How to Record and Upload a Song to Soundcloud Without a Studio

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Take you written a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece and are you dying to share it with the globe? Or, are you a outset-timer looking to make a garage recording for a three-track demo? Regardless of your state of affairs, recording your music allows yous to create a permanent, definitive record of your work which you can share, promote, and sell as much (or as petty) as you please. For the inexperienced, the process of recording a song tin can be seriously daunting. Yet, with patience and difficult work, it's possible for well-nigh anyone to tape a not bad vocal at dwelling house or in a professional studio. See Pace ane below to get started!

1. 1

   If you oasis't already, write a song. Trying to record a song you oasis't finished writing yet is like trying write a novel without any ideas about the plot or characters you're going to utilise — very catchy. Whether you're recording in your garage or at Abbey Route studios, you'll want to have your entire song figured out before yous start to tape. This saves yous the fourth dimension of having to re-record numerous takes as yous figure out your song and, if y'all're using a professional studio, the money needed to pay for studio fourth dimension.

   • This means that your song's construction needs to be more or less decided-upon when you arrive at the studio, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to take every note pre-planned. Some artists, for case, record their solos live in the studio. In some genres of music, like Jazz, unabridged sections of the vocal can exist improvised — still, even in these cases, the musicians know when to begin and end each part of the song and how to stay in time with 1 another.
   • For more information, see How to Write a Vocal.

2. two

   Alternatively, pick a vocal to embrace. Not every vocal you record has to be an original. Yous can also record your own version of someone else's vocal (called a encompass). There are no significant legal hurdles to recording a encompass, though you are obligated to give the original songwriter credit if you sell your version commercially.^[1] Some of music's biggest hits have been covers (though this is not ever well-known amid fans of the songs). Below are just a few famous covers:^[2]

   • "Tainted Honey" by Soft Cell (originally by Gloria Jones)
   • "Girls Only Wanna Accept Fun" by Cyndi Lauper (originally by Robert Hazard)
   • "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley (originally past Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton)
   • "All Forth the Watchtower" past Jimi Hendrix (originally by Bob Dylan)
   • "Jolene" by the White Stripes (originally past Dolly Parton)
   • "I Think We're Alone At present" by Tiffany (originally past Tommy James and the Shondells)

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3. 3

   Practice, practice, exercise. No matter when and where you're recording, information technology's e'er in your best interest to practice your song until you know information technology like the back of your (hopefully callused) hands. Past the time you turn on the mics, you'll want to be able to reliably play through the unabridged song without making annihilation rather than insignificant, tiny errors. If you lot tin can't, yous run a risk wasting lots of time playing your song over and over as you try for a perfect accept.

   • This is especially important if yous're using a professional recording studio. While you tin can easily become abroad with making a few mistakes when you lot're recording in your garage, showing upwards to a recording studio unprepared can be embarrassing and costly. Studio fourth dimension tin can be quite expensive (it's not rare for the services of a reasonably high quality studio to run at $100 per hour or more)^[3] , and so every time yous brand a mistake and need to beginning over, you're losing coin. Plus, experienced audio engineers are present when you record in the studio — do you want to mess upward in front end of them over and over?

4. 4

   Have any equipment you need to sound "but correct". Just similar you'll desire to be able to play through your vocal without mistakes before you begin recording, you'll also desire to have all of the equipment and accessories that yous need to make your music sound just right before you pace into the studio. While many professional person studios will have various amps, cables, furnishings pedals, and even instruments handy, there's no guarantee that they'll have exactly what you lot need to sound the mode yous want, and so don't count on this. Instead, have all of your equipment with you lot to avert the hassle of adjusting to a new setup.

   • Obviously, if you lot're recording at abode, all you'll exist able to use is the equipment y'all have (or any you can infringe from a friend).

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Making a Dwelling Recording

1. 1

   Become at least one proficient-quality computer microphone. When it comes to domicile recording, yous're merely actually limited by the time you have at your disposal and the money y'all want to spend on equipment. Depending on the recording setup yous desire to have, the price of home recording gear can range from about $100 to many thousands of dollars. At the very to the lowest degree, you'll demand to buy at least one microphone of reasonable quality to record your voice and/or instruments. Don't rely on your calculator's built-in mic — these are most always likewise poor of quality to make a good recording with.

   • Even among good-quality microphones, you have many, many options. The most affordable mics will cost about $100, while loftier-end items can retail for several m dollars.^[4]
   • If you're trying to make electronic music without any vocals, you lot may be able to get away without having a microphone. However, in this case, you may need sampling equipment, actress software, and then on.

