Recording a soundtrack at home. Two excellent free programs for recording your own songs from a microphone to disk at home in mp3 format
The lyrics of your brilliant song are firmly on paper, the minus is in the combat readiness stage - it’s time to create a hit. We tell you how to record a track in the studio and not fail.
1. You will definitely worry. The jitters that arise when crossing the threshold of the studio can play a very cruel joke on you: your breathing will become erratic, your legs, arms and voice will tremble. Don’t worry, this happens to everyone the first time – you just have to get over it. In the future, the excitement will disappear, you will begin to enjoy the process, and in the studio you will be overcome by “microphone sickness”: a state in which you want to record again and again.
2. Necessarily tell us that this is your first experience of recording in a studio: ask the sound engineer to break down the recording process.
3. "Do not be shy". Don’t be afraid to ask the sound guy for anything: raise your voice in the headphones, re-record a part you don’t like, redo a certain effect, and give some advice about the “insides” of the track. This is normal: this is a work process for which you give your money.
4. Create your own vision for the track. Think about the backs, pits, “atmospheric track” and other features in advance: this will save a lot of time and play into your hands. The recording service is paid and in some studios depends on the time spent in the recording room.
5. If you are 100% sure that your track is a hit, then the first time it's better to just record a demo: come home, listen to it, analyze the good and bad points and do it perfectly next time.
6. Recording a track is the top of the pyramid, home rehearsals are its basis. Get used to the minus of your track, read the lyrics out loud, hone your delivery, learn to move freely during rehearsals - you don’t need to show up at the studio without basic training.
7. It is clear that the lyrics of the song must be learned, however, when you go to record for the first time, take the text with you on a medium. Practice shows that in 99 cases out of 100, a musician “stalles” on the text - in such cases, printouts and notes on the phone come to the rescue.
8. Don't be like the rock stars of the 80's Don't sign up drunk. You don't need to think that a bottle of foam will help you relax. Alcohol distorts sound perception, so you will make mistake after mistake. Also, do not chew seeds, nuts or chocolate before recording - these foods irritate the throat.
9. The sound engineer's task is to adjust the microphone stand, your task is to play the text directly into the microphone: not to the side, not to the right, not to the left, but clearly in the center, without moving forward or backward. Follow this rule and the sound will not “jump”, creating problems for the sound engineer.
10. Since you came to sign up for the first time, don't try to record a track into one track, without repeated takes. It’s better to put together a track from several fragments than to please your ego by trying to record a song in one take, simultaneously wasting the time, money and nerves of a sound engineer.
11. Don't tear the veins take short timeouts while recording- this way you won’t get tired of your own creativity and won’t overload your head with endless repetitions of your own track.
12. If you're going to record an instrumental track - replace spare parts on your tool. Install new strings, replace drumheads, buy new picks, guitar cables and drumsticks. Flaws hidden in the details show up instantly in the recording.
13. Professionals record live while playing simultaneously. Newcomers register in stages: First, the backing of the track is recorded, then the part of the drummer, bass guitarist, lead guitarist, and only at the end - the vocalist. Such an algorithm will allow you to squeeze the maximum out of each musician’s playing, without mixing the overall sound into an unappetizing mess.
14. Don’t rely on the studio’s fame – consider several options yourself and choose the best one. Listen to the tracks that were recorded at the selected studio, talk to the local sound engineer, evaluate the equipment and the room itself. Remember that there is nothing wrong with a thorough check.
15. Recording a track and mixing it are two different things. You will have to pay separately for mixing. Therefore, decide in advance on the material for recording. What's the point of recording things that won't be processed into a full track?
We thank Anton Akimov (Nestanda Records), Alexey Myslivets (
Very often, many beginning musicians or poets want to record a song at home on a computer, and even so that it sounds professional. Without knowing the basics of working with sound or the necessary software, nothing meaningful will happen. Let's look at how to record a song at home and achieve the best possible result.
Basics of Recording Music at Home
First of all, it is worth noting that for high-quality recording of a voice or a “live” instrument, special studio rooms with good sound insulation are used. There is no need to talk about this at home. All the same, there will be extraneous noise: either from neighbors, or from transport from the street. It is clear that it is better to choose the quietest room, although even after that the noise will have to be cleaned up.
