by Cari Cole

In your head, your voice may sound magnificent, but in reality is it … meh? Truth is, it takes a LOT to be ready to record and you don’t want to leave any stone unturned. Believe me, it won’t pan out well. Great vocals require great effort before you hit the studio. But how do you know when you are ready for the studio? Here’s my quick list of when it’s time to hit record.

7 Ways to Know When Your Voice is Studio Ready:

1. Your Voice Doesn’t Sound Like Crap —or Make You + Everyone Else Cringe

Look, most singers go into the studio pretty much unprepared and hoping for the best. But here’s why you don’t want to do that. It never pans out. You might sound pretty good (because your producers can use tricks) but when you hit the stage, you won’t. And believe me, you won’t want that kind of press.

The way to sound great is to prepare. Vocalize for 3 months prior (get my Singers Gift Vocal Warmups here to get you ready) and rehearse 5x a week on your songs for 1-2 hours at a time. Also work with your vocal coach on your pronunciation, vibrato (where you use it and where you don’t), your phrasing and dynamics.

2. Your Voice Is Smooth and Doesn’t Sound Like You Are Singing in an Unknown Language

For some odd reason, most singers when they are new to singing don’t work on their voices much. It’s almost blasphemy to train. Well, chica’s, once you experience real training and why that doesn’t work, you’ll never turn back. You should not be struggling over every turn of every phrase or struggling to hit notes when you go to the studio. That definitely means you are not ready. Work on your voice until you feel comfortable, you want to do your best, not just an okay job.

3. You Know Your Songs In Your Sleep

You never want to hit the studio without knowing your material backwards, forwards, upside down and inside out. You want to know your songs in your sleep. This gives you a comfort level that will make you sound relaxed. No one likes it when a singer overdoes it. I recommend having performed your songs before recording them. Performance helps you develop your approach and will make you sound 10x better than you would without.

4. Your Voice Sounds Pretty Close to What You Hear In Your Head

To me the goal is to get your voice sounding on the speakers like you hear it in your head. Until it’s there, it’s not. If you develop that philosophy early on, you’ll stop at nothing to get there.

5. You Can Sing For 6-8 Hours Without Losing Your Voice

This may seem like a lot, but honestly, it’s the truth. You don’t want to have a time limit when you are in the studio because you want to have a large window of time that your voice sounds good after you’re done warming up. Most great lead vocals take at least 4-5 hours to lay down and you don’t want to be struggling to sing for that length of time. Grab my Singers Gift Warmups here to get you ready.

6. You Are Nervous and Excited, But Not Terrified

If you’re terrified, you don’t know your material well enough, or you haven’t had enough experience, or you have the wrong production team. There’s always a reason you’re off balance. But be sure to figure it out ahead of time so you can put a hold on things until they are right. It’s normal to be nervous, it’s not normal to be terrified.

7. You’ve Sung Each Song a Million Times and You’ve Worked the Kinks Out with Your Vocal Arranger Ahead of Time

Every now and then you’ll arrive at the studio with a song you haven’t sung much, but for the most part you want to know your material and have worked out the kinks ahead of time. You’ve been working on the song for at least 2-3 months and have worked with a vocal arranger to get the most out of your vocal performance.

Share your thoughts or questions in the comments below!