Vocal session checklist

Why prep saves booked hours

At Nephilimrivo, vocal recording with an engineer costs €115 per hour or €420 for four consecutive hours. That covers booth time, monitoring and a basic export — not rewriting lines on the mic. Minutes spent hunting words are minutes not spent on performance.

Our 2 iso booths are built for controlled takes. They shine when you already know song structure: where verses end, where ad-libs belong, which register you aim for. Engineers such as Lars Bakker can compare mics and set levels, but they cannot invent your lyrics.

One week out

Lock lyrics as far as possible. Couplets rewritten the night before cost double in studio: learn new words, then record. Print lyrics or load them on a charged tablet; paper is quiet, a dark-mode tablet works too.

Listen to the instrumental briefly each day, not for hours. Note BPM and key if your DAW shows them. You may email a guide-vocal-free WAV to [email protected] so the session opens ready. Technical expectations are on vocal recording; beat rights stay between you and your producer.

Sleep and travel

Your voice is not switched on with one coffee. Avoid booking right after a night shift or a loud night out. Most singers notice pitch and stamina slip after poor sleep — enough to repeat takes.

Pack: instrumental on USB or confirmed download, familiar headphones, water, maybe honey or non-menthol lozenges. Check The studio is on Overtoom in Oud-West. Tram 1 stops at Overtoom (Overtoom / Vondelpark); from there it is about a six-minute walk. You can park bicycles at the entrance; cars use paid street parking or Q-Park Byzantium on Vondelstraat, roughly a ten-minute walk. and allow ten minutes for tram 1 or cycling; rushed arrival shows in the first passes. Hours: Tue–Fri 11–22, Sat 12–18.

Food, drink and vocal health

Hydration is slow: drink room-temperature water from the morning, not only in the booth. Many vocalists skip heavy dairy and ice-cold drinks beforehand; mild tea without strong mint is neutral for others. Eat lightly about two hours ahead — neither empty nor stuffed.

Alcohol and smoke dry mucosa; a heavy night before makes sibilance harder to tame. Persistent hoarseness or pain means postpone and see a clinician — this guide is not medical advice.

Warm-up and booth habits

Warm up at home or in our lounge: shoulders, jaw, breath, then gentle sirens or lip trills. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough; do not open on the highest chorus. For rap, drill articulation slowly, then at tempo. In the booth, ask for headphone balance before “real” takes — too loud and you sing quietly, too quiet and you push.

Keep pop-filter distance steady; a hand’s width is a workable start, slightly farther on loud lines. Pause before fatigue; 2 revision rounds apply to mix and master, not re-singing tired vocals — that is new studio time.

Files and deliverables

Send backing tracks as WAV without vocals, ideally 24-bit at your project rate (48 kHz is common). Avoid mp3 for the final instrumental unless that is all you have — we will discuss limits. After session you typically receive aligned WAV stems; we keep archives 24 months then delete per privacy policy.

Book mixing or mastering separately. Release formats are covered in master delivery formats. Minimum age without a guardian is 16; younger artists need a parent or guardian on site.

Booking, deposit and contact

Reserve via contact or 020 244 8916. We usually reply within 2 business days. Confirmed bookings need a 40% deposit; free cancellation until 7 days ahead — see terms and conditions. Business clients: 14-day payment terms when agreed.