Start with a cover, do a ton of takes. Don’t be afraid to edit, but try to get a decent take of at least each section. Learn to splice your good takes together. If you don’t have a backing track to play along with (midi versions of songs usually work great for this if googling “<song name> guitar backing track” doesn’t work), then make sure you’re recording to a metronome set to the same BPM as the song.

I’d say it’s mostly practice in order to be decent, and always use the software’s metronome and some countdown beeps before it starts recording when you click play

what kind of music are you trying to do? A lot of pro music producers use reference tracks of other people’s songs that sound similar to what they want to do and reverse engineer the sound they want based off that. Even if you’re just starting out, beginning your project with an idea of what you want the end product to sound like is very helpful. You’ll be surprised how much more you’ll pick up even from Googling “DIY (genre) recording techniques” vs the more general DIY recording one.

Secondly, bug the shit out of your friends who are better to see what you can learn. I’ve never met anyone who’s into recording that doesn’t like nerding out about gear and recording techniques. You’re not even really bothering your friends bc they will get to feel smart and talented.

Another thing, are you going direct into the interface with no effects/plugins? If so, then you’re probably not hearing something “bad” as much as you’re hearing what your guitar sounds like naturally. Guitar is a wimpy instrument on its own so a lot of times people who record direct in will use amp simulators to bring back the guitar tones you’re used to hearing. On the flip side, synth can be too loud going in which causes digital distortion that sounds bad, so you might need to turn your volume down. You may already know this stuff but a lot of people don’t. Try messing around with the effects in whatever recording app you have as well bc they might help you get a more professional sound.

Honestly being mindful of your volume in general is key to making good sounding recordings. Try to keep your signal from going into the red in your recording app. There’s probably a sweet spot for recording volume with your equipment that you can find through experimenting.

Like everyone else says practice recording as much as you can. I’d add to this that you should practice with intention. It’s kinda like my point about reference tracks but try going into a project with the mindset of “this song I’m gonna learn to do X” instead of “I’m gonna make something good.” Make a bunch of bad stuff while learning and eventually you’ll get the hang of it. You’ll even be able to revisit your old ideas so you can redo them in a way that sounds good eventually.

I would say record a lot with the intention of getting to know your equipment well, it depends a lot what you’re using to record and what kind of textures you’re trying to get. Listen back to it in different settings, in the car on different headphones, if you can get monitors that is always a step up. Mic placement is a whole thing that I don’t deal with much since I make electronic/sample based music but that might be worth watching some videos on if you’re trying to record percussion or acoustic instruments.

what kind of music are you trying to do? A lot of pro music producers use reference tracks of other people’s songs that sound similar to what they want to do and reverse engineer the sound they want based off that. Even if you’re just starting out, beginning your project with an idea of what you want the end product to sound like is very helpful. You’ll be surprised how much more you’ll pick up even from Googling “DIY (genre) recording techniques” vs the more general DIY recording one.

Secondly, bug the shit out of your friends who are better to see what you can learn. I’ve never met anyone who’s into recording that doesn’t like nerding out about gear and recording techniques. You’re not even really bothering your friends bc they will get to feel smart and talented.

Another thing, are you going direct into the interface with no effects/plugins? If so, then you’re probably not hearing something “bad” as much as you’re hearing what your guitar sounds like naturally. Guitar is a wimpy instrument on its own so a lot of times people who record direct in will use amp simulators to bring back the more “natural” guitar tones. On the flip side, synth can be too loud going in which causes digital distortion that sounds bad, so you might need to turn your volume down. You may already know this stuff but a lot of people don’t. Try messing around with the effects in whatever recording app you have as well bc they might help you get a more professional sound.

Honestly being mindful of your volume in general is key to making good sounding recordings. Try to keep your signal from going into the red in your recording app. There’s probably a sweet spot for recording volume with your equipment that you can find through experimenting.

Like everyone else says practice recording as much as you can. I’d add to this that you should practice with intention. It’s kinda like my point about reference tracks but try going into a project with the mindset of “this song I’m gonna learn to do X” instead of “I’m gonna make something good.” Make a bunch of bad stuff while learning and eventually you’ll get the hang of it. You’ll even be able to revisit your old ideas so you can redo them in a way that sounds good eventually.

I do and my secret is that I’m not good at it so I call it punk music