5213 Grays Ave. Philadelphia, PA

Pickle Rehearsal & Recording

open everyday, 12am-12pm, by appointment

• Hourly Rehearsals & Recording
w/ Video & Streaming •

This is it! You've found your favorite music studio in Philadelphia, ideal for hourly band rehearsals, as well as audio/video recording & post-production services, all great quality and very affordable.

Check out our hourly practice rooms!

Our services are meant to support everyone from beginner musicians to well-established artists. Whether you're local or part of a touring act, we want to help make the broad landscape of music as accessible to you as possible.

Pickle is a space that's built and maintained for you to enjoy being here, from detailed aesthetics, to practical accommodations and conscientious service. The experience you have here is important to us.

BOOK SOME TIME WITH US!

The return of the suggestion box

Remember those things? I vaguely do. They existed normally in the heart of beaurocracies and were largely percieved to be ignored. Well, it's back, sans the beaurocracy and the apathy, solely in digital form, here, at your disposal. Who knows, I may even get crazy and provide an actual physical box. But for now, enjoy a default-anonymous channel to voice the changes you'd like to see for your rehearsal/recording experience. I can't promise every suggestion will be followed, but each one will, at the very least, be considered.

With that said, if you like the studio and want to support it...

Please rate us well on Google

It helps a ton and your support is very much appreciated! Okay, enough words, more forms.

PICKLE ROOMS

The hourly room rates range from $14/hr to $22/hr, depending on the time booked and room selection.

All rooms include a full backline (listed below) and are soundproofed, sound-treated and climate-controlled, with complimentary wifi.

We also offer many extra Add-ons for bookings, like instruments, guitar pedals, drum cymbals, as well as practical things like extra cables.

Room I — $20/hr   [$16/hr Off-peak]

Off-peak hours are Weekdays, 12-6pm

Our main practice/recording room is approximately 15x20ft*. We did our best to make the room inviting with attention to detail in the arrangement of equipment for aesthetics and efficient use of space.

Room I can comfortably accomodate 5-6 band members.

BOOK THIS ROOM!  |  Check the backline

*actual room dimensions are 21'5" x 14'7" with an area of 308ft2.

1 / 8
300ft2 room with full backline
2 / 8
Drums, bass & PA w/ subs
3 / 8
Piano available for +$6/hr, mic'd into PA and recording interface
4 / 8
Spacious room with custom lighting
5 / 8
Sound treated practice space with full backline
6 / 8
Full backline with instruments guitar available to rent
7 / 8
Whiteboard available for practicing bands
8 / 8
3 mics + 3 music stands + 2 keyboard stands included with the room

Room I Backline

(subject to change)

Everything listed below is already in the room and included with all bookings.

* Behringer BB210 cabinet rated at 600w peak, but RMS is not specified. 200w is likely the continuous rating for power handling.

BOOK THIS ROOM!

Room Recording [+$20]

  • Only pay if you decide to keep the recording!
  • Receive a lossless stereo wav file of rehearsal.
  • You can opt in during the booking process.

Extra Add-ons

There's a wide array of instruments and accessories available to include with your booking.

You can rent a guitar, bass, keyboard, as well as an upright piano, which is mic'd and ready to record with.

We also have guitar/bass pedals, drum sticks and cymbals, extra cables and various accessories useful for recording, if you're going setting up a DIY recording session.

See add-ons in the booking form below for prices and details.

Hours: open everyday, 12am-12pm, by appointment
Address: 5213 Grays Ave. Philadelphia, PA

Room II — $18/hr   [$16/hr Off-peak]

Off-peak hours are Weekdays, 12-6pm

The second practice room opened in 2023 is approximately 14x20ft.* Smaller, more affordable, less frills and closer to the building entrance.

Room II can comfortably accomodate 3-4 band members.

BOOK THIS ROOM!  |  Check the backline

*actual room dimensions are 13'6" x 19'10" with an area of 268ft2.

1 / 8
260ft2 room with full backline
2 / 8
Drums, bass & guitar stacks
3 / 8
Piano available for +$6/hr, mic'd into PA and recording interface
4 / 8
Full backline with sound treatment
5 / 8
Climate controlled, heating in the Winter, AC in the Summer
6 / 8
Accessible practice space with Orange and Marshall amp heads
7 / 8
2 mics included with PA system
8 / 8
Full drumkit with Remo heads

Room II Backline

(subject to change)

Everything listed below is already in the room and included with all bookings.

