Mindgroove Studios and academy
B 172, Block B, Sector 51, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, India
Mindgroove Studios and Academy is a hybrid creative hub tucked into the once-industrial warehouse district of Sheffield’s Cultural Industries Quarter, where red-brick arches curve over rust-touched tram lines and convert into unexpected art spaces. A half-acre plot, sandwiched between a micro-brewery and a vintage skate shop, is demarcated by two rolling steel gates painted matte black. Approach them at night and ultraviolet strips embedded in the hinges glow subtly—a discreet invitation rather than a neon shout. Inside, the outer yard is a courtyard of reclaimed railway sleepers, warmed by infrared heaters that create a soft amber halo. Pupils often take coffee breaks here, leaning over mismatched beanbags streaked with paint that refuses to be showroom-clean.
The facility itself is split vertically. Ground floor—Mindgroove Studios—houses four acoustically-graded recording rooms engineered by acoustician Sarah Layton, whose previous projects include Abbey Road’s Penthouse and Berlin’s Funkhaus. Studio A is the flagship: 400 square feet of floating-floor, LED-dimmable oak panels, and a 1978 Studer A80 24-track tape machine resplendent beside a modern Antelope Orion 32HD. Vintage Neve 1081 outboard synths ferment next to Buchla Skylab racks, giving boutique warmth to modular polymorphs. Studio B caters to overdubs, boasting a 7ms floor-to-ceiling window that opens onto Studio A for visual cues between drummer and producer. Two smaller ‘writing pods’, each the size of a generous London kitchen, smell faintly of cedar and fermenting coffee grounds—soundlocks are enforced by triple-glazed doors salvaged from Sheffield Town Hall.
Ascend the helical staircase and you reach the second floor: Mindgroove Academy. Here, dove-grey cork ceilings and an old Sheffield tram-actory skylight keep sound diffuse and forgiving. Six group classrooms (max 12 students) circle a circular lounge furnished with second-hand modular synth cases repurposed as coffee tables. In the corners, two hi-res video projectors map Ableton sessions so beginners can literally ‘see’ where the kick drum lands in relation to chord swells. Master-classes rotate monthly—past lectures have included VÍkingur Ólafsson breaking down metric modulation in neo-classical jazz, and Floating Points unpacking the circuitry in his Buchla 200e. Adjacent studios for student use are stocked with Push 3 controllers and SubPac haptic vests, forcing learners to conceptualize sound through both finger and torso.
Mindgroove’s real heartbeat remains its community-centric programs. Each semester, eight under-18 mentees (utilising local community trust funding) attend free, pairing one-on-one with staff producers to release a three-track EP via the in-house label, 0114 Groove. Graduates’ vinyl sleeves are screen-printed in-house using vegetable inks; the sleeves’ spines pressed by the small Heidelberg Windmill letterpress humming in the back corner of the courtyard office.
Check on Google Maps
- Published: July 28, 2025
