FAQs
Updated: October 2025
Below are not so much, frequently asked questions, but more, facts about how we run our studios, and our reasons for doing so after 18 years of mostly full occupancy.
You’ll find information for drummers, singers, guitarists, keyboardists, studio details, booking information & miscellany.
STANDARDS
Our basic standards are, firstly, we treat people fairly. We’re easy-going & tolerant so, as long as there’s mutual respect & understanding we’ll get along. Secondly, does all the equipment work & function? If yes, then most issues will boil down to personal preferences, and we can’t possibly account for & satisfy everyone’s individual peevishness.
– Please notify us as soon as possible if you suspect something is damaged and we’ll try our best to remedy reasonable issues. We can’t assist you with a productive rehearsal if you report continuing issues at the conclusion of your session, or worse, say nothing and then leave an unfair negative review online. We dislike the seemingly essential flawed system of online reviews because everyone’s opinion & experience is subjective, and not entirely rooted in honest motivations.
– While our studios are sufficiently equipped to handle all types of music within traditional pop & rock music, we’re most suitable for bands playing at less than ear-splitting volume levels. If you’re a band that likes or needs excessive volume, within the heavy metal or more-aggressive genres, we’d suggest you go to DC Music, they love bands like yours.
BOOKING
– We accept cash or e-transfer only.
– By appointment only, on a first come, first served basis. If you make a tentative booking and are delayed in explicitly confirming your session, you may lose that booking to more concrete confirmations.
– If you anticipate being a regular customer, we suggest committing to pre-booking a weekly day & time, to lock-down the session time you want. You can always make adjustments as conditions dictate & we’d prefer to fill our calendar with solid pre-bookings.
– We tend to book up quickly. It’s best to book at least one week in advance. We generally have more availability weekends. Same-day weeknight availability can be hit-or-miss. With a little flexibility on your band’s part, in having a couple of dates available to jam, then we can usually find a slot for you.
– We take bookings by either landline phone or email. We don’t have online scheduling because our rooms are not of equal size and we need to determine which room is most suitable according to the schedule. Please leave us a message if we don’t answer & we’ll get back to you. You cannot text us.
– We do not answer calls from Private Names, Private Numbers, or long-distance calls that do not have a name on call display. If you’re legitimate please leave a message and we’ll get back to you. In this day & age of the internet and proliferation of scams, every non-local call is suspicious.
– For emails, if you feel that you haven’t received a timely response, please check your spam or junk mail folder. Previously, having your own website assured all emails would land into inboxes, but something has changed within the last few years and that’s no longer the case.
Operating Hours – We’re open daily 12pm-12am. Because we’re tenants in a multi-unit building these hours of operation are mandated by the building owner.
– Also, because we are tenants, please be mindful & respectful of other tenants, guests, the building, and the parking areas. Most people here are laid-back & there’s rarely anything of such importance to act hostile.
Rates – The rates are the rates. Please don’t try & haggle a deal. You don’t ask for a deal when buying a coffee or pumping gas, so don’t try that here. The rates are competitive with comparable rehearsal studios, and if money is a factor for you, then please shop around.
– We charge a uniform rate for time, not for room size. It amazes us that other rehearsal spaces would bother to charge different rates for rooms that are not vastly different in size & amenities, with all the complications that would entail.
Example 1: Say you have a band that wants to book the $20/hr room, but you only have a $30/hr room available. Are you going to awkwardly demand they must pay the higher rate? Or worse, turn away what could be a new long-term customer AND leave an empty room? But you can’t give them a discount because then they, and others might demand it regularly. Madness.
Example 2: You have a 4-piece band that booked into the $30/hr room and have a $20/hr room available. An 8-piece band wants to book in, but because you committed the larger room to the 4-piece, and you know the 8-piece will not fit into the smaller $20/hr room, you turn away their booking AND leave an empty room? You can’t shift the smaller band into the smaller room because their expectation was for the larger room. Madness.
Session Minimums – 2 hours minimum for sessions. We want people who are serious & not cheap. Also, logistically, what would happen with a one-hour booking and you’re running late for 30 or 45 minutes? What’s the point of jamming for 30 or 15 minutes? It’s a waste of your time & ours, not to mention the headache for us managing a bunch of one-hour bookings.
Time Slots – We don’t have rigid time slots, however we do not book weeknights 8-10pm. Your options around that slot would be 7-9pm, 9-11pm(12am), 7-10pm, 8-11pm. Our experience is that 8-10pm is difficult to book around with less demand before 8pm & 10pm-12am. If this is the only time your band can jam, then we encourage you to fill up our competitors’ schedules with this time slot.
– We book on-the-hour, with no half-hour slots. It’s difficult to book around, and we potentially lose an hour around the slot. Again, please fill up our competitors with your odd-ball session times.
Cancelations – Please familiarize yourself with our Cancelation Policy. Do not question, argue, complain or try to bargain when we levy a cancelation charge. We evaluate each situation and apply a charge when it is warranted.
ROOMS
Subject to availability. You reserve time, not a specific room. We have 4 rooms altogether, 2 of approx. 300 sq.ft, and 2 of approx. 250 sq.ft., and due to our rooms being unequal in size, generally, priority for larger rooms is given to bands with larger configurations and/or style of music. Other factors can include your frequency as a customer, familiarity with a certain room, scheduling logistics etc. Of the 4 rooms, one used to be part of a recording studio and thus has better sound isolation, so that consideration may factor as well into room assignments.
