How to Record your Own Music

As music becomes cheaper and often free, all of the studios I know certainly don't get any cheaper. Music is one of those things that you can study for years and still not get so here's my brief guide on how to start recording your own music. I feel this necessary after paying out over the years for professional recording engineers and then finding my own recordings sounding just as good.

I've recorded in some very well equipped studios but what I've come to find is that the most important aspect in a good recording is the engineers ear and not the equipment. That's not to say gear isn't important but the best equipment is nothing without an experienced ear. Get yourself a laptop with a microphone input, a microphone and some recording software. I use a program called Reaper which doesn't take long to get the hang of.

First, if you're playing the instruments either by your self or with a band you need to practice, a lot. The more precise all the instruments sound the more chance you give your listener of enjoying the music. Make a number of demo recordings and compare the instrument arrangement and noise level with some of your favorite songs. Even if you don't come close to achieving the quality of a professional recording it's good to have a high goal to reach for.

Next, keep it simple. Try first of all without drums. Drums are one of the hardest things to record so if you can get a couple of acoustic songs finished first this will help build confidence. If you're recording rock music then you're going to need drums at some point which gets a bit trickier. Try recording vocals and guitar then adding some bass and lead. For vocals you will need to build your self a pop shield to remove hiss using a piece of wire and some tights.

Don't believe me, have a look you tube. To get your levels right use your ears. A very sophisticated tool that you can finely tune by practising recording every other day. When you're ready to record drums try recording them with just one microphone to capture everything. This way you can start to get a feel of how the drums should sit in the mix before recording each drum and cymbal noise separately and then amalgamating them together.

The last most important thing is to not be daunted by your lack of experience.