I've got the studio. I've got (some) talent. Where's the business!??

[acdctom92]

Is there a good way I can boost my business in anyway? I want to keep it to local bands just for now, but I'm not having much luck with bringing bands in. Any suggestions?

[china jam]

The blog on your page makes you sound like a right bastard. I'd start with rewording that. I mean, just this is really harsh and off-putting:

"Our equipment is not broken. It is not designed to make you sound bad. If the recording sounds bad, it's because the musician who played the recording was bad"

If I had as little and as low-end gear as you do, I probably wouldn't call myself a studio. So maybe you should just record people for free/for fun and build up a reputation where bands would trust a bloke with 7 mics to give them the sound that's in their heads.

What happens with live recording?

[DesertDawg]

Originally Posted by acdctom92

Is there a good way I can boost my business in anyway? I want to keep it to local bands just for now, but I'm not having much luck with bringing bands in. Any suggestions?

Are you having NO luck, or SOME luck? if it's some luck, then just keep plugging along & doing your best work, pass out some flyers at gigs to the bandmembers, stuff like that.

If it's NO luck so far, do a couple of freebie demos for a couple of bands... it's a win-win; they get a free recording for 3 or 4 songs, you get to showcase what you can do.

[Audio Hombre]

Originally Posted by china jam

The blog on your page makes you sound like a right bastard. I'd start with rewording that. I mean, just this is really harsh and off-putting:

"Our equipment is not broken. It is not designed to make you sound bad. If the recording sounds bad, it's because the musician who played the recording was bad"

If I had as little and as low-end gear as you do, I probably wouldn't call myself a studio. So maybe you should just record people for free/for fun and build up a reputation where bands would trust a bloke with 7 mics to give them the sound that's in their heads.

What happens with live recording?

very true. you gotz a very bare bones, lowend rig there. not too kosher coming off all hard like that in the blog. you need very thick skin,tact and a degree of social decorum to get 'er done in this biz.especially if you're an upstart.

at least even though you're hella lowend, you came up with the scratch to buy Nuendo 3.2 and WAVES Mercury!! lol ...

[MikeVYo]

Yeah man, I'd definetly reword a few things on your page. than search some new local bands in your area on myspace...send them messages simply just stating that you record, and for them to think about you when they decide to hit up a studio. Work some deals with a few bands...you can't expect to just get out there and start pulling in thousands of dollars.

Word of mouth is key....get a couple great sounding demos out there, and they'll come a knocking. A quality demo is your best promotion

[acdctom92]

That blog was JUST added last night. And, is gone now.

With that out of the way, what is a reasonable price I should offer? I realize my set-up is horribly barebones, and this is how I plan on bulking it up.

To answer the other question, I'm currently working with one band as of now, that I'm doing sickeningly cheap, because it is my first project. I was going to record their entire session (5 tracks) for free, but decided on a mere 25$.

This will hopefully get my recognition up a bit, and is also helping the band out, in which the guitarist happens to be a friend of mine.

[MikeVYo]

Pricing is a tough one...what are local sudios charging per hour? How is your quality in comparsion...maybe half the quality? than charge half the price...Start low, get a nice client base, get some more equipment, grow as an engineer and work up your price. Maybe charge a band by the album...give them a nice price and a reasonable time to do it. It will pay off in the long run. Work with some peoples budgets to get your studio in good graces and get a buzz going.

Just my 2 cents

[acdctom92]

Well there are some pretty big local studios around me (The Pilot Studio, Earth Audio) and they charge big bucks. I think the Pilot Studio charges 350$ a day, and he does incredible work. Earth Audio is 40$/hr, and they are just ok. But then there are local studios just like me who run a very small setup, and their quality and work is just above mine. One charges
25$/hr, or 150$/day, MySpace.com - Contagious Studios - MARLBORO, New Jersey - Other / Other / Other - www.myspace.com/contagiousstudios . Another one charges 25$/hr, MySpace.com - Animal Sound Studio - MARLBORO, US - Rock / Punk - www.myspace.com/animalsoundstudio.

