Hyde Street Studios

5.0 star rating
12 reviews Rating Details

Categories: Professional Services, Recording & Rehearsal Studios  [Edit]

245 Hyde St
(between Eddy St & Turk St)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
(415) 441-8934

Nick J. said: "This place is great, I wish they would open one up in San Mateo though. I been here about 12 times  now so I feel comfortable saying that Plug N play is a great place to jam or have band practice on a budget. One time I left one of my…"   read more »

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12 reviews in English

  • Review from Ryan S.

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    • 174 friends
    • 135 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    9/3/2008

    Staff is cool and the studios are nice with that cool 70's vintage vibe.  Keane and Gerald covered everything, along with many statements of "Festizio rules."

    It's in the tenderloin, but they made so loading and unloading is in a secure area.  You still get yelled at, but at least it's from behind a fence.

    Some random crackhead: "You guys got a girlfriend?"
    Us:  Just ignore.
    Some random crackhead: "Want one?"
    No, she wasn't hot.  No, she wasn't a she.  

    There's Satriani memorabilia everywhere, not sure if that's cool or not.  

    I'm sure Tupac's scuff marks are still on that hardwood floor.  Especially since many think he's still recording.  Hell, we all know those scuff marks are fresh.  Dave Chapelle made it a point for a reason.  

    Festizio rules.

  • Review from Keane L.

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    8/4/2008 2 photos

    My band, Festizio, is currently finishing its first studio album in historic Hyde Street Studio C with engineer, Jaimeson Durr. While the long studio days were excruciatingly tough, it's been a fantastic experience. Also, recording on a grand piano in Studio A, where artists like PJ Harvey, Prince, Green Day, Tupac, Shaq (I don't know...) and more have recorded, was a momentous occasion in and of itself. Most importantly, the atmosphere is friendly and professional, and the crackwhores outside pretty much keep to themselves.

    Highlights
    - Getting asked by a hobo if I had a girlfriend.
    - Realizing the hobo was actually asking all of us.
    - Being upset and not speaking to hobo for days until hobo learned to appreciate my company.
    - A culinary tour of TL eateries during lunch breaks.
    - Seeing shit in a crate and pondering what it really meant to me spiritually.
    - Successfully backing out of the thin driveway without scratching my car (yes, I have a car... how many times are you going to act surprised?).
    - Accepting hobo forgiveness over a select sampling of crack rocks and diet cola.
    - Recording an album.

    http://www.festizio.net

  • Review from David P.

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    • 79 friends
    • 29 reviews

    Alameda, CA

    4.0 star rating
    5/31/2009

    What a fantastic experience it is recording in this studio, which is so well equipped, staffed with SERIOUS talent, and exudes San Francisco music history.  I felt like I was trodding sacred boards in the recording studio.

    The engineering, creativity and feedback is  fantasic; our band felt that the engineer totally "got" what we wanted and actually "got" it better than we did......LOL.  He was as much an artist and as creative and a part of the recording as any or all of us were.

    My favorite little moment; listening to a play-back and though it was adequate, not really liking the conga playing I had done on one particular "turn-around."  (You know, that hearing one thing in your head and oops, playing something else).  Engineer asks if I'd like to re-do it.  Put on the headphones, he plays me a bar or two into the turnaround, I play through it, and he seamlessly splices (well, wrong term these days) that one little part into the recording so you would never know it was re-recorded.  Fun.  Very cool.  

    We felt listened to and taken as seriously as any major artist who has recorded there would have been - genuine talent and effort expended on our behalf regardless of "name" recognition (LOL...or lack thereof).

    This place just exudes magic and music and history.  A San Francisco institution.

  • Review from ACE A.

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    • 1029 friends
    • 114 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    11/14/2007

    Hyde St. Studios is another of SF's storied recording facilities, with a long rich history and a who's who of artists and clients that have laid down tracks here--ranging from Digital Underground to Green Day, and from the Grateful Dead to George Clinton. Heck, they've even had guys like Shaquille O'Neil, Tupac and metal mavens Heathen record here, not to mention Joe Satriani has practically lived here since moving from my neck of the woods in NY.

    Of course, the facility has top-tier gear (their Neve recording consoles date back to the late 1960's, with the lovely warmth they bring to tracks), that combines vintage stuff with the very latest in technology to capture/enhance the sounds that artists are creating.

    I've had the pleasure of working with a couple bands here, particularly with local producer Bill Cutler. Cutler has worked with a slew of local acts over his long career, many of which were using his skills as a producer who gets great recordings for bands with little or no budget to move up to label deals and big budgets. He never really had the big breakout hit act that catapulted him into the ranks of more well-known uber-producers, but trust me when I say that his recordings are immaculate.

