Setting up a music rehearsal space
- Trevor Mason
- Jul 11, 2014
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 23, 2023
Owning and running a music rehearsal space requires a range of skills, including business planning, knowledge of music equipment and instruments, building and personnel management and legal matters.
Some bands set up their own rehearsal space and hire it out. Suddenly, your town has a pro rehearsal space and you are making money from it. A place to rehearse and you get paid too — how much better can it get?
Competition is good
Jimmy Mulvihill, who has been running London's Bally Studios since 2005, suggests setting up a space in a town where there is already a rehearsal space is a good thing. He said: "There are small towns with only one rehearsal studio in them, and pretty soon all the bands gravitate towards bigger towns, and they're only left with bands that rehearse once or twice a year to blow the cobwebs off. Having more rehearsal studios equals a more thriving music scene, equals more people seeing gigs and being inspired to start bands, equals more bands looking for rehearsal slots, so everyone wins. Having lots of studios all around London is a great thing, which is why we are happy to be doing everything we can to help other studios too."
Finding the right building
Of course, taking out a lease or even purchasing property of an appropriate size and location is a major consideration for any entrepreneur: "Ownership or control of a building is perceived in the arts as ‘growing up" (p.117, ACGB, 1993)." Jimmy continued: “I was looking to find a building that lends itself well to becoming a soundproofed studio which speeds up the process. I needed to consider factors such as if you have a unit facing onto a pavement that has passing trade you will pay 30% more than a unit that does not. It is also useful to be situated next to businesses such as car mechanics who will usually make a lot of loud banging. Or bakers who usually open from 5am – 3pm and close for the rest of the day, so you can stay out of each other's way.”
Bear in mind of course, often loud music rehearsal sessions and vehicles accessing the space can take place at unsociable hours. This can be a hindrance to residents living and working nearby. Soundproofing the premises can therefore be a cost to be factored in. Jimmy again: “I would compile a list of premises I think have good potential to be converted into studios. I would also check with the local council to see if there are regulations preventing the unit from being used as a music rehearsal space. This will be done in an informal way at first, where they may say there is nothing we object to in principle, but we would really need to see the plans first before giving any legal reassurances. There may be 50 reasons why a certain location is not good for a studio. It will be my job to check say 40 of them don’t apply to this building.”
Music-making takes many forms, from rock to samba and hip hop to classical. It may be that you will need more than one space to cater for these different interests.
Future proofing
Technology plays an important role in the lives of us all.
As advances in internet technology come about musicians can now play with other musicians from other parts of the world.
This means, to future-proof music rehearsal spaces, they will need fast interconnectivity inside and with the wider world. Important to this development is having access to the expertise in using the equipment.
Planning for a music rehearsal space survey
Market research in to critical mass, or sizeable conurbations where there is likely to be a strong demand, will need to be undertaken. A business plan will also help. Carrying out a survey will help to gather information from a sample of people, from which you can generalise the results to a larger population. Surveys can take many forms but are usually a simple questionnaire.
Your survey should aim to identify every music rehearsal space near where you think it will be well-placed. This may include contacting existing commercial rehearsal and recording spaces, music shops, arts and music projects, music services, venues and regional cultural development bodies. Although there may be sensitivities around supplying information, you should aim your survey to ask each respondent the following:
Location
Number of unit spaces
Occupants and vacancies
Occupants’ area of work
Occupants’ tenure
Management arrangements
Facilities offered besides the space
Information about the current condition of the spaces
Access arrangements and conditions, including disability access
Their music-making offer
Making a music space sustainable means either being in a building where there is other general supervision already funded, or multiple rooms making staff supervision cost-effective.
Planning your space
The types of activity will control the characteristics of each space such as their size, accessibility, fittings, soundproofing and fixed equipment. Music-making can be split into three areas - participation, production and performance. It is likely most of the time musicians will want to participate and produce music.
Rehearsal spaces are crucial to the amplified music sector. They also represent useful meeting places where people can meet with far-reaching artistic, personal and social benefits. Some may even have a small performance space, bar, coffee shop, recording studio or music technology suite.
