Smash Studios

I’m still buzzing from this past week and especially last night at Smash Studios in midtown Manhattan. My band rehearsed there earlier in the week, then we came back a couple nights later to film a couple songs on one of their showcase stages. From start to finish, the experience was flawless. Dante and the entire Smash crew were extremely helpful, accommodating, and genuinely invested in helping us get the most out of the space. Huge shoutout to Max, who was incredibly creative and collaborative when it came to the design of the stage lighting. He had no shortage of great ideas and elevated the whole production in ways that felt thoughtful, musical, and inspired. Smash isn’t just a rehearsal space, it’s an ideal facility for artists who are actually trying to get something done, whether that’s tightening a set, working on new material, or capturing high-quality performance content. It reminded me of the old sign that used to hang by the elevators there, and it still says everything you need to know: “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE VIBE.” Smash Studios gets that right in every way. Thanks guys!

Fair prices, good equipment. Idk anything about production but I think their cheapest room has everything an amateur band could need. Dante was very helpful in setting up too!

Extremely professional rehearsal and recording studio. The rooms are larger than their competitors and plenty of room to move around in. We wanted the largest stage/room with room for 50 people or so to have a Christmas party last year. Brought our own beer, wine, Champagne and whiskey and saved so much money compared to renting a private party space in a pub. They must have some partnership with Sennheiser, top of the line microphones made in Germany. Everything is Sennheiser. They even have wireless units for your instruments and mics so you can move around freely. A step above and beyond the rest. The photos are from a week ago. The medium sized room was huge for 6 musicians. The Video was from Christmas 2002 when we had the 80s themed Jam Session Christmas Party.

In a recent rehearsal, I was using a pedal board that has never given me a problem anyplace else. The thing sounded like a con ed plant it was humming so loud. I shut down my rig, and I heard the same hum coming out of other rigs in the room. Not good. Fix the power supply in the room.

I will never rent from this studio again. The service is consistently poor, and the studio is never clean. The equipment is old, outdated, and the rooms are small and not functional for serious use. But the biggest issue is the front desk staff they are completely incompetent. They don’t know how to operate their own system, which led to both me and my client being double charged. Trying to resolve the issue took months, and management was no help at all. Their only response was, “Sorry, we switched systems and our staff doesn’t really know how to use it yet.” That’s completely unacceptable, especially when the mistake was on their end. Every experience I’ve had at this studio has been frustrating. They’re overpriced and offer nothing of real value. Save yourself the trouble and rent elsewhere.

Truly one of the better practice spaces in the city. Equipment is always in good working order, clean spaces, friendly staff and covid safe.

Finally got a live music group together after more than a decade, was excited to book a 6 hour session to get it going again at Smash, one of my old favorites and I felt like I was going back home, ready to start on a weekly schedule. Brought a ton of equipment, musicians travelled in from out of state, only to find that nobody even showed up at the studio today. Nobody answered the door or picked up the phone. We waited until 45 minutes past our start time (on the street in midtown with all our equipment) and ended up booking Euphoria studios and schlepped our equipment up there to salvage the session. We ended up spending $100+ in two taxis just to get there and back to the parking lot on 9th. I've played at every known NYC studio and never had anything like this happen. Unfortunately, the expense and pain of travelling into the city and transporting equipment makes it so that I can never risk that happening ever again. I had really been excited to make Smash the home of this new era of our band. Whoever decided to not bother checking the schedule before deciding it wasn't worth staffing the studio that day (or they checked it and decided it wasn't worth notifying us they couldn't open) just made the studio lose a $1200+/month customer.

I’ve used a lot of rehearsal spaces around the city and Smash Studios is one of the best. Friendly staff and well equipped rooms. Excellent.

