Prepare your vocal session — singer’s guide in Amsterdam

Why preparation pays off

Our booth (about 8 m²) is ready with pop filter, headphones and an engineer in the control room. What we cannot supply is how you feel on the day. Wobbly lyrics, a wrong backing track or a voice already tired from a late gig in the city centre burns takes and focus.

Vocal recording starts at €95 per hour including VAT, or €320 for four hours and €580 for a full day. The sharper you arrive, the more of that budget goes into performance instead of restarts. Planning questions: contact or 020 737 1846.

One week ahead

Avoid stacking long gigs or open-mic marathons right before the session. If you sing a lot that week, split it into short blocks with breaks. Lock the lyrics: print or export them, mark breaths and tricky vowels. Rap and spoken word benefit from clear notes where ad-libs stay open.

Send tempo, key and references through contact. We load your backing track before you walk in. Use 24-bit WAV or high-quality AIFF without a limiter on the master. Unsure about formats for later mixing? Read delivering mix stems.

The night before

Sleep beats a last-minute vocal marathon. A short night shows up in pitch, breath and patience. Go easy on alcohol; it dries mucous membranes. Skip heavy spice if you are reflux-prone — coughing between takes wastes studio time.

Pack water at room temperature, honey or lozenges without strong menthol if you like them, your own headphones if you rely on them, and a backup of files on USB or cloud. The studio is on Weesperzijde in Amsterdam East. From Amsterdam Amstel station it is about an 8-minute walk along the Amstel. Tram 12 stops nearby; metro lines 51, 53 and 54 serve Amstel. On-street parking is limited; bike racks are right outside the entrance. Allow at least ten extra minutes for check-in and headphone mix.

On the day

Hydrate from the morning, not only at the studio door. Many singers skip milk and heavy dairy in the hours before recording; moderate coffee is fine for most voices. Eat lightly about two hours ahead — banana, soup or nuts are booth classics for a reason.

Arrive on time: we work Mon–Fri 10–22, Sat 11–18 by appointment. Free cancellation or moves up to 7 days ahead follow our terms and conditions. Questions about age or guardians: minimum 16 years, younger guests by prior agreement.

Warm up without strain

Start with shoulders, jaw and neck — tension there reaches the microphone. Long exhales, then gentle sirens or lip trills. Do not start on your highest note; climb slowly into the song’s range.

For rap: slow articulation drills, then tempo. For voice-over: read a paragraph aloud at the distance you will keep in the booth. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough; over-warming can tire you before real takes.

In the booth with the engineer

Ask for a headphone mix where you hear yourself naturally. Too loud makes you sing quietly; too quiet makes you push. Many artists leave one earcup half off — tell us so we limit bleed into the mic.

Keep distance steady: about a hand between mouth and pop filter, step back slightly on loud consonants. Mention dry throat or hoarseness early; breaks are normal. We work with 12 preamps and pick mics for your tone — trust take notes instead of looping the same line endlessly.

Files, rights and next steps

After the session the engineer exports comped vocals or raw takes as agreed. We keep project backups for 6 months; download and archive your copy too. If you move straight to mixing, agree on level and tuning expectations — we do not auto-tune every project.

Ownership and credits are set in the written quote; mastering and release rights are a separate topic — see mastering, rights and delivery. Book via contact; a 25 % deposit confirms the date.