How to Record Your First Track in London
A step by step walkthrough for artists booking their first real studio session. What to bring, how to prep, and what happens on the day.
A step by step walkthrough for artists booking their first real studio session. What to bring, how to prep, and what happens on the day.
Blackout studio hire · Wapping, East London
STU 22's Blackout Studio is London's premier light-controlled creative space. In Wapping, East London, it eliminates every source of ambient light: a pure dark canvas for dramatic fashion editorial, cinematic product video, LED-lit music content and fine art photography.
From £110/hr · half day £400 · full day £800. Basic lighting kit included.
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The space
A single purpose-built dark room in Wapping: 26ft by 19ft of shooting floor under 12ft ceilings, finished in matte black with a dark concrete floor. Nothing in here bounces light unless you tell it to.
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The light seal
Most studios advertising "blackout" are an ordinary room with blinds. This one was built sealed: no windows, no light leaks, no glow creeping into the edge of frame.
Kill the house lights and the room goes genuinely black, so the only light on your subject is the light you brought. Contrast, falloff and colour are yours to set.
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The drapes
Full-height blackout drapes run the length of the studio. Pull them across to tighten the space, flag a spill or hide the set between setups; open them for the full 26ft run.
The room is haze-friendly, so beams, shafts and atmosphere read exactly as planned, take after take.
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The set
A deep red feature wall, framed artwork, velvet sofa and vintage rug give you a finished, characterful set the moment you walk in: editorial portraits, music video scenes and brand content with no build day.
Strike it back to pure black whenever you want the canvas instead.
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Talent & crew
A lit mirror station and private changing area sit inside the studio, so talent gets ready on site while you light.
Air conditioning throughout, 13A sockets on every wall, ground-floor step-free load-in and street parking outside.
Why the Blackout Studio
Size
26 × 19ft
Real camera-to-subject distance for long lenses, full-length fashion and moving subjects. Small dark rooms force you onto a wide lens and it shows.
Light seal
Total
Purpose-built and fully sealed, not blinds over a window. Zero ambient light means your blacks stay black on the file, not just on the monitor.
Height
12ft
Overhead rigs, boom arms, hard backlight from above and top-down product, without dropping the light into frame.
Power
13A throughout
Sockets on every wall. Strobes, LED panels, neon, projectors and a haze machine all run at once without hunting for an extension.
Pricing
Simple hourly pricing. A basic lighting kit, power, cleaning and the changing area are included in every booking, with no hidden fees.
Hourly
£110/hr
One hour minimum
Basic lighting kit, power, cleaning and the private changing area included. Best for single looks, tests and short content shoots.
Half day
£400
Up to five hours
The usual choice for editorial, lookbooks and single-scene music video. Time to light properly, run hair and makeup, and still get the shot list done.
Full day
£800
The run of the room
Best value for multi-look shoots and full production days. Relight as often as you need without watching the clock.
Our full lighting, backdrop and prop kit is available to add from £200. Discounted rates for repeat bookings and multi-day productions. Rated 5.0★ from 67+ Google reviews. Download the full rate card.
Studio specifications
What it is used for
Music videos, beauty and product shoots, and moody editorial. With zero ambient light, 12ft ceilings and plenty of power for lighting rigs, you build your look from pure darkness: LED setups, haze, coloured gels and precision spotlights behave exactly as planned, take after take. The studio is haze-friendly, with easy Wapping load-in and parking nearby.
Who books it
Fashion photographers shooting high-contrast editorial. Music video directors working with LED strips, gels and projection. Beauty and cosmetics brands needing total lighting control. Filmmakers, agencies and corporate video teams. Content creators building dark-aesthetic, glowing-product and dramatic portrait work.
If your work demands precision lighting and zero ambient interference, it is built for this.
Near Shoreditch? Closer than you think
12 minutes from Liverpool Street. 8-10 Sampson Street, Wapping E1W 1NA: ground floor, step-free, easy parking. Clients travel from Hackney, Bermondsey, Canary Wharf and the City to the closest purpose-built blackout studio hire near Shoreditch.
Book the Blackout, Wapping
Tell us what you are making and we will confirm availability fast. Book online in 60 seconds, or message us on WhatsApp for same-day slots.
Three bookable studios and a shared kitchen and lounge, all under one roof at 8–10 Sampson Street. A seamless white cove, a fully light-sealed blackout stage and a soundproofed music room. Hire one, or run a shoot across all three in a single day.
