My wife and I wanted something elegant and refined as a musical accompaniment to our wedding…read moreceremony, and the cocktails and dinner that followed. We thought that a violin + cello duet would complement the location (the Siena Hotel in Durham, NC) very well, and be the perfect ambient music -- not too loud, not too esoteric. I don't remember how we found Save The Date, but we couldn't have asked for a better experience with them. They sent us a list of recommended pieces for the duet, and we found examples of most of them easily on YouTube. We were thus able to designate which pieces we desired to be played during each segment of the evening. We also made special requests, all of which they were able to fulfill: "Anchors Aweigh" and " As the Caissons Go Rolling Along" in honor of the veterans present, and (believe it or not!) "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys for my exquisite bride's entry. That was her surprise gift to everyone including myself, and our guests were amazed and thrilled by their rendition! The ceremony, cocktails and dinner were all in different locations within the hotel, and the musicians moved and set up like ghosts. I blinked and they were in exactly the perfect new position, playing wonderfully and setting the exact mood we desired. They were punctual, business-like and dressed as requested in pristine salt-and-peppers (white dress shirt, black slacks and shoes). Save The Date will be the first and only business I contact if I ever again need the services of a musician, and I will gladly recommend them highly and without hesitation.

From the owner: When you're planning your wedding ceremony/reception or other special occasion music in Raleigh,…read moreDurham, Chapel Hill or the surrounding Triangle Area, you want to set the right mood to make the day memorable. Save the Date Music has provided services for more than 600 weddings a year. With over forty-five years of service, Save the Date Music is the Triangle's most experienced resource for event music planning. We will help you find the perfect accompaniment for every stage of your event. Proven class, we got it! Experience and variety, second to none! Party starters, you bet! Wedding strings, classical ceremony music, live bands, jazz, pop/electronic/hip-hop DJs, and much more!

SHORT VERSION: Nightsound Studios provide a range of recording and production services to suit your…read morebudget and particular needs. They will tailor their amazing creativity to ensure that you get what you want. If you have an off-the-peg sound, which needs a simple recording package, you will leave happy and with change in your pocket. But their forte is combining the singular talent at their disposal to help nurture local musicians, and develop sounds and styles which may still be nascent in the mind of the creative artist. I know. At times, I have been both of these clients. LONG VERSION: In 2009, after allowing some tunes to bubble in my head for thirty years, I finally worked up the nerve to attempt to download them onto a demo CD. I approached Nightsound Studios and Chris Wimberley, having met Chris while he was supporting local musicians on our community radio, WCOM. He and his engineering team were professional, to-the-point, cost-effective, charming, helpful and attentive. They did precisely what I asked. Produced an eight song demo, to my precise specifications. I'm a prima donna. I get like that. Then Chris and his senior recording engineer sat me down, at their expense, not mine. And told me, bluntly but kindly, that they genuinely saw more potential in my music. And would like to help me discover the sounds they felt I continued to hide within me. For the next five years, they worked with me. 90% of the time they gave, the advice they shared, the nudging they engaged in, they gave pro bono. They very genuinely wanted me to discover myself. To get myself ready, before committing to the potential they saw in me. At one point, I was convinced I was ready. Chris was happy to take my money, but still he was not convinced. He suggested I form a band, to test my music with the public. Didn't want to. Play with a solo guitarist. Didn't want to. I can be stubborn. Cf. prima donna. Chris persisted. What about just dragging out the Casio workstation I used to compose, and letting rip with that? Hmm. Ok. For eighteen months, I performed. Loved it. Found out what the public liked. Developed a finished sound - still only in my head. It's a Casio. Not Taylor Swift's stadium band. And was ready to get back into the studio, to create a more commercial-sounding EP of six of my songs. Nightsound and I have been working on that these past seven months. We are halfway through. It has been an intense, but focused journey. It continues to be. There is no cookie-cutter approach. This is about coaxing a brand new sound out of a reluctant brain. Mine. But Nightsound and their wonderful team are up to the task. Dedicated. Professional. Patient. Quick-witted. Creative. Have there been moments of tension? Of course there have. I would expect nothing less. I didn't hire a building. I hired a team to challenge me. Have they been up to the challenge? Every day. If you want a team of professional producers and engineers to record a sound you have already clear through performance and recording elsewhere, Nightsound will provide you with the most attentive, cost-effective package in the Triangle area. If you are someone still growing, still developing, you will not find a better team on the East Coast to challenge, to nurture, to develop your talents. Always with you. Always supporting. Always conscious of the size of your pocket. Every professional endeavor seeking to support fellow creative artists is going to have the odd relationship that doesn't go quite the way the creative artist would like. That has not been the case with me. But grown-up creative artists (even the prima donna's among us, like me) recognize that creativity is a flavor. It is not like matching paint. If it don't work out, you move on. Then again, there are some who would not be satisfied if the Archangel Gabriel opened up a recording studio with Pharrell Williams and Paul McCartney. For them, I feel only sadness. Now, I return to finishing off the second part of my active project with the wonderful Nightsound team ...

