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Post by ericn on Dec 29, 2021 22:29:35 GMT -6
Weirdly, our Ampex MM1200 with 16 track head stack attracted a lot of bottom feeders looking for a deal. The kind of clients who are surprised that they don't actually sound that great and blame the engineer.Along these same lines, when a client calls and asks about tracking to tape, it's almost invariably a younger person who's maybe never even been in the same room as a real multitrack (or even spent much time in real recording studios, for that matter!), and has no idea what kinda extra work goes into that approach. So i have this whole speech about how while yes, their favorite records were done to tape, that's not the reason they sound great. Their favorite records sound great because they were made by bands at their prime, working with seasoned producers and kick-ass engineers with tens of thousands of hours of experience under their belts, in exceptional world class facilities, with six months' worth of budget. A three day weekend on rented 2" reels at 15ips with a band that gets together every other week for two hours to mostly drink beers and occasionally play a few tunes isn't probably gonna yield the same results heard on Dark Side of the Moon. Hey Benny The first rule of owning a AG440/8, never mention the AG440/8 to a perspective client! Seriously part of what kept me from buying that Tascam 22-4, the problem with 4 tracks is anybody who has the talent to use just a 4 track isn’t going to want to use a 4 track. OK because tape has a place in my heart I’ll probably end up with another tape machine in 2022.
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Post by ericn on Dec 29, 2021 22:36:31 GMT -6
Because somebody told them they will sound better on tape, of course the smart as response to this is “ yeah leader tape!” Haha!!! Ward and I got this Eric, but only cause we're old and have leadered countless reels of tape. I wonder how many other "pro-tape, but never leadered a reel of tape" guys will read that and it will go right over their heads. Good one Eric!!! Yeah Bill we are old as oxide ( rust, tape humor), but try explaining to the 20 something with man bun and a beanie behind the counter at the used record store / highend stereo shop, that no you could care less about what’s on the TDK 7in reel of great tape ( it isn’t) your buying the stupid thing because it’s cheaper than a blank reel.
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Post by bgrotto on Dec 30, 2021 0:08:59 GMT -6
Haha!!! Ward and I got this Eric, but only cause we're old and have leadered countless reels of tape. I wonder how many other "pro-tape, but never leadered a reel of tape" guys will read that and it will go right over their heads. Good one Eric!!! Yeah Bill we are old as oxide ( rust, tape humor), but try explaining to the 20 something with man bun and a beanie behind the counter at the used record store / highend stereo shop, that no you could care less about what’s on the TDK 7in reel of great tape ( it isn’t) your buying the stupid thing because it’s cheaper than a blank reel. Speaking of, another thing that frosts my cookies is folks who declare vinyl the clearly superior-sounding format as they listen on a second-hand $25 tt with a bent stylus thru their dad's old consumer receiver with the built-in phono amp transmitting to a $50 mono speaker via bluetooth in a drywalled-n-plastered cuboid room from hell. It's like, 'sure buddy, you TOTALLY know what good hifi sounds like..." Ha and speaking of THAT...I fondly recall numerous occasions where I was doing an analog session with a safety to Pro Tools, and the band wanted to a/b digital vs analog playback. Imagine their disappointment when hearing GP9 off a Studer 827 at 30ips sounds very, very, VERY much like a 96k digital capture 🤣 My favorite quote from one of these client-bumouts is one of the band members woefully declaring "😫There's hardly even any tape hiss😫". 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Post by bgrotto on Dec 30, 2021 0:12:42 GMT -6
PS - last time my studer was fired up was summer of 2016, to mix a country record that the producer wanted done all-analog. Luckily, the band is really really great, so they had no problem on the performance end of things knocking it outta the park (case in point: I ended up producing their followup EP and we cut the whole thing -- vocals and all -- totally live...finished the EP in about three days...just a great band), but still, I think that record would have benefited from some more modern digital treatments in spots.
