How to Record a Voice / Singing at Home?

Are you a singer and want to record your voice like in a real studio — on a computer or smartphone — but you don’t know exactly how to do it?

Or maybe you’ve already started looking at some articles like my beginner’s guide to home studio equipment, but you’re missing a clear, step-by-step explanation?

Well, perfect: you’ve come to the right article!

We are indeed going to see together how to make quality vocal recordings, whether it’s just to record spoken voice or singing, whether you already have a home studio or are completely new to this.

Similarly, it doesn’t matter if you just want to make covers on YouTube / Insta / TikTok or if you plan to record a full album: thanks to this article, you will discover exactly what equipment you need to record yourself singing AND how to use it properly to make professional sound recordings.

Specifically, here are the topics we will cover:

1. The basics of voice and singing recording
2. Prepare to record your voice
3. What microphone to use for recording voice or singing?
4. The standard recording technique for voice and singing
5. Voice and singing recording FAQ

Let’s go, shall we? 🙂

The Basics of Voice and Singing Recording

Even though there are a number of techniques to know, which I will discuss throughout this article, recording a voice is not excessively complex.

In fact, it’s less complex than recording an acoustic guitar or a piano.

That said, unless you are already really familiar with the usual home studio equipment (and in that case, you can probably skim through this first chapter), it is important to have a good understanding of the basics of recording to fully grasp this article.

And that’s where we will start.

The Source Signal

No matter what recording method is used, it always involves capturing a source signal.

Unlike recording an instrument such as an electric guitar, where the source signal comes from the played strings and is captured by the guitar’s own pickups, for a vocal recording, the source signal corresponds to the human voice.

This manifests itself as sound waves with variations in intensity that can be measured in decibels (SPL).

To record these sound waves, you will of course need a capturing device, which will always be a microphone suitable for recording voice.

In some rather rare cases, in a studio, you might end up using multiple microphones to combine the sound, but if you are working in a home studio/amateur context, there is no reason to use more than one microphone.

So far, nothing too complex.

The Audio Interface, at the Heart of Vocal Recording

Once you have captured your vocal source correctly, the next step is to record it, whether on a PC/Mac or on a smartphone.

For this, an essential piece in your arsenal is what we call an audio interface.

This audio interface is where you will plug in your microphone, and it is what will allow you to actually make the recordings, as it will translate the analog electrical signals transmitted by your microphone into a signal that can be understood and recorded by the computer, thus a digital signal.

This will be possible since you will connect your interface to your computer or smartphone via a USB cable.

If you’re starting out in the home studio world, there’s no need to spend a fortune on an audio interface.

Typically, a small interface like the famous Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 just above can be sufficient.

That said, unless your budget is very limited, avoid the very entry-level options (like Aliexpress audio interfaces), which will generate too many problems for working under good conditions.

► In this regard, I recommend reading my selection of the best interfaces for home studios.

Note: above all, do not try to plug a microphone into your computer’s “mic” input or directly into your smartphone. On one hand, studio microphones are not designed for that, but more importantly, it’s not a good way to achieve quality recordings. It is never used in a studio or home studio context. At best, it’s useful for chatting during a video conference — and that’s it.

What software to use for recording singing?

Naturally, you will also need software to record the audio signals transmitted by your audio interface.

If you’re a beginner and your main goal is to get a raw recording of your voice, basic tools like Audacity or GarageBand can do the job perfectly.

However, what I recommend instead is to lean towards more professional software, like the one I use and for which you see a screenshot just above (Studio One, in this case).

These are called DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) or STANs (Station de Travail Audio-Numérique), and the advantage of this software is that they are perfectly suited for recording in a home studio or studio context.

Indeed, they will allow you to easily edit your recordings, cut them, and correct a number of things.

For example, you can add effects, such as equalization to adjust certain frequencies or reverb to give a “3D” quality to the sound of your voice.

