# Record a song

A recording is the fastest way to hear what you actually play, which is rarely what you think you play. This page takes you through recording one short song of your own: a bass line against drums, and a second part if you want one. It needs only a phone or laptop and free software, and ends with a mix you can share. Do it once now, then do it again in a month and compare.

## What you need

- **A recorder.** A phone voice memo is enough to check your timing. To layer parts you need a multitrack app. Free ones are [Audacity](https://www.audacityteam.org/) (Windows, Mac, Linux), [GarageBand](https://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/) (Apple) and [BandLab](https://www.bandlab.com/) (browser and phone). The steps below work in all of them, and the menu names differ only a little.
- **Wired headphones.** You will hear a click while you play, and a click played through speakers leaks into the microphone. Bluetooth headphones add a delay that makes everything sound late.
- **A quiet room.** Switch off fans, and close the window if there is traffic. A microphone hears all of it.
- **A way in.** The cleanest bass recording is straight in: a cable from the bass to a USB audio interface, or to a DI box. A bass amp with a microphone in front of it also works, and a phone voice memo of the amp is enough to check your timing.
- **Optional:** a bass amp that has a line output (a “DI out” or “recording out”). It gives you the amp’s tone and a clean signal at once.

## Plan the song first

1. Pick three or four chords. **G D Em C** works in a verse and a chorus.
2. Write the structure as bars: **Intro 4 · Verse 8 · Chorus 8 · Verse 8 · Chorus 8 · End 1**. That is about a minute and a half at 90 BPM.
3. Write the chart in numbers (see [Read a chord chart](band.md#charts)).
4. Choose the tempo and write it down. Slower than you think: 80 to 95 BPM.
5. Decide how each section sounds, using the table on [Dynamics](band.md#dynamics): verse light, chorus big.

## Set up the session

1. Make a new project. Set the tempo to your number and the time signature to 4/4.
2. Turn on the **click** (the metronome), and turn on a **count-in** of one bar. In Audacity, make a click track with *Generate → Rhythm Track*. In GarageBand and BandLab, it is the metronome button.
3. **Plug in.** For a bass straight into an interface, use the instrument input (not the microphone input) and turn the interface’s high-impedance switch on if it has one. For an amp, put the microphone close to the speaker cone, about 2 to 5 cm away, and keep it in the same place for every take.
4. **Set the level.** Play the loudest note you will play, as hard as you will play it. Watch the meter. The loudest peaks should reach about **−12 to −6 dB** and must never reach the top (0 dB, usually red), because that distorts and cannot be repaired. Lower the input gain if it is too hot. If it is too quiet, raise the gain a little.
5. If you can, record at 44.1 or 48 kHz and 24-bit.

## Record the bass

1. Press record. The bar will count you in. Play the **whole song through in one pass**, start to finish. Do not stop and record each chord separately. A song played in one pass has one feel, and pieces stuck together do not.
2. Do three full takes, even if the first was fine. Name them Take 1, 2 and 3.
3. Listen to all three with your eyes closed. Pick the one that *feels* best, not the one with the fewest mistakes. A small mistake in a good feel is much better than a perfect part with no life in it.
4. If a section of the best take is bad, fix only that section. Put the cursor four bars *before* the bad section, record from there (a “punch-in”) and stop at the end of the section. The four bars give you the feel before the bad part begins.
5. **Check the time.** Zoom in on the waveform with the beat grid showing. Each note should start close to a grid line, and a low note takes a moment to rise, so judge by the first clear peak. If a whole section drifts, record it again. The [time-feel](time-feel.md) page explains what you are looking for.

## Record against drums, or a second part

A bass sounds right only against a kick drum. Record with something to lock to.

1. Add a drum track. GarageBand has a virtual drummer, BandLab has drum loops, and in Audacity you can import any drum loop. Set it to your tempo and listen to where the kick falls.
2. Record the bass against it, one pass, as above. Aim for your notes and the kick to sound like one sound. The method is on [Lock with the kick drum](band.md#kick).
3. If you want a second part, record a guitar or ukulele chord part on a new track and record the bass against that.
4. Keep the bass **in the centre** of the mix. Do not pan it. Low notes in one speaker sound lopsided, and the two sides of a stereo system need to carry the same low end.

## Mix in four moves

1. **Levels.** Pull every fader down. Bring up the voice (or the main instrument) first, until it sits comfortably. Bring in the drums, then the bass until you can feel it without it covering the kick, then stop.
2. **Pan.** Bass and kick in the middle, always.
3. **Cut the rumble.** Put a high-pass filter on the bass at about 30 to 40 Hz. The lowest note on a four-string bass is 41 Hz (the open E), so this removes only noise you cannot hear but that uses up the room. If the bass is boxy, cut a little around 200 to 300 Hz.
4. **Check on other speakers.** Listen on headphones, on your phone speaker and on a laptop, or in a car. A phone cannot play low notes at all, so the bass should still be heard by its upper harmonics. If it vanishes, play a little harder, or add a touch of the upper mids.

One touch of compression is worth trying on a bass, because low notes jump in level. Use a gentle ratio of about 3:1 and bring the threshold down until the loudest notes drop by about 3 dB. Leave out reverb and the rest for now. A clean recording with good levels beats a cluttered one with effects.

## Export

1. Keep the peaks below about −1 dB so the export does not clip.
2. Export a **WAV** file and keep it. This is your master copy.
3. For sharing, export an **MP3** at 192 kbps or higher.

## Listen back with a checklist

Play the finished song once with nothing to do except listen, and then play it again, answering these:

- Does it start together, without a stumble on the first bar?
- Does the tempo hold from the start to the end? Does it speed up in the chorus?
- Are the chord changes on the beat, or a hair late?
- Is every note about as loud as the one before it, apart from the accents you meant?
- Do your notes and the kick land as one sound?
- Is there any part where you play too much?
- Do the verse and the chorus sound different in volume?

Write down **one** thing to fix. Put a copy of this recording in a folder with today’s date. In a month, record the same song again and compare the two. The difference is the best measure of progress you will get.

## When something goes wrong

| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The click is late in my headphones, or my playing sounds delayed | Use wired headphones. In the app’s audio settings, lower the buffer size (128 samples or less) while recording. With an interface, switch on its direct monitoring. |
| The recording crackles or is distorted | The level is too hot. Lower the input gain and record again. A recording that has clipped cannot be fixed afterwards. |
| I can hear the click on the recording | It is leaking from your headphones or speakers. Turn it down, use closed-back headphones, or move the microphone away. |
| The bass sounds boomy or muddy | Shorten your notes and mute the strings you are not playing, so they stop ringing. Then cut a little around 200 to 300 Hz. |
| It sounds thin and small | Play nearer the neck, or add a little low end. Check that you used the instrument input, not the microphone input. |
| There is a hum or buzz | Move away from screens, lights and amps. Touch the metal of the bass’s bridge: many basses hum less when your hand touches it. |
| Some notes are much louder than others | That is a technique problem first. Slow down and pluck every note with the same weight. Then add a little compression. |

## Ready when

Move on when you have:

- A finished recording of one song with the bass against drums, and your best take chosen by feel.
- Peaks below 0 dB and no clipping on any track.
- Listened on three kinds of speaker and fixed what you heard.
- A written note of the one thing you will fix in the next recording.