C'est la vie.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2021 0:22:19 GMT -6
But wait people still pay for us to do this? Before I get jumped on for the rest of this post I do empathise, none of the studio's around here were booked for an entire year so $1500.00 a week sporadically stretched out? Well, You'd earn a better wage as a middle manager at Mcdonalds, that sucks especially with the overhead of running a studio. If the industry wasn't so borked one would ideally charge double. However some of this seems a bit mean TBH, when I first started out I would have been considered a "lowballer" and "singer / songwriter". Didn't mean I wasn't hard working or passionate but at that time I couldn't afford Svart's rates never mind Ward's. I'd have loved some help but I ended up doing what nearly everyone does. Bought an Mbox 1 w/ some plugs and an SM58, wrecked a few tracks, evolved, offered my services, bought better equipment, got a day job and now I have 25 years experience with a custom built studio packed with high end everything. I don't know how else to say this, music is practically a zero return industry for artists. You'd either have to be stupidly rich, mad or already quite famous to spend $20K on a single album, that is after all a decent deposit for a house dependant on location.. Again I empathise but it's an industry problem not necessarily a "lowballer" issue despite the large amount of dreamers, tyre kickers and general time wasters.
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Post by bgrotto on Dec 30, 2021 0:31:04 GMT -6
But wait people still pay for us to do this? Before I get jumped on for the rest of this post I do empathise, none of the studio's around here were booked for an entire year so $1500.00 a week sporadically stretched out? Well, You'd earn a better wage as a middle manager at Mcdonalds, that sucks especially with the overhead of running a studio. If the industry wasn't so borked one would ideally charge double. However some of this seems a bit mean TBH, when I first started out I would have been considered a "lowballer" and "singer / songwriter". Didn't mean I wasn't hard working or passionate but at that time I couldn't afford Svart's rates never mind Ward's. I'd have happily entertained help money permitting but I ended up doing what nearly everyone does. Bought an Mbox 1 w/ some plugs, wrecked a few tracks, evolved, offered my services, bought better equipment, got a day job and now I have 25 years experience with a custom built studio packed with high end everything. I don't know how else to say this, music is practically a zero return industry for artists. You'd either have to be stupidly rich, mad or already quite famous to spend $20K on a single album, that is after all a decent deposit for a house dependant on location.. Again I empathise but it's an industry problem not necessarily a "lowballer" issue despite the large amount of dreamers, tyre kickers and general time wasters. It's worth drawing a distinction between the 'low ballers' people are deriding in this thread, versus working-stiff musicians without loads of money to burn on studio time. I get inquiries all the time from people who simply can't afford me or my shop, and when that's the case, they politely tell me so (or simply don't reply to me at all!), and that's the end of it. I'd consider those the latter. The former, on the other hand, are the folks who will try to guilt me into selling myself and my studio short, who will try to pit me against the other studios in town (apparently they don't understand that we studio owner dweebs are a pretty close-knit group and actually all hang out with each other kinda regularly), who will take weird digs at me and my work and my setup. THOSE people can go screw, and if I'm reading this thread correctly, those are the people getting shat upon here. That's my two cents, at least.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2021 1:02:03 GMT -6
It's worth drawing a distinction between the 'low ballers' people are deriding in this thread, versus working-stiff musicians without loads of money to burn on studio time. I get inquiries all the time from people who simply can't afford me or my shop, and when that's the case, they politely tell me so (or simply don't reply to me at all!), and that's the end of it. I'd consider those the latter. The former, on the other hand, are the folks who will try to guilt me into selling myself and my studio short, who will try to pit me against the other studios in town (apparently they don't understand that we studio owner dweebs are a pretty close-knit group and actually all hang out with each other kinda regularly), who will take weird digs at me and my work and my setup. THOSE people can go screw, and if I'm reading this thread correctly, those are the people getting shat upon here. That's my two cents, at least. Understood, someone mentioned haggling that's all.. It took me a decade to save up for an LFAC / decent equipment so before that I'd ask for discounts on unused B studio's or out of hours slots. After a while one specific studio owner who became a night out buddy just gave me a key and a booking chart (to work around). Anyway it was a decent mutually beneficial partnership of sorts, they got a lot more income than they usually ever would have despite a drastic rate reduction. Rare example though, project engineers tend to have their own studio's but for the spaces alone I recon it's worth doing from time to time.
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Post by EmRR on Dec 30, 2021 8:07:36 GMT -6
Anyone who thinks vinyl is superior, or even good, has never had to approve test pressings.
Yeah, my A807 doesn’t sound like much of anything different, unless you let the tape sit a year and wait for the magnetism to reorient naturally. It hasn’t been used in 15 years. Now it needs work from sitting.
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Post by Guitar on Dec 30, 2021 10:54:25 GMT -6
@soriantis I think you hammered that nail right on its little head.
Who listens to this shit? Not many. How much does that pay to the artist? Almost nothing.
I have some sympathy for the no-ballers, I don't think I would pay anyone as much as many are quoting here to record either. I guess that's how you end up with piles of gear, DIY skills, debt, and 20+ years of experience, same story here.
I'm sort of curious, just for some anthropology... what is this theoretical person like that will pay you thousands of bucks to record a few songs? I don't think, in my personal life, I've ever met anyone like that. Yet people here seem to be getting regular clients.
Maybe many of you are recording "successful" artists? People with big gigs, magazine reviews, and so on? Or well-to-do hobbyists with good day jobs?
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Post by lpedrum on Dec 30, 2021 11:04:01 GMT -6
The cheaper you work for, the more constraints and aggravations the project will bring. Should be the opposite, but 35+ years has shown this is not the case. The cheap projects are always the most difficult, and heartbreaking. That's been true for me too Bill. I used to produce and/or mix for a flat rate back when talented artists could usually recoup costs by selling CDs at shows and indie labels still had recording budgets. But as the music industry tanked (in the lower and mid levels anyway) I switched to an hourly rate of $50. That covers anything I do--play, engineer, edit, mix--and the use of my studio. If side musicians are needed that's on the artist. I will occasionally work out a flat rate if it feels right, but here's what I see are the benefits of an hourly rate: 1. The artist makes artistic decisions based on their budget and not their whims. With a flat rate artists can sometimes ask for the world including starting the song over from scratch. 2. The artist values your talents and trusts you to work efficiently. 3. I never feel taken advantage of. When I lock the studio door at the end of the day I know how much I worked and what I earned. All that said...I don't like to be dogmatic about anything. I'm open to at least talking to artists about creative ways to get reimbursed, but only if they're uber-talented and it's something that I really want to be involved in. But I'm still gun-shy about flat rate projects because I've been burned (and almost burned out) doing that. Here are a couple of odd observations I've seen in the "Spotify/Kickstarter" years: - More than one artist has asked to record a second record with me but with the caveat that they feel they should co-produce and therefore I should work for less. Sorry, no thanks. - Many artists seem to want to use their Kickstarter funds for manufacturing and publicity and skimp on recording costs. That seems backwards to me. This is a GREAT thread. It verifies that those of us that strive to do this for a living are in the same ballpark financially, give or take a few bucks. It's sad that our pay doesn't rise with the rate of inflation but comforting to know that we're all in the same boat.
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Post by Tbone81 on Dec 30, 2021 11:53:41 GMT -6
@soriantis I think you hammered that nail right on its little head. Who listens to this shit? Not many. How much does that pay to the artist? Almost nothing. I have some sympathy for the no-ballers, I don't think I would pay anyone as much as many are quoting here to record either. I guess that's how you end up with piles of gear, DIY skills, debt, and 20+ years of experience, same story here. I'm sort of curious, just for some anthropology... what is this theoretical person like that will pay you thousands of bucks to record a few songs? I don't think, in my personal life, I've ever met anyone like that. Yet people here seem to be getting regular clients. Maybe many of you are recording "successful" artists? People with big gigs, magazine reviews, and so on? Or well-to-do hobbyists with good day jobs? Speaking for myself, most of my clients are “serious amateurs”, meaning they’re talented, hard working musicians who make very little money but are regularly hustling, going on small tours, playing shows etc. A few have pro gigs as session players, wedding bands, hired guns on major tours etc. Most don’t make significant money at music, they have day jobs, they live to support their passions. They realize they can spend $2k on a new MacBook, $1000 on an interface and plugins, another $1-$2k on speakers, mics etc and DIY it, but it would take them years to do it properly and the end result would be poor. Or they could pay me a similar amount, get a great result, have tons of fun doing it, feel validated in the process (from tracking in a “real” studio, collaborating with professionals etc.) and in 1 1/2 years they’ll be able to work some overtime and save enough to do it again.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 30, 2021 12:07:03 GMT -6
@soriantis I think you hammered that nail right on its little head. Who listens to this shit? Not many. How much does that pay to the artist? Almost nothing. I have some sympathy for the no-ballers, I don't think I would pay anyone as much as many are quoting here to record either. I guess that's how you end up with piles of gear, DIY skills, debt, and 20+ years of experience, same story here. I'm sort of curious, just for some anthropology... what is this theoretical person like that will pay you thousands of bucks to record a few songs? I don't think, in my personal life, I've ever met anyone like that. Yet people here seem to be getting regular clients. Maybe many of you are recording "successful" artists? People with big gigs, magazine reviews, and so on? Or well-to-do hobbyists with good day jobs? Speaking for myself, most of my clients are “serious amateurs”, meaning they’re talented, hard working musicians who make very little money but are regularly hustling, going