That’s why I highly recommend that you orient yourself from the start towards software of this type for your singing recordings. A DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation, indeed offers you a wide range of tools for your vocal recordings, thus allowing you to adopt the best practices from the beginning for quality results.

Similarly, if you plan to work on a smartphone, there are similar but simpler software options like Cubasis (available on iOS and Android).

► To learn more, click here to discover my detailed article on DAW software.

Get ready to record your voice

When starting to record your voice or singing performance, there’s often a tendency to want to click the “record” button and jump right in.

While this approach doesn’t pose much of a problem for recording a quick demo — it’s another story when you want to achieve quality vocal recordings.

Indeed, if you want to do really nice things, it’s important to take the time to prepare the voice recording.

Tip #1: Prepare the performance

Whether you are the artist or someone else, it is necessary for the singer to prepare the performance.

This means, first of all, practicing before going to the “recording” stage.

Often in the studio, you have artists who arrive without having really practiced, just having sung the piece a few times quickly after writing the lyrics.

The result: the recording is laborious, it takes time, and in the end, it doesn’t sound as good as it could have.

I may be stating the obvious here, but it’s a very common phenomenon — and in home studios, we are all guilty of this at one time or another because we want to record faster.

But in trying to rush, we sometimes do it poorly.

So take the time

• to memorize the lyrics well;
• to repeat the piece until it is perfectly mastered;
• and to ensure that the key in which you take the piece is suitable for your vocal range: it’s often worth lowering by one or two semitones rather than forcing during recordings.

Tip #2: Warm Up

Following the previous tip, it is important to warm up well before making your recording.

Even if you just want to record spoken voice, by the way.

Just like an athlete warms up before a competition to avoid injuries and optimize performance, a singer must prepare their voice before starting a recording session.

Vocal warm-up consists of a series of exercises that relax the vocal muscles and increase the flexibility of the vocal cords.

This preserves your vocal cords and ensures better pronunciation of words, better diction.

Moreover, vocal warm-up helps reduce the risk of tension or vocal fatigue during recording, allowing you to achieve more precise and powerful takes.

In short, it’s the key to getting the most out of your voice during your recording sessions.

Tip #3: Control the Noise Around You

We don’t always pay attention to it, but in our daily lives, we are surrounded by noise.

And even if they are sometimes subtle, these noises can end up in our recordings, as the microphones we use in the studio and home studio are very sensitive.

They pick up everything, so to speak.

And even worse: when you go to process your voice recordings and especially compress them, you will bring out these noises.

So, try to minimize the amount of background noise around you when you record:

• turn off the air conditioning;
• turn off electrical devices that might emit a slight buzz like refrigerators;
• close the windows (even in other rooms);
• try to record at a time when there are fewer cars passing by your street;
• if your computer fans are noisy, optimize their settings and/or optimize the position of the microphone;
• etc.

The more you reduce the ambient background noise, the better your voice or singing recordings will be.

Tip #4: Improve the Acoustics of Your Room

Finally, there is one point to keep in mind although it is often underestimated in home studios: the acoustics of your room.

Indeed, the acoustics of the room in which you work will have an extremely important influence on the quality of your voice recordings.

A room that is too reverberant can make the voice unintelligible, while a room that is too muffled can make it flat and lifeless.

It is therefore essential to select a room with appropriate acoustics, or to add acoustic treatments such as absorbing panels or diffusers to achieve the desired sound.

For example, here is a recording made in a room without any acoustic treatment:

And now, here is a recording made exactly in the same place, but with only 4 absorbing acoustic panels positioned on the walls of the room:

Right away, the amount of reverb decreases — which is more than appreciated since when you process your voice during the mixing phase, the natural reverb of the room is likely to stand out.

So it is important to have the highest quality recording possible from the start.

What Microphone to Use for Recording Voice or Singing?

If you want to make voice recordings, there are many, if not very many suitable microphones.

But of course, it is still important not to make poor choices.

Let’s take a moment to look at the main things to know.

Directivity

All microphones have what is called a “directivity” that is unique to them.

