Home Studio Recording Techniques

So you want to record your demo from home but you’re not sure where to start. Assuming you already have a home studio setup, you need to have either your lyrics written or have a freestyle ready, if you’re that skilled as an artist. You also need a beat that accents your lyrics. You can buy instrumentals, download beats online or make your own instrumentals. There are a number of programs for making beats such as Fl Studio and Propellerhead’s Reason to name a few.

After you have all the ground work done you’re ready to check your levels. Be sure that the levels aren’t pinging or in the red on the level monitors. You want it just below the red for a smooth but full recording with no distortion for easy editing. Make sure the beat or instrumental doesn’t overpower your voice. You want to be able to hear yourself when recording.

Now your levels are set and you’re ready to make a hit. I strongly recommend turning off all noise making appliances if sound proofing is not in your budget. The first thing to record is the hook because it sets the tone of the song. The verses should be recorded after because the hook gives off the energy needed to kill a beat or instrumental. After you have recorded the whole song, overdub the entire song keeping the best sounding recording. Don’t forget to ad-lib to add a little extra heat to the song.

After you’ve recorded all the vocals, its time for the fun part. Yes, that’s right, editing. It would be great if we all were rich and were able to pay a producer or professional recording studio to master our final mix. Unfortunately, most artists are not on that type of budget. That’s where an ear for music and a little extra effort come into play.

The first thing I would do is edit the levels of the vocals with no music, making sure that they all hit around the same area on the level monitor. Make sure the levels are just right and not clipping or distorting. After evening the vocal levels, mix the vocals with the instrumental. You want your vocals slightly louder than your instrumental just not over powering it or drowning it out. Once the dry edit’s levels are all even mix all tracks to one file and add a little reverb but not to much. Remember, the key is to make it sound as natural and as clear as possible. The final step is to normalize your new demo and burn it to a cd. Now you are on your way to getting your music heard, which will be discussed in my next article. So stay tuned!

If you found this information to be useful, go to www.sound-chest.com for more helpful articles like this. Please feel free to give feedback any time at cpatton@sound-chest.com. Thank you for your time.

P.S.

For all the artists reading this article who are not also producers or have access to beats and instrumentals, we realize how hard it can be to buy instrumentals on a small budget. Most of the time, it can turn out to be way too expensive for aspiring artists to buy beats with any quality. Thats why we offer a great selection of instrumentals and beats for sale at www.sound-chest.com. We provide that necessary heat to send your career to the top.

Also, for producers and beat makers, we have producer sound kits coming soon. All sounds are studio quality .wav files that are compatible with all beat making and production software such as fl studio and propellerhead reason just to name a few. Producer sound kits are inspired by Zaytoven, Drumma Boy, Polo da Don, Lil Jon, Timbaland, Kanye West, and more!!!

Sincerely,

H.U.R.T.

Sound-Chest Productions

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