I have only great things to say about this studio. My son and his friends have used other places to rehearse and nothing compares to Smash. The studios are beautiful, clean and contain all the equipment a musician needs to make the most of their time there. The staff is super friendly, hardworking and professional. This is why we chose for my son and his friend to have their graduation party at Smash. Dante is an amazing organizer! The Smash management and owner are very receptive and worked with us to provide an event that we are still happily remembering. It dawned on me today that I never wrote a review about our experience with Smash and I am correcting that today. Cherished memories cannot be taken for granted. Thank you!

Until today, I had never had an issue with disrespect from the Smash Studios staff. Everyone had always been super courteous, helpful and hospitable until I encountered one of the managers today. It boggles my mind that businesses make it such a priority to treat their customers with respect, and yet this manager felt that he could speak to me any way he'd like. The condescension was out of this world. When I confronted him about the unacceptable way in which he spoke to me, I was met with eye-rolls and audible huffs. I couldn't believe I was having a "conversation" with a grown man about a grievance that could have easily been avoided had he not spoken to me like a 5 year-old, then proceeded to act like one during my confronting him. He literally said to me, "I'm sorry if it made you feel that way," followed by, "No, I didn't do anything wrong, YOU were the one who was rude to ME!", at which point I knew I was dealing with a lunatic. He didn't once apologize to me for being disrespectful because, as he stated, he didn't feel the need to, and it's unfortunate because until meeting him I had nothing but positive things to say about Smash. I'm extremely disappointed in the way this was handled. Musicians get treated like crap EVERYWHERE we go, but in a rehearsal space, WE are the paying customers and should be treated with decency as a bare minimum. Funkadelic Studios - 4 blocks away, Euphoria - 9 blocks away, Rivington Music Studios - 1 train ride away, Complete Music Studios - Brooklyn but COMPLETELY worth it, and countless others. This kind of treatment isn't worth my aggravation.

Tonight was my first time here. Initially-presumed technical difficulty and subsequently-uncovered comprehension difficulty on my part was resolved by two awesome dudes - one in flower hat and one in skull bandana. I will be back to belt my heart out!

Top quality rooms, amps and drum kits, and price is about average as far as music studios go. Wish they had some type of bulk discount, ie book 5 sessions and get one free maybe? Also wish they had splash and China cymbals available, that would be fun. Not sure about their recording capabilities but that's the next thing on my list to ask about. Ps, your $45 deposit to put rooms on hold - you'll have to specifically ask them to apply it to your room charges. I don't like this business practice, I think it would be more consumer friendly to ask the customer at the time. It's a silly way to keep credit in the hands of the business owner.

Smash has well designed, professionally-equipped rehearsal rooms. The staff is courteous and knowledgeable. I had some unique requests (running my guitar signal directly into the PA from my tube amp modeling device) and the staff was there to set it up perfectly. They have always EQ'd my vocal mics just right and they have made it easy to record my sessions. They also have cables and accessories available if someone in the band forgets something or breaks a string. And the location is amazing. Great for showcases and special events too.

This place is legendary and I love going there. The gear is top notch, the staff is great and the rooms are fantastic. Obviously, the nicer the room you pay for the better gear you're going to get. But there's just something about being in that space as opposed to the other rehearsal spots in town... The other places feel like cold factories run by annoying kids who don't care about you. This place feels like you're an actual musician working at your craft with the support staff who gets you. If you feel like splurging, go for one of the showcase rooms. Amazing sound and gear. You actually feel like a pro. The only negative - which isn't their fault - is parking. Plenty of garages near by, but always count on another $40 spent if you drive in. Take the train if you can.

The rooms are very cool (which is great in the dead of summer)-staff very friendly and helpful (very quick to fix a problem). And you can't beat the location. A little $$$-but it is Manhattan after all (can't really complain about that, but I did anyway).

I've been a musician for 10 years in NYC and I'm a big fan of Smash. I've rehearsed in nearly every dark, dank, smelly & dirty rehearsal studio space you can imagine. Smash studios has beautiful, clean & inviting rooms with a friendly, helpful staff that are happy to assist with anything you need. When I'm making music, it's important for me to be in a clean & comfortable space with good energy. Smash's rooms are just that! Considering how nice the rooms are, they also have very competitive rates. Big fan.

