The next step after setting up a working studio is to actually start recording instruments. More than often, methods that work for pro-studios wouldn’t work as much as we’d want to at home studios.

“Oddly enough, the lack of solutions around us makes us a little bit more creative in a sense”—unknown.

Today, we’re going to be elaborating on some recording methods that can be done practically at home for top 5 most used music instruments: acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, drums and keyboards.

Record with an Acoustic Guitar

Acoustic guitars-despite of its simplicity- is sonically complicated because aside from the original notes, it also picks up others sounds such as:

• Sound of plucking the strings
• Sound of muting the strings with hands
• Sound of strings taping the frets
• Sound of squeaking the strings with fingers
• Sound of taping the soundboard with the palm

Though it’s not compulsory to be that detailed when recording with an acoustic guitar, it may be essential at times. For the sake of those times, here are some relatively easy methods to consider:

   1. Use Acoustic DI for Recording

The acoustic quality of a room plays a major role in acoustic guitar recording and most home studios with less-than-awesome acoustics. A simple way to solve this problem is to record using an acoustic DI in place of a microphone. The difference of acoustic DI to standard direct box includes:

• A higher input impedance to match the output of piezo-electric pickups
• A more top-of-the-line sound to record high-frequency details of acoustic guitars

Here are some recommended acoustic DI’s:

• LR Baggs Venue DI – (Amazon/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)
• LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI – (Amazon/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)

   2. Mono Recording with a Mic

Though acoustic DI recording works well for home studios, it’s not an alternative for a fine acoustic guitar microphone.

Start to position your mic levelling to the 12^th fret and a foot or so away from the guitar. Then, try to make minor changes in terms of distance and angles until you acquire the desired sound. If you’re in a room with nice-sounding, place the more to the back of the room to get more of the room ambience.  Contrastingly, in rooms with poor sounding, move the mic closer to limit the sound that’ll be captured. This will leave you with a better outcome compared to DI recording, but not even close to the wonders the following method does.

   3. Stereo Recording

People struggle for months being confused with why tracks from their acoustic guitar tracks aren’t as good-sounding as their preferred records. Well, this is such as stereo recording is capable of capturing a wide stereo image, and also the broad sonic spectrum available in highly professional acoustic guitar recordings. For tracks with limited mixes where acoustic guitar and vocals are required to fill in the entire song, this is a must-do method.

Record with a Bass Guitar

Bass guitars can record using the same methods as electric guitars with only a few differences which makes things easier and less complicated. 

For the mic, instead of using a standard dynamic mic, bass cabinets are often recorded using special bass mics, with responses tailored to low-frequency instruments.

Next, depending on your style of bass is, you’ll have either passive or active pickups when using the direct box:

The general rule of thumb here is:

• Passive basses use active DI’s
• Active basses use passive DI’s

While most amp simulators include some bass settings, here’s one designed specifically to accommodate bass:

• IK Multimedia Ampeg SVX – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF)

Once you’ve got these covered, you’re all set.

Record with an Electric Guitar

Select a mic that’s compatible with the electric guitar, situate it strategically on your cabinet and finally, start recording by pressing the record button. As straight-forward as it is, things are often not that simple.

Pro studios require additional facilities to betterment the recording. Many pro studios utilize a mix of amps with a personal touch to maintain uniqueness and also different combinations of mics that are positioned in a myriad of places within the studio.

Considering that only some studios localised at home can afford the luxury to install advanced facilities, here are some suggestions on what could be done alternatively.  

   1. Make Use of Direct Box for Recording

Plugin your guitar directly to the direct box (excuse the pun!). Change “hi-z guitar signals” to “low-z mic signals”. This enables recording directly into your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) in the form of plain tracks with the absence of effects. Amp simulator can add effects by being inserted on the track. This will provide you with a close-to-live adaption of your guitar rig. When compared with the traditional process of recording on a guitar, its alternative is:

• cost-effective,
• quieter and neighbourhood-friendly,
• demands a smaller workplace
• provides a greater array of sound options

As nearly all interfaces for audios are now DI-inputs-packed, there’s no need for you to purchase one; but if needed, here’s what I recommend:

For amp simulators:

• IK Multimedia Amplitube 3
• Amplitube 4: (GuitarC/B&H/MusicianF/Thomann)

For a package deal which comes with virtual amp tones, Pro Tools software and DI inputs:

• Avid Eleven Rack – (Amazon/Thomann)

Regardless of its benefits, many admit even top-selling amp simulators might not sound as great as the actual sound. This is exactly why the traditional method is preferred in home studios over direct box recording.

   2. Use Mics on Your Guitar Cabinet

A good mic and a great amp is the recipe for giving a fine go at obtaining high-quality studio sound.

Here’s the primary knowledge on how it’s executed:

Most choose mics that are designed particularly for recording at guitar cabinets (e.g. Sennheiser e906 – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)). Nevertheless, any mic with good coverage is just as good.

As for positioning, begin by situating the mic facing the cone, against the cabinet.  Then, simply use the trial and error approach with adjustments in angles and distance until you figure out the which place gives a perfect tone.