I discuss it in detail in this other article — because directivity is not a topic specific to voice recording.

For voice recording in a home studio context, unless in very specific cases, we generally use microphones with a cardioid directivity.

That is to say, as represented in the diagram above, the microphone (at the center of the diagram) will be mainly sensitive to sounds coming from “in front” (0°), which is the direction where the singer is located, and not at all sensitive to sounds coming from behind (180°).

This is quite logical: we want to capture the voice by itself, and not the natural reverberation of the room.

There is only one instrument: the artist’s voice.

And we are not looking to capture anything else.

A condenser mic…

In terms of microphones, the default option I recommend if you want to record singing or voice is to go for a large diaphragm condenser microphone.

Indeed, this type of microphone is most often used in studios, and it works very well: they reproduce detail well and provide a generally balanced sound.

In terms of models, many beginners buy the Rode NT1-A, which is quite well-known and has the advantage of being delivered with a pop filter, a cable, and a shock mount.

So, there is a nice all-in-one aspect, and the microphone is not bad either, although it can be a bit too aggressive in the upper mids and highs.

► For other recommendations with different types of budgets, check out my file on microphones for voice & singing.

Note: avoid small diaphragm condenser microphones, as they are generally not suitable for recording solo singing.

…or a dynamic microphone?

Another option is to go for a dynamic microphone.

Like the famous stage microphones such as the Shure SM57 and Shure SM58.

The fact is that I am a bit torn on this type of microphone for singing.

They have certain advantages over large diaphragm condenser microphones:

• often a slightly lower price;
• greater durability;
• less sensitivity to the natural reverberation of the room.

But on the flip side, they often provide a less detailed, somewhat less precise sound.

It remains usable, but it won’t suit all musical styles.

In fact, dynamic microphones are often found in hard rock or extreme metal for voice recording because the sound is quite nice on somewhat extreme vocals.

But most of the time, in the studio, it is still large diaphragm condenser microphones that are used.

► That said, if you want to lean towards a dynamic mic, I have some recommendations in my this article.

And portable recorders?

If you are just starting out and have already done some research on equipment for recording singing, you may have come across portable recorders similar to the one in the photo next to this text.

Objectively, it is really not a good idea to use this kind of device for voice recording.

At best, it can serve to quickly record a memory during a rehearsal, or as a dictaphone to hum a quick musical idea.

But this is not suitable for voice recording, unless you plug in other microphones on top… and in that case, it will be much more interesting to buy a classic audio interface.

THE standard recording technique for voice and singing

Okay, you have your microphone, you’ve warmed up, you’ve turned off your fridge and air conditioning… and now what do we do?

Well, you are almost ready to record.

Almost, because you first need to use the right recording technique.

And I say “the” in singular, because objectively, even though there are variations, the voice is generally always recorded in the same way.

Connecting the equipment

In terms of equipment, nothing could be simpler, you will place your microphone on a stand and connect it via an XLR cable to your audio interface.

And this audio interface, you will have connected to your computer or to your smartphone, if you plan to record your voice / your singing on an iPhone or an Android phone.

The diagram below represents the two scenarios:

Positioning the microphone relative to the singer

Now, it is crucial to properly position your microphone.

Poor placement is one of the main sources of bad recordings for beginners in home studio.

As a starting point, I recommend positioning yourself so that your mouth is 15/20 centimeters from the microphone.

Make sure that the microphone capsule is directly oriented towards your mouth, and you will immediately get a fairly correct and balanced recording:

If you move away from the microphone, you will hear the room’s acoustics more strongly — which is generally undesirable (especially since after dynamic compression, it will stand out even more):

And if you get too close to the microphone, you will have more proximity effect, which translates into an amplification of low frequencies:

Generally, we do not want this effect to be too pronounced — but it can be useful to enhance the density and intimate aspect of a whispered voice, or for example for rap when you want something very frontal and impactful.

Position in the room

Now, you also need to take into account the position in the room.

For acoustic reasons, avoid the center of the room, which can have strong defects in low frequencies.