Thoroughly enjoyable recording experience!…read more We shared musical influences across the board and then some! Good investment

great place to learn your instruments, all the teachers i've been with are goated, and the…read morepreformance band is fun

We love the School of Rock in Chapel Hill! The teachers are talented and truly care about…read morecultivating confident, well rounded musicians. I give my "Highest Recommendation"

We purchased an antique piano from the 1860s and needed it tuned. We reached out to multiple places…read moreand got a swift and professional reply from Chris. His business is a one man show and we are all about supporting local! Chris was exceptionally knowledgeable and I enjoyed chatting with him as he worked. The piano sounds great and he even replaced our broken knobs and rubber stops! Prices are very reasonable and I will be recommending him to friends and family for his outstanding work!

He was great at tuning my piano and really knows his stuff. I look forward to working with him in…read morethe future for piano tuning.

My 13 year old daughter doesn't love much, but she loves Kathleen. Kathleen has taught her many…read morevaluable breathing and voice skills and given her "homework" to practice between lessons to strengthen her voice, but more importantly, she has given my daughter a warm and welcoming place where she really feels confident and comfortable and will willingly accept Kathleen's expert advice. Kathleen has helped her grow as a performer and also as a person. She's worth every penny.

My son (age 6) began piano lessons with Kathleen this past summer. We were AMAZED that he learned a…read moresong during the very first lesson. Since then his skills have grown by leaps and bounds. He truly enjoys the lessons and Kathleen is just a superb teacher all around. He loves her!

I teach various instruments but like to teach uke the best since it is the easiest way to learn a…read morefretted instrument. There used to be four great music stores here and now we are down to one, and luckily, they are hanging in there. Harry has actually retired but the employees are still there. I always steer my students there since you can get a decent uke for just over $100. Then you can take your time to get a better uke once you are sure you want to get better. If you don't get their complete attention, it usually means they are dealing with a difficult customer, but they will get to you.

I haven't been in every "guitar shop" in Raleigh. I would…read morevisit other shops but I don't have a reason for it. I met Harry Tueting the year he opened Harry's Guitars on Glenwood Avenue near downtown Raleigh. I bought strings and played new guitars I could not buy- no steady job. Still I had a clunker to bang on. I took lessons from Steve Howell in the early years. I met Terry Dineen when he began some years later. He was just a kid but he knew a lot more about guitars than I did. I'd played since I was 12, on cheap guitars, but I played. Thanks to the things I learned through visiting this business, I've developed into a modestly decent player. I've met musicians of every skill level in a place where I feel welcome. I've listened to people crank the amps and play for HOURS. No one ever objected. I know and understand the value of a good guitar. I've bought -and returned- guitars from Harry's. Nobody complained. I read the bad reviews given herein and I am STUNNED. Perhaps the reviewers are (1) upset because they did something out of ignorance and can't get over it or (2) have an ax to grind because they weren't regarded as royalty or (3) are simply mean spirited. I cannot in any way associate anyone I know, or have known, at Harry's Guitars with the ugliness I read in those "reviews". Not under Harry's watch. Not under Scott and Mike's watch. Not in the real world.

I picked up a flute here that I ordered online, and the staff was helpful and friendly. They seem…read moreto have a wide selection of music, so I look forward to going back.