   Skillful TIP

   

   Halle Payne

   Singer/Songwriter

   Halle Payne has been writing songs since the historic period of 8. She has written hundreds of songs for guitar and piano, some of which are recorded and available on her Soundcloud or Youtube channel. Most recently, Halle was a part of a 15-person collaboration in Stockholm, Sweden, called the Skål Sisters.

   

   Halle Payne
   Singer/Songwriter

   Halle Payne, Singer/Songwriter, tells us: "When I was first starting, I used the microphone on my estimator. If you're only starting out, the nearly important thing is to merely effort and just create — you lot don't need fancy equipment for that. Nowadays, I use the Bluish Yeti Microphone, as it's a moderately affordable and quality sounding microphone on the market."

2. 2

   Download or buy recording software. To make a good recording at home, you'll need software on your computer that'south up to the task. Hither, you have a great bargain of flexibility — professional recording software can easily cost $1,000, but a diverseness of inexpensive and gratuitous alternatives are perfectly serviceable for many amateur musicians' needs. Before you brainstorm to record, exist certain that your recording software is installed on your figurer and is working properly. This means you lot'll probably want to test your microphone and any additional hardware to brand certain that your software is picking up audio. Below are a few cheap and free sound recording programs yous may want to consider:

   • Audacity (complimentary)
   • Wavosaur (free)
   • Wavepad (gratis)
   • Garageband (free; only bachelor for iOS; improver features cost $5)
   • FL Studio ($99 and up for full version; $x-$20 for affect-based versions)^[5]

3. three

   Lay down rhythm tracks. At a professional studio, the first affair you'll usually tape is a performance track. All the musicians will play through the entire song together without stopping, fifty-fifty if minor mistakes occur. And then, afterwards that, they'll play their individual tracks along to the audio of the functioning. Even so, if yous're recording in a dwelling house studio, unless you've sunk some serious cash into your setup, you lot probably don't accept enough equipment to take every musician miked at once. Thus, you'll probably want to begin by recording the rhythm section. In a typical rock ring setup, this is drum, bass, rhythm guitar, and any auxiliary percussion your vocal has. Record drums first, and so auxiliary percussion, so bass, and finally rhythm guitar.

   • The tracks you lay downwards for these instruments will be used to help keep the other instruments on shell equally they play, so exist sure that the rhythmic department is perfectly "locked in" to the trounce of the song.
   • To help the members of the rhythm section stay on beat, it may be helpful to use a metronome or click track. Most recording software will have the ability to use the latter built-in.

4. 4

   Lay downwards lead instruments. Later on y'all've laid downwardly the rhythm section, it's time for you to add whatsoever lead instrumental lines. Atomic number 82 guitar, synths, keyboards, and much more than can exist recorded at this indicate. As a general dominion, if the instrument plays a melody or counter-melody line, you'll want to tape it here.

   • Equally yous record each instrument, play over the tracks yous've already recorded. This way, each instrument you lot record is easier to keep on beat than the last.

5. v

   Lay down vocals. When you've laid down all of your instrumental tracks and you lot're satisfied with their quality, finally, record any song parts. If there is just one vocal part in your song, you may feasibly be able to exercise this in i take, but if your song has harmony lines, you'll need to record each separately.

   • For singers, a good strategy is to carefully residuum their voice the entire day of recording until it's time to sing. Endeavor to avoid singing, shouting, or talking for long periods of fourth dimension. Drink plenty of water. Some singers like to soothe their vocal chords with tea and love. Avert dairy, equally this can produce a "phlegmy" feeling in the throat that can hamper skilful singing.^[6]

   EXPERT TIP

   A pop filter will help you avoid those distracting popping sounds in the vocal track, which volition exist difficult to edit out.

   

   Halle Payne

   Singer/Songwriter

   Halle Payne has been writing songs since the age of eight. She has written hundreds of songs for guitar and piano, some of which are recorded and available on her Soundcloud or Youtube aqueduct. Nigh recently, Halle was a part of a 15-person collaboration in Stockholm, Sweden, called the Skål Sisters.

   

   Halle Payne
   Vocaliser/Songwriter

6. six

   Edit your tracks. After you've recorded all of the tracks yous'll demand for your song, have a moment to gloat — the nerve-wracking office is over. Side by side, you'll apply your editing software to fine-tune your performances. Look and listen for minor inconsistencies in rhythm and tone and utilise the tools provided in your editing software to smooth out these crude spots. Every editing program volition exist somewhat different, but nearly all will permit you to adjust the volume and left/correct alignment of all tracks, delete and copy content, and apply special effects. Use your recording software's tools to give your song the level of polish y'all're looking for.

