5 More Incredible Synthesizer Studios: Play the Best Synths in the World
More of the rarest synths in the world are waiting for you at these incredible studios.
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Ever wanted to play an ARP 2500, EMS Synth 100 or massive Moog Modular? These and many more are waiting for you at these amazing synthesizer studios.
More Incredible Synthesizer Studios
Last year, I wrote about five different synthesizer studios, where you could rent time to play and record some of the rarest synths ever made. The story was pretty popular, and readers wanted to know why I didn’t mention their favorite studios. That’s why I’m back today with five more incredible synthesizer studios. Three of these happen to be in the UK, with the other two in Australia and Germany.
Want more vintage synthesizer goodness? Check out this story about synthesizer museums.
More Incredible Synthesizer Studios: The Townshend Studio
Established at the University of West London in 2024 by none other than Pete Townshend of The Who, The Townshend Studio features a collection of instruments donated by the famous rocker. It includes 12 key synthesizers, including an ARP Model 2500, EMS Synthi 100, Analogue Solutions Colossus, Moog IIIP and System 35, and a Yamaha GX-1. It also features an ARP 2600, EMS VCS3, New England Digital Synclavier 3200, Waldorf Wave, and many more.
The studio is available for hire for half and full days. Contact The Townshend Studio for a quote. If you’re more academically inclined, the university is seeking someone to propose a doctoral research project based on the synths in the studio. It includes a stipend of £22,000 per year plus free tuition. Paid to play synths? That sounds like a dream come true.
- The Townshend Studio home page
More Incredible Synthesizer Studios: Synthesizer Studio Hamburg
Leaving England, our next stop is Germany, and the Synthesizer Studio Hamburg. Although Synthesizer Studio Hamburg is a fully functioning synthesizer studio, it also allows you to just hang out and play to your heart’s content, much like the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Los Angeles. They also offer workshops for beginners and even synth rental.
So what do they have on hand? It might be easier to say what they don’t have, with a massive list that includes two Roland System-100s, a Jupiter-8, Sequential Prophet-5, Oberheim OB-X8, GRP A4, super rare Elektor Formant modular system, and many more. While the focus is on analog, they also have a few choice digital pieces, like the PPG Wave 2.2 and Arturia MicroFreak. And that’s just the synths! The studio also offers drum machines, effects, outboard gear, and much more.
- Synthesizer Studio Hamburg home page
More Incredible Synthesizer Studios: Synth Temple
Down in Australia, just outside of Melbourne, lies the Synth Temple. And what an apt name, as it really is a temple to synths. Their specialty is vintage gear, with multiple rooms packed full of synths spread across a fully-featured recording studio. The main attraction is Studio 1, which is subdivided into Synth Pods, self-contained and connected areas with themes like Oberheim, modular systems, Moog and Sequential, and many more. Of course, you can also rent out the whole room if you’re feeling luxurious.
As you might expect, they have an amazing selection of rare gear, including a blackboard version of the Korg MS-20, Rhodes Chroma with Expander and Enabler, Oberheim Eight Voice, Elka Synthex, and so much more. They can even fix your synth if it breaks.
Don’t forget to visit the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio across town as well, which has about as much new gear as the Synth Temple does vintage.
- Synth Temple home page
More Incredible Synthesizer Studios: Resonance Studios
And it’s back to the UK for Resonance Studios, a fully analog recording studio based in Stockport, outside Manchester. Resonance is less of a synthesizer studio and more of a full-on studio that happens to have a lot of tasty synthesizers on hand.
A quick look at their site reveals a Roland Jupiter-8, Moog Minimoog, Yamaha DX1, Serge Modular, Analogue Solutions Colossus, and Alesis Andromeda A6. The main room offers an SSL Origin console, while the Live Room is a space to record acoustic instruments and drums, with the Lab housing that Colossus.
Resonance is also an authorized service center for Denon, Numark, Roland, Alesis, and Moog, so look them up if you’re in the area with an ailing instrument.
- Resonance Studios home page
More Incredible Synthesizer Studios: Cold War Synths
The last listing is also the newest, Cold War Synths. Located in a 1960s nuclear bunker on the “Welsh border” (sorry, I don’t have any more information than that), it’s in the process of filling up with some amazing-looking gear.
According to the studio’s Instagram (there’s no website that I can find), there’s an EMS VCS3, Roland Jupiter-4, Roland TR-606, Eminent 2500, and more, including “synthesizers, tape echoes, nuclear submarine filters, radiophonic oscillators, magnetic wire recorders, drum machines, guitar pedals, voltage to scribbly pen waveform machines, Indian sitar drone generators, valve distortion boxes, samplers, mixers, many more synthesizers and a tiny German tape recorder called an Assman.”
If that sounds like something you want access to, DM them at their Instagram (link below). “Hire a couple of hours, hire a day, whatever suits. Bring a laptop, get recording, and leave with hours of unique vibes. I’ll help you get the most out of each machine or just keep feeding you tea while you get lost in it all.”
- Cold War Synths Instagram
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