A premium all-white cyclorama built for e-commerce, beauty, lifestyle, editorial and pack-shot work. Sixteen feet by sixteen, under 12ft ceilings, with no corner for a shadow to catch on.
Shoot it under daylight or seal the room and light it yourself. A private changing room, vanity, steamer, rails and a client area sit right beside the set, so wardrobe changes and approvals do not cost you the afternoon.
16ft × 16ft seamless cove
A controlled dark room for cinematic lighting, music video and high-contrast creative work. Twenty-six feet by nineteen under 12ft ceilings, finished in matte black, with a bold red feature wall when you want colour in frame.
This is a sealed room rather than a bright one with blinds: kill the house lights and the only light on your subject is the light you brought. Double-sided curtains let you reshape the space, and it is haze-friendly with power for a full rig.
26ft × 19ft · zero ambient light
A fully sound-treated private room for rehearsing, scratching, livestreaming, filming content, podcasting and spoken word. Built for deep focus and real isolation rather than a corner with foam on the wall.
Book it on its own by the hour, or pair it with the Blackout next door and shoot the video and record the audio in the same visit. It doubles as our self-tape room, with a plain mid-grey backdrop and a reader, camera and operator available on request.
Soundproofed · from £35/hr
Peach tones, warm browns, shelves of books and vinyl. The Interim is where you land between setups: thoughtful, expressive and community-led, like everything at STU 22.
Help yourself to the kitchen during your booking. Teas and coffee are always on the house, and the room doubles as a second look if a scene calls for something warmer than a cove or a blackout stage.
Lounge · kitchen · included
If you are not sure which space fits the brief, this is the short version. All three are in the same building, so a booking can move between them on the same day.
All rates exclude VAT at 20% and include power, cleaning, studio operations and the basic lighting and grip kit. The full kit is available to add from £200. Minimum hire is one hour. Open 08:00–22:00 seven days a week, with no curfew, and overnight sessions arranged on request. Download the full rate card.
Five minutes from Wapping Overground, ten from Shoreditch and Canary Wharf. Tell us what you are shooting and we will tell you honestly which room suits it.
STU 22’s Infinity Cove is London’s premier white cyclorama photography studio, purpose-built for photographers, filmmakers and brands who need a flawless background. Based in Wapping, East London, the cove removes the line between floor and wall: seamless infinite white, every single time.
Fashion editorial, e-commerce lookbook, beauty campaign, video interview or a full brand content day. This is the most dependable backdrop in professional photography.
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What is an infinity cove?
An infinity cove, also called a cyclorama, curves seamlessly from floor to wall so the visible corner disappears entirely. On camera it reads as infinite, uninterrupted white, with no horizon line to retouch out and no seam to light around.
Lit differently, the same surface becomes clean white, soft grey, a coloured backdrop or a full product environment. One room, and as many looks as your lighting plan can carry.
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Size and height
The cove gives you a 16ft × 16ft seamless shooting area. That is room for full-length fashion, group shots, movement, and real camera-to-subject distance. Eight-foot coves box you in and force you onto a wide lens. This one does not.
Ceilings run to 12ft, so overhead softboxes, boom arms and top-down angles all work without compromise. Load-in is ground floor, so heavy kit comes straight off the pavement and into the room.
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Light
Large north-facing windows give soft, stable daylight that holds its character through the day, which is the light most beauty and portrait work is built around. No hunting for a window that works.
When you need control instead, the room seals to full blackout at any point in the day. No other East London studio offers both from a single space, which means a daylight morning and a strobe-lit afternoon can happen in the same booking.
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Surface
The cove is repainted regularly and inspected before every booking. This matters more than it sounds. A scuffed cove costs hours in post, and those hours land on your budget, not ours.
If you want to know the exact condition before you commit, ask us and we will tell you honestly when it was last painted. Bring your own paper or vinyl if a shoot calls for it, though most clients never need to.
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Who books the cove
Fashion and portrait photographers, beauty and skincare brands, video production teams, and e-commerce businesses shooting white-background imagery at scale. Content creators producing for Instagram, YouTube and TikTok book it too.
Many clients pair the cove with our Blackout Studio and shoot clean work in one room and moodier content in the other on the same day. Ask us about combined rates.
Why the Infinity Cove at STU 22
Most studio listings tell you a cove exists. These are the four numbers that actually change how your shoot day goes.
Size
16ft × 16ft
Full-length fashion, groups and movement, with real camera-to-subject distance.