   • Relieve oft as you edit. Make a duplicate save every fourth dimension y'all brand a major modify. Losing work and having to re-record at this signal is a major pain and a huge waste of valuable fourth dimension.

7. 7

   Publish it! Finally, yous've finished — your parts are all recorded and you've edited your song so that it'due south every bit perfect as it will always be. To complete the process, relieve your file in a common audio format like .mp3, .wav., .flac, .ogg using the recording software's "export" or "publish" function (usually under the "File" or equivalent tab in the card bar).

   • When your file is saved in its new format, you can use it as you please. You may, for instance, want to email information technology to a friend, burn down it to a CD, or upload it to an online streaming service.

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Making a Professional Recording

1. 1

   Contact a professional person recording studio. Dissimilar recording at home, recording in the studio isn't the sort of thing you can approach casually when you have a few hours gratis on a Friday. Studios are busy, high-price businesses, so, for your benefit and the studio's, y'all'll need to schedule a cake of time during which you lot'll record your song. The corporeality of time yous'll need depends on how complex your song is. Simple songs, like ones involving only an acoustic guitar and a song tune, can feasibly exist recorded within a few hours, while songs involving a whole band tin easily have 10 to 15 hours.

   • As an culling to expensive commercial studios, effort contacting a local art school or a university'southward art department. Some schools will allow musicians to record their songs for gratuitous so that students studying music production can have a risk to practice their skills on the school's professional-quality equipment.

2. 2

   Know your song perfectly past the time you lot arrive. One of the biggest differences betwixt recording at home and recording in the studio is that, for the latter, fourth dimension (both yours and the studio's) is always a serious business. The longer you take in the studio, the more you'll spend, and bills can rack up quite fast. At a small just professional-quality studio, it tin take anywhere from almost a hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars to complete the recording process for a single song.^[vii] Because these base costs will merely increase if you have to spend actress time recording, y'all'll want to have your vocal completely mastered by the time yous arrive at the studio.

3. 3

   Lay down a performance take commencement. By and large, once the studio engineer has finished setting up her equipment, the fist thing you'll do is play through the entire vocal once without stopping. This "performance track" should include all of the musicians present — you want it to exist as close to a "real" live performance as possible. Though you'll want to do your best, it's not the end of the world if you brand tiny mistakes at this betoken, as none of the tracks from this performance will typically make information technology into the finished product unless they're exceptionally skilful.

4. iv

   Side by side, tape your tracks in the same order as at home. After you (and whatsoever other musicians nowadays) record your functioning accept, you'll play and sing your individual parts over information technology equally you listen to it (and, sometimes, a click runway) through a set of headphones. Having a operation that's basically "correct" to play over mostly makes the process of recording much quicker and easier, though it can sometimes have a fiddling fourth dimension to find a volume level that allows you to hear yourself over the functioning accept equally yous play. Tape your tracks in roughly the same social club as y'all would at home: start drums, then any auxiliary percussion, so bass, then rhythm guitar, then lead guitar and any other lead instruments, and finally vocals.

   • Ideally, you'll want to tape each runway within a few takes, rather than having to waste product time on many takes, then, every bit noted above, endeavor to know your vocal very well before recording. Some jitters at the outset of the recording process can be unavoidable, specially if it'southward your outset time, so some engineers volition recommend you participate in some brusk ice breakers or relaxing activities before showtime.

5. v

   Brand editing and production decisions with your producer. As you record (and afterward), your engineer may share ideas about how certain instruments or sections should sound. She may, for instance, recommend adding a certain subsequently-effect, similar reverb, to your vocals to give them the quality of being performed in a big room with a slight echo. Or, she may have suggestions almost the studio banter you lot want to bookend your vocal with — mayhap it's likewise long or distracting. In any instance, it's up to you to communicate with your engineer nigh the way you'd similar your recording to sound and to accept or reject any suggestions she makes.

   • It's your recording, but the engineer does this for a living, so be sure to at least consider her advice. Engineers typically won't comment on the structure or composition of your vocal, just its audio quality, and then at that place's no reason to be insulted if an engineer wants to try something a little different than yous expected.
   • This existence said, proceed in mind that time spent experimenting with different sound palettes is fourth dimension you lot can't get back, so attempt to keep any experimentation brief.

