RFI: finding practice space

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my band needs a new practice space, and none of us have enough space in our apartments/houses. any suggestions for places to look for practice space? we're in DC/arlington, so any local suggestions would be great, but more than that, im just looking for general advice. should i look for classified listings for "storage space", warehouses? what? anybody have any experience with this stuff?

― petesmith (plsmith), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:11 (nineteen years ago)

My only experience is really in NYC/London where generally people use rehearsal studios for this purpose - you pay by the hour, and generally you can store your gear there.

I know other people who have done things like hire lockups - they find them the same way people find garages - and convert them.

― Paranoid Spice (kate), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:18 (nineteen years ago)

By the hour? Ugh.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:19 (nineteen years ago)

yeah - ive heard rumors of practice space availibility in my area, so i definitely dont want to pay by the hour until i find out those rumors are entirely false.

― petesmith (plsmith), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:21 (nineteen years ago)

There should be at least one building in town that's either rented monthly for rehearsal space explicitly or one that a lot of bands use, it just seems to work that way. I would ask other musicians in your town.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:24 (nineteen years ago)

Paying by the hour is really convenient in a city where space is at a premium, and also if you need equipment, things like PA's and Mics (plus, if you're lucky, an engineer to set up and fix them for you) are provided inclusive in the price.

If you only really want to rehearse one day a week or less, it's more economical and convenient.

In NYC, we hired a basement of a warehouse and stuck all our own gear in it, but we ended up sharing it with several other bands and that was a huge hassle to get everyone to pay up.

― Paranoid Spice (kate), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:31 (nineteen years ago)

One of my bands just goes to the university music building and finds an open classroom to rehearse in.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:35 (nineteen years ago)

GET A LOFT AND HAVE EVERYONE LIVE THERE. PROBLEM SOLVED. UNLESS YOUR BAND SUCKS TO LIVE WITH.

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Thursday, 6 October 2005 13:45 (nineteen years ago)

We practice in a storage unit. It is actually kind of awesome, despite how it sounds. It's huge and we share it with another band of our pals. There are bands practicing in almost all the units.

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Thursday, 6 October 2005 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

That was the deal in Williamsburg too, all the bands practiced in outdoor storage units, which was ok except: 1. terrible acoustics and 2: no heat or a/c.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 6 October 2005 15:54 (nineteen years ago)

Plus most storage unit facilities aren't cool with this. You have to ask around.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 6 October 2005 15:55 (nineteen years ago)

Ours have heat!

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Thursday, 6 October 2005 16:04 (nineteen years ago)

Do you have outlets? Our space had one outlet, up next to the single light bulb suspended from the ceiling, and we had run everything out of the extension cord from this one outlet. I'm surprised we didn't all die.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 6 October 2005 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

We have outlets galore! A guy next door to us has a studio set up in there.

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Thursday, 6 October 2005 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

Wow, swanky!

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 6 October 2005 16:09 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, basically the only drawbacks are 1. no AC, which is only a problem, obviously, in the summer. We have fans set up, and the boys basically remove all clothing. I'm not so lucky (or perhaps they aren't, wakka wakka wakka.) It also kinda helps us get in there, bang out a practice, and get the hell out. So, all in all it works out. 2. horrific metal bands play all around us at all hours. When you are playing quieter songs, it can be hard to concentrate.

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Thursday, 6 October 2005 16:10 (nineteen years ago)

Our storage space practice space was RIGHT next to the train tracks, which was fun if we were trying to record a demo or something and in the middle a train would roaring by and go WAAAAWWOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 6 October 2005 17:26 (nineteen years ago)

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