The first thing you should be aware of is that on a recording, the vocals are the most important thing. This may sound obvious, but if you think about it, when you do a gig, the drums and bass are much more important; primarily because they are the most audible thing, as guitar and vocal frequencies are high and are the first thing to go from your hearing when you are deafened by loud music, but also because getting people to feel the rhythm is an important ingredient in winning over the audience. Also live, the odd dodgy bit of tuning on the vocal won’t be remembered if the visual performance is good. However, on a recording, non-musicians will be listening primarily to the vocal and can play your tune repeatedly, so any imperfections will be noticed and preserved for all time! So don’t spend hours, days or weeks on the instruments and run out of time on the vocals; a good vocal will cover a multitude of sins on the musical backing.

It’s a good idea to set up a good vibe before you start; some soft lighting and pleasant surroundings can go a long way to getting you in the mood. Do a few warm-ups to make sure your mouth shapes will be properly annunciated, and tight to the beat. People forget that vocals need to groove just as much as the music.. tight timing on your delivery is very important. Rehearse your vocal several times before you record it; practice where you are going to take breaths, and the exact vowel shapes you are going to use.

A good mic to use is the Shure SM57, but an SM58 or good copy will do. Sometimes you can get interesting results using old microphones, like the ones that came with old-fashioned tape recorders. I even knew a singer who recorded vocals through a telephone rigged up with a jack lead!. If possible, put the mic through a mixer with phantom power.

When you’re ready to start, record a couple of run-throughs just to check the sound, and to see if you want to change the delivery in any way. Then just go for it; do several takes, as the beauty of recording on a computer is that you can ‘comp’ the vocal, ie. take the best lines from each take and compile a perfect rendition. Don’t forget to really try and put emotion and expression into the vocal; in some ways singing is like theatrical rather than tv acting, as in what seems like an over-the-top delivery to you will seem like a tiny variation on the recording, so go for it! When you’ve done a few takes and you think you have some good versions, do one more take with extra exaggerated delivery, you never know, the odd bit might sound amazing like that.

If you think your voice doesn’t sound full enough, you can get good results by double tracking; that’s why it’s a good idea to always breath in the same places and have your timings rehearsed; then all your takes should fit together if you want to comp two tracks for the double track effect. It can be a good idea to have the main vocal louder, and the double track lower in the mix. This gives the effect of thickening up the sound without sounding like Bananarama!

When you are mixing the track, don’t bury the vocals in the music… you may feel embarrassed to start with and cringe when you hear them back, but this will soon wear off and is preferable to not being able to hear the words.. you’re a lead singer, so go ahead and lead! If you want to hear more of the tiny inflections it’s a good idea to slightly over compress the vocal track, and add some top to the EQ. You can get that classic ‘radio’ sound that Muse use a lot by adding lots of top mid and treble frequencies, and removing the bottom end completely. A bit of reverb will help to sit the vocal in the track nicely, but don’t overdo it unless you are going for an extreme. Finally, don’t let the experience destroy your confidence; a famous producer once told me ‘it doesn’t matter if you’re the best singer in the world or one of the worst; the most important thing is to sound like yourself and no-one else… that’s what will get you known’!

Home recording, software, choosing a studio/engineer, find a producer, production deals, choose which tracks, preparing for the studio, in the recording studio, mastering.

When you want to record your music it’s worth considering a few points. Firstly, whether you’re going to record a demo or something good enough to release, remember that you will get much better results if you’ve already performed the material live. Lots of people make the mistake of recording first and then discover that the arrangement can be improved upon after gigging it a few times, or that a song you thought was amazing isn’t working live. Acts often try to record songs before they’ve put the live band together and then find that the musicians they are using live are fine-honing their parts and could have done a better job in the studio.

The next thing you need to consider is whether to go into a proper recording studio or to do some home recording, or indeed, a combination of both. With current computer technology, its possible to get good results at home as long as you have professional standard microphones (shure sm57 and sm58 mics are a good place to start), decent amps and a good mixer (the price of an adequate mixer eg. a soundcraft spirit starts at around £200).

Software like logic, pro-tools and cubase have already become industry standards and are now used in most studios; if you’re going to invest in software to record at home it’s a good idea to get logic or pro-tools as you’ll be able to work on stuff at home that you recorded in a studio and vice versa. If you want to record live drums you probably need to find a recording studio with a ‘live’ room that has good acoustics so you can get some ambient drum sounds. Then if you’re on a tight budget, do the rest of your track laying and mixing at home. The advantage of going to a recording studio is that as well as a live room, they will have a greater selection of professional microphones and some ‘outboard’ gear such as vintage effects units which can help to get more interesting sounds.

