Calling all Musicians who use rehearsal/recording facilities!!! Can i have a little help please?

[cathcart]

Me and dh are planning to open a studio and recording suite in our town. Early days, we are only just putting a business plan together, and we would love to hear about the studio you use.

What do you/don't you like about it?
What facilities are avaiable?
How much do you pay?
Would would you like to have available?
etc etc

It would be a great help to hear about the kinds of facilities that are on offer around the rest of the country and what you as customers think of them.
Thank you!

come on muso's - show yourselves!

dp writes songs and plays guitar/bass/drums/keyboard.

He has a 16 track digital studio in dss bedroom(no other room available) but his dream would be to buy a house big enough to have a proper studio in.!

When in a band he did record some songs in a "proper" studio.He reckons going rate professionally would be around £40 per hour.

His ideal recording criteria would be;

Good sound engineer,
Good atmosphere to work in (rather vague,sorry)
Drinks/coffee machine and refreshments
and erm bizarrely,decent air conditioning!

OH and a fridge of Stella

thanks wrinklytum and wt's dp!

Thats a good point about air con actually, the rehearsal rooms I've ever been in have got very hot and sweaty.

you need to get together with whomovedmychocolate - she has a recording studio.

DH has a reasonable home set-up, but in terms of what he would look for in an external studio:-

he would only use it for tracking, so would be looking for good acoustics, decent sized room, ideally a good drumkit, good piano and a range of good microphones.

He also mentions that a good site to check out would be the Sound on Sound forums, where these ideas are discussed a lot. In general it seems to be hard for these businesses to cover their costs.

wow thanks I didn't know that!!!

that was to musicianswidow.
Thaks Ladymuck - dh said something about sound on sound. He's the man in the know really but I'm trying to help him gather up some ideas/feedback as he's working his arse off as a gardener at the minute.

i just asked DP and he rambled on for ages and i have forgotten most if it! acoustics, live room, a separate sound proofed room for relaxing in/waiting for your turn to play. and (these are his words) 'technical porn'

do you know anything about recording or yor dp? it would really help if you did as its so easy to get wrong, even for the pro's

I'm in a band and rehearse most Monday nights (tonight I'm sciving off ) and we normally pay about £40 for 3 hours. Gets extremely muggy in the summer due to there being 8 of us so air con/fans good idea.
Fridge is a great idea, and coffee making facilities a must.
Must admit its always tidy and clean, I have used some studios that smell pretty bad and its not nice.
How about some nice big comfy sofas for break time to chill out on.
Maybe some comfy chairs too as singers tend to be standing for long periods.
Make sure plenty of carpark space as we would trake up 8 car places and end up getting stuck behind some other band member in the next room and have to keep getting out t move car.

HOpe this helps

OH...another point to bear inmind is, if you are expecting themto bring their own gear make sure they can getit to the room. DP has rehearsed in a place that was up 8 flights of narrow steel steps with no lift!!!

DH knows a lot about all the equipment, recording etc, he's done quite a lot of his own in the past.

Its good to hear your points, for me especially, and i will be referring back to them.

Anyonw seen whomovedmychocolate?!

ah yes mw, dh is practicing in such a place right now. I keep telling him about that hernia....

bump, keep em coming!

dh has one in sheffield apparently. I've not been. But they do voices more than music. It's prob a dump! (there are no women there...)