If you’re spent a while writing a song on your guitar or keyboard, it follows that, sooner or later, you’re going to want to record it.

There are various ways of doing this, but one of the best - and certainly the most flexible - is to use a computer and a piece of software known as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).

These are the basics, but if you want to do the job properly, a few other bits of kit will come in very handy indeed. It’s these that we’re focusing on here: from interfaces, mics and headphones to stands, pop shields and rolls of tape.

For more advice and tutorials for singer-songwriters, check out Computer Music Special 52 - the Singer-Songwriter Production Guide - which is on sale now.

NEXT: Audio interface