Residential music studio
- Trevor Mason
- Jun 13, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 1
Just imagine, staying in a stunning location, rehearsing your new songs and only a few steps away, a studio available to record your latest outpourings. This is a residential music space.
The spaces listed below pride themselves on offering rehearsal and recording sessions in luxurious and relaxing surroundings. Some offer on-site chef catering, 24-hour access and recreational facilities. Many major artists are attracted to these facilities where they can concentrate on their music-making undisturbed
Their speciality is to provide a creative retreat, conducive to songwriting and inspiration, often in rural locations. They offer state-of-the-art recording equipment and in some cases, classic vintage gear.
On hand are cosy bedrooms, home comforts and hotel-like services. Designed and built with enough room for your band, and in some cases your fans, they come as flexible work spaces.
Ever since the famous Rockfield Studios in Wales hosted the writing and recording of Queen's ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in 1973, the idea your creative juices will more easily flow in a getaway location in the country, miles from anywhere, has been a luxury for many successful bands.
Rockfield Studios has been acknowledged as the first residential recording studio in the world. With such names as Oasis, Coldplay, Black Sabbath and Robert Plant its no surprise the converted farmhouse lasted for decades.
Real World Studios was conceived by Peter Gabriel in 1986 pioneering the idea that performers and engineers should share one large room to aid communication. The Studios consist of two main spaces that can be used individually or in combination.
When it comes to studio downtime, Real World is as relaxing as any boutique hotel, with six bedrooms and a cottage for additional space and privacy.
Propagation House is set in stunning rural countryside in the south west of England. The studio itself was designed and constructed by “The Studio People” on the foundations of an old propagation house.
It offers 24 hour access to its main live room with a 24 channel monitor desk, wedge monitors, outboard, and recording facilities.
A open-plan kitchen/dining room caters for 12 people. Its five en-suite double bedrooms can accommodate up to 10. Its glasshouse features a log burner, large sofas and pool table.
If you're looking for somewhere to get away to write new material or rehearse where you're not going to be disturbed, Propagation House makes a productive and relaxing environment.
Located on the shores of Upper Loch Fyne in Argyll Scotland, The Cottage is a residential music facility comprising a fully equipped music space with a live room and recording studio.
Set in a spectacular location amid some of Scotland's most stunning scenery, musicians and bands can get the best from their creative talents.
There is complete isolation between the cottage and the studio for recording instruments. The studio is linked to a refurbished 250-year old stone cottage with enough room for six people, offering unlimited rehearsal time to complete recording and production projects.
Set on a mountainside in a small village in North Wales, UK, this space offers a traditional recording service using modern and vintage technology.
With views over the Snowdonia Mountain range and the plains of Anglesey, it can accommodate 4-6 people sharing in its self-catering bunkhouse.
The bunkhouse is next door to the studio and opens out onto a private patio area. A resident chef can provide half board and other catering options.
Guests have access to a private bar with a pool table, hot tub and a heated swimming pool in the garden.
On its own island, this space is one of the world's most unique getaways for the music industry. Only an hour and a half drive from London, it is located on Osea Island off the coast of Essex in the UK.
East Point Studios is located in the island's Manor House with spectacular sea views. The east-facing control room is adjacent to a billiards room with tie-lines to the studio, perfect for larger bands to spread out.
As well as housing an SSL recording and mixing studio, the island offers musicians seeking a tranquil escape location. If you need space to write, rent a cottage or even host an intimate party for 100 people, Osea Island is the place to go.
This tidal island is connected to the mainland twice a day for four hours. For the rest of the day its ancient Roman causeway is beneath the sea's surface.
There are eight cottages, two beach houses and six modern apartments all providing space to setup multiple writing studios. The older cottages feature original beams, low ceilings and traditional fire places.
All can be booked on either a self-catered or catered basis. The island boasts a gym, mini cinema and heated outdoor pool.
Past clients include: Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Dizzee Rascal, Dua Lipa, Florence + The Machine, Madonna, Mumford and Sons, Noel Gallagher, Sam Smith, Sports Team, Stormy and The Streets.
Parr Street Studios is a Grammy-award winning recording studio complex the UK.
Hidden on a back street in Liverpool City Centre, the building incorporates a hotel, two bars, a music school and several production offices. The recording studios are situated around a central kitchen - and this communal hub is the heart of the studio.
Past clients include: Cast, Coldplay, Doves, Napalm Death, Elbow, The Verve, Echo and the Bunnymen, Pulp, Space, and Paolo Nutini.
Tilehouse Studios is a vintage recording studio originally built for Mike Oldfield in 1981. Located on the edge of West London its focus is to create analogue tape recordings using vintage equipment and instruments. It does digital too.
Promising a laid-back vibe, accommodation is nearby and the studio encourages artists while working to stay to enjoy the peaceful English countryside. It has its own apartment directly below the studio and there are also hotel and B&B options literally across the road
Mike Oldfield lived here for seven years writing smash hit single Moonlight Shadow.
Built in a chapel founded in 1260 and set in 20 acres of rolling fields and formal gardens, it is an idyllic location for a recording studio.
Less than an hour's drive time from Birmingham in the UK, it is equally comfortable with orchestral clients as it is with rock and pop musicians.
With its natural light from the chapel windows and airy space, the acoustically engineered live room has the capacity for a 30-piece orchestra with air conditioning, under floor heating and variable acoustics.
The self-catering residential option offers guests a four-bedroom barn conversion sleeping up to seven people. There are pubs and restaurants nearby.
Five bedrooms available during rehearsal or recording periods, along with an external residential cottage.
Acoustically treated floating space with the flexibility to comfortably rehearse and record both ensemble and pin-drop accurate solo performances.
Other residential facilities include Yellow Bean Studios.
As well as accommodation, residential spaces can be suitable for training courses.
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