It is worth paying special attention to the programs that will be used when recording. Let's roughly divide them into two categories: applications for direct recording of vocals or instruments, and sequencer programs for creating an arrangement.
What you may need for recording
When thinking about how to record a song at home, you need to know what kind of equipment may be needed in each specific case. Initially, we will assume that we have a computer or laptop with the necessary software, a microphone (or several), an accompanying instrument (if necessary), headphones and sound monitors.
All this equipment will be useful in the future. A little later it will be explained why.
Selecting a recording method
A very important aspect in the question of how you can record a song at home is the recording technique. The most primitive way can be considered direct (simultaneous) recording from a microphone or two, one of which is intended for vocals, and the second for a guitar, piano or other instrument. In this case, it will not be possible to achieve normal quality. Firstly, the signals arriving at the microphones will be mixed, and secondly, the tempo may be disrupted (you won’t use a metronome, it will give its own signal).
In the simplest case, you can use primitive sound recording applications from programs. This, by the way, is even available in Windows operating systems. If you want to get the best result, you need to use professional or semi-professional recording utilities (Adobe Audition, Cool Edit Pro, Sony Sound Forge, etc.).
In this case, recording must be done separately. In other words, it is better to record the backing part on one track first, and then sing while recording the vocals on another track. By the way, all programs of this type support multi-track recording.
Accompanying instrument
Speaking about how to record a song at home, it should be noted that you need to be extremely careful with live instruments. Judge for yourself, the same guitar or piano may have the wrong tuning. And in the end, even if edited in the appropriate program, it will still hurt the ears.
For pianists, we can recommend using regular synthesizers (even with a minimal set of sounds) or simple MIDI keyboards. In this case, there is a full guarantee that the sound of any selected timbre will be correct, although when using the simplest keyboard instruments, it will not be possible to achieve high-quality “live” sound only for the reason that the standard General MIDI (GM) set, consisting of 127 sounds, in itself does not meet professional requirements.
Live recording software using MIDI
Now let's look at how to record a song at home without a microphone on a laptop with a connected MIDI device. In principle, the laptop has a built-in microphone, so it makes no sense to connect an external one. Just remember how many people communicate on Skype. Similarly, you can use the internal microphone to record your voice. True, for this you will have to carry out a lot of experiments in adjusting the incoming signal in order to get a more or less normal result.
With MIDI keyboards everything is much simpler. The instrument connects to a computer or laptop via a USB port or via a MIDI interface.
To quickly create accompaniment, you can use the device itself, if it has support for auto accompaniment, like Yamaha PSR series models, or you can prefer programs like Band-in-a-Box, which will create all the parts of the arrangement in a matter of minutes, based on a given chord sequence.
Programs for creating an arrangement
There is one more nuance to creating professional arrangements, without which it will be difficult for you to understand how to record a song at home. The sequencer program assumes that the user has at least a minimal knowledge of the basics of music, meters, note durations, harmony, etc.
Among the most famous applications are FL Studio, Cubase, Sonar, Ableton Live etc. You can really achieve high-quality sound using professional samples and recording technologies. Among other things, such programs can also record vocals, which makes them universal. You'll have to tinker, of course, to figure out what's what. But the result will exceed all expectations. And if you also use additional utilities like Melodyne, which allow you to correct vocals, you can generally achieve a professional result.
Do not forget that when recording at home, you need to separately use audio editors or built-in tools of other programs, since after recording vocals from a microphone, you need to separately record noise (or extraneous sounds that were present at that moment), and then remove them from the recorded fragment. vocal part.
Bottom line
As you can see, the answer to the question of how to record a song at home is not as complicated as it might seem at first. The main thing is to decide how the material will be recorded and follow the simple tips given above.
Many people love to write poetry, music, sing and create songs. Most of these people are thinking about how to record their work. A voice recorder is certainly good, but what if you make a professional recording?
For example, so that your song can be listen to relatives, friends. Or put it on the Internet for general access.
But spending extra money for professional recording you don't have the opportunity. Record a song with good quality at home is quite real. To do this, you just need to prepare correctly.
Equipment.
