Where Creativity Finds Space...
...and how a rehearsal studio center in Munich is creating new opportunities for young creatives.
Music often begins with a moment. With an idea that suddenly emerges. With a sound someone wants to experiment with. With a melody, a rhythm, or a thought that is waiting to be developed further.
And quite often, this is exactly where the creative process begins: alone, at one’s own pace, and without a grand plan. In a bedroom, at a computer, with an instrument in hand, or headphones on, the first sketches take shape, ideas begin to form, and a simple thought gradually becomes something uniquely personal. But over time, things start to change. People come together, share their passion for music, and transform their individual ideas into collective projects. Eventually, the existing conditions are no longer enough.
At this point, the desire for more freedom begins to grow. Not only musically, but physically as well. And “freedom” becomes “a space for creative freedom.”
Out into Creative Freedom! But Where?
But what good is the most exciting turning point, from individual dreamers to creative mini-collectives with big “let’s-start-a-band” ambitions, if reality throws up barriers before the first song intro can even be counted in?
Reality has its own rules. Munich has served as a prime example for decades, and likely stands in for many cities, towns, and regions: there is a shortage of suitable and affordable spaces. Everywhere, the situation is the same, and so are the questions: Where can people work together? Where can they be loud without disturbing others? Where can they experiment and grow before the next milestone on the long road ahead, or as the saying goes, the “long way to the top,” finally comes into view?
Munich is no exception. While the city continues to thrive economically, available space is becoming increasingly scarce, and suitable places for “loud creative work” are harder than ever to find.
For decades, young bands drew attention to this problem, for example through public rehearsals in the world-famous Marienplatz. Yet despite being loud, they were rarely heard.
Gradually, the situation became increasingly concerning. Without a strong voice advocating for young musicians, the problem grew more complex and became a genuine obstacle to securing the future of the city’s socio-cultural talent pipeline.
The result: the creation of the Fachstelle Pop in cooperation with the City of Munich and the cultural and event venue Feierwerk.
The mission: to support people from across the entire spectrum of pop culture on their often challenging journey. Much like cultural sherpas, the staff of Fachstelle Pop understand the obstacles, help remove barriers, and guide musicians, producers, DJs, event organizers, and many others through the pathways of the music industry until they are able to stand confidently on their own.
Yet one challenge remained almost impossible to overcome: the severe shortage of rehearsal spaces compared to the high demand.
“The question was: How can we create spaces for this target group?”
Jakob Kolbinger, Fachstelle Pop Munich, who played a leading role in the project from the very beginning.
This is where the AMP Plug & Play Rehearsal Studio Center Munich comes into play.
The starting signal for turning a vision of the future into reality became the birth of AMP Plug & Play Munich: the creation of a rehearsal studio center with support from the City of Munich and the assistance of various partners.
At the forefront was the collaboration with Munich-based bakery company Zöttl, which provided the structural framework and subsequently made it available to the City of Munich. The city then entrusted the project to Fachstelle Pop, which took responsibility for the concept, equipment, and implementation of the center.
The result was a project with exemplary character. The team was never interested in creating a one-off solution. Instead, their goal was to demonstrate that spaces where people can develop their creativity can indeed be created when a need is recognized and different stakeholders work together toward a common solution.
“It works. And it’s absolutely possible to integrate something like this into other properties as well. Especially at a time when office space utilization and temporary-use concepts are recurring topics. It’s about using and repurposing spaces for culture.”
Jakob Kolbinger
The experiences gained from AMP are intended to help other cities, municipalities, and initiatives facing similar challenges, because the demand is significant.
“We’ll always be happy to share our experiences with people who want to create something similar. In other cities, but also here in Munich. After all, the goal is to create as many of these spaces as possible so that musicians have good places to rehearse.”
Jakob Kolbinger
One Building, Many Possibilities
Anyone entering AMP quickly notices one thing above all else: a place designed entirely for people who want to develop ideas, collaborate, and make music.
The center consists of ten independent rooms of varying sizes and configurations. Although from the outside it appears to be made up of two large structures, behind this lies a sophisticated and carefully engineered architectural concept. In rehearsal spaces, quality is determined not only by equipment, but above all by the building’s construction.
