Decide exactly what you are going to record
Choose your songs and their order before you arrive. A band that turns up with eight songs and drops three during the day mostly loses time to hesitation. Two to four songs a day is realistic for most bands when drums, bass and guitar are tracked live and vocals and solos are overdubbed afterwards.
Write down the arrangement of each song: which parts go down live, which come later, and where you may want extra instruments or backing vocals. Send that list a few days ahead so the engineer can plan the microphone setup. We have 22 microphones, so the point is not scarcity but a sensible plan.
Rehearse with a click, or decide not to
If you want to edit later or have the song mixed with tight timing, record to a click. That only works if you have practised with it beforehand. A drummer meeting a metronome for the first time in the studio can easily lose an hour getting used to it. Note the tempo of each song in BPM, including any tempo changes.
If the song needs to breathe and you would rather play without a click, that is fine too. Just make the call in advance so everyone knows how you are recording and it does not become a debate halfway through the day.
Get instruments and gear in shape
Put new strings on a few days before the session, not on the morning itself, so they have stretched and stay in tune. Have guitars and basses set up if the intonation is off; a microphone hears every sour third. Drummers: fresh heads on snare and toms, and a check for squeaky pedals and rattling stands.
Gear checklist
- Spare strings, picks and a tuner for each player
- Drum key, spare sticks and, if you like, your own snare
- Cables you trust, plus spare batteries for pedals
- Your own headphones if you play better on them
A realistic plan for the day
Allow roughly an hour for setup and soundcheck, especially with a full drum kit. Then come the basic tracks, then overdubs and finally vocals. Singing at the end of the day suits many vocalists, as long as there is energy left. Schedule breaks: after three hours of listening, ears and fingers lose their edge.
An hourly booking costs €85 with the engineer included, with a minimum of 2 hours. For a full band the day rate of €595 for eight hours often works out better. The Music recording page shows what each option covers.
The live room and what fits in it
Our live room is 42 m² and suits ensembles of up to 6 musicians playing at once. If you come with more people, we record in groups and build the song up layer by layer. Tell us in advance if a piano, double bass or horn section is coming, so we can arrange the room and the separation accordingly.
At Comptelogicza on the Oostelijke Eilanden you load in from the street. Pull up briefly with a cargo bike or car to unload; parking nearby is paid municipal parking.
Bring demos and references
A phone recording of your last rehearsal is extremely useful. It lets the engineer hear the structure, the tempo and the dynamics straight away. Bring two or three reference tracks from records whose sound you like as well. That is not a brief to copy, but a shared vocabulary: 'drier drums' or 'more space around the vocal' becomes concrete once you can play an example.
If you use samples, loops or a click from your own DAW, export them as WAV files from the same start point so everything lines up in the session immediately.
Booking, deposit and cancellation
When you book we ask for a deposit of 30% of the estimated amount. You can cancel or move a session free of charge up to 3 days beforehand. The full conditions are in our terms and conditions. Musicians under 16 record with an adult present.
After the session we keep the raw recordings for 6 months. If you are taking the tracks to another engineer, read our guide on delivering tracks for mixing first.
The night before and the day itself
Sleep, eat something light and make sure everyone knows when setup starts. Agree who has the final say when choosing takes; a session with four competing opinions tends to stall. Put phones on silent in the live room, because even a vibrating phone shows up on a sensitive microphone.
Still unsure about the number of hours or the setup? Call 020 754 3816 via 020 754 3816 or send a message through the contact form; we reply within 2 working days.