Voice and hearing- these are, of course, things that must be present during recording. Us you will need a microphone. The better the microphone, the better the voice will be recorded. Computer, on which we will edit the recorded material. Headphones. Do you think this is strange? Why headphones when you can use speakers? We will use them only when recording voices. If you use speakers, the microphone will pick up excess sound, which will be difficult to get rid of later. The room should be as isolated from noise as possible. It's better to record at night, or you can cover the windows and doors with blankets. Must be good software. Various programs and drivers that will help us record your voice, process it, create music etc.
Recording a song.
The phonogram should already be ready. For good recording quality, the room needs to be quiet. No unnecessary sounds. We need to microphone pick up clear voice, so the soundtrack is played through headphones (the importance of which we discussed earlier). In terms of volume, it should be as close as possible to the voice. Let's start recording. Don't think that everything will work out right away. You'll have to sing a lot before selecting the ideal option. It’s better to record a track in chunks, p separate verses and choruses. Record a verse, listen, if there are mistakes, sing again, and so on until everything is perfect. Do the same with the rest of the fragments. Afterwards, evaluate the entire vocal recording and combine it with the music (phonogram). If everything is good, proceed to the next step.
Treatment.
Fixing Vocal Recording is a change in the sound itself. But if you overdo it, you can ruin everything. Try to process what you record as little as possible. Trimming, getting rid of excess empty space. At the end we leave free place for 1-2 seconds. This is necessary so that after applying some effects there is no sudden stop at the end of the vocal. It is necessary to correct some deviations in volume throughout the song using compression. Finally, you can experiment with the volume of your voice in a song, but in conjunction with the soundtrack.
List of the most common programs for audio recording at home:
—Adobe Audition
— Fruity Loops Studio
— Steinberg Cubase
—Steinberg Nuendo
— Logic Pro (for Mac systems)
— Avid Pro Tools
Record a song at home maybe even a whole one musical group. This option suitable for creative people who do not have enough funds to record songs in a professional studio. It's not all that complicated, you just need great desire, some equipment and of course knowledge.
I wish you creative success and musical peaks!
Ps: Don’t forget to like and share this article with your friends 😉
Today there are many ways to record songs. First of all, you need to choose music that will fit the desired words, play it to practice and see how the text fits into the melody. It is best to write down the words on paper and mark the time near the beginning of the verses and choruses.
Recording a song at home begins with downloading a special program on the Internet. Now there are many similar programs, but it is better to choose the simplest one.
To execute recording at home, you should also prepare a special place for this, without any extraneous noise. It is also important to know which microphone is best for recording voice at home. You shouldn’t buy overly expensive condenser models; a simple dynamic one, for example, AKG, Shure or Rode, will suffice.
Next in the process, how to record a song at home like in the studio, you need to open the melody through special program, connect your headphones, put them on and press the record button. You don't need to put the microphone too close to your lips so that crackling or hissing doesn't leak into the recording. However, you shouldn’t move it too far either. You need to sing clearly, pronouncing the words well and getting into the music.
Next, you need to listen to the resulting recording and, if the quality is unsatisfactory, re-record it. How to record a track at home the first time? Yes, practically nothing. This is quite difficult, especially for beginners. If you make every effort, the result will satisfy you in all respects. You can be one hundred percent sure of this.
To remove extraneous noise from the resulting recording, a certain segment of noise is isolated (as a sample), for which you should be silent into the microphone without a single movement. After this, you need to select a piece with noise. Then everything is easy - when using the Audacity program, you need to select the part of the track in which you want to remove noise and click OK. When using Adobe Audition, use the combination Ctrl+Shift+P.
How to record a song without a studio so that it turns out as beautiful and high-quality as possible? You can add all sorts of effects to your recording. In this case, the track turns out to be more original and unique.
After the song is completely ready, you must save it in the required format, not forgetting to also save the full session. If your goal is to get the best result, listen to our advice.
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There are simply countless reviews like this on the Internet. It would seem that everything possible has been written, but as you read deeper, you realize that the review was made by a person who is very far from music. Dry facts, a list of characteristics, a small comparison table and... that's it. Or just a list of programs, half of which are simply not designed for recording music. We, in turn, tried to make a warm and tube selection in the simplest language - mainly impressions and recommendations for using a particular DAW.