[Sirocco]

Because nobody in new jersey has any money anymore. It is the hardest state to even live on the poverty line in. This might not be the whole problem, but I can speak from experience it is part of it. Oh yeah - and watch out for small jewish men with prying eyes - surprise - its waves!

[Bob Olhsson]

A band's future career is riding on every recording they release. Nobody in their right mind chooses an engineer based on anything but referrals and to a much lesser degree reputation. Even price plays a minor role because it's easy to completely waste money on somebody inexperienced.

The first step in building contacts and a reputation is working in a popular studio where lots of people can get to know you and know what you are capable of. If you can't get a job at such a studio, you can still bring bands in as a client.

[TheRealRoach]

Originally Posted by acdctom92

Is there a good way I can boost my business in anyway? I want to keep it to local bands just for now, but I'm not having much luck with bringing bands in. Any suggestions?

I'm guessing that you're looking for an opportunity to do some of your first recordings seeing as you currently have none posted on your myspace. Surely you must have some musician friends that are in bands? A lot of my first recording gigs were on the cheap: $400 bucks for a 5 song EP recorded and mixed with a case of beer hah. And there was a lot of stop and go, but I was pretty good friends with at least a couple of the guys in each of those early projects so it made things a little more relaxed. When you work with people that you've never met previous to recording them, their expectations are generally extremely high and the sessions end up more stressful than educational.

So the friends are the first place I would look. And friends of friends are the second place I would look, and the third place would be to get your ass out to some local shows and start networking with business-card in hand.

And the most important question to ask yourself is, "Why are musicians going to want to record with me instead of working at their own pace with their own home studio?" Is it because the atmosphere and vibe of the place is really relaxing and home-y? Is it because you have some cool instruments, keyboards, whatever, to use? Maybe you're just in a really convenient and hip part of town? Or maybe you inspire confidence in the players? At your price-point this is the hardest question to answer and all you can really do is work your hardest to make sure that you are giving the client a product that is many times better than what they could have done themselves.

[James Meeker]

Originally Posted by acdctom92

Is there a good way I can boost my business in anyway? I want to keep it to local bands just for now, but I'm not having much luck with bringing bands in. Any suggestions?

1.) 99% of other studios will have more/better gear and space than you do. You have more personal equipment (guitars/amps) than recording equipment--this does not bode well.

2.) No sound samples online.

3.) No discography/client list of who you've worked with.

4.) No information about your methods or approach, or anything "selling" your services. Entire site looks like you took five minutes to make. How do you expect someone to get excited about your studio when you can't? Right now your approach is "here I am--come record" but you don't give any reason WHY people should record with you.

5.) If you build it they WON'T come. Are you going out and meeting musicians at shows/gigs and bars? Are you actively promoting your site? What have you done to advertise yourself?

6.) The pictures of the studio are blah. Granted, there's not a lot to take pics of but....

7.) The Jersey/New York area has tons of GREAT studios and GREAT engineers. Competition is going to be extremely fierce.

My advice is do a few bands for FREE. Do their projects and get the word out. I'd say based on your equipment your asking price is maybe 5-10 bucks an hour maximum. Focus on the hip hop market--there are tons of guys already working in microscopic studios like yours.

If you want to be a studio, you need to invest at least 50 thousand more dollars on gear and building improvements, worry about building up a discography and client list, focus more on advertising and so forth.

In my old hometown I'd see about a dozen small studios like yours open up and about a dozen close/go out of biz every year. EVERY year. If you wanna be in this biz prepare to dedicate years of hard work and sacrifice to make it happen. Most people give up.

Starting a studio is tough. Prepare to work 24/7 on improving/promoting/recording. Good luck man! It wasn't easy when I started out either but it can be done.

[Disjointed]

ill assume with all that gear youre in a band or two as well..
thats a great way to get your name out there..

getting some great sounding mixes out there is another good step...

