Policies and procedures for making and paying for reservations at The Record Co. and guidelines for using the space.

Hours of operation

TRC studios are open from 10am - 11pm daily. We are currently closed on Mondays.

Studio A is booked in 6 hour blocks. There is one hour in between blocks to allow for TRC staff to change over the room in between sessions.

All other recording studios (Studio B, C, and D) are booked in 4 hour blocks. There is 30 minutes in between blocks to allow for TRC staff to do session prep, such as cleaning, reconfiguring the room, etc.

When a client reserves two or more consecutive blocks, that changeover period is included at no additional cost.

Rehearsal studios, Production Suites, and the Community Room are booked hourly with a minimum session length of 1 hour. There is also one hour in between consecutive sessions for staff to turn over the room. The latest available start time for a session in these rooms is 10pm. Hourly extensions may be available depending on our schedule, ask a staff member upon arrival if you’d like to extend your session!

Institutional pricing

Organizations and institutions with annual operating budgets of $2m and above pay a closer-to-market rate of 3x the individual rate. (eg: a medium rehearsal studio is $45/hr for institutional clients) On the reservation form, clients can specify that an institution of this type will be responsible for payment of the session by clicking the checkbox “A company / institution is paying”. It is the responsibility of the client submitting the reservation to indicate whether the institutional rate applies to their reservation or not. For more information check out our Institutional Pricing Policy or contact gates@therecordco.org for personalized support related to institutional bookings.

Collecting deposits

A deposit equal to 50% of the total cost of your reservation(s) is due at the time of booking.

Please note: TRC no longer has the option to “pay in full upon arrival”. All reservations must be submitted with a 50% deposit in order to complete your booking. If you are unable to pay a deposit at the time of booking online, please see this article, email us booking@therecordco.org - or give us a call (617) 765-0155.

Settling balances

The remaining 50% of a session’s balance is due at the start time of the session and before the session can begin.

TRC will not hold time or reservations for individuals with lingering, unpaid balances from past sessions that exceed $100.

Canceling, rescheduling, and refunds

Clients can cancel or reschedule a session up to 48 hours prior to the session start time with no penalty. If a session is canceled and there are already payments made on the reservation, TRC will issue credit in the form of a gift certificate code that can be used for future reservations.

Refunds to the original payment method can also be made upon request.

If a reservation is canceled or rescheduled less than 48 hours in advance, the 50% deposit will not be refunded.

Last minute reservations

Clients must submit recording sessions online at least 96 hours (4 days) before the session start time. Rehearsal sessions can be submitted online up to 4 hours before the session start time. Clients may call or email TRC to submit reservations outside of these time constraints if a studio is available and if the session is otherwise approvable. (eg: has an approved recording engineer)

A 50% deposit is required on all “last minute reservations” before the reservation can be submitted over the phone or through email.

Modifying reservations

Clients can request modifications to their reservations at any time. We do everything we can to accommodate these requests whenever possible. A couple clear exceptions to this policy:

Sessions cannot be modified if the start time has passed.

Session duration cannot be modified to a shorter time less than 48 hours in advance

A session’s engineer cannot be substituted on short notice (less than 96 hours in advance) unless the new engineer is approved.

A session cannot be modified if the room or equipment required is not available at the time of their reservation or if the modified session is otherwise not approvable. (eg: too many people to fit in the room requested)

No-shows

When no one shows up for a reservation and no advance notice is provided TRC considers this a “No-Show”. No-shows will result in forfeiture of the deposit.

We want you to show up for your session! When clients frequently no-show, TRC reserves the right to temporarily ban booking privileges. As attendance habits improve, this will be re-assessed on an individual basis.

Late or inadequate load outs

We understand that it may take a few sessions to get the hang of loading out on time and leaving the studio in a condition that is appropriate and respectful of the space.

However, when clients frequently load out late or leave the studio in poor condition (excess trash, messy cables, non-returned floating gear, mics plugged in, phantom power left on, headphones plugged in, etc.), TRC reserves the right to bill hourly for additional time used. When load out habits improve, this requirement will be re-assessed by TRC management on an individual basis.

Damaged or lost equipment

Please alert TRC staff at the beginning of your session if you discover any damaged or malfunctioning equipment in your studio.

In the event that equipment is lost or damaged during a recording session, the session’s recording engineer will be held responsible for repair or replacement.

For damage to rehearsal studios, production suites, or the community room, the individual who submitted the reservation will be held responsible for repair or replacement.

