Clarify before you book
Via contact or [email protected], send tempo, key, song length and an instrumental as WAV or AIFF without heavy compression. Say whether you need lead, doubles or backing vocals and if you work to a click or free time. We can then pick mics from our 20-channel pool and set monitoring for your range.
Vocals & singing is priced from €98 per hour incl. VAT, half day €335, full day €610. Most singles fit in three to four hours when lyrics and arrangement are locked. EP or album blocks are better planned as packages — mention that when you enquire.
Lock lyrics and arrangement
The costliest booth mistake is rewriting a hook mid-session. Print final lyrics with breath marks, emphasis and ad-lib spots. If you sing in German and swallow endings, mark those syllables.
Listen to the beat at least ten times on purpose: entries, breaks, outro. Note where you want stacked doubles. If guests feature on the track, agree their parts before studio day — we do not love recording surprise guest bars while the lead vocal waits.
Body and voice the week before
Your voice responds to sleep, humidity and rest. Avoid long club nights or loud rehearsals without breaks in the days before. If your day job is talking-heavy, reduce evening chatter and do quiet warm-ups.
Hoarseness over two days is a reason to reschedule rather than push through. Moving a date within 4 days before the slot is free under our terms unless your quote says otherwise. We are not doctors — see a clinician for pain or lasting loss of voice.
On recording day
Drink room-temperature water through the day, not only before the booth. Many singers skip dairy and very spicy food for two to three hours ahead. Eat lightly about two hours before: banana, rice, soup — nothing that sits on the diaphragm.
Arrive on time during Tue–Fri 9–20, Sat 10–16: Take U-Bahn line U3 to Neubaugasse; from there it is about a 4-minute walk along Neubaugasse. Tram lines 49 and 13 also stop at Neubaugasse or Siebensterngasse, each a short walk away. From Wien Westbahnhof, U3 is one stop towards Simmering.. Allow five minutes for coat, shoes and check-in. If you cycle from Neubau, dry clothes for the booth help — we prefer dry pop filters.
Warm up without burning the clock
Ten to fifteen minutes is enough: neck, jaw, shoulders, then long «s» or «f» breaths, gentle sirens in mid range, then song phrases at rising volume. Rap and spoken word: articulation drills slow, then at tempo.
Warm up in the hallway or lounge while we patch headphones and routing. Please avoid loud vocalising in the iso booth before levels and room EQ are set — feedback and tension help nobody.
In the booth: monitoring and takes
The booth is isolated — you see the engineer through glass. Say if you wear one or both ears on the headphones; half-on is fine if leakage is controlled. Too loud in the cue and you sing quietly; too quiet and you push.
Keep a steady distance to the pop filter — about a hand width. Step back on very loud lines. Ask for short breaks before fatigue. We flag takes as you go; you do not need to judge every pass. Aim for a few strong comp candidates, not fifty similar ones.
What we supply and what you bring
Mumbocetra provides mic, pop filter, headphones, preamps and engineer. You bring lyrics, reference tracks (streaming links are fine for listening), instrumental on SSD or download link, and optional in-ears if you are used to them.
After the session we archive on our system; raw material is kept up to 24 months per terms. Export is WAV 24-bit/48 kHz by default — other formats by agreement. For mixing next, read delivering stems for mix.
Checklist and next steps
| When | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 week ahead | Final lyrics, instrumental sent, slot booked |
| Day before | Sleep, water, route to Neubaugasse 40 planned |
| At studio | Warm up, check monitoring, plan breaks |
| After | Confirm exports, book mix or master |
Booking questions: 01 966 12 34 or contact form. Deposit 30%, cancellation rules and minimum age 16 are in our terms.
