TMC’s Community Agreements and Studio Policy
TMC Community Commitment
- Everyone is welcome here – Every music maker deserves to learn, grow, and progress in a supportive community.
- Show respect – Ask for help, respect our staff, respect the space, and above all: respect each other.
- Work together – Approach what you do with an attitude of generosity and abundance. There is enough to go around when we collaborate and share.
- Communicate often and early – Open dialogue, realistic expectations, and solid planning make us all stronger.
- It’s not about the gear – Music making is a deeply personal pursuit. Focus most of your energy on people, the instruments and microphones can wait.
- Things happen – We all make mistakes. Fortunately we’re in a recording studio, not an operating room. Just let us know, we’re committed to providing a great experience and have a team that’s here to help!
TMC Studio Policies
- Payment is required at the time of making a reservation, and always before your session can start.
- Payment is fully refundable unless the reservation is canceled less than 48 hours before its start time.
- Reservation details and start times can be modified until the start of the session, but no later.
- Show up for your session! Don’t let studio time go to waste! If you book time and do not show up, you will still be charged for your reservation!
- Please put the room back the way you found it so that other community members can enjoy the same quality of space that you just enjoyed.
- Load out on time! If you frequently load out late or leave the room in bad shape, you will begin getting billed hourly for the additional time.
- TMC is NEVER responsible for your files. Bring an external hard drive and copy your sessions before leaving! And save your work early and often!
- Please observe our health safety policies. Watch our website for new announcements.
- Anyone who disrespects our space, our team, or other clients will be asked to leave, and payment for the session will not be refunded. We reserve the right to refuse new reservations and entrance to anyone at our sole discretion if this happens.
Hours of operation
TMC studios are available for booking from 12 pm – 10pm daily. We are closed on Mondays. The latest available start time for a session is 9 pm. Later extensions may be available depending on our schedule; add a request to your online booking or ask a staff member upon arrival if you’d like to extend your session!
Note that our recording studios are booked in 1-2 hour blocks. We automatically block out 30 minutes between reservations in each studio to allow for TMC staff to do session prep, such as cleaning, reconfiguring the room, etc.
Institutional Pricing
Organizations and institutions with annual operating budgets of $2m and above pay a closer-to-market rate of 2x the individual rate. (eg: Studio A is $200/hour 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 or institution is paying”. We rely on honesty; 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 contact ted@tmcmusic.org.
Reservation Payments and Modifications
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, TMC will issue credit in the form of a gift card that can be used for future reservations. Refunds to the original payment method can also be made upon request. Reservations canceled within the 48 hour period before the scheduled time will be subject to a 50% payment penalty (we will refund 50% of the original reservation price).
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.
- 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 unapprovable. (eg: too many people to fit in the room requested)
No-shows
When no one shows up for a confirmed reservation and no advance notice is provided TMC considers this a “no-show”. No-shows are subject to forfeiture of payment.
Late or inadequate load-outs
We understand that it may take a session or two 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.), TMC reserves the right to bill hourly for additional time used.
Damaged or lost equipment
Please alert TMC 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 individual who submitted the reservation may be held responsible for repair or replacement.
For damage to rehearsal studios or production suites, the individual who submitted the reservation is accountable.
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.
Using the Space
Load in + load out times
The load in time for all sessions is right at the time that the reservation begins. Be sure to build adequate load in and out time into your reservation plans. At staff’s discretion, early load in 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 in the room you’re in, don’t hesitate to ask, we love to help!
The individual who submitted the reservation is 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
Clients are 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
Clients can request gear when booking on TMC’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. We will contact you if we cannot accommodate your request to determine if satisfactory alternatives are available, and refund you if not.
Smoking / Alcohol
Smoking is not permitted in the studios. Clients are welcome to smoke outside. Alcohol consumption is permitted within reasonable limits – be an adult and know your limits. TMC does not provide refrigerator space – it is the responsibility of the client to appropriately manage and store their alcohol. Sale of any alcoholic beverages on TMC property is prohibited.
Please keep in mind that a rehearsal or recording session is not a party. We’re here to make music and create good vibes, and expect that you are, too!
Modifying the space
Please check with TMC 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.
FILE + DATA MANAGEMENT
Engineers are responsible for copying their session files to their personal drive before leaving the studio. TMC is not responsible for the management of client files. There are media drives attached to each studio computer, as well as the computer in the Production Suite. We encourage clients who are using these drives to save their content in the “Client Storage” folder, which is cleared out regularly. DO NOT SAVE YOUR FILES TO THE DESKTOP!