Bally Studios' website lists the kind of things that are consumed and activities taking place at a 5-room music rehearsal space in London. Visit Useless Facts on the Bally Studios website.
Typical music spaces
Providing a space is just the starting point. What matters is what people do in the shared spaces. A creative environment needs good communication and interaction to allow musicians to share, learn and adapt ideas quickly.
You will need enough practice rooms for musicians to work independently in groups of three to six participants with instruments and equipment. This means you will need multiple rooms. In reality physical music facilities vary greatly, but typically they have any number and combinations of the following:
Rehearsal space
Music technology suite
Performance space
Social areas
Live room with guitar amps, drums, mics & PA
Control room with mixing desk
Drum room
Smaller breakout spaces
Storage area
As well as rehearsal and recording, you may want to think about using the building for workshops, individual and small group lessons in vocals, guitars, drums and other instruments.
What different activities look like
At a basic level your space will need to cater for an interest in urban/dance music and live bands. These popular music styles will dictate the needs of your space and its design. These two broad areas can break down further into different activities each needing specific equipment and design features:
Music technology and production
DJ/ MCing
Singing
Performance skills
Band workshops
Sound engineering – live and studio engineering
Music industry and media related skills
Urban artists, DJs or musicians involved in music technology or production do not pick up their musical skills in the same ways as musicians using instruments. Those involved in urban/dance styles are likely to be regularly exchanging opinions with peers where they informally learn creative and technical skills. Encounters are likely to be away from organised rehearsal or collective music-making activities.
Meanwhile instrumentalists are likely to employ both a separate and a group approach in complementary ways. The role of group jamming and songwriting are of great significance in developing popular instrumental skills. Jamming usually occurs based on agreement among band members on the chords, rhythms and structure of the music. Much songwriting occurs as a group activity where every member has a major creative role.
Acoustic treatment
Architects usually deal with soundproofing for speech and sometimes for industrial noise, but live music has different characteristics which they may not fully understand. Technical sound reduction specifications of standard commercial wall, floor, ceiling and door constructions do not account for frequencies produced by the low sounds of a bass drum and bass guitar which can be difficult to cut out.
The acoustic treatment of your music space is a different issue from soundproofing. Good acoustic treatment will control how well music will be absorbed or bounce around in your space. You should ensure the acoustics of your spaces are not too reverberant because this can be challenging for those with sensitive hearing or a hearing problem. A carpeted floor should be the minimum and some type of absorption and/or diffusion at best.
You should make simple recording and playback facilities available in every room where participants can listen to an instant playback as part of their session. Ideally you should also have a wifi network allowing users to easily access the web. Having technology threaded through the space will appeal to users with an interest in related activities such as media.
Heating and ventilation should not be secondary considerations, as heating and ventilation can be noisy, damaging to sensitive equipment, and unhealthy for occupants, especially in an environment in which acoustic considerations can result in windowless, enclosed spaces. You may need to think about when you will use the ventilation and access to controlling it.
Lack of natural light can be damaging to performance, mood and ambience. Advances in technology make the use of glass in soundproofed situations much more of a reality. You should try to avoid harsh fluorescent or strip lighting, which can make some spaces unusable for people sensitive to flickering bright lights. Ideally there should be various lighting arrangements and they should all be dimmable without causing sound systems, amplifiers and computers to buzz.
Access
Musicians will want an accessible central place that supports their work unsupervised, where they can develop their own musical ideas. The practice room represents a significant role in enabling musicians to develop their own work independently. Speed of entrance and exit is clearly important. Doors need to be wide enough and easy to open when carrying for example a guitar amplifier. Positioning your main entrance so it’s accessible from the street makes it attractive to promote access.
Personal safety, security and behaviour are important issues. Clear lines of visibility including liberal use of window space and wide corridors will allow overseeing of use. It is also important the space is open when people want to use it. You can achieve this by:
Allowing users to book a room through a central booking system
Allowing musicians to use the facilities independently
Clearly advertising of musician wants/vacancies, posters of gigs, etc
Making rehearsal space available every night and at weekends
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