Purchase a condenser microphone for lead vocals if you do not already have one. Condenser microphones provide greater clarity and definition to vocals than a unidirectional hand-held microphone such as a Shure SM-58. Check for deals on condenser microphones from a local or online music supply retailer. You will also need a preamplifier if you are not using a breakout box or sound card that already contains one. Skip this step if you already have a microphone that you are comfortable with.
Set up your microphone so that sound does not reverberate off nearby walls. Place your microphone in the center of a large room if your recording area is not soundproofed. Otherwise, you should find a small corner or area of the room that you could drape with material such as egg crate or a blanket that will prevent sounds from bouncing back into the microphone. This eliminates the need for a recording studio to lay down vocals.
Capture your instrumental audio into separate tracks on your audio editing software. Place a microphone near the output source of your instrument if you cannot wire the instrument directly into your audio recording software. Once you have the instruments recorded, you may arrange, equalize and add effects to them as desired.
Save the session when all of the tracks are arranged as desired. Click the “Save Session” option under the “File” tab in your audio editing software’s menu bar. Repeat Steps 1 to 4 for every track on the album you wish to record.
Burn your multitrack sessions onto data CD and take them to a professional audio engineer for mixing and mastering if necessary. While the services of an audio engineer will likely come with a nominal fee, paying a sound professional once for mixing and mastering still saves you money on recording costs.