First off, I would like you to know that if during your recording process you run into any problems or have any questions please feel free to e-mail me through my contact page and I will advise you!

 Recording Vocal

In almost any song, the vocals are the focal point. So it stands to reason one of the first purchases a home studio owner ought to make is an affordable, large-diaphragm microphone. There are models from Rode, CAD, AKG, Audio Technica, and other manufacturers that sound great and should fit within almost anyone’s budget.  

Another thing you are going to want is a pop filter.  These are the big hoops with mesh stretched across them that you see in the pro studios.  These prevent the popping you hear when a vocalist sings words with the letters “p” or “b”. These are also relatively inexpensive and a decent brand is the Popper Stopper which attaches to the mike stand or boom. This mesh screen also stops you from getting too close to the microphone. We don't want to unintentionally hear breathing or lip smacking noise either. These should be set 3 to 6 inches in front of the Mic depending on the sensitivity of the Mic itself.

Now when you set up the mic stand it should be on a piece of carpeting to prevent it from picking up floor noises and vibrations. This carpet should be big enough for the vocalist to stand on also. The headphones worn by the vocalist should be loud enough for them to to be motivated but not too loud as to be picked up by the vocal mic.

Ok, when recording the vocals, make sure to check that the levels going into the recorder do not pass "0"db on your meters. When you believe they are at a safe level CHECK THEM AGAIN from the beginning to the end of the song. This is very important as you cannot fix the clipping distortion if it exceeds "0"db.

I'm also not a fan of applying Compression, EQ or Effects to the recording phase of the vocals. Compression because it could give you a pumping effect if the vocalist was to push a little too hard. EQ because more times than not, you will introduce noise into the recording that would not have been added by EQ'ing them in the mix. Effects added during the recording cannot be changed later.  In the event you made a slight mistake on any settings, you are stuck with them.

Leaving all these until the mix gives you much more flexibility. 

When recording in summer time, don't forget to turn off that window air conditioning unit !

When recording in winter time, throw a towel over the air return vent if you have forced hot air heating system!

Doing this reduces possible noise!

Recording Bass Guitar

The bass guitar is essential to the overall feel of a song and here are the easiest ways to capture a solid sounding bass guitar.

If you have active pickups on your instrument then you should be able to plug directly into your console or DAW input without a problem. If you have passive pickups you should use a Direct Box.

A Direct box is more or less a line transformer that takes low level line signals from your instrument and converts them to be compatible with microphone level signals that your mixer or daw needs.

Recording in this manner is simple and gives you a clean sound and captures the  true sound of your instrument without the coloration that a microphone can add.

 Recording Bass Guitar with a Microphone

This gets a little tricky and you will need a microphone that captures solid low end frequency response such as the AKG D 11 or the Sennheiser E 902.

Microphone placement for a bass amp speaker follows the same rules as for guitar amplifiers. The closer to the center of the speaker the more high end frequencies of the bass will be reproduced, The closer to the edge of the speaker the more low end frequencies will be reproduced. Experiment with placement between these two positions until you find your sound.