So now that you’ve got a practice space secured, it’s time to make sure you have everything you need to be creative and comfortable.
A good practice space should have a mix of tools for you to do your creative work, such as PA equipment and recording gear for demoing, and proper storage for your equipment. It should also be a place where you want to spend time, so it should be physically comfortable and foster a creative vibe.
Practice Space Gear:
Amp Stands Some bands leave their amplifiers and speakers in their practice space. This is an ideal setup if the location is secure and you’re not worried about any harm coming to the gear. Even if you are bringing your amp back and forth from practice to home, it’s a good idea to have amp stands in the space for all of the gear that is in regular use. If you can swing it, an extra stand or two is a great thing to have on hand if any guest musicians might be joining for a specific project. I highly recommend the On Stage RS7000 – Amp Stand for its durability, versatility, and ease of use.
P.A. System Unless your band is instrumental, there’s a good chance that you’re going to need to set up some kind of PA to make sure that the vocals can be heard over the rest of the instruments.
Some bands invest in their own PA for gigs, and one way you can save some money is to use that same system for your practice space. The only downside of doing it this way is that you’ll need to pull the PA out pretty often. If it’s at all possible I’d suggest investing in a modest PA system for the practice space (separate from your gigging rig), because you’ll likely need less power for the rehearsal space and you can leave it in place.
You can start with a PA kit, like the Fender Passport System. A rig like this comes with a powered mixer with two full-range speakers, stands for the speakers, and cables. It can collapse together for portability, and can also take a Bluetooth or direct line for playing along to music on your phone.
If the price tag for one of these systems is higher than you’d like, you can also piece together a system from used gear. It may take some time to get everything together, though, so you will have to weigh out what is more important: saving money or getting the space up and running as soon as you can.
Microphone Stands Once you get a basic PA in place there are more pieces of equipment that will make your setup more user friendly, starting with microphone stands. Personally, I’m over budget mic stands. It only takes one time watching the boom collapse and literally drop the mic to make me wish I spent the extra cash on a good stand. I’m a big fan of the K&M Telescoping Boom Microphone Stand. When I used to pick up shifts with a local sound company, they used these stands and we never had problems with them.
Guitar Stands are handy for keeping the space less cluttered. It only takes two or three cases on the ground to chew up valuable real estate. Most spaces can get away with just one Zenison 5 Guitar Stand to keep gear safe and accessible. I know some people are fans of wall-mounted guitar hangers, but I don’t think the coolness factor of having a wall of guitar trophies is worth having your guitars outside of their cases 24/7. I’d rather keep them protected when not in active use.
Audio Snakes allow you to keep your cable runs neat and clean, which reduces trip hazards. The Whirlwind Mini 6 is great for running the average band’s worth of vocals and even a direct line or two.
Direct Boxes allow you to send a signal directly into the PA system. These are most commonly used for a acoustic/electric guitars or instruments like keyboards. Having a few on hand like the Whirlwind IMP 2 1-channel Passive Instrument Direct Box will make it much easier to hear these kinds of instruments during rehearsals (and gigs!).
Microphones are mostly needed for getting vocals into the PA system. But there are times like demoing tunes, or using purely acoustic instruments, where having instrument mics on hand is a good idea. The industry standards are the Shure SM58 Vocal Microphone and the Shure SM57 Instrument Microphone. These are great mics that can stand up to years and years of use and will continue to deliver for you.
Tape Assuming you’re able to leave your practice space PA in place, Gaffer Tape allows you to keep your cable runs neat and tidy, which helps you keep your space safe. Having some sticker shock when you look at the price for this tape is understandable, but it’s worth it to prevent the nightmare of cleaning duct tape adhesive off your cables and floors.
USB Audio Interfaces make it easy for you to send incoming audio signals to your computer for recording purposes. If you’re going to be doing serious recording, you’ll need to determine your needs based on the projects you intend to take on. For day to day demoing, though, I’d recommend the PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 2×2 USB Audio Interface.
Headphones are important for being able to hear already-recorded tracks (or the mix of the other musicians during simultaneous recording) without the sound bleeding into the track you’re currently recording. I’m a big fan of these Headphones from AKG. If you’re going to track more than one musician at a time, it’s also handy to have a Headphone Amplifier, which supports multiple headphones at once.
Studio Microphones are worth the investment to create the best-sounding demos as possible. While you can use the SM57s and SM58s for recording, investing in some condenser microphones is recommended. I personally like the Audio-Technica AT2020 Cardioid Condenser Studio XLR Microphone, Black. I also have the MXL 990/991 Recording Condenser Microphone Package, which comes with two different styles of condenser microphones. I’ve had these for over 10 years and they’re still going strong.
Studio Monitors are a great investment for mixing your demos. These specialized speakers are usually self-powered and have individual drivers for each part of the speakers. This makes the resulting sound more true to the actual recording than a signal that is processed through a stereo amplifier. These Studio Monitors are the current model of the ones that I’ve had for a years, and I highly recommend them.
Stereo While we’re talking about speakers, every practice space should have a stereo so you can listen to tunes! A stereo is handy for sharing ideas for possible covers and listening to rough mixes of your recording projects. I personally like the Yamaha R-S202BL Stereo Receiver. This simple unit doesn’t come with all of the bells and whistles that you see with complicated home entertainment units, because you don’t need it in a practice space. You just need an amp that can take common inputs and pump it out through a set of speakers. Speaking of which (Dad joke, sorry), I highly recommend these Stereo Speakers from Polk Audio for your practice space.
Soundproofing is a good idea for your practice space, especially if you have neighbors to consider. Just remember that, unless you go all in with sand in the walls and layers upon layers of different materials, you’re not really soundproofing your space — you’re just deadening the sound a bit. An easy way to deaden some sound is with furniture. If you happen to have an extra couch, and the space for it, toss it in there and you should already notice that more of the sound will be absorbed. If you’re looking for a more surgical approach, you can install some foam panels strategically around the space.
Lighting in a studio space is often overlooked. Many spaces come with fluorescent lighting, but really, who can be creative in a room like that? I’d recommend getting a few of these floor lamps with an adjustable 2nd lamp and adding some colored light bulbs. This will let you control the vibe of your space in a safe way (as opposed to throwing fabric over hot light bulbs).
Coffee Table Books are great for killing time before rehearsal or during tracking. They’re interesting enough to keep your attention for as long as they need to, but they don’t demand as much mental energy as a biography or autobiography. My favorites are Rock Connections by Bruno MacDonald, The Beatles Anthology, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958-1978 and Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four’s Instruments from Stage to Studio.
Hopefully you’re now well on your way to the practice space of your dreams. Happy playing!