“Even though it looks like large blocks, the rooms are acoustically isolated from one another. A tremendous amount of thought went into this during the construction phase.”Jakob Kolbinger
The rooms were built as so-called “room-within-a-room” constructions. Each inner room has its own shell structure, resting on a decoupled floor slab. This effectively minimizes vibration and sound transmission. As a result, multiple bands, producers, or DJs can work simultaneously without the neighboring band’s guitar amp or a louder drum kit taking over someone else’s song.
“For spaces such as the production room, we carried out numerous acoustic measurements to determine where absorbers and diffusers needed to be placed in order to achieve the best possible acoustic performance.”
Kristian Kelcec, Fachstelle Pop Munich
Kelcec played a key role in planning and overseeing the construction phase and continues to provide technical support for the facility today.
Even seemingly minor details were left to nothing but careful consideration. For example, the team deliberately decided against traditional carpeting. Instead, different flooring materials were tested and measured using identical acoustic signals before being evaluated in practice.
“We conducted measurements using the same acoustic signals with different carpet materials, and the differences were genuinely measurable and noticeable.”Kristian Kelcec
In the end, modular carpet tiles emerged as the clear winner.
The advantage: they not only offer acoustic benefits but can also be replaced easily when heavily used, an important consideration for a place where many different people work every day. After all, it only takes one dropped bag of fries and ketchup to leave an unpleasant mark for the next visitor.
- The concept behind the “Rehearsal Studio Center at Feierwerk Munich” rests on two solid pillars:
- “AMP” represents the tangible substance that can be experienced with all the senses: the building, the rooms, the physical space, the structure, the core.
- “Plug & Play” describes what all of this enables on a creative level. People should be able to arrive, plug in, and start jamming immediately, as worry-free as possible and without the obstacles that so often make the creative journey more difficult.
Space for Every Kind of Music
To accommodate this diversity, different room concepts were created for different ways of working and different creative approaches.
Six rooms are equipped as classic band rehearsal spaces. Drums, guitar amplifiers, bass amplifiers, PA systems, and vocal systems are already in place and ready to go. This is precisely what the AMP Plug & Play concept is all about: plug in and get started.
The aim was to assemble equipment within the available budget that would meet the needs of as many artists and projects as possible. Therefore, alongside traditional rehearsal rooms suitable for everything from rock trios to jazz ensembles, larger units are also available.
These provide additional space for larger formations, choirs, or projects with special requirements, including dance, percussion, multimedia productions, and other interdisciplinary creative formats.
The focus is not on any particular genre. Instead, the goal is to provide as many creative approaches as possible with an appropriate musical playground.
Today’s producers typically work digitally, creating beats, arranging songs, or producing complete tracks on a computer. This requires spatial concepts that also accommodate the digital soundscapes and creative workflows of modern music production.
Naturally, AMP includes a dedicated production room. Equipped with audio interfaces, monitoring systems, and controllers in a professional working environment, it provides everything needed to transform ideas into finished sounds and tracks.
The center also consciously includes space for young DJs to develop their skills. Here, they can experience professional-grade DJ setups, experiment with them, and continue their artistic development without major financial barriers.
As is well known, high-end DJ equipment is often difficult for young music creators to access.
“Normally, you only find equipment like this in clubs, and most people can’t simply walk in and use it.”
Jakob Kolbinger
A room alone does not make a great rehearsal space. What truly matters are the opportunities it creates. That is why every aspect of the facility was designed through the eyes of its future users.
The goal was never simply to fill the rooms with as much gear as possible. Instead, the focus was on creating an environment where creative work can happen as smoothly and effortlessly as possible.
It is often the small but thoughtful details that make all the difference. They not only help everyone feel comfortable, but also solve many of the practical challenges that arise in everyday rehearsal room life.
Take the carefully designed drink holders, for example. They help ensure that the obligatory beer bottle does not end up where it definitely does not belong in a rehearsal room. Likewise, the amplifiers mounted on angled stands are far more than a minor detail. They improve the listening position of musicians while simultaneously helping to reduce overall volume levels within the rooms almost automatically.
“Instead of blasting sound at your knees, you're directing it toward head height, which means there's less need to turn the volume up.” Kristian Kelcec
And the angled amplifiers come with another practical advantage: they no longer provide a convenient surface for placing drink cups.
Details like these demonstrate just how much real-world experience and practical insight went into the planning of the facility.
