Studio recording in Toulouse

Vocals, instruments or a band: three ways to record

Vocals only over an existing instrumental: lead, doubles, harmonies, ad-libs. Allow roughly half a day for a complete song.

Instruments one at a time, layered: handy for solo projects or when each part needs a lot of care.

The band live, all together in the same room, to keep the energy of the stage. Fixes and overdubs are then done instrument by instrument.

Preparing your session

A good session is prepared in advance. Rehearse the songs until you can play them without thinking, fix the tempos and write them down. Change your strings two days before, bring drum heads in good condition, spare cables and your usual pedals.

For vocals, sleep well, avoid dairy just before and bring room-temperature water. Send us the lyrics: the engineer follows them during takes and spots the lines to redo more quickly.

What we do during the session

The engineer looks after the sound, the headphone mixes and the backups, but also the pace: when to suggest a break, when to keep an imperfect but lively take, when to push for another. The best takes are noted as we go, so selection at the end of the day is quick.

Every musician gets their own headphone mix, set at the lowest useful level. Earplugs are available for drum sessions.

Formats and delivery

Tracks are delivered as 24-bit WAV files at the project sample rate (48 kHz by default), clearly named and aligned from the start of the song, ready for any mixing software. On request we add a reference rough mix for listening at home.

The complete session is archived on our drives for 12 months. Do keep your own copy: a studio is not an archiving service.

Rights in your recordings

You keep your authors' and performers' rights. The producer's rights in recordings made at the studio (Article L.213-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code) are assigned to you in writing once the invoice is paid in full, as set out in our terms of sale.

We never use your recordings to train an artificial intelligence system or to clone a voice without your separate written consent.

Session musicians

Missing a drummer, a bass player or backing vocals? We work with independent professional musicians from the Toulouse area. Their fee and the terms of use of their performance are shown in the quote and agreed directly with them; the studio does not replace their contract.

The sound of the room

The live room is not a dead room: the brick adds a short, warm reverb, which we adjust with movable panels. For rock drums we open the room and place ambient microphones at a distance; for an acoustic quartet we bring the musicians closer and close the space around them. This choice is made before the takes, with you, by listening to several placements.

If the project needs a very dry sound, the vocal booth is also used for acoustic guitar, violin or light percussion.

After the session

You leave with your tracks and, if you wish, a first reference mix. We suggest waiting a day or two before listening again: a take is easier to judge with fresh ears. If a part needs redoing, a short follow-up session is often enough, using the same settings, which we note down and keep for this purpose. When you are ready, mixing can start at the studio or with the engineer of your choice, from the same files.

Booking the right format

For vocals on one or two songs, an hourly booking is enough. Once a session goes beyond five or six hours, the day rate becomes better value and lets you work without watching the clock. For an album, we block consecutive days, which avoids taking down and resetting the microphones. Tell us the number of songs and the line-up: we will suggest the most economical option in the quote, with the planned hours broken down.

What is included

• Sound engineer for the whole session
• Live room, control room and vocal booth
• Studio microphones, preamps and instruments
• Individual headphone mixes
• Double backup and 12-month archive
• 24-bit WAV export the same day

Rates

Prices include 20% VAT. A 30% deposit confirms the booking; it is a deposit ("acompte"), not a forfeitable "arrhes" payment (Article L.214-1 of the French Consumer Code). The written quote is binding. Terms of sale.