    Bill also has been in a few bands himself, and been signed to a couple major labels, also as a solo artist. Again, he's never had a big monster hit record, so he's one of SF's best kept secrets. However, he's had some tracks in the archives (plus a few newer ones) that he did with none other than Jerry Garcia, of the aforementioned Dead, as well Jorma Kaukonen (Hot Tuna), Jerry Miller (Moby Grape), and another Dead alumni, Bob Weir. After a long, protracted negotiation with the Garcia Estate, Bill's new full-length disc is due out by years's end.

    Since Bill has had a long association with Hyde St., including doing some of this record here, Reality Check TV has been tapped by him to shoot a Q&A session at the facility for inclusion on the disc as a CD-Rom type deal for listeners to get some background and history after hearing the tracks themselves.

    Once again, a long-standing relationship and our expertise comes to the fore, and we add another credit to our ever-expanding resume'. Plus, we get to shoot in what is becoming an SF landmark!

    Gotta love that!

  • Review from Cornelius S.

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    • 193 friends
    • 225 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    5/8/2006

    I used studio A ten years ago and it was great. Neve board, amazing room.

    I was in studio C a few months ago doing some editing. Great sounding room. Great outboard gear. I'm hoping to get in there again soon. Engineer Jaimie Durr is a protools whizard.

    There's some talk about HSS closing. Hope it doesn't happen. :(

    Update: HSS is NOT closing. Yay!

    http://www.hydestreet.com/
    http://www.hydestreets.../

    {According to Polk's 1953 San Francisco directory, Twentieth Century Fox Film was located here.]

  • Review from Kelly N.

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    • 1 friend
    • 7 reviews

    Boulder, CO

    5.0 star rating
    4/5/2011

    I just spent my first day at Hyde Street Studios today, as part of an audiobook recording. It was a great experience! By comparison to many recording studios I've visited before, Hyde Street is clean and friendly. Our producer Nathan was knowledgeable, curious, and has great energy. And the studio manager even dropped by to say hi to us in the kitchen as we ate lunch. We've got two more days at the studio and I have no doubt it will continue to be a great experience.

  • Review from Falynn A.

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    • 36 friends
    • 102 reviews

    North Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA

    5.0 star rating
    11/19/2010

    epic.

  • Review from gerald p.

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    • 74 friends
    • 117 reviews

    Bloomington, IN

    5.0 star rating
    8/7/2008

    i'm pretty sure keane covered everything already (keyword festizio).  for me, i'm just stoked by the fact that i got to record in a real recording studio.  that simple fact blew my mind completely - the rest is all frills.  also, we recorded in studio A, the same room that creedence clearwater recorded in.  later, we did some recording in studio C, which is where tupac once walked as a member of digital underground.  honestly, i'm still having some trouble getting over that.  that's too much awesome for me to handle.

    i will say this: recording here has been an educational experience for me, from the perspective of being a tenderloin virgin.  having never actually spent any appreciable amount of time in the TL before, i was thrust very suddenly into what can only be described as the yeasty vagina of san francisco - a crusty, foul-smelling cavern stuffed with more drugs in plain sight that i've seen since the co-ops near my college.  i saw someone shooting up heroin for the first time in my life.  i saw a drug deal go down not more than ten feet away from me.  i saw shit in a upturned milk crate outside a vietnamese sandwich shop.  that pretty much ruined my sheltered suburban sensitivities, and i felt a great need to be back in the calm and sterile warmth of the south bay.  but that's the TL for you i guess.  it's charming, in a way.

    anyway, i had a lot of fun recording here.  i like this place.  the staff are really cool and professional.  jaime durr is one of the hardest working guys i've ever met, and he truly knows his stuff.  i recommend him in a heartbeat.

    festizio rules.

  • Review from Skip Towne ..

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    • 13 friends
    • 33 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    2/22/2006

    Are you kidding me?  I can't believe no one has reviewed this legendary studio.  Its the place to record your musical dream.

  • Review from Daniel L.

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    • 4 friends
    • 22 reviews

    El Granada, CA

    5.0 star rating
    3/22/2010

    This is the recording experience you've dreamt about.  Once we got inside and set up, I knew that this place was special.  My band quickly realized that our engineer Nate Winter was exceptionally talented, patient, creative, and flat out cool!  It was so easy to communicate ideas and get the results you picture in your head.  I will never go anywhere else again for my recording needs.  It doesn't get any better than this.  The floating equipment, mics, console, etc were all world class and added another dimension to our sound.  I recommend Hyde Street Studios with the highest degree of sincerity and know that you will not be disappointed to choose it for you recording needs.  Trust me...

  • Review from Vito V.

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    • 99 friends
    • 85 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    7/21/2008

    great professional service, the gear list is filled with amazing stuff and its a bay area legendary recording studio!

  • Review from Alex R.

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    • 0 friends
    • 24 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    4/25/2009

    A great piece of history. To bad that the current owner AF Evans decided to sell this building and has made plans to have market rate condos be building here changing the use of the building from office to residential.

    Was this review …?

    Comment from jeff c. of Hyde Street Studios 4/27/2009   
    Actually, this is a misconception.  When AF Evans originally… More »

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