You stream on Instagram, but your acoustic songs sound tinny. At Tonstudio Leipzig you get a clear solution: your smartphone films the performance, and the audio comes straight out of the studio desk through an audio interface. With multitrack miking and a clean live mix, the content comes out sounding professional.
Anyone making live streams or performance videos as a hobby musician knows the problem: the picture is just about fine, the audio is a disaster. A smartphone microphone at home gives you a tinny sound, living rooms echo, background noise sits on top of the voice, and the bass sounds thin. At the other end, professional TV studios with several cameras, vision mixers and a crew are simply too expensive and far too much for most hobby projects. At my studio in Leipzig I offer you the honest middle ground: a good smartphone films the performance (the Samsung S25 in the studio or your own, if you bring it), but the audio comes straight out of the studio desk through a USB-C audio interface. Multitrack miking, acoustically treated rooms, professional live mixing, all of it in the smartphone stream or in the video recording. You sound in the stream like you do on a studio recording. As affordable as smartphone streaming, as professional as a studio production.
Two ways of working are possible, often even side by side. Live streaming straight into your social media channels, Instagram Live, TikTok Live, YouTube Live, Twitch or several platforms at once via Restream. Your audience sees and hears you in real time, in studio quality. Video recordings for editing later. Performance videos are filmed in the studio with studio audio, then cut into reels, shorts, TikToks or YouTube videos and published on your own schedule. One content day at the studio is often enough for 6 to 10 posts over the following weeks, so you leave with a content plan rather than a memory of a stream.
Optionally you can work with two smartphones : the studio phone as the main angle with studio audio, your own phone as a second angle from another position. In the edit that gives you real dynamics through several perspectives, like a music video. Three packages depending on the effort: a solo slot of 60 minutes, a performance session of 2 hours, a content day of 3 to 4 hours. For organisational questions you can reach me by email or phone. A detailed initial consultation about choosing the format, platform strategy or planning the setup can be booked directly in the studio shop as a paid session.
The combination of a smartphone picture and studio audio works for very different kinds of performance. Here you can see six typical uses, three for live streaming directly and three for recorded video content.
The most common reason for a live stream. You sit with an acoustic guitar or at the piano, play your own songs and covers, and talk to your community between the pieces. The smartphone films from a fixed position, studio audio runs straight into the stream. It sounds like a studio recording and looks like a high quality Instagram Live. On Instagram Live, TikTok Live or both at once.
You play several songs in front of the smartphone with studio audio, with no live broadcast and no live pressure, and several takes per song are possible. The material is cut into reels, shorts and TikToks afterwards, and you publish on your own schedule over the following weeks. A two hour session typically produces 8 to 12 pieces of content. It makes sense for anyone who does not have a live stream community yet or would rather publish in a controlled way.
A hobby rap performance live with your own beats going from the laptop into the desk, or a producer stream with beat making in the DAW as a tutorial format for the producer community. Audio cleanly mixed, and a screen share of your DAW can be combined with the camera view. Especially popular on Twitch, because studio setups are rarely seen in live streams and the value for viewers is high.
For when the recording is meant to become high quality reels or YouTube content that looks visually like a small music video. The studio smartphone as the main camera with studio audio, your own smartphone as a second angle from another position (a close up of your hands on the guitar, for example). In the edit both angles are brought together, and the result looks like a small music video production, made in a single recording day.
You have a regular recording session at the studio anyway and want your fans to be part of how it comes together, so the recording day is streamed alongside. Audio straight from the desk, picture from the studio smartphone. Popular before album releases as early marketing, or as a regular format for building a community. The studio atmosphere becomes the stage, without you having to prepare an extra performance.
The premium option. Three to four hours in the studio with different setups, several songs, several angles and optionally a live stream part alongside. You leave with material for four weeks of reel releases, several YouTube premiere videos and enough content for regular posts. It makes sense for indie artists ahead of an album release or for hobby musicians building their social media presence strategically.
Three packages depending on the effort and the ambition. Every package can be used both for live streaming and for video recordings. Just describe what you need in your enquiry.
A lean way in for one focused performance: streaming one or two songs live, recording one reel, doing a short producer stream on Twitch. The studio smartphone as the camera, studio audio through the audio interface, one format (either live or recorded). Sound check and setup are scheduled on top. It makes sense for anyone trying the combination of a smartphone picture and studio audio for the first time.
The most popular package. Two hours in the studio with several songs, a break in between, and a mix of live streaming and video recording is possible. Optionally a second smartphone angle for editing later. Enough time for four to six songs in studio quality, which means content material for several weeks of social media plus a live stream moment for your community alongside.