Why not five stars? Because there was no sign for the place! Write down the address and just barrel in; the elevator will take you where you need to go. Other than that, Smash Studios is great. All the studios are properly soundproofed and have top notch acoustics. Its location is easy to get to as well. I came here for a band demo and it was absolutely painless. If you need a studio this place should be high on your list.

One of the nicest rehearsal studios in the city. Not super posh but the equipment is good and the staff is helpful as needed (though I wish they'd more proactively check each session as it starts to see if the artists need assistance). The hallways can get a little cramped and it's not the least expensive option, but overall a thumbs up!

This was my first time renting a studio space, and it was a great experience at Smash. The pictures of all the spaces on their website was really clean and helpful, and I was able to reserve a Studio C a little over a month in advance. We got the space for 6 hours (you get 1 free hour on Saturdays for every 2 hours) for the price of 4. This was for a rehearsal for our church band. We were able to have a three guitars, a couple on bass, keys, drums, and a few vocalists in one space. The amps/mixer were great. It's great to be able to play at full volume without worrying about bothering neighbors. The staff even had free earplugs available! The mixer had a 1/8'' headphone jack so we could plug in a phone easily. They also had free wifi, which was very helpful. You really can't beat the location for accessibility; it is just around the corner from the A train off the 34th street stop. The only minor bummers were that one of the channels on the mixer wasn't working (though the staff helped quickly), the upright piano had an extra fee for use (we luckily didn't need it), and the studio was a bit smaller that it looked in the pictures. The room only had a small window for ventilation, which I could see being a heat issue in the summer, though it wasn't a problem for us.

Smash Studios is one of the coolest places to go in NYC if you're a musician. Their showcase rooms are incredible to rehearse in, and the staff is always super friendly and helpful.

LOVE THIS PLACE. Always great service, everything works and the location is the BEST. Right in midtown off the best trains. I would recommend this place to any and everyone. They've also opened up showcase 1, its huge now, perfect for my showcasing. The sound is another plus with this place. Its always so live sounding, my clients really dig it. When we perform at SIR we don't get the same sound. The rooms there are dead. Monitors are HORRIBLE. SMASH ALL THE WAY!!

Used to be one of my go-to rehearsal studios until the manager treated me like a second-class citizen and screwed me over with a booking. Craig, one of the engineers is a great dude there but whoever runs this place is truly the pits. Moving my bookings elsewhere.

Great place, great sounding drums, super cool folks - an audio engineer was polishing the cymbals when I came in. Price was right, too: 15/hr drums only, walk-in rate. The rooms are clean, organized, and even have some of ultrasounds monitors and amps for old times sake. Definitely my new go-to for Manhattan rehearsals.

Horrible cancellation policy, paid $80 in advance for studio, the day before one of the band members became very ill and was hospitalized. I explained the situation and asked for a credit to be used at a future time, and not a refund. I was basically told though sh!t. So they were able to re-book the space and make double on it. Terrible customer service.

Bad cancellation policy w/ no flexibility. I tried to speak with one of their "representatives" 24 hours+ in advance about it and was told he'd have to speak with the owner but that it pretty much wasn't going to happen. I've been going there for about a year and had a conflict arise that I could not get out of. I'd never cancelled before but got the sense that none of that was relevant. Pretty much there was nothing I could say. There's no sense of a musicians' community. We were only using it because it was the most convenient location for the 3 members (two live in Queens and one in the Bronx). But after this, we will not be returning.

Mostly it Was great although the metal band next door was so loud through the wall that it was very difficult to rehearse. Looks like that area could use some additional soundproofing at least so that it is soft enough that the rooms next-door can focus on their rehearsal! Very distracting . sound also majorly bleeding out into the hallway we were in studio H. The staff was awesome and the overall space is nice and chill. Good prices, etc . enjoyed everything about it except the lack of sufficient soundproofing, at least in that area.