TECHNOLOGY THAT JUST WORKS
The technical setup was developed in close collaboration with the technical department of Feierwerk. The team’s technicians bring many years of hands-on experience from the professional music and live events industry, and this expertise directly influenced numerous aspects of the center’s planning and implementation. Their consistently positive experience with CORDIAL cables was ultimately the key reason why the team chose to rely on them throughout the rehearsal spaces as well.
CORDIAL supports the project with a range of cables designed to withstand the demands of daily use. Among the products in service at the facility are CCM FM, CCFI PP, and EYB stage boxes. As supporting young musicians is an important contribution to the cultural ecosystem, CORDIAL provided these products free of charge.
The true importance of quality often only becomes apparent in day-to-day operation, especially when it comes to cables and signal paths.
For the AMP project, this meant finding solutions that would remain reliable even over longer cable runs. One challenge arose when an unusually long distance had to be bridged between a PA system and a keyboard. The solution was found in the CSI PP-METAL instrument cable. Under normal circumstances, cable runs exceeding ten meters can often result in signal degradation when using standard cables. There was genuine concern that this issue could compromise the planned setup. However, the use of the 12-meter METAL cable quickly put those concerns to rest, thanks to its exceptionally large conductor cross-section and multiple layers of shielding.
“With CORDIAL, we found a product that can genuinely cover a distance of more than 12 meters without significant loss or interference.”
Common challenges such as electromagnetic interference were also considered from the very beginning.
“Even with typical issues such as electromagnetic interference, we encountered no major difficulties from the start because we consciously chose high-quality signal cables that provide reliable shielding.”
Kristian Kelcec
The result is a technical infrastructure that ideally goes almost unnoticed.
Because it simply works.
Openness in both mindset and practice is a defining principle of the entire AMP concept. As a result, the program is not geared toward a specific scene or musical genre, but instead welcomes people from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and creative perspectives.
“Everyone who wants to make music here is welcome. You don’t have to prove that you play a particular genre.”Jakob Kolbinger
For teenagers and young adults at the beginning of their musical journey, a place like this can be especially valuable. Sooner or later, many bands find themselves facing the same question: Is it already the right time to rent a rehearsal space of our own?
Having a dedicated space to call your own is an important milestone for many bands, but it also comes with a long-term commitment. Monthly rent and fixed lease agreements can present significant challenges, particularly in the early stages of a band's development. At AMP, however, musicians are free to meet, collaborate, experiment, and discover where their musical ideas might take them, without immediately committing to a permanent arrangement.
It provides a low-threshold environment where creativity can grow organically, allowing artists to develop their skills, define their direction, and gain valuable experience before taking the next step.
“That’s exactly the goal, and what makes it so special: giving people who don’t yet know where their path will lead a space where they can grow and develop.”
Jakob Kolbinger
Not only are the rehearsal rooms themselves designed with practicality in mind from start to finish, but the entire user experience behind them is built around simplicity and ease of use.
Bookings are made independently through the Fachstelle Pop website. After registering, users can browse available rehearsal rooms and time slots and select the option that best fits their needs.
The pricing model follows the same philosophy that defines the AMP concept. In addition to lower rates during off-peak hours, users benefit from discounts for longer bookings or full-day sessions, making the facility particularly attractive for tour preparations, intensive rehearsal periods, or extended production work.
Operationally, AMP is designed to offer maximum independence. The rooms are available daily from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 a.m. After completing a booking, users receive a personal access code that allows them to independently enter the building, access their reserved rehearsal room, and make use of the shared equipment inventory.
This self-service approach is complemented by thoughtful details that can make all the difference when a rehearsal session encounters an unexpected obstacle.
Every musician knows the situation: a new keyboard is finally ready to be tested with the band, only to discover that the keyboard stand is still sitting in the garage at home. In moments like these, it is reassuring to know that the missing piece of equipment can often be found in the facility’s equipment storage room, allowing the session to continue without interruption.
“Of course, musicians are also welcome to bring their own equipment. The only important thing is that they take it home with them afterward.”
Jakob Kolbinger
The AMP Plug & Play Rehearsal Studio Center is far more than a collection of fully equipped rooms. It represents the belief that music begins wherever people are given the opportunity to let it grow.
It begins with a first note played together and a new sound that suddenly clicks. With a band discovering its own path. Or with a cable connecting two devices and making that very first note possible in the first place.
Perhaps that is the true idea behind AMP:
Not simply to provide spaces, but to create connections.