  • Mics / PA System
    • 2 x PGA48 vocal mics with cables & stands
    • Yamaha MG10/2 passive mixer with four XLR / ¼" TRS inputs & two stereo ¼" TRS / RCA inputs
    • 2 x Samson RS112A powered speakers (200w RMS)
  • Marshall — Guitar Half-Stack
  • Orange / "Acoustic" — Guitar Half-Stack
  • GK — Bass Half-Stack
  • Legion Drum Kit
    • Legion 4-pc Drum Set with Aquarian heads and studio rings
    • 12" and 13" Rack Toms, 16" Floor Tom, 22" Kick Drum and Yamaha Rydeen 14" Snare. Cymbals & sticks not included.
  • Accessories
    • 2 x music stands and 1 x keyboard stand
    • 4 x wall-mounted guitar hangers
    • Collapsable IKEA table
    • More stands available on request

BOOK THIS ROOM!

Extra Add-ons

There's a wide array of instruments and accessories available to include with your booking.

You can rent a guitar, bass, keyboard as well as a digital drum sample pad.

We also have guitar/bass pedals, drum sticks and cymbals, extra cables and various accessories useful for recording, if you're going setting up a DIY recording session.

See add-ons in the booking form below for prices and details.

Hours: open everyday, 12am-12pm, by appointment
Address: 5213 Grays Ave. Philadelphia, PA

Room III — $18/hr   [$16/hr Off-peak]

Off-peak hours are Weekdays, 12-6pm

Our third room, opened in early 2024, is downstairs from the main hallway and is approximately 14x20ft*. Similar quality of equipment as Room II, but slightly larger.

Room III can comfortably accomodate 4-5 band members.

BOOK THIS ROOM!

*actual room dimensions are 14'3" x 20'3" with an area of 288ft2.

Full Backline

(subject to change)

Everything listed below is already in the room and included with all bookings.

  • Mics / PA System
    • 2 x PGA48 vocal mics with cables & stands
    • Yamaha MG10/2 passive mixer with four XLR / ¼" TRS inputs & two stereo ¼" TRS / RCA inputs
    • 2 x Samson RS112A powered speakers (200w RMS)
  • Bugera / Marshall — Guitar Half-Stack
  • Orange / Hartke — Guitar Half-Stack
  • GK / Peavey — Bass Half-Stack
  • Rockwood Drum Kit
    • RockWood 5-pc Drum Set with Aquarian heads and studio rings.
    • 14" Snare, 12" and 13" Rack Toms, 16" Floor Tom and 22" Kick Drum. Cymbals & sticks not included.
  • Accessories
    • 2 x music stands and 1 x keyboard stand
    • 4 x wall-mounted guitar hangers
    • Collapsable IKEA table
    • More stands available on request

Extra Add-ons

There's a wide array of instruments and accessories available to include with your booking.

You can rent a guitar, bass, keyboard as well as a digital drum sample pad.

We also have guitar/bass pedals, drum sticks and cymbals, extra cables and various accessories useful for recording, if you're going setting up a DIY recording session.

See add-ons in the booking form below for prices and details.

Hours: open everyday, 12am-12pm, by appointment
Address: 5213 Grays Ave. Philadelphia, PA

Room IV — $22/hr   [$18/hr Off-peak]

Off-peak hours are Weekdays, 12-6pm

This is our largest room at approximately 20x30ft* and also our original Room A from pre-Covid days. Room IV is ideal for larger/touring bands. This room features a higher-quality backline setup emulating a live-stage setup and the other half of the room set up as a lounge.

Room IV can comfortably accomodate 7-10 band members & a small crew.

BOOK THIS ROOM!

Full Backline

(subject to change)

Everything listed below is already in the room and included with all bookings.

  • Mics / PA System
  • Quilter — Guitar Full Stack
  • Marshall DSL40CR 2-Channel 40w 1x12" guitar combo tube amp
  • Ampeg SVT — Bass Half-Stack
  • Pearl Vision VSX Drum Kit
    • Pearl Vision VSX 6-pc drum kit with Aquarian heads and studio rings
    • 10" (or 8") and 12" Rack Toms, 16" Floor Tom, 14" Snare Drum, and 22" Kick Drum. Cymbals & sticks not included.
  • Accessories
    • 4 x music stands and 2 x keyboard stands
    • 4 x wall-mounted guitar hangers
    • Collapsable IKEA table
    • More stands available on request

Extra Add-ons

There's a wide array of instruments and accessories available to include with your booking.

You can rent a guitar, bass, keyboard as well as a digital drum sample pad.

We also have guitar/bass pedals, drum sticks and cymbals, extra cables and various accessories useful for recording, if you're going setting up a DIY recording session.

See add-ons in the booking form below for prices and details.

Hours: open everyday, 12am-12pm, by appointment
Address: 5213 Grays Ave. Philadelphia, PA

PICKLE SERVICES

Live Multi-track Recording [+$20/hr]

This service is charged separately from room costs. See our booking form for a full breakdown of costs.

