Lots has been happening over the last few months at Bally Studios.
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| Newsletter #3 - December 2024.
2024 in review. |
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Bally Studios.
Rehearsal & 8-Track Recording Studios.
Tottenham, N17. North London.
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35 years, 47,000+ sessions, 2,000+ bands, and still independently run by musicians, for musicians. |
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| New video showing how bands have been recording whole albums at Bally Studios, in a single weekend, for less than £300. |
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We've had LOADS of bands recording their music at Bally Studios with our 8-track recorder in 2024, and we've also had many curious bands ask us how it's possible to record a whole album for less than 10% of the cost that other studios charge. "What's the catch?!"
So, we've made a 15 minute video that explains it all. Shot on mobile phones, recorded to glorious 8-track, and edited on free editing software, it fits our recording ethos perfectly:
"Get 80%-90% of the results, in 10% of the time and to 10% of the budget."
This video was recorded 100% live in Oct 2023 by Cody Jr, who recorded 4 songs in 4 hours, with 5-6 takes for each song, which were then mixed in less than 30 minutes each. The band recorded with the following microphones on the following channels:
1: Bass drum.
2: Snare drum
3: Drums Overhead Left
4: Drums Overhead Right
5: Bass Guitar
6: Lead Guitar
7: Rhythm Guitar
8: Vocals
No overdubs, just a well rehearsed band, recording their music in the same way that they rehearse and play gigs - live. The only editing that we've done to it is basic EQ'ing and panning, nothing else. The above video demonstrates how usable the stem tracks will be at the start of the mixing process. Check it out, and if you have any further questions, let us know!
(Best listened to on good quality speakers or headphones to really appreciate the point of the video) |
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| New Fender Jaguar for bands to use, for free!! |
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We've always had spare guitars and basses lying around that bands can use if they have either forgotten theirs, or if their instrument is being repaired. Now we have had this amazing Fender Jaguar guitar donated to us, which is available for all bands to borrow free of charge if they need it. We've had great feedback from the bands that use it so far. If you're in-between guitars at the moment and can't rehearse as a result, we've got you covered! 😎 |
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Introducing Bally Studios team member:
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If any of you have visited Bally Studios over the last few months, or even if you've been checking out our social media in the same time, you'll likely have seen our lovely new staff member Nix, who has been welcoming bands, preparing studios and even fixing guitars for bands to use. We're super happy to have them as part of the team, and we're very grateful to all of the positive feedback that we've had from the bands too. Welcome Nix, it's great to have you on the team! Like all other staff members, they're local to the stuido, and a musician. Check out their Daily Guitar Lessons on their YouTube Channel.
Here's a link to their Neofolk project Yorige. Here is a link to their rock band, Los and the Deadlines
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| We've always been happy for bands to contact us via our personal WhatsApps if they want to make a booking, but now we have set up a new WhatsApp for Business account to make that process easier. Contact us at any time by sending us a WhatsApp message on: |
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to check availability, to make a booking, get directions, confirm our rates or for any other reason. This new number is monitored by multiple staff members at the same time, and is automatically diverted when staff members are unavailable, meaning it's always the best way to get a quick response from us. We can also call you back on WhatsApp too if you need to chat about anything, just send us a message with "Call me" followed by the best time, and we'll call you back. |
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We've also set up a new WhatsApp Channel, which you can access here: |
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Subscribe/unsubscribe at any time to receive updates every time that there is a session available for that evening, which will be priced at less than half price! We will post an update every day between 2pm - 4pm that we have an available session that evening. If you're available and you fancy a super cheap session, get in contact and we'll book you in for £20 for the 4 hours, fully inclusive of all equipment, service and taxes. |
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2024 - Our biggest year of growth in over a decade. |
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We've always been a busy studio over here, ever since the current management took over in 2005, but there's no doubting that a mix of COVID-19 and the cost of living crisis hit us hard, as it did every studio in London. However, we're proud to say now that 2024 was our best year of growth in the 19 years, with bookings up 30% in many months. We set up the Last Minute Rehearsal Sessions service above, and were only able to use it 4 times in 2.5 months, as all of our studios were all booked up well in advance. At present, some bands are having to book up 3 months in advance to get the session that they want, so if you want your session slot, don't hesitate, contact us on WhatsApp on: |
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| New 4x10 bass speaker cabinet available.
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We're always adding to the equipment that we offer the bands that come to us, and this year a business next door to us donated this 4x10 speaker cabinet which - as with all of the equipment that we offer - will be available to the bands that use us for no extra fee. It's available to connect up to a bass head along with the 1x15 speaker cabinet for a HUGE bass sound. |
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As we have so many bands passing through our doors, we've always purchased spare parts (bolts, wing-nuts, washers, etc), in large quantities so that bands always get equipment that is in tip-top condition. We've also always been happy to give any of these parts to band members that need them for their own equipment free of charge, on the basis that the 5p-10p cost of buying a part is insignificant compared to the bother of having to work out what size you need, and then finding out where to get it from.
If you're in need of any spare parts for your equipment, please feel free to let us know at your next session with us and we'll be more than happy for you to pinch some spare parts from us, for no charge at all. 😃 |
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| New Bally Blog:
Why your band should not be using unstaffed rehearsal studios. |
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As a rehearsal studio that has always, and will always have staff members on site, in this blog post we look at the ever increasing trend of rehearsal studios that have no staff members on site, and where the only contact that bands have with the studio is via a smartphone. We look at how this is negatively affecting bands, why it's bad for the grassroots music industry, and why it's a way of doing business that puts the studio owners' needs above that of the bands that use them. |
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| Bally 2024 Euro's Sweepstakes. |
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At every major international football tournament* since 2008 we have run a free sweepstake for the bands that come to us, with free entry and a winning prize of £25 free shop credit for the band that randomly draws the winner, and £15 credit for the runner up. As we have done so in previous years, 2 regular bands were assigned to each country, meaning that 48 Bally bands were able to take part this time!
Here's a link that shows all of the sweepstakes that we've had since 2008.
Congrats to the winners! 😃
(Apologies to the bands that we weren't able to include this time, we will make sure to include you next time!)
*We didn't do a sweepstake for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, in support of workers rights and LGBTQ rights.
🔴 🟠🟡🟢🔵🟣 |
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The Benefits of Bally Merch! |
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We were contacted by this lovely person on social media who found a set of keys on the train that had a well worn Bally Studios bottle opener keyring attached to it, who contacted us in the hope of re-uniting them with their owner! 😍 Proof, (if proof were needed) that only good can come by taking away some free Bally Merch with you. It's worth noting that we ran out of the last batch of bottle openers about 8 years ago, so we're getting some more bottle openers made up at the moment which will be available soon for bands that book sessions with us, for free! |
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| Miss Jones (Band), Live sessions at Bally Studios. |
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Here is a wonderful video that was filmed by Miss Jones, in our Studio 4 earlier this year, which we really loved! 😃 💗 |
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