To record vocals at home, pick the quietest small room you have, put a microphone about a hand's width from your mouth, set the level so the loudest notes stay well below the red, and record several takes. Most home recordings go wrong before the first note, because of room noise, echo or a level that is too hot. If a take still has hiss or hum afterward, the Vocal Noise Remover can take that off the voice.
This guide covers getting a clean recording. For what to do next, see our guide to EQ and mixing vocals.
A room with soft things in it sounds better than an empty one. Carpets, curtains, a bed, a couch and bookshelves all soak up sound that would otherwise bounce back to the mic.
Small rooms, like a walk-in closet full of clothes, often work well because hanging clothes break up the echo. Very small bare rooms, such as a bathroom, tend to sound boxy and ringy.
Turn off fans, air conditioning, fridges and computers that you can switch off. Shut the window. If you can hear it with your eyes closed, the mic will hear it too.
Record at a quiet time of day. Traffic, neighbors and lawn mowers change through the day.
There are two common kinds:
- USB microphone. Plugs straight into your computer. Easy to start with.
- XLR microphone with an audio interface. The interface is a small box that connects the mic to your computer and gives you a gain knob. This route gives you more room to grow.
Condenser mics pick up more detail, and also more room sound and noise. Dynamic mics hear less of the room, so they can suit a noisy or echoey home. Either can work.
Placement matters as much as the mic itself:
- Distance. Start about a hand's width, roughly 6 to 8 inches, from your mouth. Closer gives a warmer, fuller tone and more "p" and "b" pops. Farther gives a thinner sound with more room in it.
- Pop filter. A pop filter is a mesh screen between you and the mic. It softens the bursts of air on "p" and "b" sounds.
- Angle. Many singers place the mic slightly above the mouth, pointing down a little, to keep breath off it.
- Stand. Use a stand or arm so the mic does not move or pick up bumps from the desk.
Gain is how loud the signal enters your computer. Too low and you will bring up hiss when you turn it up later. Too high and loud notes distort, and a distorted take cannot be fixed.
Sing the loudest part of the song and watch the meter in your recording program. A common target is for the peaks to land somewhere between -12 and -6 dB, which leaves headroom (space before distortion). The quiet parts will look low, and that is fine.
Record in 24-bit if your software offers it. A sample rate of 44.1 or 48 kHz is plenty for vocals.
If you sing with a backing track, wear closed-back headphones so the music does not leak into the mic. Keep them at a comfortable volume. If you hear faint music in your takes, turn them down or press them closer to your ears.
If you do not have a backing track, you can make one from a favorite song with the Karaoke Maker and sing along while you practice.
Drink some water and sing a few easy lines before you start. Cold voices crack and strain.
Record the whole song more than once. Many singers keep the best verse from one take and the best chorus from another, which is called comping. Leave a few seconds of silence at the start of each take. Those seconds are useful later because they show what the room sounds like when you are not singing.
Label your takes as you go. Names like "verse1_take3" save you an hour later.
Play the recording back on headphones and on a speaker, if you can. Check for:
- Hiss or hum. A steady noise under the voice.
- Pops and breath. Burst sounds on "p", "b" and "t".
- Room sound. A boxy, echoing tone in the quiet gaps after each word.
- Distortion. Harsh crackle on loud notes. If you hear it, re-record at a lower gain.
You cannot fix everything, but two common problems can be improved.
Noise. Upload the vocal to the Vocal Noise Remover and press the big button. You get two files: Clean vocal and Noise only. Listen to Noise only as a check. If you hear pieces of your voice in it, the tool took too much, and the clean file may sound thin. It costs 1 credit per minute and new accounts get 5 free credits when they sign in with Google. It works on vocals, not on a full song, and steady noise like hiss or a fan is easier to remove than a passing car.
Room echo. If the take sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom, try the Reverb Remover. It gives you Without reverb and Reverb only. Heavy echo can leave some traces, so a drier room is still better than a rescue.
Both tools run in the cloud, accept MP3, WAV, M4A and FLAC up to 10 minutes, and give back MP3 files at 320 kbps. Record in WAV where you can, since the file you upload sets the starting quality.
A good way to train your ear is to listen to dry, solo vocals from songs you like. You can pull one out of a song with the Acapella Extractor. Listen to how close the singer sits to the mic, how much of the room you hear, and how loud the breaths are. Then compare your own takes. Only use songs you have the right to use, and keep these files for practice unless you have permission to share them.
Find a quiet, soft-furnished room, hold the phone about a hand's width from your mouth, and record a short test. Use a wired or USB mic if you have one, since it usually sounds better than the phone microphone.
Start at about a hand's width, then move closer or farther by an inch or two until it sounds right. Closer is warmer, farther is thinner and roomier.
Start with a quiet room, a pop filter, safe levels and several takes. Most of what makes a vocal sound good happens before you press record.
Yes, if the noise is fairly steady. Use the Vocal Noise Remover and listen to both files it gives you. It works on voices, not on full songs.
Not at first. A USB microphone connects straight to your computer. An interface is worth it when you want a better mic or more control over gain.