Become famous with our guide to music courses, deejay schools and recording studios.
Looking at the modern pop scene, it seems like almost anyone canbecome a music star – with proper producing. There are plenty of “Star Factory” type talent shows that give any normal person an opportunity to try his or her luck onstage before a wide audience. Of course, not that many of those “factory-made” stars really manage to go far in the music business, but still, upon looking at them, you may sometimes ask yourself – why not me? And really, why not? Perhaps all you need is a bit of tutoring to reveal your music talent, and even if you don’t become famous in the end, the ability to sing beautifully and play an instrument can turn into a great hobby with which you can please yourself and others, for years to come.
It’s only rock-n-roll
When I was 16 one of my favorite bands was Metallica. Watching my idols perform concerts on TV, I always imagined myself to be the bandleader James Hetfield, standing on a stage with “Flying V” guitar and singing. That was the time when I firmly decided to create my own band and devoted myself to the cause full-heartedly. The only problem was that I didn’t play any instrument. So I applied to music school, but it turned out that I was already too old to study there.
There are more than 40 music schools in Kyiv, but most of them are meant solely for children and the grownups who desire to study music have to look elsewhere. Moreover, most schools only offer a classical music education, and if you’re interested in playing jazz or rock, this will not be enough. Luckily, there are a few places in Kyiv where aspiring jazzmen and rockers can receive training. One of the music schools where you can learn how to play the electric guitar or become proficient in jazz vocal improvisations is the School of Jazz and Pop Art. The school offers individual lessons for both children and adults. The cost for lessons varies depending on the instrument you want to learn to play. For example, violin classes cost Hr 30 per month, while studying jazz vocals costs Hr 120 per month.
Another music school of a similar type is Yamaha School. Here you can learn how to sing and play the piano, synthesizer, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar and drums. There are even special classes for those who want to become acquainted with the peculiarities of deejaying and the sound producer’s art. The cost depends on how many lessons per month you want to attend. The minimum program includes four lessons per month (one lesson a week) and costs 30 euros.
Some people are reluctant to start learning music, because while they really like it, they are often not quite sure if they have a talent for it.
“This fear is absolutely ungrounded,” said Vladyslav Todyerishko, a teacher at Roland music school. “There is no one who has absolutely no ability to learn music. The only qualities required are a strong will and persistence. And of course competent teaching is of great importance.” Roland music school was founded in 2000 and offers piano, synthesizer, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocal classes. The school uses Roland digital pianos for teaching. A digital keyboard is a unique instrument that reproduces the whole set of sounds of fortepianos and grand concert pianos. One of its advantages is that it can never be out of tune. Roland digital pianos are recommended for studying by leading international committees, such as the British Royal Music Schools committee, Australian musical education commission and Canadian conservatory. The cost of education is Hr 605 per one month. In addition to music classes the school also offers fine arts studies.
School of Jazz and Pop Art (7A Chelyabinska, 517-6188).
Yamaha School (4A Kameneva Komandarma, office 24, 285-4146).
Roland School (3A Tarasovska, 592-1454).
Hey Mr. Deejay!
As the number of club music fans is no less these days than those of pop and rock, and hanging out at clubs to house and techno is the most popular way to spend free time for young people in Ukraine, more and more youths aspire to become deejays. Deejaying, which is currently viewed as one of the coolest and most fashionable occupations out there, is turning into a profession, and old-school self-taught deejays are being replaced with graduates of deejaying schools, several of which can be found in Kyiv. Those schools provide their students with a certificate and often help to promote the student and land them a job at a club.
Dinastiya recording studio provides musicians with everything necessary for recording, complete with a comfortable recording area. (Oleksiy Boyko)
The most popular deejay school is Fly Music. During studies there all students are able to work with musical equipment created by leading companies like Pioneer, Stanton and Technics. Fly Music School offers two educational programs: basic and professional. The basic program lasts for two months (classes are held two times a week). During those two months the students are taught the basic rules of deejaying and how to work with equipment correctly. The cost of this program is $280 for the whole course. The professional route lasts three months and has classes three times a week. Two times a week students are taught how to work with CDs and vinyl, make “scratches” and do other deejay tricks. During every third lesson students are allowed to practice without a teacher, working through the movements and perfecting their technique. The professional program costs $450 for the whole course. All the graduates of Fly Music deejay school receive special certificates and the most talented and skillful graduates receive assistance in finding a job at one of Kyiv’s night clubs. The school also has a branch in Donetsk.
Allegro deejay school is based at the Allegro music store. The school is relatively young, but it has a professional staff of teachers and already has a number of successful graduates. The education process lasts three months and consists of three parts. The first part is a short introduction, which includes the history of deejaying, training to work with deejay equipment of different kinds, producing and so on. The main part of the training is dedicated to the practical mixing of music of different styles, using both CDs and vinyl. The completion phase includes trial performances at different night clubs and familiarization with professional club equipment, which includes sound, light and special effects. Allegro deejay school connects its graduates to a number of night clubs it cooperates with, and if any graduate suits one of the clubs, he or she may be invited to play there. The course of education (three months) costs Hr 1,560.