You can also shift the amp itself by tipping it to produce minimal phase cancellation from reflecting walls, setting it on a riser to remove acoustic coupling with the floor or modifying the room its located in to alter the ambience

Patience and also experimenting here and there can leave you with amusingly good tone by implementing these methods.

   3. Apply Re-Amping

Last but not the least, you can use a blend of the previous two approaches to recording using an electric guitar. If you are conflicted in wanting to preserve the real guitar amp sound but also the flexibility of amp simulators, the good news is, you can have both! A tool called a re-amp is the key to this. It works by changing line-level output from the interface into a guitar signal. Consequently, it goes through another guitar cable which is then sent back to the amp.

Benefits of this method are:

• Find the best tone by comparing and blending both the “real” and “simulated” versions
• Tweak amp tones or re-record the track even without a guitarist

Here are two recommended options:

• Radial ProRMP – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)
• Radial Reamp JCR – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)

Recording with Drums

Drums are hands down the single-most-difficult instrument for home studio recording as it demands:

• Huge Space– provide sufficient space to place necessary gears and also suitable acoustics for an ambient “live” music.
• Many tools – numerous drum microphones, input channels and also stands.
• Isolation (Physical or Acoustic) – to make neighbour-friendly noise in the process of recording

Considering that only a few studios are able to possess these accommodations, here’s a list of things many people opt for instead:

   1. Virtual Instrument Drums

As times have progressed, virtual drums instruments are designed to produce tracks that sound very “real”. Kid you not, they sound like tracks from a real-life drummer! This is mainly because each sample track in the software has been recorded in pro studios, using a top-rated drum kit, by talented drummers. This means that it’s not only easier than recording with real drums, it also has better resultant sound most of the times. It’s also the best choice for a small project studio. Here are 3 good ones I recommend:

• Toontrack EZ Drummer 2 – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)
• Toontrack Superior Drummer – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)
• Steven Slate Drums – (Amazon/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)

   2. Electronic Drums

Our brain is far more sophisticated than any virtual instrument or hardware out there. Therefore, why not use electronic drums that are equally revolutionizing?  Personally, I feel like electronic drum kits are the go-to solution for hassle-free home studio instrument recording.

The electronic drum can also be played without disrupting your neighbourhood—which is really pleasing.  An array of kits is offered and you have the liberty to choose the one that suits your needs. Most times, the high-end or top-selling kits produce amazing sound and some even allow you to record individual drums into separate tracks, similar to acoustic drums. Though electronic drums are promising and offer many perks, they may not quite as good as real drums at times.

   3. Recording Acoustic Drums

Condensed mics are used on cymbals whereas dynamic mics are used for drums. If you’re in the process of putting together a mic set, here are some of my recommendations for each equipment of a kit:

• Toms – Sennheiser e604 (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusiciansF/Thomann) or any good dynamic mic
• Kick – AKG D112 (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusiciansF/Thomann) or any good bass mic
• Cymbals/Room – any well-matched pair of condenser mics
• Hi-Hats – Shure SM81 (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusiciansF/Thomann) or any good small diaphragm condenser mic
• Snare – Shure SM57 (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusiciansF/Thomann) or any good dynamic mic

Following that is positioning. Whilst varying opinions are out on the ‘right’ way to do it, I have included some of the key strategies:

• On snare drums – as much as two different mics could be situated on top and at the bottom to ensure the drum’s crack and snare’s rattles can be picked up.
• On individual drums – mics are positioned alongside the rim, preferably in a downward angle that’s in close proximity to the drum head (make sure it doesn’t get in the way of the drummer though). In addition, angle the mics away from vicinal drums to produce minimal bleed.
• On cymbals – cymbals (hi-hat and ride) often have their own mics; this applies for toms too.
• On kick drums – two mics are sometimes used on the front and back to get both low-end thumps and click of the beater.
• On toms – all drums could be individually miked or instead, be recorded with stereo room mics.

Recording with Keyboards

The notable feature of keyboards is that it’s a digital instrument and is much simpler to record in than anything that involves microphones. Moreover, there are only 2 very straight-forward methods to carry it out:

   1. Stereo DI Recording

If you’re an actual keyboard player and you own a good keyboard, with great selections of sounds, it’s better for you to take advantage of it and record direct analogue outputs. However, the only complication is, the line-level connections of keyboards usually have very high-outputs. Therefore, when it's recorded with a standard mic preamp, it will easily clip. Thus, the best way to solve this is to initially use a direct box to run it through; similar with how you would with a guitar where the only difference is that you’ll need a stereo DI as keyboard outputs are stereo.

Here are the recommend stereo DI:

• Radial ProD2 – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)
• Radial JDI Duplex – (Amazon/B&H/GuitarC/MusicianF/Thomann)

   2. Virtual Instruments Keyboards

If you’re a multi-instrumentalist using keyboards at times, but not to the level of a keyboard player, a virtual instrument combined with a MIDI controller will be a good choice. It offers a better recording solution because:

• It’s more affordable compared to digital pianos
• It enables you to alter tones anytime during the mix
• It provides better features for editing in “sub-par” performances

If you’re not that much of a good keyboard player, virtual instruments have got your back “faking-it” every now and then. With all that said, the vast majority of home studios will be much better-off recording drums using either of the methods instead. But hey, it’s still good to know, right?