Started late: Age 50. Fell in love with the bari sax. Started lessons with Fred Jackobowitz and…read morethen Covid hit. I soldiered on for a few more months with online, but ended up having to stop until May of 2022. Now, I'm taking lessons with Jameson White at the Garner store, and I've had nothing but a mind-blowing experience with every lesson. I even took bass guitar lessons with Grady, and he is awesome too. The staff are friendly, caring, accommodating, and very knowledgeable. I never feel odd for being a 52 year-old guy learning music as a beginner. My only regret is that it took so long for me to wake up to the universe of music! Could not recommend Music and Arts highly enough!

I had some 25+ year old VHS tapes transferred to digital by Post Pro. I'm very happy with the…read morequality and care put into preserving my family's memories. They even fixed up the quality issues from the original recordings. I absolutely will use Post Pro again! Thanks Matt!

If you have ANY audio or video production, editing, transferring, duplication, recording, or…read moreANYTHING else you need, PostPro is the place to go! I consider Matt Horton, owner, a genius in the industry, for sure. Not only is he an accomplished musician being invited by some of the most famous leading bands in the world to play with them, he is one of the most skilled and talented engineers in the audio and video industry. I am a professional speaker and singer and have worked with Matt on several projects, always to be thrilled with the final products. He has discerning eyes and ears that can see and hear the slightest imperfections. His professionalism and work ethics are beyond reproach! He is detail-oriented, and as a result, the end products have been nothing less than the highest quality digital and CD audios and HD videos! I'd give Matt 10 stars if that was an option!

I decided to upgrade the NS Wav violin I bought from EVS a few years back. (Mostly for the same…read morereason everybody who moves on from the NS Wav does so: because its shoulder rest system just basically doesn't work.) I ordered a 3Dvarius online, but I didn't like the tone so I sent it back, which all went fine. But that led me to realize that the only practical way to pick out an instrument I liked was to go to the shop in person. That's a bit of a production since it's in North Carolina and I'm in California, but hey, that's why they have airplanes. So I went, and I spent pretty much an entire day playing every 4-string they carry. (Sadly, I'm too set in my ways to handle 5-strings.) They were incredibly welcoming and helpful and knowledgeable and informative, and if they were annoyed by my playing the same thing over and over at fairly high volume, they didn't show it. I eventually picked out a Cantini Canaletto (see pic), which they customized with Wittner geared pegs in time for me to catch my flight home. This was an altogether satisfying experience. I have nothing but good things to say about EVS, and I highly recommend them to anyone who's looking for an electric violin.

What can I say? I purchased a 3dvarius new violin for $2300 and it arrived with prior damage on it…read more The area by the nut had been clearly repaired with some kind of putty. There is a long scratch on the back that was coloured in with a wood pencil. And, worst of all--the chinrest's metal prong was dislodged on one side and the metal prongs scratched and bent, making it impossible to even place it on my shoulder to try the violin, since the chinrest is only attached on one side, and the other side is out of whack and it's all wobbly. So disappointing. I call the shop and they tell me it's shipping damage and can I wait for them to contact Fed Ex to get a claim filed and they'll call France to see if the damage can be repaired. Hello? You shipped me a used and repaired and damaged violin, that I cannot play. How about, we're very sorry. Here's your prepaid shipping label to ship it back, and refund my $2300. I bought a Yamaha violin from them a couple years back and everything went great. The case I purchased for it is difficult to open and close so that was not great but it's a pretty purple. I use it for a violin that mostly stays home, not the electric. What has happened to our beloved EVS? I'd hesitate to purchase here now. When I asked them: what happened, they said, well yes, we know about the scratch on the back of the violin and we know that we used epoxy on the nut area to get rid of a buzz, but we figured if you liked the violin, we could always offer you 5% off if you noticed the damage. Huh? This one is going back and I hope I get my $2300 back or I'm going to be very upset. Update: I did get my $2300 back on my credit card after I shipped it back with a prepaid Fed Ex label they sent me after much going back and forth. I hope this company is able to maintain it's self. I did like my first purchase (the Yamaha violin, which I still play on regularly).