You cannot reserve a specific room, but we always endeavor to get you into your preferred room, but sometimes it’s just not possible.
– When you enter the building, go down the hallway to your right. At the end of that hallway, you’ll see an illuminated signboard with signs pointing your band to their assigned room. Our office is Room 113 and it’s down the hallway to the left of the signboard. There’s also a single unisex washroom in that direction along with the main-floor fire exit.
– Please refrain from moving amps & equipment around the room or changing the configuration from rehearsal to stage set-up. The rooms are arranged specifically for optimal sound dynamics, plus you risk damaging equipment and floors for which you’ll be liable, or personal injury.
– Please utilize the small shelves on the wall to hold your cans or bottled beverages & avoid setting drinks upon the amplifiers.
– There’s a $20 service charge for requests that go well beyond our standard room configuration. This can include multiple extra mics, stands, chairs, moving drum kits etc. The fee covers the set-up & tear down of the extra equipment for which we suffer lost time, effort & inconvenience.
DRUMMERS / DRUM KITS
Sticks (New) – Available to purchase for $5/pair. These are nothing special and their purpose is to get you through a session in case you forget your own, or breakage.
Crashes – We encourage you to bring your own, as part of your responsibility within the band & commitment to the craft. We do have a crash & crash-ride you can borrow in case logistics prevent you from bringing yours, or you’re a new drummer and have yet to buy your own. We would prefer in each scenario for it not to be a habit, and you will be liable for any damage that occurs to our crashes.
Thrones – We utilize hydraulic stools, that might not look like traditional drum thrones but function the same. If you’re a tall, large or heavy-weight person that conservatively weighs over 200 lbs., or are picky about your seat, we suggest you bring your own throne for your own comfort. Do not rely on us to provide special equipment that goes beyond what the average person would require. Our experience is that traditional drum thrones, no matter the cost or quality, will break down from constant adjustments, so we’ve adapted to the hydraulic style with few complaints.
GUITARISTS
Amps – All our guitar amps are tube powered. Guitarists should be aware that not all modern digital technology integrates seamlessly with tube power. Our best suggestion is to utilize the effect’s loop function on the amplifiers if you notice an uneven sound wave.
– Combinations of certain guitars, their pick-ups, the mixtures, settings & configurations of digital pedals with analog pedals, with the amplifiers can also negatively impact the output sound.
– Guitarists should stand approximately 6-10 feet opposite the amplifiers when playing, to hear more of the spectrum output. Being closer or virtually on top of the amp will affect your perception of the sound & the volume.
– If you’re really picky about your sound & tone, we suggest you bring your own combo amp, or head to plug into our cabinets. It’s impossible for us to account for or satisfy everyone’s individual preference for amp sound.
– Each room comes equipped with (2) 4-speaker guitar cabinets.
IMPORTANT NOTE – If you do bring your own head, be aware of the ohmage settings for the cabinet. We’ve tried to label each input speaker cable where appropriate. Also, when plugging our heads back in after your session, ensure that they are connected properly, or please don’t plug them in at all. In some cases, an incorrect connection can lead immediately to a blown head or cabinet, and you may be liable for any damage that occurs.
– We have one guitar & one bass available for rent, first come first served, for $10 each, per session.
KEYBOARDISTS
Keyboards – We do not have a keyboard available to rent, you’ll have to provide your own. The failure rate on a keyboard is too high. If even one key malfunctions, or someone spills a drink, the whole unit is garbage. We’d never recoup the cost of a keyboard by making one available for use. We also couldn’t satisfy individual player demands for certain sounds. As part of your responsibility within the band, you should bring your own.
Stands – We have keyboard stands you can borrow for your session.
SINGERS – VOCALS, MIXER – P.A.
– All rooms are equipped with a Mackie ProFX v3 16 channel mixer with built-in FX. The mixers also have a USB out function which can connect to a device for recording purposes.
– The rooms & optimal sound are configured for rehearsals where bandmates can make eye contact with each other, and not for a stage set-up with a backline & frontman. Reversing the mics could cause them to feedback while pointing in the direction of the PA speakers.
– Generally, you shouldn’t have to tweak the mixer for your vocals. We’ve set the vocals to output a strong clear signal within the dynamics of the space and have left headroom to increase volume. We’ve also posted a guide near each mixer illustrating our default settings. If you choose to change the settings or reverse the position of the mics in the room, you may adversely affect the sound environment, for which we’re not responsible, but come see us if you have issues.
Vocal Monitor – is available upon request. At first, we left them set-up in the room, but our experience was most bands just kicked them off to the side, a testament to the great sound dynamics we’ve created that have rendered the monitors mostly pointless.
PARKING
– There’s free parking available directly in FRONT of the building, on the street directly ACROSS from the building, and in the vacant lot TO THE RIGHT of the building. We warn you against parking in front of the building to the left (13 Towns Rd.) as the owner will tow your vehicle.
– We advise you not to leave valuables in your car.
NETWORKING
– We’re not in the habit of connecting stranger musicians together to form bands. We have created a free music classifieds website to serve this purpose, MusiciansWantedToronto.ca, also a great alternative to traditional meeting websites like Kijiji & Craigslist.