Home Recording: The Bathroom as a Vocal Booth and More

songcast music recording at homeThe decision to record at home is one filled with a number of questions. Do I have the recording knowledge to make it work? Do I have the time? Do I have the space? If you’re an indie artist on a budget, there are many ways to make home recording work for you. With a little creativity, your next masterpiece might come to life in your very own bathroom turned vocal booth.

Here are some things that independent musicians should consider when attempting to record at home:

  • Comfort: It doesn’t get any better than recording at home if comfort’s what you’re looking for. Being at home will relax any nerves and hopefully ignite creative energy. Home recording allows you to perform without pressure from engineers or producers and eliminates the fear of judgment.
  • Space: While the bathroom might be a great spot for you to record vocals (really), consider using all available space in your home, including your living room, bathroom or even a closet. Do you have that kind of room? If so, you’ll need to make the necessary tweaks to soundproof it, so do your research.
  • Time: As opposed to recording at a studio on a budget with limited time, at home you can take as much time as you need. And you don’t have to wait for other people to show up or wait for them to get to work. But, don’t let this turn into a never ending project; try to keep a schedule so you don’t fall into an endless time trap.
  • Keep it Simple: With a limited amount of space and gadgets to toy with, you’re forced to keep it simple when recording at home. There’s minimal gear to distract you, allowing you to get down to business, and fast.
  • Experimentation: Budget constraints often force creativity so don’t be afraid to experiment when recording at home. New sounds, different ways of doing things, pots and pans, etc. Just be prepared to take the time to do so, and later, to make it sound killer.
  • It’s Lonely: A major pitfall of home recording is that there is much less interaction with musicians (if any at all). It’s a solitary process so be prepared for that before diving in.

Tell us what you think! Have you recorded at home? Have you used your bathroom as a vocal booth? How did it turn out?

Up next: Insure your gear! Insurance for musicians.

The SongCast Crew

Comment List

  • barry 02 / 11 / 2011 Reply

    I’ve found that if you take your bed apart and make a wedge out of the boxsprings and matress in the corner, It is excellent as Acoustic shielding while Recording.

    • SongCast 02 / 11 / 2011 Reply

      Who knew?? Thanks for the tip!

  • Al Schwartz 03 / 11 / 2011 Reply

    I have found ” HOME ” studio production can be equivelant to major world class studio production, the living room area furniture offers more than adequate sound absorbtion to create an acoustically perfect environment. As well as creating some 230 music tracks myself, I have had significant client work also come in to record albums from acoustic guitar / vocals to full band production. Proper microphone placement with good to hi-end mic’s and proper pre-amp / console settings … You will be amazed at how PROFESSIONAL your home production will sound !!!

    • SongCast 03 / 11 / 2011 Reply

      Hi Al,

      Thanks for sharing!

  • Ratchet Pat 17 / 12 / 2011 Reply

    I USE THE CLOSET AND WITH MY CLOTHES AND MY WIFES ITS THE BEST WARM SOUND AND SOUND PROOF I LIVE IN SOME APT/TOWNHOMES NEVER A COMPLAINT!!!

  • tony wilkinson 10 / 02 / 2012 Reply

    Yeh i love recording at home, there,s no presure.

  • eric diao 16 / 03 / 2012 Reply

    Hello everybody,
    I`ve been doing home recording for years now. and i don`t see any difference between luxury recording studio out there. i have my own ZOOM r16. and i have my own sound engineer too with protools, vegas & sonar software. enough to make an Album. currently, i am doing another 1, my 5th Album. hopefully, this gonna be a hit one. wish us luck bro.

  • With today’s technology you can achieve great recordings with your home studio, you just have to have the passion and the gift to make it actually work for other listeners. I built my OhmStudio in my kitchen, with the bathroom as the singing booth , the living room as the lounging area. It all comes down to the Soul in the Music. :)

  • S.J. Karam 20 / 07 / 2012 Reply

    I’ve been into computer music recording since 1992 when I got my first Korg, the M1. Since then I asked myself with all due respect why one would need to record at top-notch stdios & spend 1000’s of $… Especially now with the new technologies & soft synths & effect processor, one can do very adequate work using a DAW (I use Sonar) and an adequate PC and audio interface (I use the Line 6 UX2)… I may be shopping for a SIAB system, but this will be very fine… As for micing, in the office room in which my equipment is, I never needed more insulation that the wooden furniture filled with books is giving… it reduces “environment” reverb a lot! :)
    Happy home recording!

    • Mike 24 / 07 / 2012 Reply

      Great feedback S.J.

      Good luck with the recording!

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