Height
12ft
Overhead softboxes, boom arms and full-length angles without compromise.
Surface
Repainted
Maintained regularly, inspected before every booking. You arrive to a clean, bright curve.
Light
Both
Soft north-facing daylight, or a full light seal at any moment. Your call on the day.
Pricing
All-inclusive. Power, cleaning, operational fees and a basic lighting kit from our gear list are included in every booking. No hidden facility fees.
Hourly
£120/hr
Minimum 1 hour
Best for headshots, a short e-commerce run or a single-look portrait session. Book the hours you need and nothing more.
Half day
£450
Up to 5 hours
The sweet spot for lookbooks and beauty campaigns. Enough time to light properly, shoot several looks and still break down calmly.
Full day
£850
Up to 10 hours
For production teams, agency shoots and brand content days where the schedule needs room to move.
All rates exclude VAT at 20%. Full kit add-on (backdrops, props, steamer, rails) from £200. Discounted rates on multi-day productions, repeat bookings and regular clients. Rated 5.0★ from 67+ Google reviews. Download the full rate card (PDF)
Studio specifications
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Large north-facing windows give soft, stable daylight all day, which holds its character rather than swinging as the sun moves.
Yes. The room seals to full blackout at any point, for total lighting control.
It is repainted and inspected regularly. Message us and we will tell you the current condition before you book.
Booking form or WhatsApp, confirmed within the hour. For multi-day or agency bookings, message us and we will put a package together.
Yes. Many clients pair the cove for clean work with the Blackout Studio for moodier content. Ask about combined rates.
For most shoots, yes. The cove gives a genuine seamless white or lit-grey backdrop with real light wrap, so there is no green spill and no chroma-key clean-up in post. Green screen only wins if you are compositing a completely different background.
Cyclorama studio hire in East London · area guide
Three names for the same thing: a wall that curves seamlessly into the floor so the camera sees infinite white. Cyclorama is the film term, infinity cove the photography term, infinity curve the everyday one. Whichever you searched for, this is it.
STU 22 is in Wapping, E1W, one stop from Shadwell on the DLR and five minutes from Wapping Overground. That makes it the most accessible cyclorama studio hire option for clients coming from the City, Shoreditch, Hackney, Bermondsey, Canary Wharf and the South Bank. Street parking nearby, ground-floor entrance for easy load-in.
For cyclorama studio hire in London with genuine 16ft space, a maintained white cove and both natural and blacked-out lighting from one room, STU 22 is the only address you need in East London.
Book the Infinity Cove, Wapping
Book online in 60 seconds, or message us on WhatsApp for same-day availability. 8–10 Sampson Street, Wapping, London E1W 1NA, five minutes from Wapping Overground.
The Portal is our fully equipped music studio and soundproof DJ room at STU 22 in East London, built in partnership with Focusrite for producers, DJs, podcasters and content creators.
Plug in and create on a professional production rig, with acoustic treatment throughout, Denon DJ Prime decks and camera-ready lighting. All at accessible studio rates, in Wapping, five minutes from the Overground.
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Built for content
The Portal is designed for both sound and content. Atmospheric purple and blue lighting, adjustable to a warmer tone for podcast work, a large display for visuals and playback, and comfortable seating for guests and co-hosts. The room is ready to film from the moment you arrive.
From DJ sets and podcasts to music videos, live sessions and behind-the-scenes content, create and record everything in one professional space without hiring a second studio.
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The music room
A fully wired production setup: Focusrite Scarlett 18i16 interface, ADAM Audio A77H monitors, Novation 61SL MkIII keyboard, Circuit Rhythm groovebox and a RØDE NT-USB for vocals and voiceover.
Everything is connected and tested before you arrive. Bring your laptop and start creating. No setup time, no patching, no wasted hours.
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Step inside
Take a look inside the STU22 × Focusrite studio. Thirty-three seconds across the production desk, the DJ booth, the acoustic panelling, the lighting and the space that brings it all together.
What you see is what you get. The rig stays wired, the decks are ready and the lighting is set for filming. Turn up, plug in and get to work.
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The DJ room
Fully acoustically treated and isolated from the rest of the building, the DJ room is built for loud, uninterrupted sessions. Run two SOUNDBOKS Gen 4 speakers at performance volume without disturbing a neighbour or the studio next door.
Rehearse a residency set, prep for a festival, record a mix for release or film the session. Bring your own controller or decks if you prefer, or go straight onto the house Denon DJ Prime 4 setup and get into the mix.
