Vocal recording in Vienna's 7th district: voice, booth, takes

A vocal is the most intimate thing we record. A few centimetres separate the voice from the microphone, and every hesitation, but also every goosebump moment, lands on the track unfiltered. That is why we take our time with everything around the take at Klangnest: a headphone mix you enjoy hearing yourself in, a microphone that suits your voice, and an engineer who watches you between takes rather than the clock.

Depending on the material, we record in the 9 m² vocal booth or in the 68 m² live room with its 4.2 m ceiling. You book by the hour from 2 hours, as a half day of 4 hours or a full day of 8 hours, always with an engineer. Raw files arrive within 2 working days; if you wish, we take care of comping and tuning so that you walk into the mix with a finished lead vocal.

How it works

1. Step 1

   Enquiry and a short chat

   Send us the song, a demo or the backing track and the number of titles through the contact form. We reply within 1 working day with a date and a quote.

2. Step 2

   Setting up and the headphone mix

   Before the first take we choose the microphone together, set distance and level, and build your headphone mix: backing track, your voice, a touch of reverb, click only if you want it.

3. Step 3

   Recording takes

   First the whole song, then section by section. The engineer keeps a take sheet, marks the strong phrases and tells you honestly where another pass is worth it.

4. Step 4

   Comping and hand-over

   You receive every take as raw files within 2 working days. With comping booked, we assemble a continuous lead vocal from them and deliver it as well.

Who the vocal session is for

Our vocal sessions are booked by singers who have a finished backing track and only need the voice, by rappers recording over a beat, and by bands who want to track lead and backing vocals separately after their band recording. Duets and small choirs of up to eight also fit comfortably in the live room.

• Solo artists: Bring backing track and lyrics, leave with a clean vocal that sits in any mix.
• Rap and spoken word: Close miking, a dry room, plenty of short takes and ad-libs on separate tracks.
• Songwriters: Voice and guitar or grand piano at the same time, on separate microphones in the live room.

We do not offer singing lessons; what we give is technical feedback on pitch, timing and microphone distance.

Booth or live room?

The 9 m² booth is acoustically dry and damped. It gives you a dense, close vocal that sits forward in the mix and is the obvious choice for pop, rap, R&B and anything that will later be treated with artificial reverb. The 68 m² live room with its 4.2 m ceiling, by contrast, has a warm, natural decay. Jazz, chanson, classical and acoustic productions sound more open here, you can move while you sing, and the 1979 grand piano is right beside you.

Both rooms connect to the same 34 m² control room through a window, and switching between them takes only a few minutes. If you are unsure, sing one verse in each room at the start and we decide together on playback.

How the session runs

A vocal session thrives on calm and rhythm, so we plan in blocks rather than by the minute: set up, warm up, record, listen back. For a 4-hour booking, allow about 30 minutes for microphone choice and headphone mix, two to three hours of actual recording and half an hour of listening.

• Headphone mix: Singers who hear themselves too loud hold back; those who hear themselves too quiet push. We keep adjusting until the balance is right.
• Full passes first: The first two or three complete takes often carry an energy that is hard to recreate in sections.
• Sections afterwards: Verses, choruses and bridge are picked up deliberately, usually three to five takes per section.

Doubles, harmonies and ad-libs come last, once the lead is in place. There is always an engineer from our team of three in the control room, listening along and talking to you over the talkback.

What to prepare

The better prepared you arrive at Burggasse, the more time is left for singing. The full checklist is in our guide Preparing your session; the essentials:

• Backing track: WAV or AIFF at the original sample rate, without a limiter, ideally with a separate instrumental and a reference version with vocals.
• Tempo and key: BPM for click and delay, and the key if harmonies are planned.
• Your voice: Rest it the day before, sleep enough, warm up on the day.
• References: Two or three tracks whose vocal sound you like. It makes choosing the microphone far easier.

Takes, comping and tuning

A lead vocal as you hear it on finished records is almost never a single take. It comes from comping: the strongest phrases from all the passes are chosen and joined, with edits placed in the breaths, into one continuous track. The basis is the take sheet from the session, which already notes during recording which phrase worked in which take.

If you book comping with us, it costs €70 per track incl. 20 % VAT and covers assembling the lead vocal, discreet tuning of individual notes that sit slightly off pitch, and cleaning up breaths and noises. Vibrato and phrasing stay intact, and in every case you keep all the takes.

What you receive: formats and hand-over

We deliver your recording through a protected download link. Every track starts at bar 1 of the session, so it drops into place in any DAW without nudging. More on this in our guide File formats and delivery.

Turnaround and archive

Raw files are ready within 2 working days of the session, often the next day. Comping and tuning need extra time depending on the number of takes, which we state in the quote. If we go on to mix for you, allow 7 working days per 5 tracks, and a further 3 working days for mastering.

We archive your session for 12 months. Within that period you can re-order files or add another session, for instance to track harmonies later. After that we delete the data, so please keep your own copy of the downloads.

Revisions and approval

With a recording, approval happens in the room: you hear every take in the control room, and as long as time is booked we record as often as you like. What you have signed off at the end of the session is the recording. Vocal changes after the fact mean a new session at the hourly rate, because we need you back in front of the microphone. Mixing and mastering have fixed revision rounds, namely 2 for the mix and 1 for the master. The details are in Article 7 of our terms.

Not included, rights and the small print

The hourly rate covers room, equipment, engineer and raw files. Mixing, mastering, comping without a booking and production of the backing track are quoted as separate items.

• Rights: The rights in the recording pass to you once payment is complete, see Article 8 of the terms and our guide Rights to your master.
• Payment: 30 % deposit on booking, balance after the session against invoice, see Article 6.
• Cancellation: Free up to 5 working days before the date; at less than 48 hours' notice half the booking value (50 %) becomes due, see Article 5.
• Minimum age: The person booking must be 18 or over.

Further answers on booking, sessions and files are in our FAQ.

Scope of the service

Rates

All prices in euros. Consumer prices include 20 % Austrian VAT; for businesses VAT is shown separately on the invoice.

All prices are in euros incl. 20 % VAT. The studio hour with engineer costs €85 with a 2-hour minimum booking; the half day of 4 hours is €310 and the full day of 8 hours €580. Comping and tuning are charged at €70 per track. On booking we issue a 30 % deposit invoice based on the quote; the balance falls due after the session, within 7 days for private clients and within 14 days of invoicing for businesses.

Questions about this service

Ask for a vocal session date

Send us the backing track, the title and your preferred date through the contact form. We reply within 1 working day with a date and a quote, and you are welcome to visit the booth and the live room beforehand.

Request a session