We understand that accidents happen and for this reason it’s rarely necessary to bill a client or engineer for equipment damaged in the normal course of music-making. It’s especially easy for us to be understanding when you proactively bring the issue to our attention. We repeat: please proactively bring issues to our attention.

Load in + load out times

The load in time for all sessions is right at the time that the reservation begins. Be sure to account for adequate load in and load out time into your reservation plans. At staff’s discretion, early load ins of up to 15 minutes may be offered at the beginning of a reservation.

Load out ends at the time that the reservation ends. Clients are responsible for making sure their entire party is packed up and out of the room by their session’s end time. This includes normaling the room and returning it to its default state, as well as copying session files when applicable. If you’re not certain what “normaled” means, please read on!

Engineers listed on recording sessions are equally responsible for making sure their entire party is loaded out on time, and cannot leave a session until all of the equipment that was used has been torn down and returned.

Normaling the room

Sessions in the rehearsal studios, the production suites, and the Community Room, the client who booked the reservation is responsible for returning the room to its default or “normaled” state.

Engineers listed on recording sessions are solely responsible for making sure the studio is normaled properly, including breaking down and consolidating any gear that doesn’t live in the room.

If you’re not certain what “normaled” means in the room you’re in, don’t hesitate to ask, we love to help!

Gear requests

Once a reservation has been submitted, clients can request gear through their "My Bookings" page on TRC’s website. Staff review these requests in the order they are received and determine if the request can be accommodated for that session, based on availability of equipment.

While clients can currently request gear for rehearsal reservations, we can not guarantee specific models of drum sets, amps, etc.. However, we can promise that the correct number of amps, keyboards, etc. will be provided. Additionally, a selection of microphones are available to rehearsal studios and production suites, including: Shure SM58s/57s, Shure KSM32s, Shure Beta 52s, AKG D112s, AKG 451s, Rode NT-5s.

Recording engineers can also submit gear requests for sessions for which they are listed as the engineer. In most cases, unless the requested piece of gear is already reserved, these requests can be fulfilled.

Smoking/Alcohol

Smoking is not permitted in the studios. Clients are welcome to smoke outside at least 15 feet away from any entrance. Alcohol is permitted, but it is the responsibility of the client to appropriately manage and store their alcohol.

Please keep in mind that a rehearsal or recording session is not a party. However, events approved by management at TRC can, in fact, be a party. Read more about events and our alcohol policy here.

Modifying the space

Please check with TRC staff before making any physical modification to the space, including but not limited to: hanging anything in the studio, taping to walls/wallpaper, moving large furniture, etc.

We’re excited to provide everyone with the opportunity to get hands on in a professional recording studio! TRC is especially accommodating to new engineers, and we have specifically designed our recording studios to encourage learning, growth and development.

Clients must designate a recording engineer for all recording sessions. The recording engineer is responsible for all management, use, and care of the studio equipment, as well as successfully loading in and out of the studio on time. The engineer is required to be physically present for the entirety of the recording session, unless a special exception is granted by TRC management (eg: reservations that do not require use of the studio equipment, such as rehearsals or photo/video shoots, or if a client is continuing to use the space after all of the studio equipment has been “normaled” and returned).

A client can submit a reservation and hold time (up to 48-hours) for a recording studio without having a TRC approved engineer listed. However, the session will not be approved (and canceled after 48-hours) until it is updated to include the contact information of an approved engineer or an engineer who has an orientation scheduled before the date of the session.

Clients may request help finding an engineer from TRC staff by clicking on the checkbox “I need help finding an engineer”. Clients must contact TRC support to update their engineer information within 48-hours of submitting a reservation. It is the client’s responsibility to find a recording engineer within the timeframe mentioned above.

We (TRC) strongly recommend finding an approved engineer or setting up your virtual engineer orientation before submitting your reservation!

An engineer does not need to be listed on sessions in the rehearsal studios, production suites, or the Community Room.

All community members who wish to engineer sessions at TRC are required to complete a simple self-assessment form and attend a free Virtual Engineer Orientation before their first session. The self-assessment is designed to provide TRC staff with a bit more information about the background and experience of a recording engineer. We ask that engineers show up to their orientation with any questions they have about working in the recording studios, or hosting a successful session. All orientations will be held on Zoom until further notice.

FILE + DATA MANAGEMENT

Engineers are responsible for copying their session files to their personal hard drive or virtual drive before leaving the studio.

TRC is not responsible for the management of client files.

There are media drives attached to each studio computer, as well as the computers in the Production Suites. We encourage engineers who are using these drives to save their content in the “Client Storage” folder, which is cleared out regularly.

Finally, DO NOT SAVE YOUR FILES TO THE DESKTOP!