The room is set up to quickly/easily connect any instruments or vocals to the recording interface in the other room. Just as accessible are output mixes for all of your band members to have their own headphone monitor mix. All relevant details below.

Recording equipment

  • Same full backline already included with rehearsals
  • Total of 32 input channels and 9 unique headphone monitor mixes available (5 stereo, 4 mono) with the equipment below
  • Allen & Heath Qu-Pac 22 in / 12 out Digital Wireless Interface
  • Allen & Heath AB-168 16 in / 8 out extension for Qu-Pac
  • 2021 Macbook Pro with M1 Max chip and 32 GB memory, running Ableton Live 11

Included microphones

Choose your recording setup

When booking recording with us, you're saving on engineering costs, while still getting a quality stems that are ready for mixing. You can choose how you want to record with the following options.

"hands-off"

  • We set you up, test levels, press record, and leave you be. No punch-ins.Punching in is a recording technique that lets you record new material within a previously recorded track. or listening back during the recording session.
  • All tracks recorded onto our software.
  • We can adjust levels or troubleshoot any problems.
  • Download link for stems sent within 24 hours.

"self-engineer"

  • You bring your own engineer with computer/DAW and plug into our interface.
  • Have full control over audio routing, and be able to do punch-insPunching in is a recording technique that lets you record new material within a previously recorded track. or listen back to what you've recorded.
  • No transfer of audio needed after the session.
  • Previous recording experience is recommended.
  • We will still be here to troubleshoot if any issues come up

Isolation shields

Vocal isolation mic-enclosures are included, as well as plexiglass shields for drums and amps to reduce "bleed"Bleed in audio recording is unwanted sounds that seep into the microphone recordings along with the desired sound. across channels. This may add to the set-up time, but will improve isolation between mic'd instruments.

Quiet Music Not Recommended ⚠️

While we've constructed soundproofing between other adjacent practice rooms that serves our needs for rehearsal and most recording sessions, we cannot always guarantee that the room will be completely silent from extranneous noise.

Any setup with drums or amplified sound should get a clean recording with zero problems. This has been our experience.

However, we do not recommend recording with us if your project is like the following...

  • Acoustic guitar or piano only
  • A cappella group
  • Classical or folk with no drums

Our apologies for the inconvenience.

Multi-angle Video Recording [+$10/hr]

This service is charged separately from room costs. See our booking form for a full breakdown of costs.

We offer up to 6 angles of high quality still-shot footage, available for any rehearsal or recording booking. You can direct the placement of each camera angle, or leave it us to capture your bands playing, from wide-shots that cover the band in its entirety to more up-close shots highlighting what the different musicians bring.

Flexible Arrangement

We offer this service as separate, and not reliant on our recording service, in order to meet varying needs of different musical groups. However, they still can go hand-in-hand if you want the full A/V recording service — just hit both Recording & Videography checkboxes when booking.

If you're on a budget and already have your music recorded, but just need video content, or you've got your own equipment to record yourself, or you'd like to use our room recording service ($20 flat fee), these are all work-arounds that are welcome and by no means exclusive. We're here so that you can produce the content that you need without breaking the bank.

Post-production is also available from us in the form if audio mixing and video editing, for the affordable cost of $30/hr. Click the post-production tab above for more info.

The Environment

In addition to being a nice environment to practice in, our room is designed to serve as an excellent setting for shooting music videos or general content for bands. With colored spot-lights that you can customize, the placement of all of the equipment, to the rugs and chandelier, juxtaposed with the industrial build of the room.

The Technicals

  • 6 x Sony ZV-1F 4K cameras available
  • We're flexible with placement of different angles, from close-ups to wide shots, including from the ceiling.
  • We typically shoot in 4K at 24fps, but we can customize resolution and framerate to accommodate for filesize constraints or other preferences.
  • Bring an external hard drive to transfer files, or receive a download link within 48 hours.

Stream from Pickle! [+$10/hr]

This service is charged separately from room costs. See our booking form for a full breakdown of costs. Recording+videography services required.

4-Angle Livestream

We use OBS Studio with the ATEM Mini Pro live video switcher, while passing audio through Ableton Live 11 so that we're able to add on-the-fly mixing and any audio effects you'd like to hear and stream live.

You have the option of switching angles yourself. Otherwise, we're more than happy to do that as part of the livestream service.

We also can add any logos or other custom overlays on-top of your feed and stream to the account of your choosing.

Platform Agnostic

We can stream to Facebook Live, Mixcloud, Twitch, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, to name a few. Streams can be from your account or ours, whichever you prefer!

Receive Stems

Since we'll have a full audio + video routed setup in order to facilitate the stream, we might as well hit the record button. This way you have the option of producing your own final version of your performance, post-stream. Totally optional, but very easy to do.

