Are you a music enthusiast who is barely getting started out or lack the necessary budget? Have you been seeking ways and means of launching out into the task of recording music? We are pleased to notify you that you have landed on just the right page.

Here, we are going to let you know the steps to record a song at home without expensive equipment. We will have a more in-depth look later on in this article.

1. Get the absolutely essential equipment and tools
2. Select a suitable room
3. Prepare the room for recording
4. Set up your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
5. Attach your audio interface
6. Connect the microphone
7. Gauge the audio levels
8. Start recording!

You also might be wondering what is the minimum required budget for recording a song at home, so here’s a simple breakdown:

In general, you need at least $267.50 to get started. Of course, you can always borrow the equipment to further reduce the cost. As you familiarize yourself with the recording process, you may need to add more equipment to your arsenal in order to improve the audio quality.

Get the absolutely essential equipment and tools

• Audio Interface: This serves to convert the audio signals into an electrical signal. It draws the signals from the microphone through to the computer that performs the actual task of conversion. Many modern computers do have this trait built into the system and hence spares you from the need to attach it separately.
• Microphone cable or XLR cable: Of course, a microphone requires a microphone cable to transmit the signals from it to the computer that subsequently converts the same to electrical signals. Most home recording undertakings require cables that measure 15-25 feet and are coaxial in nature.
• Microphone: The microphone forms the core of the recording equipment. It is the one that picks the audio signals and channels the same to the computer via the microphone cable that attaches it to the computer. You really have to set your hands on a truly powerful microphone for high-quality recordings.
• Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): The digital audio workstation is a piece of software that performs the actual task of recording the music. It also edits and mixes the various audio signals you may have at that time. Owing to all these, it forms the backbone of the home recording undertaking.
• Curtains and rugs: While prepping your room for the subsequent task of audio recording, the curtains, drapes, pillows, sheets, and rugs will find extensive use. They work to absorb and dampen the echoes and reverberations to give off exceptionally clear audio outputs. Preferably, the colors of these items have to be duller to interfere not with the quality of the final outcome.

Select a suitable room

Of course, you have to select a room, to act as your music studio, wherein you will do the recording. The room you choose has to be large and spacious enough to prevent the emergence of echoes and reverberations. Additionally, a larger room allows you to tackle just about everything within its walls without having to strew your equipment all over.

Prepare the room for recording

After identifying the most suitable room for the exercise, you now have to prep it for the purpose of recording. You do this by stashing the room with carpets, relevant pieces of furniture, curtains, and wall coverings. These add to the quality of your recording by making the sound waves incapable of generating echoes.

On the same note, you have to eliminate all the background noises as much as you can. This will require that you keep all the pets and the kids out, shut the door and the windows tightly, and turning off all the various sound sources like the television, video players, cellphones, and radios.

In case the room still sounds echoey, you may have to reinforce the fabric components further using blankets and pillows. These serve to absorb more sound and make the production a little bit clearer than you would attain under normal circumstances. Place them strategically at selected portions of the room.

Set up your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

Get to the task now of setting up the digital audio workstation. Remember, this forms the core of the audio recording. You hence have to tackle it in ways that are ingenious. As you do this, be sure that it is compatible with every component of your machine. You may have to bring in an expert to help you out as well.

Attach your audio interface

Next move to attach the audio interface to the digital audio workstation. Typically, this will require that you attach two cables, one AC wall plug and the other, a USB cable. Then, you will have to configure and fine-tune the attachments to give rise to clearer audio signal outputs.

Connect the microphone

Connect your microphone now to the audio interface using the XLR cable. One end of this cable goes to the audio interface whereas the other end goes to the microphone. Some cables are demarcated male and female ends respectively. In this case, the male goes to the microphone whereas the female goes to the audio interface.

Gauge the audio levels

Having concluded the connections, you now have to check the levels of the microphones and other components of the entire system. Check the power levels, sound levels, audiometer, and the other critical components of the system to see to it that they are properly functioning or not.

Start recording!

Round it up now by recording your audio contents. This forms the core of the entire exercise. At this stage, you have to play the favorite songs and the beats. Different recording devices enable you to achieve this end in a couple of ways. Some allow for all-inclusive while the others for one-at-a-time.

You hence have to familiarize yourself with the one that suits your unique needs and settings. Go for the piece by piece arrangement if yours is complicated and needs in-depth attention all the while. In case you are short of time, you have to choose the wholesome or comprehensive approach.

The latter approach has one serious shortcoming. It has the tendency to mismatch the beats and the lyrics. That may usually require lots of editing later to see to it that these components line up perfectly. You may hence have to seek the attention and the intervention of a professional recording artist to help you out.

Before you roll out the musical production, you have to test and see whether it really mirrors your expectations or not. That may demand producing limited copies which you play and ask people to rate. Depending on the outcomes of the reviews, you may at times be forced to get back to the drawing board to start it out all over again.

Conclusion

We wrap up our peek into the matter of how to record a song at home without expensive equipment there. With the kind of deep insight we have given forth above, we now trust that you are able to record your favorite hits without too much ado. Only a careful re-read of the instructions above is further recommended.

Chances are that you are not the only one who may need to implement the above insight. We ask you now to share the insight as far wide as you can. Let every other music enthusiast also enjoy the selfsame benefits and advantages that these wonderful pieces of advice have to confer to any musical enthusiast.