How do I set up a home recording space cheaply?

Home recording advice tends to focus on equipment, when the room is usually the limiting factor. A modest microphone in a well-treated space beats an expensive one in a bare box, every time.

What you'll need

• An audio interface with the inputs you need
• One microphone suited to the source
• Closed-back headphones
• A microphone stand and a decent cable

Step by step

1. Start with an audio interface.It converts microphone and instrument signals to digital, provides phantom power for condenser mics, and gives low-latency monitoring. A two-input interface covers most home needs.
2. Buy one microphone, chosen for the source.A large-diaphragm condenser for vocals and acoustic instruments in a quiet room; a dynamic microphone if the room is noisy or the source is loud, because it picks up much less of the room.
3. Use closed-back headphones.For recording, so the backing track does not bleed into the microphone. Open-back headphones are better for mixing but leak sound badly while tracking.
4. Use free software to start.Several capable digital audio workstations are free or come bundled with interfaces. Software is not the limiting factor for a beginner.
5. Treat the room rather than soundproofing it.Soundproofing stops sound getting in and out and needs mass and construction work. Treatment controls reflections inside the room, and that is what makes recordings sound amateur or professional.
6. Use what you already own.A duvet on a stand behind and beside the microphone, a bookcase full of books as a diffuser, a rug on a hard floor, curtains over a window. This is most of what cheap acoustic panels achieve.
7. Record in the right part of the room.Away from the exact centre and not close to a wall or a corner. Corners build up bass, and the middle of a room is where standing waves are worst.
8. Get the microphone close to the source.Closer means more direct sound relative to room reflections. This single choice does more for a home recording than any amount of equipment.
9. Set levels with headroom.Peaks around minus twelve to minus six dB. Digital clipping is irreversible, and modern recording has far more headroom than the old analogue habit of pushing levels hard.
10. Use a pop filter and a shock mount.Cheap, and they solve plosive thumps and floor vibration, which are otherwise very hard to fix afterwards.
11. Kill the noise sources.Fridge, boiler, computer fans, traffic. Turn things off, record at quiet times, and put the computer as far from the microphone as the cables allow.
12. Monitor at a low volume.Mixing loud flatters everything and misleads you. Check the mix quietly, and on more than one set of speakers or headphones.
13. Record more takes than you think.Storage is free and performances vary. Comping a good take from several is standard practice, not cheating.

Tips

• The room matters more than the microphone. A duvet behind the mic is a real upgrade.
• Get the microphone closer to the source. It is the cheapest improvement available.
• Leave headroom. Digital clipping cannot be undone.

Common mistakes

• Buying an expensive microphone for an untreated room — A better microphone captures the room more accurately, including all the reflections that make it sound like a bedroom. Treating the space first makes a modest microphone sound far better.
• Confusing soundproofing with acoustic treatment — Foam tiles on the wall do almost nothing to stop sound leaving or entering, which is what people usually want. They absorb high frequencies inside the room, which is a different job.

If it doesn't work

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