Fly Music deejay school (6 Strutynskoho, 536-2405).
Allegro deejay school (45 Bulvar Lepse, 537-1529).
Music shopping
If you start learning to play a musical instrument at school, you’ll surely need one to practice with at home, and the more skilled you get, the more serious and professional the equipment you will need. There is a belief that if you are able to play a bad instrument well, then it will be easier for you to play a good instrument, so it is better to start studying with a bad one. However, this belief is false. My first guitar was awful and my studying was a total disaster, until I bought myself a better one. In Kyiv there are more then 10 stores that deal with different brands of musical instruments and equipment. The most popular one is MuzTorg. The store is situated in the center of the city near Besarabskiy market and consists of two floors. The ground floor holds two rooms. The first one is dedicated to guitars and synthesizers and the second one is dedicated to deejay gear. In addition to guitars and synthesizers the first floor showcases percussion and drums. The shop also has a wide assortment of different musical equipment like amplifiers, faders and others. If you are looking for a certain musical instrument, but aren’t sure which model to choose, you may ask a shop assistant for advice. MuzTorg’s shop assistants are all professional musicians, so they will be able to help you to pick an instrument that will satisfy your needs.
MuzTorg also has two soundproof rooms where you can check out the instrument and the way it sounds without being disturbed (or disturbing others). The store provides a convenient discount program that allows you to save up to 10 % on your purchases.
Another popular musical shop is Jazz Club. This is an official representative of Yamaha music products in Ukraine. Jazz Club also has a wide assortment of musical instruments of other world-famous producers, recording equipment and light equipment for clubs. Jazz Club owns two music stores and a piano salon.
One more music store that is popular among musicians is Jam shop. It sells musical equipment of the most popular producers, both expensive, such as Yamaha, Warwick and Hohner, and cheap ones, like Soundking or Phil Pro. Jam offers all kinds of music related merchandise.
MuzTorg (2 Baseyna, 492-1616).
Jazz Club (1 Druzhby Narodiv Boulevard, 528-5200; 86 Chervonoarmiyska, 501-9438; 132 Chervonoarmiyska, 268-3305).
Jam (Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Globus, first line, 590-1843; 23 Moskovskiy Prospect, 230-8075; 9 Luhova, Karavan shopping center,206-4353).
A record deal
When you finally start distinguishing C from D, possess your own fine instrument and play more or less professionally, it’s about time to fulfill your dream – form a band and start rehearsing and writing songs. Sooner or later the moment will come when you’d like to have your music recorded. It will not be a problem, as there are plenty of recording studios in Kyiv. They differ, by price, quality of recording equipment and, accordingly, by quality of the records they produce.
Though it’s a bit more expensive, it’s better to record at studios with equipment of high quality to create a good record as a result. One of these studios is Dynasty recording studio. It was established in 1996. During its existence many famous show biz figures from Ukraine, such as Vyacheslav Butusov, Mad Heads, Ani Lorak and Green Grey, as well as many other musicians from England, the US and Germany, recorded their songs there. There are two ways to make a record at Dynasty studio. The first one is to pay 30 euros per hour and make a record using the given equipment. This works fine when a client knows what he wants and has a good idea of what the result should be like. However, in cases where a client just has a general idea, but doesn’t know exactly what needs to be done, the specialists working at the studio can help. The cost should be negotiated individually. Dynasty studio also has a rehearsal area with high quality equipment. One hour of rehearsal costs 5 euros.
Another professional recording studio is Tretyakoff Production studio, which is also known as Laboratoriya Zvuka (Lab of Sound). The studio owns high quality musical equipment and professional staff. Famous artists like Oleh Skrypka, Lilu and Jetaime recorded at Tretyakoff Production studio. The design of the studio is very stylish in light colors with soft highlights. Vladimir Tretyakoff’s studio offers a full complex of recording services. It includes the recording itself, mastering, arrangement and advertising after the recording has taken place. You may record a full song for $700 to $1,000 turnkey, or record just a vocal part for $25 to $35 per hour. Laboratory of Sound also offers you the option to create a soundtrack for a movie.
Prostir (Space) recording studio was founded in 2004 by the famous Kyiv guitarist, producer and sound director Vadym Borysenko. The studio was designed in an austere style without any bright design elements, but has all the needed musical instruments and high quality equipment. The walls are covered with special soundproof material so that echo doesn’t spoil the record. In general the services of Prostir recording studio are quite cheap for such high quality. One hour of recording costs $20 and the mastering of one track costs $50.
Dynasty studio (27 Kioto, 501-4597).
Tretyakoff Production studio (28B Olesya Honchara, office No.15, 279-7671).
Prostir studio (4A Bekhterevskiy Provulok, 8-067-770-4312).
