incinerate romiras immortal call w volls or hierophant <| sep |># OverdubsAll of the previous stuff can be recorded as a studio live with the band in the room . That works great , and is a great reason to use a studio . If you have killer performers , this can really capture the feel . Anyway , you have the base of the song recorded . Time to record all the other stuff . Remember , less is often more . ## Keyboards , synths etcProgram or play them . Make them match the song . You ' ve already decided the parts you want , right ? At least on the level of I want a rhytmic pattern here , or I want a string pad here . If you ' re a keyboard amateur , learn how to play or program inversions . For instance , if you play CAm , you don ' t to play CEGACE , but racther CEGCEA . This is the thing that makes e . g . string pads sound good . If you know theory that helps . ## Background vocalsRecord these standing back a bit from the mic . If you have multiple singers , get all of them to sing into the same mic . Work out what the harmonies are before you hit record . ## Hand percussion tambourines , shakers etcBuy them , they ' re cheap as dirt . Learn to play them . Fairly straightforward to record at home . Generally you don ' t want to mic these too close . If you are recording congas , hardwood floors generally make them sound great . Dunno why . Get a percussionplaying friend to record these for beer if you can . ## Lead guitar , synth leads , sax leads etc . Unless you ' re an amazing improviser , take your time to compose and work out the solos in advance , phrase my phrase . A good solo is singable . ## Horn sectionsHorn players can generally work out what to play if you give them some idea of what they want . For 12 horns it ' s generally unison , octaves and thirds and sixths . For three or more horns it ' s generally octaves or chords . One good way is to record all the horn players with one mic and have them stand close to each other . Horn players play better when they can hear each other live and play in tune .