on small tours, playing shows etc. A few have pro gigs as session players, wedding bands, hired guns on major tours etc. Most don’t make significant money at music, they have day jobs, they live to support their passions. They realize they can spend $2k on a new MacBook, $1000 on an interface and plugins, another $1-$2k on speakers, mics etc and DIY it, but it would take them years to do it properly and the end result would be poor. Or they could pay me a similar amount, get a great result, have tons of fun doing it, feel validated in the process (from tracking in a “real” studio, collaborating with professionals etc.) and in 1 1/2 years they’ll be able to work some overtime and save enough to do it again. You're in a market where such a thing is common. So am I (Austin), and probably a lot of others. This is the bread and butter for most producers I know around here. The term I use is "semi-pro". These are real musicians/songwriters with publishing credits and the occasional tour who don't make enough doing that to support themselves full time with music. And, as TBone mentions, most either make enough money playing to pay for the next record (mostly live gigs, pretty much nobody makes money selling the actual music) or they just save up from their day job. But since these are "semi-pros" they tend to understand the value of someone who can actually twist the knobs in the right direction so to speak. (I fit this bill perfectly by the way which is why I wanted to provide a studio experience totally tailored to people like me, my friends, and people like us. They all own an Apollo Twin but none of them know how to do anything with it other than track a moderately OK demo and most have no interest in learning.)
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 30, 2021 12:37:22 GMT -6
Anyone who thinks vinyl is superior, or even good, has never had to approve test pressings. Yeah, my A807 doesn’t sound like much of anything different, unless you let the tape sit a year and wait for the magnetism to reorient naturally. It hasn’t been used in 15 years. Now it needs work from sitting. It’s the same guy who says no compression because it’s not natural but wants it to sound like the radio. Hey Doug you know what they now call all those pops and clicks ? natures dither 😎
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Post by bgrotto on Dec 30, 2021 12:59:59 GMT -6
@soriantis I think you hammered that nail right on its little head. Who listens to this shit? Not many. How much does that pay to the artist? Almost nothing. I have some sympathy for the no-ballers, I don't think I would pay anyone as much as many are quoting here to record either. I guess that's how you end up with piles of gear, DIY skills, debt, and 20+ years of experience, same story here. I'm sort of curious, just for some anthropology... what is this theoretical person like that will pay you thousands of bucks to record a few songs? I don't think, in my personal life, I've ever met anyone like that. Yet people here seem to be getting regular clients. Maybe many of you are recording "successful" artists? People with big gigs, magazine reviews, and so on? Or well-to-do hobbyists with good day jobs? I record a pretty large cross-section of "types". Lots of local no-name stuff (that's the bread-and-butter) keeps the lights on. That also gets the word out to the occasional breakout artist, who comes in (or back in) for a 'proper' album with a real budget. It also ushers in local bigger names, both through word of mouth and via the network of other studio owners and engineers who help each other get gigs (these sorts of things have landed me names like Aerosmith and Ben Folds and the Rolling Stones on my CV, to drop some names). While these huge names aren't happening often, they do help get the word out some more, which sorta starts this cycle all over again and keeps me busy. That'll also grow into gigs with mid-level people (for me, this would include Weird Al, Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer, the Magnetic Fields, and so on). Serious professional acts that are well-known but aren't necessarily selling out stadium world tours. Meanwhile, this all adds up to inquiries from up-and-comers. For example, this past year or two, I've been finding myself making records with a number of famous Tik Tok stars. These are people who had a viral hit on that platform and end up signed and with a large label push behind them as a result (btw, this is a super common thing these days and sorta seems to be the direction our industry is trending). Last, but not least, to get more specific about the original point of the thread: I get some very serious songwriters (as opposed to *artists*) who want to break into the publishing field -- or are already working at a reasonably high level in it -- but lack the technical acumen (and/or network) themselves to produce a convincing demo. These people understand that spending a few thousand dollars on a song you can sell to a bigger artist for multiples of that -- before even getting into the royalties / back end stuff -- is a worthwhile investment risk. People who treat music-making like a job / business understand that they need to invest in their product and their marketing and sales, just like if they were making some physical widgets. I'd add that these types of people also have a higher success rate, because they're financially invested in the work and have much, much more riding on its success. This is a double-win for people like me: i get the financial benefit of working with higher-paying clients, and then i get the exposure benefit when those clients hustle their wares much more aggressively than the weekend warrior local bands. Phew, that's a lot. Haha. Hope it actually makes sense!!
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Post by Guitar on Dec 30, 2021 13:11:01 GMT -6
Anyone who thinks vinyl is superior, or even good, has never had to approve test pressings. Yeah, my A807 doesn’t sound like much of anything different, unless you let the tape sit a year and wait for the magnetism to reorient naturally. It hasn’t been used in 15 years. Now it needs work from sitting. It’s the same guy who says no compression because it’s not natural but wants it to sound like the radio. Hey Doug you know what they now call all those pops and clicks ? natures dither 😎 X-D Eric you're killing this thread!!
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Post by Guitar on Dec 30, 2021 13:18:10 GMT -6
bgrotto, Tbone81, gravesnumber9 thanks for the great replies! I guess I've always lived in small towns and/or sort of non-central music areas, that's probably part of it for me. Not necessarily being in the middle of it all. The town I'm in now has a bit of a music culture, I guess I could try to position myself more in the center of it. I should poll the local producers I'm friends with about rates and such, ask them the questions of this thread. Maybe get some info specific to this area.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 30, 2021 13:22:21 GMT -6
Austin for bands is like Nashville for writers or like L.A. for actors. Ever uber driver, every bartender, every ____ has a band they want you to go see. Even your CPA probably has a gig on Friday night with your ex-wife's lawyer playing drums. I'm barely exaggerating.
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Post by ericn on Dec 30, 2021 13:31:08 GMT -6
Austin for bands is like Nashville for writers or like L.A. for actors. Ever uber driver, every bartender, every ____ has a band they want you to go see. Even your CPA probably has a gig on Friday night with your ex-wife's lawyer playing drums. I'm barely exaggerating. I think we have gotten to a point of National saturation, I can’t go across the street sit down at the bar, log on to RGO without finding out the guy next to me is either a musician/ writer / producer or AE. This is in Kansas City! Lucky for me the staff knows me and likes to sic the audio pit bull on the pompous fresh meat. My bartender likes to tell the story of how much is audio my life? Even my old Pain DRs brother has a couple of Grammys 🤪
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Post by ericn on Dec 30, 2021 13:47:38 GMT -6
It’s the same guy who says no compression because it’s not natural but wants it to sound like the radio. Hey Doug you know what they now call all those pops and clicks ? natures dither 😎 X-D Eric you're killing this thread!! I have been dealing with ATT and the USPS for the last 3 days so I’m bitter, sarcastic and exhausted!
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Post by Guitar on Dec 30, 2021 13:49:04 GMT -6
X-D Eric you're killing this thread!! I have been dealing with ATT and the USPS for the last 3 days so I’m bitter, sarcastic and exhausted! ...and hilarious!! LOL, good on you.
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Post by christopher on Dec 30, 2021 13:52:09 GMT -6
Just to clarify my earlier quote of 40 hours… It’s something I realized long ago, before I ever did work for hire. And that was the quote I would offer people. Not a single person jumped on it, but the first client I did it for free so I could use it as an example. And well everyone loved that example, but I could not convince anyone that it was the 40hours labor that got it there! Every single person just thought they could do it with less. So then I just gave up and switched to hourly. FF a bunch of meh/ok projects, I get a client with experience who had me spend close to 60 hours on a song. I thought he was nuts that he was never happy, and kept going. But in the end, there it was, similar to my first project, a well done finished song. And then I’d show people that track and of course everyone wanted to sound that way! But again nobody wanted to spend the time to get it there, and refused to believe it takes time to get there.
FF again, and I started to realize, even the projects that were done in a day and came out great, could have come out better. And the ones done in 20 hours, not much different than the ones done in a day. It could be better. And what I always end up doing, it bothers me when I know things could be better, so of course I spend a little of my OWN time between sessions to fix things, experiment with different mixes, different approaches, etc. it’s like I can’t stop myself, lol. And when I’m being honest, I don’t feel like a song is done until I’ve turned every stone, tried different gear and approaches; tested different chains and elements, edited the timing to flow better, automated each verse/chorus/bridge, done the pop mix/indie mix/vintage mixes and FELT if the song is connecting. I work super fast.. but if I’m being honest, I still spend 40 hours mostly unpaid, whether it’s backing stuff up or editing and consolidating. Even if it was cut live in 30 minutes and already sounds great.
