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Studio / Record anywhere / 01 · Bedroom

Vocals in a bedroom

Most good home vocals are made in a bedroom. The trick is not the microphone: it is the duvet, the distance and the fridge you remembered to switch off.

15 min setupStarter budgetOne mic

Illustration: a bedroom with a duvet hung behind a microphone on a stand, headphones on the mic, a small interface on the desk
Illustration · generated
Top view · not to scale
Window Wardrobe, doors open Bed 20–30 cm 1 2 3 4 5

Set it up

  1. 1Duvet behind youHang it on a stand or a door. A thick one absorbs about as well as flat foam of the same depth (Sound On Sound).
  2. 2Soft things behind youThe mic hears the wall behind your head more than the one behind itself. Duvet, bed and clothes go there.
  3. 3Mic, pop filter, distance20–30 cm away with the pop filter between you (Neumann); cardioid with its back to the noise. Closer adds bass.
  4. 4Away from the windowGlass reflects sound (Genelec) and lets the street in.
  5. 5Wardrobe doors openRows of clothes are soft and thick, the kind of thing that absorbs.

Why the duvet goes behind the singer: a cardioid mic rejects most at its back (180°), so what it hears besides your voice comes mostly off the wall behind your head (Shure, Sound On Sound). Some guides put the absorber behind the mic instead; it helps too, but the wall behind you comes first. Keep the space right behind the mic clear: even a lyric sheet there changes the tone (Neumann). Levels: Sound On Sound. All checked 2026-10-08. The full guide →

Before you press record