Future Shows

We're just getting our streaming operations started so stay tuned for streaming shows in the near future!

Audio Mixing & Video Editing [$30/hr]

Getting started in music from the ground up can be tough! We're trying to make it a little bit easier.

We set our rates for audio/video post-production at $30/hr (tax included) to bridge between quality and affordability, so that it's accessible to the widest possible scope of people. With every project, we aim to match your desired level of detail, so as to produce a final product that's as close as possible to your desired outcome, while minimizing costs.

While working on your project, we'll do our best to maintain clear communication so that your expectations are understood and adhered to throughout the process. This way, there is little-to-no backtracking ever needed and you're given the maximum flexibility to take your project in the direction you want.

You can request any of the specific mixers/editors below, or from whoever is most available by emailing pickle@picklerehearsal.com or calling (215) 201-2958.

Audio Mixing

Our mixing engineers are John Bogansky , a self-taught drummer, musician producer and video editor, and Joe Baldacci , a bloke who does drum lessons/sessions and mixing, and is the drummer for the futuristic funk fusion band Muscle Tough .

For examples of their work, see Joe Baldacci's mixing portfolio on Spotify , & John Bogansky's Mixing Reel on YouTube .

Video Editing

We can take on aspects of your project, like syncing audio with video angles, cropping/framing, angle switching, or the entirety of your video project. The same $30/hr rate applies.

Available for this services are Soren Wagner, owner/manager of Pickle and creator/producer of Derivative Sessions , with years of experience editing multi-angle videos in Final Cut Pro.

John Bogansky , mentioned above for mixing, is also available for video editing. Check out his sizzle reel on Vimeo!

BOOK PICKLE

Check the calendar just below here for availability and use the form below it to book.

All bookings include a free 10 minutes, prior to the bookings start to account for load-in time — this may overlap slightly sometimes when booking back-to-back with another band. You can play up until the end of your booking time and breakdown doesn't need to be paid for, with any type of booking. If there's nobody booked after you, you always have the option of going longer for the same hourly rate.

You can reach us by phone at 215.201.2958 or email pickle@picklerehearsal.com with any questions.

Cancellation Policy

  • Less than 24hr notice: 1hr charge of the room & 1hr charge of services (if applicable)
  • No-show or <2hr notice: Full charge of the room & 1hr charge of services (if applicable)
  • It is up to you to anticipate weather or other events that may necessitate cancellation
  • Late arrivals are still responsible for the time booked, but can add time if there's availability (15min increments)

This policy also applies to being late; you are responsible for paying for the time booked and any extra time that you wish to stay after the original reservation.

ROOM I ◼       ROOM II ◼       ROOM III ◼       ROOM IV ◼       15 minute buffer needed between bookings in the same room

Flip your phone horizontally for a better view of the calendar

Booking Form

 
 
By entering your phone number and submitting this form, you're agreeing to receive text communications regarding relevant bookings. Message and data rates may apply. Pickle will keep your contact information confidential. Text STOP to unsubscribe from messages at any time. View our privacy policy here

Date/Time

  • Check calendar above for availability
  • 15 minute changeover time needed between bookings in the same room
  • Off-peak discount [-$4/hr] on weekdays, 12-6pm

Date

Start Time

    

End Time

    
 

Rooms

-$4/hr Off-Peak Discount // Weekdays, 12-6pm

 

Services

Services only available in Room I
 

Add-ons

 

Booking Quote // payment
due after session

Off-Peak - -
Normal - -
Total Room Cost: - -
Recording Cost: - -
Videography Cost: - -
Livestream Cost: - -
Total Services Cost: - -
Total Add-ons: - -
Total Cost: - -

• quote includes 8% sales tax, priced into the total •

ABOUT PICKLE

So, what is Pickle? Who are we? What's the story?

Well, Pickle is just a name. Sorry to dispel the myth, but the river doesn't run much deeper than this. You have to call a business something and in a pinch, this seemed like a pretty good option.

The studio is built and run by Soren Wagner, a late 2010's California emmigrant. Born Westward and looking to branch out from his hometown, Santa Cruz, there was nowhere else to go but East. Drawn in by the old-style aesthetics, as well as the friendly and down-to-earth nature of many of the people here, it was in the promised land of Philadelphia, PA that something music related was going to happen.

Whilst still in the early days of this Philadelphia experiment, a sister-project called Derivative Sessions came into existence. It's purpose is to curate, record and publish live instrumental improv sessions, innovating new styles of music in doing so.

All was going well, but in the Fall of 2018, the savings started to run dry and the bills still had to be paid.

So, out of necessity, a Pickle was born... 🥒