This is now my bands main spot to jam. The rooms, equipment and staff are badass.. best place in the area, hands down. We also recorded a couple tracks here and they were great.

Not a professional staff at all. Nice facility, but the staff will change up their own rules, hours and pricing to fit their own schedules and convenience. This would only be a last resort option because you can't rely on them.

worst rehearsal studio I've ever experienced in NYC. Gave it a shot for the first time last night. First and last time. Their rooms are not sound proof. Unless you're playing in a metal cover band don't book here. I spent almost $100 for my 3 hour rehearsal and we could hardly hear ourselves. Save your money and book anywhere else. Even Ultrasound is better than this.

If I could give this place zero stars they have the worst customer service I have ever experienced .

I know there are limited rehearsal studios in NYC (especially with Ultra Sound recently closing) but I highly suggest that you avoid using Smash Studios. Let alone the equipment has been used and abused (I have been using their studio as a last alternative for over 10 years and I don't think there has ever been a time where the amplifiers are buzzing, cutting in and out or rattling and I don't play aggressive music). But more importantly, the manager was rude, obnoxious, did not return emails and failed to correct a time that I booked well in advance of the session and charged my credit card without a refund BE SMART - LOOK ELSEWHERE!

Great location! It shows many options. My old stomping grounds many years ago. Good luck always.

Smash is a great space with friendly staff. Good gear and clean rooms (or as clean as a rehearsal studio can stay with such turnover) Rooms' acoustics are much better than other comparably priced rooms in the city. Bonus points for good lighting and mirrors to work on my jump kicks.

Great people and great service. Booking studio time is super easy and fast. Only one problem: The acoustic piano is not tuned tho, and if you charge a little extra for using it instead of the keyboards- it is only appropriate that you keep it tuned at all times. Other than that- everything was awesome and the equipment is very good, and the studio I booked (Studio C) is very comfy. Definitely go check this place out!

Odd scent of mildew permeates, but once you get used to it, I guess you get used to it. Just booked a room for an hour and the rate was reasonable (during the day). And because it was off-hours (1pm or so) it was totally quiet, so I got dome good work done in the woodshed.

Great place to rehearse and showcase in nyc. My only issue is if your in on of the smaller rooms next to a showcase room you will hear all of the low end from the showcase room in your room. Just soundproof those rooms better I can be annoying to be rehearsing an ballad and hear nothing but heavy 808s disturbing the vibe. Other than that it's a great place and great staff!

I can't say enough about how positive an experience we had at SMASH. Our team was in a crunch and needed space with great gear and SMASH saved the day. When we arrived Owen and the team were so nice to us: got us chairs, music stands, cables, and anything else we needed. I am working there again in October and can't wait. I recommend it yall@!

Horrible Customer Service.We got set up with a room that sounded terrible.The technician came in and set it up and said it "sounds good to me"We left early because it sounded so awful.No apologies were given.Glad it sounds good to the guy at the studio and not to the band practicing here and giving this studio money.I am glad there are other studios in this city I will not be returning here.

Decent rooms and equipment but staff is unbelievably rude and obnoxious. They seem like really unhappy people who feel the need to take it out on others to make themselves feel better. Will not be using their space again. There is no reason to pay to be treated badly. There are definitely better rehearsal spaces out there to choose from.

This studio does not care about its customers. My band was treated awful for complaining about the terrible acoustics sound of the studio H. They sent a tech who said it sounded good to him and said we were picky. For $72 you best believe we weren't happy with that certain room. We left after the first hour and the tech guy never apologized and told us we should be charged for the 3 hrs instead of the 1 hour we used displeased with. We will not be coming back. Musicians beware!

This quality of this studio varies room to room, but if you are in one of the better ones (A, B, or C) you are golden. Some of the smaller rooms are good but some have acoustic wonkiness. Overall the place is clean and well maintained and the staff is genuinely helpful. Also it is on the 18th floor of a sweat shop building so if you are lucky enough to stop on another floor for a moment you can see some rather awesome things.

