Get the Best Vocal Recordings: Expert Tips for Capturing Your True Voice

Vocal recording is an exciting process, but it can also be challenging to tap into your true voice. Capturing the sound you’re working towards is possible, and you can level up your sound with these expert tips. Get the best vocal recordings when you take the advice below.

Take Care of Your Body

Before it’s time to sing, you need to get ready. Since your body is your instrument, taking care of your body will allow for much better vocal recordings than you could get by just rolling into the studio without intentional preparation beforehand. Just like instrumentalists need to tune their instruments, you need to tune your body to prepare for a vocal recording session.

Get A Good Night’s Sleep

It’s important for you to prepare for your recording session sleep-wise. At a minimum, get a good night’s sleep the night before (that means at least seven hours), but it’s even better if you can get good sleep for several days before so your body is at peak performance in that sense.

Drink Enough Water

Maintain good hydration throughout your day, starting by drinking water as soon as you wake up. Have water with you in your session, and be intentional about taking time to hydrate.

Clean Up Your Diet

Many foods can get in the way of your recording session. You know your body, and you can determine what makes sense for yourself, but in general, you want to avoid smoking or drinking in the day or so before your session, along with any foods or drinks that could cause reflux or allergies. Caffeine, gluten, dairy, fried foods, spicy foods, and other categories are all good to consider cutting out for your recording to be top-notch.

Warm Up Your Voice

It’s important to balance your vocal preparation with vocal rest. Generally, two sessions are recommended: a longer warm-up for up to three quarters held several hours before your session, followed by a shorter warm-up for up to a quarter of an hour right before you record. This will let your voice stay warm while also allowing for enough rest. Experiment with warm-ups beforehand so you know which ones work for you. Typically, it’s good to do a variety of types of warm-ups: some for relaxation, some for confidence, and some for range. Your true voice will shine when it’s warmed up and ready to sing.

Prepare For What You’re Singing

When it comes to vocal recording, preparation is everything: not just taking care of your body, but specifically preparing for whatever you are going to be singing. Technical mastery of the material — lyrics, rhythms, and so forth — is one element of this type of preparation, but the emotional side can be even more impactful.

“Connection to the material” is a cliche for a reason. Every song is a memory, and you want to find that emotion, to sing mindfully in order to communicate the message of the song as you forge a strong, meaningful connection to the music.

Be In the Right Place

You can take care of your body, including warming up your voice and preparing for what you’re singing, but those steps can’t bring a quality recording unless you’re in the right place. You might not be in the place where you can go to a professional recording studio in Los Angeles (although if you can make that investment, it’s definitely worth it), but you can take steps to make wherever you’re recording a better environment for the vocal track’s sound.

Simply put, your “right place” is an intentional studio that prioritizes sound quality. You can create that anywhere. One suggestion in a home studio is to use a duvet cover to block the unwanted reflections from coming to the mic, focusing on the sound. You might be surprised what little changes can help your recordings happen in the right place.

Use the Right Equipment (The Right Way)

That leads to another aspect of the best vocal recordings: the right equipment used correctly. This means that as important as it is to choose the right mic, you also need to have the right mic placement. The same goes for the rest of your recording equipment. A studio setup can help provide these elements. Another critical tip: it’s best to record without effects and then add those later. This way, your true voice comes through, and then you can add to it to make the complete sound experience you want.