic positioning. As a general rule, the less distance between you and the mic, the less room there is for something to go wrong or interfere. If possible, plug instruments straight into your recording device (i.e. your computer) with the line-out socket on your amps. If you’re singing, use an old pair of tights as a ‘spit guard’, to go between your mouth and the microphone. This helps reduce the sounds of breathing and ‘popping’ from your mouth – as well as stopping the mic getting covered in spit!
- Dampen. Any hollow, echoing sound is not your friend when making a recording and you’re likely to get this in your house, especially if you have wooden floors. You can reduce this by surrounding the recording area in anything that will deaden the sound – duvets and pillows, for example, or the classic egg boxes will help a little. Try to enclose the recording space as much as possible.
- Let it flow. It’s amazing the effect a microphone can have on a musician’s nerves, even if they are just sitting in their bedroom with friends! The best advice is to just play as normal and try to forget you’re recording. With huge disk space on computers these days you can even leave it recording for a whole session – one or two hours – and go back to pick out the best bits, which takes some of the pressure off. Unless, of course, you play well under pressure!
I hope you found these tips useful – you’ll never get studio-quality at home but for a rough demo they should set you on your way to a half-decent recording.