The premium package for strategic content production. Three to four hours in the studio, different setups (acoustic performance, rap setup, producer view), several songs, two smartphone angles, optionally a live stream part plus a multitrack audio recording. On request including post production and editing, so you leave with finished reels, shorts and posts ready to upload. Popular ahead of album releases.
You do not leave with raw material but with finished reels, shorts and TikToks ready to upload. Editing the recordings from several angles, title overlays, formats made for each platform (vertical for TikTok and reels, square for the Instagram feed, 16:9 for YouTube). It makes sense if you do not want to edit yourself, or cannot.
Stream to several platforms at once, for example Instagram Live plus YouTube Live plus Twitch in parallel. This works through an additional streaming setup with Restream or OBS. It doubles or triples the reach of a stream with no extra effort for you. It makes sense for album premieres or larger community events.
Alongside the smartphone audio, the studio records multitrack in the standard recording format, every microphone on its own track and the instruments separate. It makes sense if the performance is also to be released as a streaming single or an EP track. You get both the stream audio in stereo and the separate tracks to work on further in your own DAW.
Most hobby musicians stream from the living room with a smartphone and know the problem: the picture is fine, the audio is a disaster. Three factors make the difference with this setup at the studio.
The key piece: a USB-C audio interface connects the studio desk to the smartphone. Instead of the phone microphone, the streaming app or camera app receives clean studio audio from multitrack miking and professional live mixing. The difference is audible immediately: the voice is clear and present, the instruments have punch, no room reverb, no background noise. Honestly, that is the whole core of this offer.
Even with a good microphone, recordings at home often fail because of the room. Bare walls, wooden floors and parallel surfaces create reverb and flutter echoes that make any mix sound thin. At my studio the rooms are acoustically treated, with diffusers and absorbers giving a dry, controlled sound. Your performance sounds in the stream the way it should, not like it came from a sports hall.
Alongside the live stream, or as the main purpose of the session, a clean video recording is running. A two hour session produces 6 to 10 pieces of content for the following weeks: individual songs as YouTube premieres, highlights as reels and TikToks, whole tracks as a streaming release. One studio day becomes a content plan for a month, not just a one-off live moment.
These three factors, studio audio straight into the smartphone, an acoustically treated room and recording alongside, are the difference between a stream that comes across as “okay” and one that really impresses your community.
A professionally recorded stream or video session does not only work on the day. It changes how your whole social media presence is seen, for months.
The first time you stand in front of the camera in an acoustically treated studio with a professional microphone, your performance changes too. Without living room reverb, without background noise, with the direct feedback of a good monitor sound, the singing or rapping becomes more focused, more precise, more expressive. Many artists say after their first session: I have never performed like that before.
When the first reel or the first stream recording goes online, comments come in like “wow, that sounds really professional” or “where did you record that”. The community notices the difference in quality immediately, even when they cannot explain technically what it comes from. Audio quality is a subjective marker for “professional” against “hobbyist”, and that marker changes how your whole identity as an artist is seen.
From the 6 to 10 pieces of content in one session you publish regularly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube over the following weeks, without needing a new recording session every week. That takes enormous pressure off and gives you the consistency every algorithm rewards. You come across as active and productive, even though the effort per post is very small.
Communities react clearly to audio quality. Reels with studio sound are saved, forwarded and commented on more often than comparable reels with smartphone audio. Over several weeks that shows up in follower growth and reach. Not magic, but noticeable, and without you having to change anything about your performance.
After the first studio session you start thinking about content production differently. Not “let me quickly shoot a reel in the living room today”, but “next month a content day at the studio, so that I have material for the next four weeks”. Reactive day to day production becomes strategic content planning, which in turn improves the quality of every single release.
Anyone publishing content in studio quality regularly stands out from the crowd of hobby musicians over a few months. The community stops seeing you as somebody who “makes a bit of music for fun” and starts seeing someone who takes their own work seriously. That opens doors: enquiries about gigs, collaborations, perhaps even first commercial opportunities, if that is what you want.
Good preparation makes the difference between a session with a lot of organising and a session where you can perform straight away.
Think it through briefly before your enquiry: do you want to stream to a platform in real time, or would you rather record in a controlled way and publish later, or both at once? The choice affects the setup time, which package I recommend and how you prepare. If you do not have a community yet, a pure video recording is often the better fit. If you already have a streaming community, you can combine both.