I was just told I have to call tomorrow to talk to the general manager and that I couldn't rectify what should have been a simple situation tonight. When I went to pay for my room I told them to add the balance to the card on file. So I got a receipt which says the total amount I expected to pay. I didn't think twice about it until I saw that I had been charge the deposit PLUS the full amount. Easy mistake right? I called thinking I'd point it out and that'd be the end of it. Nope. I was put on hold for a long time to listen to a terrible soprano sax "on hold" version of "My Favorite Things" only to be told that was their policy unless requested... WHAT? First of all, I did request when I went to pay and second of all who makes that policy that if you don't ask for whats rightfully yours we can take it??? I have never been so shocked by a policy that is basically stealing. There are so many less crowded rehearsal and recording spaces in NYC without staff constantly in the way in the hallway moving equipment around, better sound proofing, a higher lever of taste and comfort and often even cheaper rates that didn't take money right out of my pocket. With a 10 plus year career in creating touring shows, working in music departments on Broadway, and producing high profile recordings, I will be taking my business elsewhere, unless something is done about this when I talk to the general manager I was so rudely pointed in the direction of tonight. I can't believe this guy didn't want to help a customer with such an obvious problem. And as for their "we double charge you unless you ask us not to" policy. That's doing some pretty terrible business in my opinion. Please take your business to UltraSound Studios, Funkadelic, or Michiko.

I've used Smash about a half dozen times in the last year -- the staff is very helpful, friendly, and knowledgable -- if there's a problem, they fix it right away. Clean and comfortable.

Just called about getting a credit NOT a refund due to the in coming NorEaster but they were unwilling. I completely agree with having a 24 hour cancelation policy but a credit is different than a refund. They should rethink this policy when weather is the sole issue. Not cool. Won't spend my money here anymore. I never been thrilled with the gear anyways.

As always, Smash Studios is one of the best places for our band to rehearse. The staff is courteous and professional and the equipment is top notch. Can't wait to go back again!

Smash has always delivered for my band and myself. Excellent rooms, equipment, and service. The staff is courteous and helpful. The rooms are as sound proofed as they can be being next to one another (no different from other busy NYC studios). They have 2 hour, get 3rd hour free during some times as well. I also attended band jams in the showcase rooms which are a blast. My band rehearses at Smash and we are getting ready to video record in one of the showcase rooms. Smash also has recording capability. All in all very pleased with Smash!

Studio was awesome, good price and legit atmosphere , Joe and Zach were very helpful.

Cool vibes. Cool people. Cool atmosphere... just generally a cool place to make some music in! Did a showcase here a a couple of weeks back and the staff was very accommodating... They were able to show me a tour of the entire studio which helped my decision in booking Showcase 1. They were also so awesome and friendly, i.e. adjusting sound levels, giving us the necessary cables, etc... Showcase 1 is probably the largest studio in all of NYC that I've been in. It's equipped with everything you need-- spacious enough for 30 people. Only downside is that they don't offer the "third hour free" special for showcase suites... Can get a bit pricey if you're planning to rehearse/do a showcase for longer than 3 hours... With that said, SMASH offers third hour free specials for their rehearsal studios which is pretty sweet especially for those on a budget. They only offer these 3rd hour free blocks during certain times though. Will continue to book at SMASH. Bonus points for the mascot... Mikey the parrot!

Every time I go there, it is for good music... so good music is like a given. Food is good, drinks are good. Just good. My only issues are no service inside, LoL and limited seating. But it's worth the time with no phone, because better focus on music. Awesomeness! Also, I also just meet good people in general, including the artist.