But above all, consider the directivity of your microphone to know in advance what it will pick up.

Since your microphone is cardioid, it is very sensitive to the front, somewhat sensitive to the sides, and not very sensitive to the back.

So in terms of natural reverberations, it will first be sensitive to reflections coming from behind the singer, before being sensitive to those coming from behind the microphone.

This means that if you want to position acoustic treatment specifically for your recording (absorbent panels) during your voice or singing recordings, you should first position it behind the artist, then on the sides, and then you can take care of what is behind the microphone.

A technique that I really like, even though it is not at all essential if your home studio already has good acoustic treatment, is to stand in the corner of the room with absorbent panels behind, or even on the sides, as shown in the diagram below:

This will allow you to minimize reflections captured by the microphone, without necessarily needing perfect acoustics throughout the room, since the microphone is less sensitive to sounds coming from behind.

Pop filter

Above all, don’t forget to position a pop filter between the artist’s mouth and the microphone.

This is absolutely crucial for getting good recordings.

Indeed, this accessory will reduce plosives, that is to say, unwanted breath noises such as the “p” and “b” pronounced explosively. It works by dissipating the force of the air expelled during these consonants, thus reducing sound distortions and improving the quality of the vocal recording by avoiding unpleasant noises.

Here is an example without a pop filter:

and with a pop filter:

Position it halfway between the microphone and the artist’s mouth.

Note: I once read the advice to slightly tilt the pop filter to deflect the air up or down, thus improving the filter’s effectiveness. I haven’t noticed a strong difference myself, but if this technique resonates with you, feel free to make it your own.

And the headphone monitoring…

Finally, it is important for the singing artist:

• to hear the accompaniment if there is one;
• and also to have what is called a “monitor” so that he/she can hear themselves in real-time.

For this, we naturally use headphones, which generally are closed-back headphones like the famous DT 770 or, my favorite, the M50X.

With these headphones, you can, thanks to your DAW and/or the software interface associated with your sound card, define what sound the artist will hear.

Then, it’s up to you to decide how you want to work to be comfortable, but I recommend three things:

• pay attention to minimize latency during recording, so that the headphone monitoring is as immediate as possible: we don’t want to hear ourselves 2 seconds after singing;
• add a bit of reverb to the headphone monitoring: for the person recording, it is always more pleasant and realistic, and it generally helps achieve better vocal performances;
• to sing more accurately, don’t hesitate to remove one of the ear cups from the headphones: for most singers, this yields much better results.

FAQ on recording voice and singing

With the previous chapters, you should have all the necessary information to record your singing or voice under good conditions.

That said, here are some additional elements answering the most common questions on the subject.

Can we add reverb/effects during recording?

Definitely not, I advise against it.

At least, always record a signal as raw as possible.

If you want to add effect plugins to have, for example, reverb in your headphone monitoring, no problem.

But do not modify the sound before recording it: otherwise, in case of error, you won’t be able to go back!

Can we use a USB microphone?

Perhaps you have seen USB microphones being used to record voice on YouTube or elsewhere.

Objectively, if you just want to record one or two vocal demos a year, it can do the job.

Especially if you avoid the sirens of marketing and choose something from a real brand, like the Audio-Technica AT2020USB-X shown in the picture.

But generally speaking, if you take things a bit seriously and want to record regularly, it is much more relevant to go for a classic audio interface.

Is it essential to use an acoustic screen?

No, not at all.

Personally, I rarely use one because I find it adds a somewhat “boxy” quality to the sound, as if we were recording in a box.

However, if I had to choose between a room without acoustic treatment and a room without acoustic treatment but with a screen around the mic, I think having this kind of accessory is clearly useful.

In conclusion

There you go, you now know what equipment to use to record voice or singing, and especially how to use it to achieve quality sound recordings.

If you still have questions, no problem: you can ask them in the comments just below the article: I respond to everyone!

► Continue reading: The equipment needed to set up a home studio.