VENUE GUIDE
These are only intended as a guide to places I've worked before. Clients often have access to other spaces (music colleges, their local churches, private residences of sponsors, etc) and I'm happy to work pretty much anywhere I can park my car. As a rule, always aim for a decent piano (if you need one) and a large space. Practice rooms, while affordable, will never give you results comparable to a proper performance venue. Anything too boomy can also throw up problems with the sound.
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This church is in a quiet area and their attitude towards recordings is very much one of trying to help out singers on a budget. The acoustic is generous but not boomy. The rates are affordable (young singers qualify for their non-commercial rate) and they’ve just bought a new Yamaha C7 grand piano, which is a significant upgrade over the previous instrument. The church is directly below the Heathrow flight path, there is a nursery next door, a park around the church, and another children's group that uses the church grounds on a weekday, so noise can be an issue, but for demo purposes this is usually manageable.
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Not in London, but it is in the city where I myself am based, which is why recording here affords you a discounted rate for the session, to reflect my lower travel costs. The church has a good acoustic, is heated in winter, and has a Bösendorfer grand piano kept in good condition. You’ll save £30 (or £10/h) on my session fee if you decide to record here, and St Albans is on the Thameslink line, which takes only 25mins from St Pancras, so it’s not as far from London as you might think.
The person to email here is Carolyn Alexander, the Church Administrator, as their general email address doesn’t always guarantee a prompt response. c.alexander@stpeterschurch.uk.com
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A church in a quiet area of Wimbledon, a bit off the beaten track in terms of access to public transport, but affordable with a pretty good piano and pleasant acoustic.
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In a quiet area right next to Sydenham Hill train station, this church has a reasonably well-kept Kawai grand piano (as ever, tuning on the day is recommended for best results) and a generous acoustic that many singers enjoy performing in. In my opinion it’s slightly too generous to get away with a black backdrop (it’ll still sound like a church), but not so boomy that you lose any sense of clarity. At the time of writing, it’s also reasonably priced.
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Large church in South London, very generous acoustic (bordering on boomy), with a well-kept Steinway Model D.
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The brutal truth about venues in London is that you get what you pay for. Everyone is after the holy grail of amazing acoustic, pristine piano, and low cost. If you can afford to pay a bit more, though, the Great Hall is an incredible option! The Recital Room is not quite as amazing, and sounds much better with an audience in, the empty room gets a bit boomy.
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A fantastic acoustic to sing in and the church is far enough from the main street for traffic noise not to be a problem. It has a newly refurbished concert Steinway, though this has led them to raise their prices recently.
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Another fab acoustic, though not quite as quiet in terms of street noise as Rosslyn Hill. The piano is an old Steinway that's a bit of a beast, but comes across quite well on recordings. Tuning has on occasion been an issue, so enquiring about when it was last done is recommended, and if one can afford it, it can be a good idea to have it tuned specially for the session. Other than that, booking is affordable, and if you tell them I'm recording you, then you'll get a modest discount.
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A fantastic acoustic with a well kept Steinway to boot!
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Most singers will audition here sooner or later. It's not quite as affordable as some of the above options, but (almost) guarantees a well-kept piano. Make sure you book their largest space and that there won't be people practicing next door. The acoustic isn't as generous as a church, and the space has a clean studio look.
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An unexpected recital room hidden on a local high street. If you don’t mind being backlit by the window (check out their video examples on the media page), this is an excellent piano/space combo in North London, though definitely on the pricey side. The acoustic is slightly tricky because of the relative narrowness of the hall, but the pianos are well kept and it’s comfortable to perform in.
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A very good acoustic, affordable, good piano, but it's located on a busy street corner, so there's a lot of noise to contend with. This is normally manageable in the editing stages, but leads to long editing times, and every now and again something unfixable can mar a recording. As long as you're doing reasonably loud repertoire without any long general pauses, it'll probably be fine, though close mic-ing is a necessity here.
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Back to churches, and compared with some of the above, this one is definitely pricey, but you get what you pay for. The acoustic is gorgeous, the Steinway is kept in great condition, and it's very quiet (the church, not the piano).
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The Upper Hall here is an interesting option for classical recordings. Being a converted chapel, the acoustic with an empty space is quite generous. The piano when I was last there was in need of a proper servicing, but apart from that this could be a solid option.
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For those on a budget, this is worth looking at. It's not a great acoustic (very dry, singers sometimes tend to push), but the piano is a hit with pianists. The pedal mechanism does make an annoying shimmering noise that is very noticeable on recordings, but I've become fairly adept at editing it out. Most suited for more mellow repertoire, as loud opera gets very tiring very quickly in this space.
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A small church in West London that hosts regular concerts. This means the Yamaha piano is always in decent condition, the acoustic is pretty nice to sing in (though not as luxurious as some other churches).
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It's a church in Hampstead, as the name suggests. The piano is well-kept, the acoustic is quite boomy, but manageably so. You may get people wandering into the church during the session, as it is kept open to the public (though this may be open to negotiation).
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A brand new recital hall, apparently available at a discount to RAM alumni. The piano is quite a beast (Steinway concert grand), but sounds great. The acoustic records well, though isn't the most generous to sing in.
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An unexpected gem in central London. This is a very impressive concert hall, complete with decent piano and good isolation from traffic. Prices are fairly steep though.
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Often used by opera companies for auditions, this North London house can work well as a recording venue. There is a school nearby, so daytime recordings may have some noise to contend with if the children are playing outside.
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A space soaked in classical recording history, often used for rehearsals by larger ensembles and companies. It may be overkill for a voice-and-piano recording, but it is a phenomenal acoustic in a quiet area of London, with a Steinway D to boot, so if you’re thinking of making a commercial recording, this definitely warrants investigation.