Tips for artists · 4 min read

Your first time in a studio: what to expect

Nerves, headphones, the red light and what happens in the booth.

If you’ve never recorded in a proper studio, it can feel strange. The room is quiet, there’s glass between you and the person pressing the buttons and everyone seems to speak in letters. Here’s what’s actually going on.

You’ll go into the booth

The vocal booth is a small room built to sound dead. No echo, no traffic, no noise. It can feel odd at first because you can hear yourself very clearly. That’s the point.

You’ll wear headphones

You hear the beat and your own voice through headphones, and you can ask for it to be set up how you like. More of yourself, less beat, a bit of reverb to make it feel like a performance: say so. It’s your mix, and the more comfortable you are, the better you’ll sound.

The red light

When the red light is on, we’re recording. Before that, you can warm up, try a line or ask a question. We can hear you through the talkback, and we’ll tell you when we’re about to start.

Your first take is for warming up

Nobody nails it first go. Do a couple of run-throughs. Don’t write the first one off, it sometimes has something special in it.

Nerves are normal

Almost everyone is nervous at first. It usually goes by the second song. Don’t apologise for mistakes, just go again. We’ve heard every kind of cracked note and forgotten line.

You can stop, restart and ask

If you lose your place, say so. If you want to go again, say so. If you want a drink, a break or a different headphone mix, say so. You’re not wasting our time, you’re doing the job.

Who does what

We’ll look after the recording, the sound and the technical side. You look after the performance. We’ll tell you if something sounds off, and we’ll give you honest feedback, but the decisions are yours.

At the end

You leave with a Studio Master, a finished version of your song that’s ready to release as it is. If you want more polish, mixing and mastering is a separate job that we can do afterwards.

Come with the song prepared, a charged phone and an open mind. That’s all you really need.