If you are streaming live, settle beforehand which platform your community is strongest on. For streaming to several platforms, additional streaming software handles all the channels you want in parallel. For a pure video recording the platform only matters at upload, and different formats for different platforms can be cut from the same material.
Prepare a rough setlist: which songs in which order, whether everything is acoustic or some tracks run with beats from the laptop, whether they are your own songs or covers. For sessions with several songs it makes sense to plan a mix of your strongest material and things you want to try out. For producer streams: prepare which beat workflow you want to show, so that twenty minutes do not disappear into setting up.
If you bring your own smartphone as a second angle, charge it fully beforehand, free up storage and export any recordings of your own first. Bring instruments as you need them (acoustic guitar, keyboard). A piano and some basic instruments are available at the studio. For producer streams: your own laptop with your DAW and project templates, plus a backup on a USB stick.
Choose your outfit carefully: no heavily patterned shirts that flicker in a smartphone stream, nothing very bright next to bright walls, which throws off the exposure. For sessions with several songs you can also plan a change of outfit between songs, which makes the reels and shorts more varied visually.
If you want to edit yourself, have your own editing software ready (CapCut, Premiere, DaVinci, InShot) and bring an idea of your workflow. If you want to book post production as an extra, think beforehand about which formats you need (reels vertical, YouTube horizontal, TikTok vertical), with or without subtitles, with or without title overlays.
So that you know what to expect, four calm steps from the enquiry to the finished material.
By email you describe what you have in mind: the format (live stream, video recording or both), the platform you want, a rough setlist, and whether you are bringing your own smartphone as a second angle. For more complex setups a paid initial consultation in the studio shop may be worth it, where I go through the setup strategy, the choice of platform and the content plan with you. For simple solo slots a short exchange by email is usually enough.
Before the slot itself the setup is put in place: microphones positioned (voice, instrument, room sound if needed), the audio interface connected to the smartphone, the camera position adjusted, and optionally a second smartphone set up for several angles. For live streaming sessions the streaming software is configured as well and a short test stream is run, so that every platform is reachable before it really starts.
The session itself: you perform while the setup runs in the background. For video recordings several takes per song are possible, you can take a break between songs and adjust the setlist as you go. For live streams everything runs in real time, without stopping. In sessions with several setups you move between different arrangements, an acoustic set, a rap set, a producer view, depending on the plan. Discreet technical support in the background, while you concentrate on the performance.
You get the raw recordings from the smartphone within one to three days by cloud link, and with several angles each one separately. If you booked post production, the edited material follows one to two weeks later, ready in the right platform format to upload directly. With the multitrack audio extra, the audio tracks also come by cloud link, ready to import into your DAW.
Stream and video sessions take place exclusively at Tonstudio Leipzig, because of the acoustic conditions and the permanently installed studio setup. Travelling in is worth it from further away too, because one session often delivers content for weeks.
Musicians from Connewitz, Südvorstadt, Schleußig, Plagwitz, Lindenau and Markkleeberg reach the studio in under 20 minutes. The journey is often worth it even for shorter solo slots, because a single hour of studio recording already looks completely different from any smartphone session at home.
From Gohlis, Eutritzsch, Möckern or Wahren you reach the studio in 25 minutes, by car around the inner ring road or by tram. For longer sessions like a content day the journey is especially worth it, because the result is used as social media material for weeks.
Halle, Merseburg, Schkeuditz, Markranstädt, all under 30 minutes by car. The indie scene in Halle and the spoken word community use the studio regularly for performance videos. For content projects across several days, staying overnight in Leipzig can make sense too, to keep the content day relaxed.
From Dresden, Chemnitz, Borna, Grimma or Wurzen, the journey to the studio is under 90 minutes by car or train. It is especially worthwhile for content day sessions, because the trip pays off twice over given weeks of content material. Artists from these cities often combine the journey with a day in Leipzig.
Artists from Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hanover and Bremen come to Leipzig regularly for content day sessions, usually as a day trip or with an overnight stay. The investment pays off, because professional social media content would otherwise cost considerably more. Leipzig is three to four hours away by train from most German cities.
My studio is at Bernhard-Göring-Straße 17 in 04107 Leipzig, in the middle of Zentrum-Süd, within walking distance of the Karli and the city centre. Parking in the courtyard, step-free access on the ground floor, and several cafés right around the corner for breaks between setups.
Here you find the most important answers before you enquire about your slot. For organisational questions you can reach me by email or phone. For detailed advice with a fixed appointment there is the initial consultation in the studio shop.
