I have my own experience with running a rehearsal studio which I will relate below, but first here are some facts about the current rehearsal studio situation:
Studio costs are going up. The cheapest is $15-20 an hour for a bare minimum room up to $150 per hour or more for a fully equiped boutique space with staff in a large music city. So, bands are getting more creative with HOW they rehearse. Some rehearse once a week, then use Zoom or Jamulus for remote touch-ups. Some share Google Docs for notes and set lists and arrangement tweaks. Others use DAWs like Logic or Ableton to track rehearsal takes and build demos. And of course more bands are sharing space or playing at odd hours to save $.
How things have changed! Here’s my story:
Many years ago when we moved into our larger office on Sunset, (after being kicked out of our office in the Whisky a Go Go, but that’s another story), the new place contained a good-sized room in the rear with a loading door to the parking lot
I thought it was perfect for a rehearsal place, but would the sound carry to other offices upstairs in the building? The idea was to soundproof it enough so bands could rehearse in the day without disturbing the other occupants, as well as night use.
“No problem” said the guy I hired to do the work. He started by completely enclosing the walls and ceiling with drywall, then shooting the whole area with sound-deadening stuff, (probably asbestos based, who knows), then finishing with a burlap covering and adding a very thick shag carpet, (remember them?) The room was DEAD.
At last it was time to give it a sound test. I thumped a few times on an old bass drum. Within five minutes the insurance agent from upstairs came down and asked “What’s that racket?” Ok, so much for the possibility of daytime rehearsals!
The studio went into business but it was only used at night. We charged $1.50 an hour. Remember, minimum wage in 1973 was less than $2 an hour. If the piano was needed, it cost 50 cents more. Wanna use the Shure PA? Add another 50 cents. Sounds incredibly cheap but this was the going rate in Hollywood. Nobody had yet invented the concept of monthly rentals we see today in large buildings.
We kept the room pretty well booked but it never paid for itself. Why? Because after a year our landlord was required to toss everyone out of the building because the City of LA needed to earthquake-proof it and everyone had to move. I always wonder what the new tenant did with the room. Moral: Nothing beats a good old free garage!
