How to record vocals at home
By the HyperTribe team. Reviewed by Kimberly, founder. Updated .
Fix the room before you buy anything. Most home vocals sound amateur because of echo, distance and level, and all three cost nothing to fix. Hang a duvet behind you, sing six to eight inches from the mic every take, keep your loudest note well out of the red, and sing several good takes rather than chasing one perfect one.
This matters more than it sounds. When we looked at the artists we work with at the very first stage this week, many were waiting on the same thing: a finished recording they could release. They had the songs. What they needed was a recording, and good home vocals are often the difference.
What should you fix before you record?
1. Treat the room before the mic. Bare walls throw your voice straight back into the take, and no plugin removes it cleanly afterwards. A thick duvet behind you, a rug under you, and anything that hums switched off: fans, fridges, the laptop fan if you can.
2. Find the quietest spot in the flat. The desk is rarely it. Sing the same ten-second line in three places, a wardrobe full of clothes, a corner with a sofa, the middle of the bedroom, and keep the one with the least echo.
3. Test what you own before you buy. A sensitive studio mic hears the whole room, which is why it can sound worse at home than a cheaper one that hears mostly you. Record the same line on what you have. Spend only if that test says the mic is the problem.
How do you record the take?
4. Six to eight inches, every take. Too close adds boom and mouth noise; too far adds room. Mark the floor or put a strip of tape on the stand, so the distance never moves between takes.
5. Stop the pops. P and b sounds push air into the mic. A pop filter, or the mic angled slightly off your mouth, fixes most of it.
6. Never record in the red. A clipped vocal can't be repaired later. Set the level on your loudest chorus, not the verse, and keep the peaks well below the top of the meter. Around -12 to -6 on the meter's scale is a common target at 24-bit.
7. Hear yourself properly. A loud beat in your headphones makes you push; a delay between your voice and your ears throws your timing. Turn the beat down and use the direct monitoring on your interface if it has it.
What do you do after the take?
8. Stop chasing the one perfect take. Three good choruses beat one flawless pass. Keep the strongest lines from each and redo only the weak ones. Keep the emotion over the polish.
9. Sing the doubles; don't copy them. A pasted copy of the same take has no width. Sing two fresh takes of the hook and pan them left and right.
10. Edit before you mix. Clicks, loud breaths and late doubles make a vocal feel unfinished, and plugins hide none of them. Solo each take and fix the details first. Then it's ready for whoever mixes it.
What about your voice itself?
Warm up every day, at the same time, attached to something you already do: the kettle, the commute, the dishes. Ten minutes done daily beats an hour before a session. The technique work should sound quiet and boring; if you're pushing to sound impressive while you warm up, stop.
If you have a teacher, record your lessons and warm up to them. If you don't, one recorded lesson is a good first thing to spend on.
Should you record at home or pay for a studio?
Record the vocal at home if the room passes the three-spot test and the take sounds clean on headphones. Pay for studio time when the room can't be fixed, when the song needs a sound you can't make at home, or when a producer you trust wants to record you themselves. Either way, the song is the first thing worth spending on. Our free release budget template puts your own quotes against each line, with the £0 route next to each one.
Where this fits
A finished recording is the gate between the craft stage and your first release in artist development. The pillar guide has all five stages, the first release hub picks up once the recording is done, and the release countdown plans everything after it.
- Artist development: what it is, what it costs, and how to tell it's working
- Artist development for your first release
- Artist development for singer-songwriters
- Artist development for R&B and pop singers
- Plan your release back from the date
- Release budget templatefree tool
- Release countdown calculatorfree tool
- How do you find a music producer in the UK?
- How do you get honest feedback on your music?
Questions artists ask
Can you get professional vocals recorded at home?
Yes, if the room is quiet and dry, the distance and level are steady, and the take is edited before the mix. Most of the difference between a home vocal and a studio one is the room, and that's fixable with what's already in your flat.
What's the cheapest way to treat a room for vocals?
Soft things around and behind you: a duvet, coats, a sofa, a rug, a wardrobe of clothes. The aim is to stop your voice bouncing back off bare walls into the mic.
How far should I be from the mic?
About six to eight inches for most singing, kept the same for every take. Move back a little for the loudest notes rather than turning away.
What level should I record vocals at?
Loud enough to be clear and well short of the red. Set it on your loudest part. Around -12 to -6 on the meter is a common target at 24-bit, which leaves room for the notes you didn't expect.
Do I need an expensive microphone?
No. Test what you own first. In an untreated room, a sensitive mic can sound worse than a cheaper one that hears less of the room.
How many takes should I record?
Enough to have every line sung well at least once, usually three to five full takes. Then keep the best lines from each.
Should I mix my own vocals?
You can, but edit them first and get a second pair of ears before you release. If someone else mixes, send them clean, edited, named takes.
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