So, meet us - review best programs for creating, recording and mixing music.
Those who were at the dawn of digital audio production fondly remember Adobe's predecessor, Cool Edit Pro, until it was bought out by the global giant in 2003 for $16.5 million. Moreover, some still use it as their main DAW, just like Adobe Audition third version, completely ignoring new versions and fashionable innovations. Some people use Adobe Audition only for sound recording, while simultaneously using Noise Reduction to remove noise, and carry out mixing and mastering in other programs.
The advantages include a convenient and intuitive interface and ease of use for beginners.
Level of training:
If you're new to audio production or choosing your first DAW, Cubase definitely not for you. This topic can be debated endlessly, but experience shows that without minimal knowledge of sequencers, learning will be long and painful. Mostly found in the arsenal of professional engineers or arrangers. Out of the box it offers a complete, and most importantly high-quality set of all kinds of plug-ins and slightly less high-quality tools. And by installing VST plugins and instruments, you can not worry about anything at all and create music on a production scale.
Level of training:
There is probably no person who has not heard of “fruit”, even if he is very, very far from music. One of the few DAWs that can be confidently recommended to beginners and amateurs. It is thanks to them FL Studio and earned his very controversial fame. Thousands of schoolchildren began to write tracks using a standard set of instruments and seasoning from the built-in equalizer and compressor. And this despite the fact that standard means It is generally prohibited to use it in fruit. Armed with top plugins, for example, or, high-quality instruments, and most importantly straight hands, it turns into an excellent tool for creating high-quality music.
Level of training:
Quite a young and at the same time progressive instrument for creating and recording music. Many people have switched from top DAWs to Reaper, as hundreds and thousands of training videos on YouTube and many articles on the Internet talk about. Suitable for both beginners and advanced users, it has a whole arsenal for recording, editing, processing, automation and much more. The interface is pleasant, nothing superfluous or distracting. The disadvantages include the lack of a built-in sampler with instruments and the lack of normal built-in synthesizers.
Level of training:
The first thing that catches your eye when you open it Ableton Live– this is the Session View window, which is more suitable for live performances. The more familiar Arrangement View window is toggled in the upper right corner. Based on all this, we can assume that a DAW is more suitable for DJs, improvisations and live performances, because... offers online mixing, right during the concert. But it also has its admirers. Ableton Live as a tool for mixing music due to simple interface with a lot of effects and instruments.
Level of training:
If you are a Steve Jobs fan, an ardent Apple fan, Logic Pro simply must be on your machine, no matter what system you use. For $200 you will get a top DAW in all respects, be it mixing, recording, mixing - you will always be one step ahead. The package includes a collection of high-quality plugins, instruments, an ESX24 sampler and official support from Apple. However, you shouldn’t rush headlong and spend your hard-earned money - it’s better to first decide on your calling and get your hands on other programs for creating music.
Level of training:
One of the best (if not the best) top-end and professional DAW, used by tens of thousands of world-famous engineers. But as is usually the case, everything good has its fly in the ointment. Pro Tools does not support VST format. Of course, you can be content with only AAX plugins or use some kind of bridge that will allow you to open a VST, but as usually happens, at the most inopportune moment the plugin you like is not in either the AAX format or in the broken database, which of course is very annoying. Suitable only for advanced engineers; beginners should take a closer look at simpler and more accessible programs.
Level of training:
The Swedish company was quite creative in creating its product. reason is a virtual emulator of the rack rack to which you connect devices. Just like in Pro Tools, there is no support for VST plugins and those that come with the kit may simply not be enough for many styles.
Suitable for those who want to create electronic music and like to twist knobs in search of interesting sounds. It’s definitely not suitable for beginners; even for advanced users it can be useful only in narrowly focused areas.
Level of training:
Another top DAW for experienced engineers, which is usually switched to from other sequencers. For this purpose in Studio One There are even built-in presets of popular sequencers for a smooth and painless change of workstation. Powerful and convenient drag-and-drop, excellent readable interface, flexible setup folders with plugins, a convenient and functional mixer have gathered their own army of fans. It will be difficult to learn for beginners, so it is best suited for those who have already dealt with other sequencers.
Level of training:
