Bell Studio Reviews

If you want to know about Canadian music it is all here. Good balance of visual and hand's on displays. Excellent events and educational experiences for all age groups.

If you love music this is your place, $ 10 the entrance, to visit several times

What a great space for events. Would loved to have been there when everything was open for viewing.

A real class-A museum. First, the building is something out of a utopic dream. Once you get inside you're met with friendly staff, a great onsite cafe, and many well curated music artifacts and interactive displays. A great place to bring the family on an outting. Or just yourself. Or a date. Just visit.

This is a great spot for music lovers of all kinds and it's worthwhile to just come and look at, or play with, the exhibits. Also watch for special events, they are a lot of fun here.

Great place to spend a cold Winter day exploring musical history and interacting with the hands on displays.

I enjoyed the architecture of the space the most, followed by the interactive exhibits, though I wish they had more mentions of electronic music.

Would recommend to any music fan, as there is so much to learn about the Canadian music indistruy and music in general. The interactive aspects of the facility allows this building to be a joy for all generations, young and old! The building itself was very unique. The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly, able and willing to answer any question one may have. This is a great experience for the whole family!!

Wasn't very impressed. The only way I could see myself enjoying this place would be if I had a huge interest in Canadian music history without actually knowing anything about it. If you must, go on Sunday when it's cheaper, but it's way too much otherwise.

Interesting place. Shahrazad help me to understand the history of the museum. And some of the exposition. I was very pleased.

It was very informative, the architecture I phenomenal.

Did a quick walk through with a colleague at lunch. Will be back to spend more time with the exhibits.

We had an awesome time here. We went a little later in the day, so it wasn't busy and we were still able to see some demonstrations and try out a lot of the interactive stations. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable and they definitely add to the experience.

Great interactive museum. Events during day brilliant

Good collection of Canadian and international artifacts, staff are knowledgeable and personable.
Good range of interactive exhibits, the building itself is quite impressive - never would have expected a terracotta tile covered building to have such good acoustics!

Life goal accomplished. Played a theramin. Thanks Studio Bell !

We visited with a few 4-year-olds and they had a great time listening to music, playing instruments, and decorating country singers.

Lovely building with some amazing displays. Great opportunity to puck up a lot of information on many famous musicians from many eras, as well as lots of hands on displays.

Free admission on Canada Day! Finally can tour around this great facility. :)

We were offer a tour and brief description of the Whole building, very impressed!

Great museum in the core. The price is a bit high but you can find coupons online. Lots to see and play with for those who just need a place to wander. Very cool exhibits on Canadian history.

Beautiful building, incredible collection and great activities daily. I bought a pass on my first visit and plan on spending plenty of time at the NMC.

Definitely a must see. I loved the interactive musical instruments. The building is also unique and interesting to see. We wish we could have stayed there all day.

Fun to explore with family. Enjoyed playing the instruments.

Go on a date night, not worth the full price. The building is lovely. Overall it was underwhelming. Most of the headphones in the interactive exhibits didn't work. A lot of music history. Go just to see the inside of the building and to play a bongo drum.

Great museum in a beautiful building. Lots of interesting exhibits, presented in a vast variety of mediums.

Amazing building that showcases many wonderful and informative installations and displays about the popular music of Canada. Well worth an afternoon of anyone's time!

Fun place to explore with the kids. A few of the interactive bits have been out of order every time we have gone. Would like to see more interactive features. Jam rooms would be fun.

Awesome all around. The unique architecture of the building provides great visuals as you walk through, great music history exhibits similar to Rock'n'roll hall of fame. Also with fun interactive exhibits, letting you learn and play on a variety of different instruments.

Fun to go to just once, loved the interactive displays. Needs better security, the damn kids touching things they shouldn't was annoying.

Beautiful building, also a must-see for anyone who is into music. They boast a really spectacular collection of instruments and musical oddities, and there are lots of interactive displays. I wasn't expecting to be born away by the architecture, but it's a phenomenal place. We followed the advice of the desk person, and took the elevator to the top and worked our way down. Well worth the trip downtown!

Amazing work has gone into creating this space. We are so lucky to have something of this calibre in our city. Andrew Mosker is an expert with an unbelievable wealth of knowledge. Allow plenty of time to explore and try the interactive components!

Such interesting exhibits! We brought a group of 16 high school students. They were scheduled for a full day with a combination of visiting the galleries and an in-depth workshop. Very well organized and so much to learn about Canadian music.

Meh. Cool building. Feels like a lot of wasted space. Mediocre exhibition

This is an entertaining and interactive place to visit, but it could benefit from a few tweaks for family-friendliness.

We visited as a family with three young children for the Fred Penner concert on Family Day. It was really nice to have a Canadian icon brought in for no additional charge beyond the admission price.

Our kids loved the interactive displays, and the place is beautiful in its architecture and modern and clean. It was very busy, which is both nice to see but also adds some elements of complexity to the trip.

With that many people in the building, several of the displays were overrun and very crowded, even some hallways became choke points.

Having spent $70+ on admission, our aim was to spend the better part of the day. During the day it was especially difficult finding a place to eat and using the washrooms. Plus, your mostly carrying stuff around as there weren't any lockers it seemed.

There's really only the one cafe on the bottom floor that has tables in it, it can hold about 50 people tops from the looks of it, and it was packed. This left us looking around for a bench to eat at, which meant us and many other families doing the same thing with little kids were eating all over the building in areas not really designed for food.

There are washrooms on each floor, but they are small. Two urinals and one stall for the guys, and four stalls for the ladies. With hundreds of guests in the building, this meant it was nearly always a wait or a hike up or down (and sometimes still a wait) to use the facilities.

Additionally, "concert" goers should know that arriving early and lining up doesn't really guarantee any benefit in the seating arrangement. We arrived before 10 AM, waited at the main doors, then waited to get our tickets scanned, then waited until 10:30 for the theater doors to open, only to be on the one side of the theater that they opened second. So, although we were third in line on our side of the theater, we still barely got seats at the back because they let the other side of the theater enter first.

So, pro tips (or keep-your-sanity tips for parents):

1) Go with managed expectations for concert seating.
2) Leave anything you don't want to carry around in the car if possible. Your ticket is good all day, just keep it with you for reentry. The complimentary coat check is a nice touch.
3) Be prepared for crowds and lines on holidays and weekends.
4) Arrive early for parking close to the building.

Finally, Studio Bell, maybe note the sharp corners on the toilet paper dispensers in the washroom stalls. Our kid took a nasty jab from one just trying to flush the toilet.

Best interactive exhibits. Fun history. Great for all ages.

Great place to learn about Canadian singers and musicians. The interactive exhibits are few but a good experience. Justin Bieber is nowhere to be found though.

Attended for a conference reception. Good facilities and staff and interesting exhibits.

Extremely interesting. You don't need to be an audio6to enjoy this place.

I loved it and it has an affordable price. You can learn more about Canadian music and the instruments they present.

Very interesting place. Highly recommend it. And of course it has Cafe Rosso on the main floor which in my opinion and many others is likely the best coffee shop in the city.

I found the architecture of the building itself just as interesting as the contents. The massive open spaces and voids inside mean there isn t actually as much to see as you might think. Excellent musical story all the way up

Inspiring music centre in the heart of Calgary. Offers history, performances, and interactive learning for the whole family!

The after hours events are great fun, live band karaoke is really fun!

The architecture of the Studio Bell is stunning. The exhibits include interactive piano, drums and a sound booth. I look forward to more programs especially aimed to children on the weekend. We took advantage of the Sunday funday pricing.

Amazing building, good exibitions but I would not visit it more than twice

Thanks Bell for reminding us of how badly we get hosed on our cell phones! Also it should be Bell Studio, this isn't Montreal!

Impressive building. The content is quite disappointing.

Great hands on place about music and musical instruments.

Its a really fun place for people of all ages and/or music knowledge. Lots of hands-on exhibitions and detailed descriptions. You can spend anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire afternoon.

Nice building. Could use more displays for the price

Very nice building .. Canadian instruments and musicians .. the full story

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL building full of lots of fun information and interactive exhibits. Definitely worth the trip - who doesn't want to see Elton John's piano?!

Paid parking onsite or accessible via C-Train and and a short walk.

Staff were extremely helpful upon arrival, and any time we ran into them. There's 5 floors with free guided tours and demonstrations. Your ticket is good all day so if you miss something you can always pop back in after lunch or some shopping.

Loved it!

A stunning building and seeing all those synthesizers made me swoon! Had never seen something like it before; so lucky to have it in Calgary!

An incredible museum, from the building itself, to the interactive activities. Perfect for children and music lovers

Great interactive walking museum (5 floors) of Canadian music and recording history as well as historical exhibitions of musical instruments of all types. Lots of opportunities to participate in musical and visual play as well. As a bonus, cool modern architectural building design to lure you in

A lot of exhibits of Canadian music history and Hall of Fame. Hands on exhibits are good for adults and kids.

Very cool place. Live music and interesting displays.

Great for an music lover to learn about Canadian music

I love this place. If you love music you should visit! They have such a good collection!

Wonderful hands-on museum of contemporary and classic Canadian music.

Fun interactive place for families. Cool museum of music instruments. The place is beautiful inside.

Great place. Cool memorabilia. Knowledgeable staff. Stunning architecture.

A cool musical museum that has more than expected. Really quick tour but you learn a bit more by going through it all. Live demos and decent prices. There are two buildings for tours and there's a free place

Totally Blown Away. What an amazing thing for Calgary to get. World class. A must see

Beautiful building inside and out and a contribition to Calgary!

This was a fantastic experience with lots of interactive displays and opportunities to show your musical talent... Or lack thereof.

This facility is beautiful and hosts a huge range of great events.

First of all, this is a first-rate museum with excellent content and many interactive experiences. I brought my two year old and we had a great time together exploring and interacting with the music collection. As recommended, we started on floors 2 and 3 and then headed up to 4, 5 and back down to 2 where the open theatre is.

Second of all, this is an absolutely jaw dropping, gorgeous building, both outside and inside. There is nothing else like this in Calgary - and if you haven't been to it yet, you should make a point. There aren't really words to describe how beautifully the architects wove the outer design into the interior. It's a landmark building for Calgary and a jewel in the crown of the East Village redevelopment. Kudos to everyone who had the foresight to spearhead this incredible centre; the result is phenomenal.

Great way to spend a couple hours, learn a lot about Canadian musicians and you can play a lot of instruments, also if you get true chance listen to the Organ guy!!!!!