Getting studio-quality vocals at home can be a challenging task, and not all of us have the budget to afford to go to a professional studio. However, with some product knowledge, good equipment, and patience, you can get your home recordings to sound very close and similar to a professional studio.
Do note that you have to invest in necessary equipment if you would like to record at home, however, the equipment will usually cost less than $1000 depending on your budget. The most important thing is to have fun, be patient and professional when doing the recording. Here are some steps to getting studio-quality vocals at home.
Do Several Takes
Once all your equipment has been properly set up, don’t just walk up to your mic and begin recording your song once, or even twice or thrice. You may not be properly warmed up for the recording session and this would waste your time. Instead, you should first do a warm-up by singing the song a few times, ideally five before going into detailed spots of the song such as the chorus or harder verses.
Professional musical coaches usually have their artists record each section at least five times to capture the best possible performance. Artists would also record the chorus twice as much as other parts as the chorus might require more takes. Whatever you do, always playlist your recordings. This is important as there is no limit to how much you can save on tape and you might find some of your older recordings to sound better or to fit in better with certain portions of your song.
Keeping and saving your recordings also allows you to go through each of them again after the recording process and decide which one you like best for your song. It is thus important to record several takes so that you have more options for your songs. Whatever you do, do not only record one take. You can also label all the different tracks and recordings for easier reference later on. Have fun in the process and relax as you are making music and this will help you sound better.
Proper Environment
It is important to record your song in a proper environment so that your recording sounds as natural as possible. It is best to record in a neutral, dry room with little to no reverberation as this may make the sound echo.
A recommendation would be to use furniture or a sectioned-off part of a room to create a small and tight space to record in. Ideally, a room that has more furniture and absorption is better for recording music. Avoid cavernous rooms as there may be reflections and reverberations which affect the quality of the sound and your vocals.
You may also consider getting soundproofing material that can attach to your recording equipment and your mic stand as these would help with the recording. An example would be wood or foam material which diffuses and soaks up the sound waves in the room so that there are no extra frequencies or added harmonics in the recording.