Ready to Record in 10 Minutes: A Simple Session Routine

You're ready to record, but first you spend twenty minutes on cables, settings and a beat that isn't lined up. By the time everything works, your energy is gone. With a fixed routine you're ready in ten minutes. Here's what it looks like.

Minutes 0 to 2: your room

  • Put your phone on Do Not Disturb.
  • Close windows and doors and turn off fans or other noise.
  • Get a glass of water ready.
  • Have your lyrics ready, on paper or on a second screen.

Minutes 2 to 4: your gear

  • Mic on the stand, pop filter in front.
  • Cable into your interface, interface on.
  • 48V only on if you use a condenser mic.
  • Headphones in, volume low to start.

Minutes 4 to 6: your project

  • Open your template or an empty project.
  • Set the tempo to your beat's BPM and put the beat on bar 1.
  • Create a vocal track, name it right away and choose the right input.
  • Arm the track for recording.

No template yet? Read bought a beat? How to set it up for recording. Then save your project as a template, and from then on this part takes almost no time.

Minutes 6 to 8: level and monitoring

  • Rap your loudest part and set your gain so you don't hit the red.
  • Choose how you hear yourself: through your interface or through your DAW. Not both, or you'll hear yourself twice.
  • Hearing yourself late? Lower your buffer. More in how to fix latency when recording.

Minutes 8 to 10: test

  • Rap your hook out loud once along with the beat.
  • Record ten seconds and listen back.
  • Listen for noise, hard plosives and distortion. Sounds good? You're ready.

While recording

After the session

  • Save everything and make a backup, for example in the cloud.
  • Export a rough mix and listen to it again later on your phone or in the car. Fresh ears hear more.

Need a beat? Browse all beats.

FAQ

Why use a template?

Your tracks, input and settings are already set up. You only need to change the beat and the tempo.

How often should I save?

After every section you record. A crash in the middle of a good take is a waste.

Why do a test recording first?

In ten seconds you hear whether there's noise, plosives or distortion. Then you fix it before you lay down your whole verse.

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