Why The Portal · STU 22 Wapping
Most music rooms are either a bedroom setup or an expensive commercial studio. The Portal sits deliberately in the middle: professional, purpose-built, and priced for the work music creators actually do.
From
£35/hr
One-hour minimum, kit included. Commercial-studio capability at a rate a solo artist can actually book.
Isolation
Full
Professional panelling on walls and ceiling, isolated from the rest of the building. Monitor at performance level.
Rig
Focusrite
Scarlett 18i16, ADAM A77H monitoring, Novation keys and Denon DJ Prime decks, all wired and waiting.
Licence
24 hours
Late-night and early-morning sessions are available when a deadline or a release schedule demands it.
Pricing
Simple hourly pricing. Power, cleaning, operational fees and everything in the room are included in every booking. No hidden facility fees.
DJ studio
£35/hr
Minimum 1 hour
Denon DJ Prime decks, SOUNDBOKS speakers and camera-ready lighting. Built for DJ sets, practice and content.
Music studio
£50/hr
Minimum 1 hour
The full Focusrite production rig: Scarlett 18i16, Novation keys and ADAM monitors, ready the moment you arrive.
Both rooms
£70/hr
The whole Portal
Music studio and DJ room together, for bigger sessions, shoots, crews and full production days.
All rates exclude VAT at 20%. Half-day and full-day rates available for longer sessions and productions. Discounted rates on repeat bookings and regular clients. Solo artists and full production crews both welcome. Rated 5.0★ from 67+ Google reviews. Download the full rate card (PDF)
Also in this room
The Portal is also STU 22’s self-tape studio in East London. It is soundproofed, it has the plain mid-grey backdrop most UK casting briefs ask for, and it is five minutes from Wapping Overground.
From £35 per hour excluding VAT, one-hour minimum. Shoot it yourself on your own phone or camera, or add a camera, lighting and an operator. A reader can be arranged in advance. The 24-hour premises licence means late-night and early-morning slots are there when a casting deadline lands overnight.
Self-tape studio details and rates · Book by WhatsApp · Booking form
Studio specifications
Who books The Portal
Music producers, artists and songwriters writing, recording and mixing on the Focusrite rig with ADAM monitoring. DJs practising for events, residencies and festival sets, or recording a mix for release. Podcasters and content creators who need a visually striking, acoustically controlled room for audio and video at the same time.
Labels and brands producing music-related commercial content and campaigns, and music photographers and videographers booking a location with genuine character. Planning a show? Read our guide to recording a professional podcast in East London.
Frequently asked questions
It has full professional acoustic treatment and is isolated from the rest of the STU 22 building. You can run your monitors at performance levels without disturbing other studios or neighbouring spaces.
Yes. Connect your own decks, controllers, laptops, synths, drum machines or anything else. There are power outlets positioned throughout the room.
Yes. The atmospheric lighting adjusts to suit the session, from a warmer tone for podcast content to the full blue and purple for DJ filming.
Yes, and many clients do. Record audio and music content in The Portal, then move into the Infinity Cove or Blackout Studio for visuals on the same day. Ask us about combined rates.
No. The room is set up so a producer or artist can work unassisted. If you would rather have technical support on the day, tell us when you book and we will arrange it.
Booking form or WhatsApp, confirmed quickly. We are happy to talk the project through in advance, and to quote for half days, full days and multi-day productions.
Music studio hire in East London · area guide
The Portal answers all three. As a music studio hire it is a treated, wired production room with a Focusrite front end. As a DJ room hire it is an isolated booth with Prime decks and SOUNDBOKS monitoring. As a podcast studio it is an acoustically controlled space that also looks good on camera, with seating, a display and adjustable lighting.
STU 22 is in Wapping, E1W, five minutes from Wapping Overground and seven from Shadwell DLR. That puts The Portal within easy reach of Shoreditch, Hackney, Bethnal Green, Bermondsey, Canary Wharf, the City and the South Bank, with street parking nearby and a ground-floor load-in for heavy kit.
Adding visuals to your session? Pair The Portal with our Infinity Cove or Blackout Studio, or compare every space on our Studios page. Recording or filming? See our podcast studio in East London and our music video studio hire.
Book The Portal, Wapping
Book online in 60 seconds, or message us on WhatsApp for same-day availability. 8–10 Sampson Street, Wapping, London E1W 1NA, five minutes from Wapping Overground.