One week ahead
Treat your voice like an instrument that tires. Skip long nights out, shouting in noisy bars and endless sing-alongs without breaks. Short, regular practice beats one exhausting day before the session.
Lock the lyrics now. Rewriting in the booth burns paid hours. Print lyrics or load them on a charged tablet, mark breaths and tricky syllables. Loop the instrumental daily until every intro, break and outro is automatic. Send tempo and markers ahead so we can prep the session before you arrive.
Unsure about key or arrangement? Use contact before you book. Extra rehearsal at home is often cheaper than experimenting on the clock.
The night before
Sleep matters more than any booth hack. A short night shows up in pitch, breath and patience — yours and the engineer’s. Limit alcohol; it dries mucous membranes. Very spicy or fatty food can cause reflux overnight that the mic will hear.
Pack your bag: lyrics, backing tracks on USB or a download link you have already tested, your own headphones if you rely on them, water and optionally non-menthol throat lozenges. Check From De Pijp metro (North/South line) it is about a seven-minute walk via Ferdinand Bolstraat. Tram 12 stops at Ceintuurbaan, five minutes on foot to Van Ostadestraat. On-street parking is limited; use P+R at Zuid or Arena if you drive. and allow for Amsterdam traffic: we are open Mon–Fri 10–20, Sat 11–18; ten minutes early beats rushing in breathless.
On session day
Drink room-temperature water through the day, not only at the door. Vocal fold hydration takes time. Many singers skip dairy for a few hours beforehand; it thickens mucus. One coffee is fine for most voices; a triple espresso right before tracking rarely helps.
Eat lightly about two hours ahead. Singing hungry is hard; a full stomach fights the diaphragm. Banana, nuts or soup are booth staples for good reason. Bring a small snack for breaks — our kitchen corner in De Pijp is for coffee, not a full meal mid-session.
Warm up before and on arrival
Start with the body: shoulders, neck, jaw. Breath work — long exhales on a hiss or fricative — steadies airflow. Sirens or lip trills wake the voice without pushing. Finish with exercises in the song’s range, not the highest chorus first.
For rap or spoken word, run articulation drills slow, then faster. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough. At Nazeriniedgevi you can warm up in the corridor while we set the chain and pop filter in the 12 m² booth.
Backing tracks and file formats
Deliver instrumentals as WAV or AIFF, preferably 24-bit, sample rate matching your project (44.1 or 48 kHz). MP3 works but artefacts may survive into the mix. Our Vocal recording workflow is flexible on format, but clarity helps: one definitive version per song, filename with title and tempo.
Export without a heavy master limiter squashing dynamics; we want headroom for edits and tuning. If you have multiple versions (with/without backing vocals), label them clearly. After tracking, see mix delivery formats for exports.
Inside the booth
Set headphone level before chasing the perfect take. Too loud → you sing quietly; too quiet → you push. Many vocalists leave one earcup off to hear themselves in the room — say so and we adjust the cue to keep bleed into our 24 mics minimal.
Keep distance steady: about a hand between mouth and pop filter, slightly farther on loud consonants or screams. Ask for breaks — ten minutes quiet and water beat twenty flat takes. Sessions without a guardian require age 16 or older; younger artists need a parent on site.
Rates, booking and next steps
Hourly €95; half day (four hours) €340; finished song with basic edits €185. We ask for a 40% deposit; free rescheduling up to 7 days ahead. Raw takes stay on our servers for 6 months unless agreed otherwise — see terms and conditions.
Tracking often leads to Mixing or Mastering. Plan ahead: a good mix can rescue an average take, but it cannot replace a committed performance. Questions? Contact us or call 020 737 0284.
| Option | Indicative price |
|---|---|
| Hourly | €95 |
| Half day | €340 |
| Per song | €185 |
- Fix lyrics and instrumentals before the session.
- Sleep, hydrate, avoid alcohol and heavy meals just before recording.
- Warm body, breath and voice; set headphone level in the booth.
- Send WAV/AIFF backing tracks without aggressive limiting.
General tips only, not medical advice. Persistent hoarseness or pain: see a clinician and postpone the session.
