Beginner's guide to recording vocals

You do not need a treated studio to record great vocals. You need a decent mic, a quiet-ish room, and a workflow that keeps you focused on the performance instead of the technology. Here's the shortest path to a usable vocal take.

What you need

• A USB or XLR condenser microphone (an SM7B, AT2020, or MV7 are all excellent).
• A pop filter — or a sock stretched over a wire hanger.
• Closed-back headphones so the mic doesn't pick up your reference track.
• A quiet space. Closets full of clothes make wonderful vocal booths.

Set up your take once

Mouth roughly two closed fists from the mic. Slightly off-axis reduces plosives. Sing your loudest phrase and set your interface preamp so peaks stay around −12 to −6 dBFS. Never chase the red light.

Record more takes than you think you need

Record 3 to 5 full passes of the song, even if you nail take 2. You'll comp the best moments together later — a magical line in take 4 is worth the extra 10 minutes now.

Comping in Easy-DAW

Open the Timeline, tap a clip, and use Split and Delete to keep only the phrase you love from each take. Snap-to-beat makes it easy to line up transitions.

Don't process while tracking

Record dry. Add EQ, compression, and reverb later. This gives you room to change your mind — and to remix the track a year from now with better skills.

Save your work

Easy-DAW auto-saves every change. Close the tab and come back tomorrow — your session will be exactly where you left it. On tablet or phone you can review takes on the couch and star the ones worth comping.