Free Recording Studio Opportunities: Teen HQ Recording Studio Review

Our homes can be noisy, with distractions like pets and siblings to account for while making recordings for auditions. Luckily, some public libraries have recording spaces available to teen musicians or podcasters. Located in the San Jose Public Library, the Teen HQ offers many resources to middle schoolers and high schoolers in the area. One of these resources is a recording studio available to any teen who has a library card and completes the training on the website. Today I will be going through the Pros and Cons of the Teen HQ Recording Studio, as I visited the studio myself.

Pros:

• Training is online, short, and easy to complete. It took around 30 minutes.

• Booking process is simple

• Staff is super friendly and accommodating

• Sessions are 90 minutes

• Headphones and a microphone are provided

• Access to GarageBand software and midi keyboard

Cons:

• Lighting is not the best for video recordings

• Booth is located in the middle of the Teen HQ and listeners can hear outside noise in recordings. Make sure to check the schedule to see if any other activities are planned for the day you go

• Must have some sort of apple device or USB flash drive to save your projects from GarageBand because emailing the file to yourself does not always work

• Equipment is not always available, check the website or call ahead to see which pieces of equipment are unavailable before you book the session

• 2 sessions allowed max per week

Other Free Options for Recording Studios:

• Los Angeles Public Library

• San Francisco Public Library

• Sonoma County Library

I would recommend this recording studio at San Jose Public Library's HQ for people mainly focused on projects with GarageBand that need access to specific pieces of equipment like the midi keyboard that students don't typically have access to at home. Although it is not the best space for making recordings for auditions, it is a wonderful opportunity to learn how to use programs like GarageBand and create new music.

Here are pictures of the Teen Space, and the Recording Studio.