So anyway; I hope for now, finally 40 hours will be my quote for folks. I will adjust my hourly rate accordingly; I don’t mind working cheaply, but no more million hours for my own selfish personal reasons… my selfish personal reasons are actually for their benefit, even if I only make $5/hr I need to be realistic
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Post by keymod on Dec 30, 2021 13:56:57 GMT -6
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Post by ericn on Dec 30, 2021 14:04:39 GMT -6
Just to clarify my earlier quote of 40 hours… It’s something I realized long ago, before I ever did work for hire. And that was the quote I would offer people. Not a single person jumped on it, but the first client I did it for free so I could use it as an example. And well everyone loved that example, but I could not convince anyone that it was the 40hours labor that got it there! Every single person just thought they could do it with less. So then I just gave up and switched to hourly. FF a bunch of meh/ok projects, I get a client with experience who had me spend close to 60 hours on a song. I thought he was nuts that he was never happy, and kept going. But in the end, there it was, similar to my first project, a well done finished song. And then I’d show people that track and of course everyone wanted to sound that way! But again nobody wanted to spend the time to get it there, and refused to believe it takes time to get there. FF again, and I started to realize, even the projects that were done in a day and came out great, could have come out better. And the ones done in 20 hours, not much different than the ones done in a day. It could be better. And what I always end up doing, it bothers me when I know things could be better, so of course I spend a little of my OWN time between sessions to fix things, experiment with different mixes, different approaches, etc. it’s like I can’t stop myself, lol. And when I’m being honest, I don’t feel like a song is done until I’ve turned every stone, tried different gear and approaches; tested different chains and elements, edited the timing to flow better, automated each verse/chorus/bridge, done the pop mix/indie mix/vintage mixes and FELT if the song is connecting. I work super fast.. but if I’m being honest, I still spend 40 hours mostly unpaid, whether it’s backing stuff up or editing and consolidating. Even if it was cut live in 30 minutes and already sounds great. So anyway; I hope for now, finally 40 hours will be my quote for folks. I will adjust my hourly rate accordingly; I don’t mind working cheaply, but no more million hours for my own selfish personal reasons… my selfish personal reasons are actually for their benefit, even if I only make $5/hr I need to be realistic I have fallen into the off the clock to get it right trap all to often. I often think there is an advantage of not having a rig at home, if you have to actually go to the studio rather than walk down the hall you will probably bill the time. There is also the whole concept of how much noise is the client going to make about who they worked with. If you know the client is going to mention your name every time they play it for someone your going to invest more effort than the guy who is just going to call it his CD. I might need to call Mike Zirkel and ask how many y billed hours he put in on the Gomers Mike Zirkel!
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Post by christopher on Dec 30, 2021 14:29:15 GMT -6
So true re: space away from home and billed hours. I mean it’s awesome when the songs are fun, a lot of times I have my plan and mid way through the track I get hypnotized by the song and just start relaxing and enjoying it, rewind/play another 30 minutes go by wow, so cool! Look at the clock, 90 minutes already? What did I accomplish? Oh crap.. But it sounds sooo good, lemme hear it again real quick.. LOL… But I’ve stopped blaming myself, if im enjoying it for 3 hours instead of adjusting, that’s part of the billable process IMO. Im studying it, I’m living and breathing the song. Because when billed hours are over I’m still going to be listening in the car, earbuds, anyway.. part of process I guess...
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Post by EmRR on Dec 30, 2021 14:33:37 GMT -6
For me, actual pro’s pay the least because they know what they want and are prepared. They finish things fast and put them out on schedule. Those projects are over before you noticed they started. My most well known and best selling client has done multiple records under $2k; they know what the goal is and are ready. Sounds like the James Brown story, no?
The people who’ve always paid the most have been vanity and church projects. I’ve only ever had maybe 3-5 records cost more than $10k, and they’ve all been in this category.
Plenty of people fund records with Kickstarter/etc. Almost anyone doing anything remotely serious can raise $5-10K. I see some people around here raise $20-30k, pays for a nice studio, session musicians, a producer, mastering, and cd and vinyl runs.
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