Having been involved with the underground music scene in London for quite sometime now, there's…read morealways one place I seem to end up: Dropout. This is a little recording / practice studio set up in the basement on an old butter factory just off the side of Camberwell New Road; fully equipped for your band rehearsal needs with three separate studio rooms, Dropout has always had an independent / "up yours, establishment" approach to business, which in turn provides a nice and informal space to practice in, with competitive prices too. The recording equipment, however, is not for public use; so if you do want to record you have to either hire one of the owners to records you, or you are more than welcome to bring in your own equipment and record yourself. It almost goes without saying as well; make sure to tidy up after yourselves for leaving mess is frowned upon. Yes, Dropout (albeit characteristically "a little rough around the edges") is one of the coolest places to hangout this side of the river. NOTE: If you want to get in touch, the best way to contact Dropout is via their Myspace site www.myspace.com/dropoutstudio

It always astounds me how rehearsal studios can make so much money and still not manage to keep…read moretheir equipment working well, and though Unit 9 is better than many places I've used, over the years I've spent far too much time fiddling with PAs in that place trying to get a decent sound. Rates per hour are pretty standard and vary according to room size, but while you don't have to completely break the bank you're looking at about £30 upwards for a three hour session. I don't know how bands afford to rehearse twice a week! They do some special offers for solo artists or two people jamming together though, which is quite good of them. The studio is located on an industrial estate in Balham, about a 15 minute walk from the station and with tons of free parking, I found the staff to be pretty helpful and friendly but getting gear in and out down those skinny corridors can be a bit fraught especially at busy times when people from other bands loiter near the front desk. All in all a decent, honest place to make loud noise.

This is a satisfactory rehearsal studio if you're looking for something on the cheap…read more Pros: Relatively cheap. Eight different rooms to choose from. Don't have to book with ridiculous amounts of notice. If the room's empty and you turn up early, they usually let you go straight in. With two guitar amps, a bass amp, a drumkit, PA & multiple mics & mic stands, the backline is generous. Sell a lot of extras so not such a big deal if you forget anything. Cons: The PA sounds horrendous in the pink, white & green rooms at least, virtually no treble. In summer it becomes like an oven. The fan they put in the room is not enough to combat this. The evenings are split into two rigorously timed slots (6-9 & 9-12), one annoyingly early and one annoyingly late if you're coming there from work. The girl who regularly works there looking after the place is rude and aggressive to the point of psychosis unless you're one of her clique. Best keep the conversation to short sentences and don't forget pleases & thank yous or she'll shout at you. Any extras, such as forgetting your guitar pick and you have to buy one from them, there's no option to borrow. The signs around the place take the guilty until proven innocent attitude to their phrasing.

THE MIDI MUSIC COMPANY is a great international company who aim to provide young people with music…read moreprogrammes where it may not always be possible. For great prices too! (Believe me,?) Their name is gradually spreading around London as they are becoming more established as a reliable company with high standards. They offer courses such as music lessons, with numerous instruments, studio engineering/techniques, singing, song writing and much more. The courses usually last around 10 weeks on average, depending on what you course you choose. At the end f the course, you not only come out with knowledge to the brim of the specific subject chosen, but you are also presented a certificate of all your hard word, and it looks good on your CV

From the owner: CICAS® talent development programme providing free support, advice and guidance to young people and…read moreadults aged 16+ who are interested in developing careers within music, film, TV, visual and performing arts and the creative industries. Recording studio and rehearsal rooms hire, live music events and music industry business seminars.

While looking for a electronic music production course in London, I did some research on the…read moreschools that I initially found on the web. 90% of them I immediately decided not to give a chance due to the lack of songs produced by their tutors. The other 10% were the expensive ones and after visting them I realised that they weren't worth the hype at all. When I was almost forgetting about the course, I saw Abstract Source's website and I could not believe that the guy that had produced all those amazing songs was giving lessons, specially with that price. I decided to meet him and I saw that I had finally found the place to be. It was definitely the best choice. I learnt so much things about music production in so little time. The classes were so much fun and full of information. It was a great experience learning and sharing the same passion which is electronic music. Now after finishing this course I can say that I made a really good friend and hopefully a future music partner!!

From the owner: Music Production, Recording, Mixing, Mastering & Studio Training. Home tuition in East Sussex…read more Studio based Training in London.

Do you remember that super cold week when the "Beast from the East" brought Siberian snow to…read moreLondon? Well, my central heating broke down just then ... and I ventured out into the cold in the middle of the night to pick up a portable heater I had stored at a nearby 24-hour storage facility. So there I was stomping through the snow down deserted streets just to hear the sound of music getting louder the closer I got to my local Shurgard ... pure winter magic and I was upset to be on a mission (and didn't really want to go exploring with a heater under my arm while the cat was shivering at home). Anyhow, that's the long story of how I discovered that there was a music studio in the backwaters of Latimer Road. This is exciting news, the music's returning to West London, no longer just behind closed doors (there is a well established recording studios on the actual Latimer Road but they don't have parties for the public). That cold night I missed a live gig of new music but I have been following the pirates ever since on social media and loved last night's Pirate Sessions Launch party. Perfectly sized venue under the tube arches, next to what is left of the local industrial estate. Five stars for bringing the cool back to West London, in a perfectly sized venue, with a very affordable bar, good mix of people and, most importantly, great music.

From the owner: The only Tottenham creative studios available 24/7 and bookable by the hour, online via our…read morewebsite. Experience private rehearsal, DJ, music recording and podcast studios in North London, equipped with professional equipment and distraction-proof sound treatment. Just show up, plug in, and play.Supporting the next generation of emerging talent.- 24 hour access to innovative, self-service rehearsal studios- Industry-standard equipment provided for DJs, bands & producers- Stages at Boomtown, Isle of White, Kendal Calling & more UK festivals- Regular live streams, events, exclusive content and more on Youtube & Soundcloud

Nice place.. The…read morevintage microphones sound very good and the monitoring is very accurate, not to mention the quality of the engineer/producers is as good as it gets.

Nice little Theatre in Clapham Old Town. Lovely bar with terrace for pre and post show drinks.read more