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If you want a mixer for live recording, there are plenty of excellent choices.

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9. Latency can be hugely off-putting for any player when recording. To counter it, disable any latency-inducing plug-ins, or simply use an audio interface that features direct monitoring. This mixes the signal from your computer with the direct signal from the input for monitoring purposes, eliminating latency.

10. If you’re recording a band, get a decent hardware mixer and use it to supply monitoring for the musicians and send their individual signals to a multi-input audio interface connected to your computer for actual mixing later.

11. Make sure that all of your instruments are well maintained before you even think about recording them. You don’t want to inadvertently track a squeaky kick drum pedal or out-of-tune G-string. Again, once it’s recorded, it’s recorded and there’s no going back…

12. Unless you absolutely have to record a grand piano, don’t. It’s really hard to do. Still here? OK then, try using two quality condenser mics placed about two metres off the ground, about four metres back and angled in line with the piano’s curve. Like we said, though, just get a decent ROMpler instead – it’ll probably sound much better.

13. For a classic bright, sharp pop-style piano recording, place the mic close to the strings. Nearer than about 25 centimetres will result in some of the strings being recorded louder than others, though, affecting the overall tone and dynamics.

14. If you have a good acoustic space to work in, don’t let it go to waste. Place a condenser mic in the corner or at the other end of the room to where you’re recording and capture all that lovely ambience, ready to mix back in with the original signal later.

15. Think about your genre when recording. For rock you want a booming, rich acoustic space with lots of wood panelling. For funk and jazz you want low ceilings and carpeted floors to create a drier, more intimate feeling. Try and keep panels and carpeting handy so that you can use them to alter your space.

16. Make sure that your singer warms up. If they don’t, then even if they do a perfect take of verse one on the first pass, you won’t be able to use it later as all the following ones will sound completely different.

17. Record everything! But do be judicious and sensible when you come to compile all those takes. Don’t try to use everything – only keep the best bits.

18. Watch your levels when recording. In the old days you often had to compress incoming signals to ensure that they were strong enough without clipping, but signal paths these days are usually very quiet, so you can often just record at a lower input level and then raise it afterwards.

19. When recording vocals, keep three pens handy – red, amber and green. With each pass, draw a line under the part being sung: red for ‘unusable’, amber for ‘possibly usable’ and green for ‘definitely usable’. Don’t stop recording until you have at least three green lines under every part.