When choosing a studio and engineer, word of mouth is the best way to find out whether they’d be the right ones for you. If you don’t know anyone who can recommend a place, most studios and engineers will be able to play you a showreel of material they’ve recorded to give you an idea of what they’re capable of. Cheaper recording studios will charge between £100 and £500 per day which usually includes the services of an engineer. You’ll need a minimum of 2 days to record and mix 2 or 3 songs to a good standard.

If you’re really broke or on a tight budget, look in your area for colleges that teach studio engineering; they will often have a fully equipped studio and students that need bands to practice recording with. You may not get releasable results but you should get a reasonable demo at least.

Another option is to try and find a producer to record your stuff. The difference between a producer and an engineer can be a bit of a grey area; some people call themselves producers when really they are just good engineers, and some engineers are able to make good suggestions for production. The main distinction should be that an engineer is a technician who will enable you to get the sounds you want whereas a producer will have an overall direction and style in mind and may make changes to arrangements and parts of a song. Producers are expensive but if you can find one that likes your stuff, they may be prepared to work for nothing provided they are re-imbursed should their recording make you any money in the future. If you are working with a producer they will probably have a preferred studio where they are familiar with the engineer and equipment. Producers can be instrumental in getting you a record deal; many have established relationships with record companies and can introduce you to an appropriate label.

Some producers, recording studios and management companies offer production deals where they will work with you for free provided that you sign some sort of contract with them, guaranteeing them a share of your future earnings and some rights to your recordings. They can help to promote your band and get your music to the right people BUT be careful and never sign anything without legal advice as this type of deal can sometimes have hidden penalties.

Assuming you’re ready to record, the next thing to do is to choose which tracks will best represent you on a demo, or which songs would be best to release. A general guideline is to attempt to record 2 or 3 songs in one session; 2 should be your catchiest songs which are typical of your style and that go down well live. The 3rd should provide a degree of contrast, eg. a ballad or slower song to show your diversity. Even if you want to record a whole album, it’s best to start with 2 or 3 songs; you’ll learn so much from the first session that you’ll be really on the case next time.

The more time you spend preparing for the studio, the less time, money and patience you’ll waste when you get there. Spend a couple of rehearsals trying different arrangements and working out parts for things like guitar overdubs and vocal harmonies. Take as many different instruments and amps with you to the session as possible so you have lots of flexibility when you’re getting sounds. Take spares of everything with you so you don’t have to waste half your recording time going to a music shop to get stuff during the session. Try and write down all your ideas for a track including how you want the overall sound to be and what parts you want to put on it. Take cd’s of other bands that have sounds you like to the studio for comparison. Write out the lyrics for each track; this will be useful if you need to ‘comp’ the vocal (edit several takes into one rather then do a whole live take). Invite the engineer or producer who is going to be working with you to a rehearsal so they’re familiar with your live sound before they record you.

When you’re actually in the recording studio, allocate your time in advance; for example, if you have 2 days for 3 songs, allow half a day for drums, half for bass and guitars, half for extras and vocals and half for mixing. Stick to this like glue, otherwise you can end up spending a whole day perfecting a guitar solo and run out of time! Most things can be fixed in the mix if you’re using logic or pro-tools and it’s amazing how insignificant a tiny mistake can seem when all the parts are completed. In other words, don’t sacrifice the whole for the sake of a minor detail. If your band is tight enough, try and record bass and drums at the same time so you get a bit of a vibe on the recording. Generally you’ll notice there’s a difference between the take with the vibe and the one that’s technically perfect but has no vibe.

Double-tracking the guitars (where you record the same part twice) can help to make a big sound; double tracking vocals will smooth out the tone and help with tuning imperfections. If you’re a guitar band, try not to load up your song with too many obvious parts that can’t be replicated live so people aren’t disappointed when they see you after hearing the recording. Finally, try and avoid the tendancy to demand ‘more me’ in the mix; listen to the overall sound rather than just your own part or you’ll end up confusing the engineer, fighting with your band and coming away with a bad mix!

If you’re intending to release your recording yourself, you’ll first need to get it mastered. Mastering is basically applying equalisation and compression to the finished stereo mix, to make the overall level equivalent to other released cd’s. It irons out any odd frequencies and make the whole thing sound louder and clearer. Entire studios and engineers are dedicated to the process of mastering and you can spend lots of time and money on it if you’re a perfectionist. However, there is now affordable mastering software available so you can get passable results at the recording studio or at home. If you’re doing the mastering yourself or at the end of a studio session rather than at a designated mastering studio, always use a favourite or appropriate cd as a comparison to check that your eq is well balanced.