6. six

   Send your tracks to a mastering engineer. When recording is done, you lot can get out and you lot may be given an "un-mastered" copy of your recording, simply the work isn't over all the same. After this indicate, the recording typically goes to a mastering engineer, who makes precise adjustments to the recording to ensure that it sounds every bit good equally possible in a process called "mastering". Mastering involves adjusting the relative volumes of the tracks in the recording, ensuring internal consistency by adjusting the recording's EQ and proceeds, using pinch to requite the recording a consequent volume, and much more than.^[8] Skipping the mastering phase can outcome in a recording that sounds "thin" or imbalanced, so this is recommended for almost everyone who records in a professional person setting.

   • Mastering carries its own price in add-on to the basic recording procedure. This is oftentimes at to the lowest degree $100-150 per song and can be much more than.
   • This is especially important if you intend your rails to be heard on the radio, every bit all major commercial releases are mastered.^[nine]

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1. 1

   Tape more songs to form an album or EP. If you accept plenty of material to tape and the time and resources to do information technology, consider recording an album or EP. An album is the standard collection of viii-15 songs or then that represents a major release for a musician, while an EP (short for "Extended Play") is a shorter drove of songs that is unremarkably only iii-5 tracks long. With an anthology or EP under your belt, you can kickoff treating yourself equally a serious artist and even brand coin by selling your piece of work!

2. 2

   Share your music online. If you've only recorded some hot new tracks, take advantage of modern internet engineering and share them with your fans! Streaming services like Youtube, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp allow you to host and share your songs for very cheap or free after registering an account, making this an ideal choice for those looking to reach the largest audience possible on a budget.

   • To apace promote the song or album to all of your friends and family members, you may also want to endeavor posting a link to your album on your social media (Facebook, etc.) profile.

3. 3

   Reach out to the music and entertainment industries. If, after listening to your new recording, you're convinced that yous have a hereafter hitting on your easily, attempt contacting someone with the power to get your music on the radio and in stores. For instance, you may want to try arranging a meeting with the staff at a small independent tape characterization or sending your music to alive venues in the local area for a shot at a paying gig. Regardless of what you do, the best manner to become noticed in the industry is to stay active — play shows, release new music, and take a decisive role in your musical career.

   • In improver, some radio stations (specially higher stations) accept music submissions from independent artists.

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Add New Question

• Question

  How tin can I publish my songs?

  

  I would recommend making a Youtube or Vimeo account and posting your songs on there. This volition ensure the songs are still yours by copyright, but they will be released to the world which will requite you a higher take a chance of being discovered.

• Question

  Can I make a song at habitation?

  

  Jelke de Jong

  Community Answer

  Yes! Yous will probably not go quite the quality audio yous'd make it a studio, merely with some practise and the correct materials, you can make pretty proficient demos from home.

• Question

  I have recorded. How do I make a video afterwards that?

  

  Y'all can make up one's mind to practise the video professionally or take things a bit more calmly and do information technology at home. If y'all do it at home, find a friend who knows at least a bit about filmmaking and cinematography to help you, or that at least y'all lookout man another music videos beforehand to know what yous're getting into. Find a video recording device and play the music in the background then that at least you know which part of the vocal you're recording. When you edit the video, take out the music from the background.

• Question

  If I record a song, tin I put it on YouTube?

  

  Bold the song is wholly original and entirely your own, then aye, y'all can definitely put information technology on YouTube.

• Question

  Are vocal, drums, guitar, keyboard and every other instrument recorded separately?

  

  Shirsh Chhabra

  Community Reply

  If information technology can't be done simultaneously, then YES! Just nada's better than a live recording of the song.

• Question

  I understand that a microphone is necessary for singing a song and in that location are many pieces of equipment bachelor, only I practice not accept the budget for it all. Tin can we record on a mobile device?

  

  Jelke de Jong

  Customs Respond

  Well, it is possible to tape with a telephone, merely you are sacrificing a lot of quality at that place. I would recommend getting a cheap microphone, I would suggest something past Devine, since they have corking bang for your buck microphones that are cheap just work wonders.

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• Believe in yourself! Just keep trying and if you are scared virtually the comments you lot'll get heed to yourself or preform just to your friends and family unit. Have one stride at a time.

• Endeavour to go modest Gigs in Pubs or bars, and then move on to nightclubs. Hopefully you volition get a man who tin become you a record deal or fifty-fifty a contract!

• Some people may not like your music: ignore them.

• Along with selling CDs, Try the songs out online! Who knows? Y'all may get famous!

Thank you for submitting a tip for review!

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