£45 an hour, £150 a half day, £300 a day; big enough for a five-piece playing together
The live room
Forty-two square metres on a floating floor, with a five-metre ceiling, a drum riser, two isolation booths and a window into the control room. A five-piece can play live together with sight lines; a single songwriter can sit in the middle of it with a piano. £45 an hour, capped at £150 for a half day and £300 for a day, with an engineer from £20 an hour.
The live room is the reason the building is a studio. It was the cold store of a fish merchant's warehouse, with walls a foot thick and no windows, and in 2015 it got a floating floor, a ceiling of diffusers and absorbers, a drum riser and two isolation booths. It sounds big without being boomy, which is what drums want, and it is quiet enough that a nylon-string guitar does not have to compete with the street.
A band session usually tracks drums, bass and guide guitars together in the room with the amps in the booths, so everyone can see everyone and the takes have the energy of a gig; vocals and overdubs go on afterwards. The engineer comes in an hour early at no charge to set up and get the drums sounding right, so the first hour you pay for is spent playing. A day of ten hours gets most bands four to six songs tracked.
The room is priced by the hour, £45, with caps: four hours never costs more than £150 and ten never more than £300, so a band that books a day pays for a day and not by the minute. An engineer is £20 an hour on top with the same kind of caps, or bring your own. The backline is included: a Gretsch kit with three snares, Fender and Vox amps, an Ampeg bass rig, and a piano that was tuned last Tuesday.
Late sessions until 2am are possible at the day rate, by arrangement. A deposit of half the quote holds the date, refunded with a week's notice. The free sessions for today and tomorrow are on the book page, and the next free slot in the live room is on the home page, worked out from the diary and the clock.
What is included
- A floating floor, a drum riser, two booths
- Backline: kit, three snares, amps, bass rig, piano
- The engineer in an hour early, free, to set up
- The half-day and day caps applied automatically
- Multitracks and a rough mix the same night
- Files kept for ninety days
What it costs
£45 an hour, capped at £150 for four hours and £300 for ten. An engineer £20 an hour, capped at £70 and £150. The quote on the book page does the sum. The rates page has every room and cap side by side; the book page works out a session and shows what is free today and tomorrow.
Questions about the live room
How much can we record in a day?
Four to six songs tracked for most bands who have rehearsed; two or three if you are recording everything to a click and doing overdubs as you go. Mixing is separate, in the mix room.
Can we bring our own engineer?
Yes, and the room is then £45 an hour without ours. We ask that they come in for a free half hour first to learn the desk and the patchbay.
Pick the room and the hours. The price works itself out.
The live room is £45 an hour, never more than £150 for a half day or £300 for a day; an engineer £20 an hour on top, capped the same way. The book page does the sum and shows what is free today and tomorrow. Half the quote holds the date.