You come to Tonstudio Leipzig and perform: an acoustic set, a vocal session, a rap performance, beat making or a band gig.
The performance is filmed with a smartphone (the Samsung S25 at the studio or your own), and the audio does not come from the smartphone microphonebut goes straight from the studio desk into the smartphone through a professional audio interface.
The result: smartphone picture quality (4K possible) with real recording studio sound.
That can either be streamed live into your social media channels or recorded as video, to edit and publish later.
Yes, and it is often more sensible than pure live streaming.
Performance videos from the studio are perfect material for reels, shorts, TikToks and YouTube videos, because they are already recorded with studio audio and only need editing.
A two hour session often produces 6 to 10 pieces of content for the following weeks.
Live streaming and video recording can also run in parallel : live on the internet plus a clean recording for content later.
For Hobby singer-songwriters, hobby rappers, indie bands, bedroom producers, acoustic musicians and anyone making music as a hobby who wants to lift their social media presence to the next level of quality, either through live streams or through high quality video content.
It also works for private individuals with a creative hobbywho simply want professional recordings once for their YouTube channel or Instagram account.
If you do not have a community at all yet, you can also work on that alongside in coaching , the two services complement each other.
All the usual platforms with a native smartphone streaming app: Instagram Live, TikTok Live, YouTube Live, Twitch, Facebook Live, X/Twitter Live, as well as private streaming solutions like Discord.
For several platforms at once (for example Instagram plus YouTube plus Twitch in parallel), an additional streaming setup for several platforms via Restream or OBS is used.
I settle the right platform with you beforehand, based on what suits your audience. A TikTok community expects different content from a Twitch community.
The technical basis is a USB-C audio interface.
The studio desk sends the finished mix through the audio interface straight into the smartphone, and the smartphone microphone is bypassed completely.
The streaming app or camera app therefore receives clean studio audio, with multitrack miking, professional live mixing and an acoustically treated room.
The picture comes from the smartphone camera (4K capable on the Samsung S25), the audio from the studio. As affordable as smartphone streaming, as professional as a studio production.
Yes, with two smartphones.
I provide the Samsung S25 for the main angle (with studio audio), and you can bring your own smartphone as a second camera angle .
The second angle typically runs as an additional recording, not as a second live stream, which gives more dynamics in the edit afterwards.
For example: the live stream runs from the main angle while the second phone films from another position. Afterwards both angles are cut together into reels and shorts.
Yes, optionally as an extra.
Alongside the smartphone audio, the studio runs the multitrack recording in the standard recording format, every microphone on its own track and the instruments separate, ready for mixing later in your DAW.
It makes sense if the performance is also intended as a Release (a streaming single, an EP track) and not only as social media content.
Yes, always.
You get the main video from the streaming or recording smartphone as MP4 in full resolution, and with several angles each one separately.
With pure live streaming, a local recording runs alongside the broadcast, so that you still have a clean file even if the stream stutters at some point.
With the post production extra, edited reels, shorts and TikTok versions are included.
The 60 minute solo slot as an affordable way in: one performance, one smartphone, one format (live or video).
The 2 hour performance session is the most popular package: several songs, optionally a second angle, a mix of live and recorded is possible, and enough material for the next few weeks of content.
The 3 to 4 hour content day is the premium option: a big recording day with several setups, several songs, a live stream plus video recording alongside, optionally including post production and editing.
Yes, very often, in fact.
Anyone without a live stream community yet, or who would rather publish in a controlled way, typically books a pure video content day.
You give several performances in front of the smartphone with studio audio, without any of it being broadcast live.
The material is cut into reels, shorts, TikToks or YouTube videos afterwards, and you publish on your own schedule.
Often the calmer and more productive option, because several takes are possible without live pressure.
Standard practice: a double safety net at the studio.
The main connection runs over a stable LAN line with a high speed link, plus an additional LTE hotspot as a backup.
If the stream drops out despite all that, the local video recording on the smartphone keeps running, so you get the complete performance as a clean file in any case.
This page is written for hobby musicians and indie artists without a label deal.
If you work with a record deal, a major label, a booking agency or a commercial marketing budget and need larger live streaming productions, for example official release streams with a camera team covering several angles, a live vision mixer and rights covered by contract, there is the separate business site of Tonstudio Leipzig.
Write me a short note about what you have in mind: streaming live, recording video content to edit later, or both at once. Tell me the platform, the songs, the setup and whether you are bringing your own smartphone for a second angle. For detailed advice with a fixed appointment, book the initial consultation in the studio shop, or book one of the three slot packages directly.