My band recorded a four song EP this past week. We play Rock. This was my second recording experience at Smash this past year. I also recorded a single with some friends for a side project this past winter. I have been a client of Smash Studios for well over 20 years, since the early 1990's. I've been around and recorded quite a bit, too. Smash has always provided me and my various bands and projects with great service and scheduling for rehearsals as well. They also have some of the best recording equipment and gear and truly try to cater to a band's needs. My band is a simple Rock n Roll power trio setup with guitar, bass, drums with two vocalists. Our songs were road tested and well rehearsed prior to going into the studio to record (which is my preferred method before laying down tracks because I like to get them as close to a professional production in a very indie manner). As such, we had a game plan of how to divide our time (we squeezed all this into a four hour block; a very tight time frame) and knew exactly what we wanted out of the production. This time out, Ariel, was our engineer. He took the time to understand the band's goals and sound and worked quickly and efficiently setting up our sound in the studio. We were able to set up and mic all the instruments as needed rather quickly after a dry run of two takes. We encouraged him to offer his recommendations, which we were open to- always good to have another ear- and was very helpful in what he suggested sonically, and in the production mix. He was also pretty sharp using pro-tools equipment. (Considering the records I made using older media of analog and digital tape, cutting, pasting and splicing was easy and quick by comparison; pro-tools didn't leave me too cold as earlier versions of computer mixes had in the past.) Craig and the regular staff at Smash are always cool and very hospitable. As far as our recording experience, our demo sounds really good. We were able to lay down the basic tracks live for the music and had time to overdub vocals and backup vox to our liking. I was very pleased with our mix; the sound was well balanced and everything we need was on our raw tracks. We probably needed an extra hour or two to get the post production mix down more to our liking. Still, we left with a very solid EP which will serve as a demo for our band's web page (our goal for the record). A five hour block should get a polished and professional band an easy demo, a single or a quick EP cut. The rate for the recording ($75/hr) is certainly fair considering the level of equipment, expertise and convenience. I'd recommend going for one of their recording specials for block recording time (get on their e-mail d-list!). Rest assured knowing many professional and well-known acts record here as well. I'm at Smash rehearsing enough to have bumped into the entourages of some pretty familiar national touring and recording acts. I'd like to thank Clay, management and all the staff at Smash for another great record. Thank you for continuing to hold the torch of NYC Rock N Roll high into the future! Elliot, Double Birds https://www.facebook.com/doublebirdstotheworld/

This place is great. Service is excellent - they are always super helpful in setting up - and everything is in great working order. Friendly and helpful and they know their stuff. Sound quality is excellent and the 3 hours for the price of 2 is a really fantastic incentive. Time flies at Smash - thanks guys! See you soon!

Decent spaces but staff is terrible. My band booked this space a dozen times before we had to cancel a session. We gave more than 24h notice and told them we would rebook next week but they still refused to refund. They also charge you more if you use a credit card because of "tax" as they explained to me. No need to hide the fact that they evade their taxes I suppose! Alas, we will take our business elsewhere.

I usually have a pretty good experience here. I don't do any recording and it's just a small group so I can't comment much for those looking for something else. The staff is always friendly and the equipment seems a bit old but works well. On the couple of occasions where we've had equipment issues, they've replaced it right away. As others have commented there is a bit of noise pollution from other rooms but I've never been particularly upset with it. One thing that has bothered me about booking with Smash is that I have often been quoted inaccurate prices (including my most recent booking on 8/13/16). They have made the rates harder to find (I don't think they're on the website anymore) so it's not like I can double check either. I would suggest that they retrain the staff on peak vs off-peak hours, put the rates back on the website in a visible location, and if a staff member quotes the wrong price, own up to the mistake and honor the quoted price.

i love this place. friendly and professional people and beautiful studios. currently renovating the hallways but i'm sure it will be all nice and clean soon.

I've been to Smash a few times so far, as well as a few other rehearsal studios in the area with my band. We all agree that Smash is by far the best value. The rooms are completely set up for the artist, they have gear you actually want to use, and it always works. The AC is also a plus. The guys that work there are cool and always willing to help you out.