I also just opened a new studio disjointedrecords i have a small number of clients trickling in, but in the meantime im getting a lot of bands in here to record a song for free... throw them all together into a compilation, sell em for cheap, and get my name out there. I also have ads on some local musician sites, and in some zines...

and as with any new business, as a rule of thumb, you can expect an average of 2 years before you make any 'real' scratch

i dont think you need a ton of gear or $50k to get started... a lil bit of decent equipment, and especially a good ear .. a friend of mine books ppl constantly, he records with 57's, 58's and a lil peavey mixer.. but he gets a decent sound.. that is the key

gl

[acdctom92]

Thanks! I'm expecting to be rather slow as of right now. I am working with a friend's band and doing it very cheap. I'm just asking this question as to be prepared for when I am ready to really boost my business. That will be in time tho, I plan on getting some tracks up on the site, more equipment, getting my name out better. I wanna partner up with a friend in time. I don't expect to just build a studio in my garage and wham! have business pouring in. I'm just asking that if I do blow up, and business starts to get slow, just to be prepared on what to do.

[Infernal Device]

This is a very good example of why so many have problems. From your studio to big studios.

Look at the picture. Is that really a "Studio"?

You said your have some talent, but you were starting your first project.

These words mean *nothing* anymore...

studio
recording
talent
professional
producer
original
engineer
high-end
best

I would not use any of those words. All of them used to mean something, but now anyone can use them to describe themselves.

The words I am not hearing from all these places?

successful
profitable
booked solid
paid off

Best Buy in my town has a section called "home recording".

So make music, have fun, be creative. Just don't try to run a business. That is nothing but headaches and struggle.

If you can make money from your email machine, do it. Smile and buy something cool with the money. Make friends with that band.

If you want to do this for a living (and good luck with that...) go to one of those studios you talked about. Get ready for a struggle with that.

[gearaddict]

Originally Posted by Infernal Device

This is a very good example of why so many have problems. From your studio to big studios.

Look at the picture. Is that really a "Studio"?

You said your have some talent, but you were starting your first project.

These words mean *nothing* anymore...

studio
recording
talent
professional
producer
original
engineer
high-end
best

I would not use any of those words. All of them used to mean something, but now anyone can use them to describe themselves.

The words I am not hearing from all these places?

successful
profitable
booked solid
paid off

Best Buy in my town has a section called "home recording".

So make music, have fun, be creative. Just don't try to run a business. That is nothing but headaches and struggle.

If you can make money from your email machine, do it. Smile and buy something cool with the money. Make friends with that band.

If you want to do this for a living (and good luck with that...) go to one of those studios you talked about. Get ready for a struggle with that.

You are so right about what you say....Over the years I have watched as ENGINEER and PRODUCER went strait to hell as soon as people got there hands on a cracked version of fruity loops..made a beat with an 808 in it and WHALA there producers and engineers!!

[steveschizoid]

Originally Posted by Disjointed

i dont think you need a ton of gear or $50k to get started... a lil bit of decent equipment, and especially a good ear .. a friend of mine books ppl constantly, he records with 57's, 58's and a lil peavey mixer.. but he gets a decent sound

Care to post an example of that sound?

My experience has been that using cheap equipment is good for you in a character building sort of way, and it can certainly force you to get creative, but ultimately there is no way you can fake the sound of a good microphone, or a good pre, or a good compressor. And it's really difficult to mix (especially quickly) if you don't have a decent set of monitors and a room that isn't adding to the confusion. Everyone uses SM57's, but they sound way different through my GT pre's than through all the cheap stuff I used to have to use. Plus, SM57's are OK on certain sounds, but not for everything. They have a sonic signature, and I wouldn't want to hear it on too many tracks. $50K seems like a fairly realistic number, but you can get by with about $25K to get started - if you really know what you need. What you have to know is that, although you may have a perfectly fine set of ears, there are plenty of guys whose ears are top notch, and who also have the best equipment and much more experience. That's who the competition is. I don't mean to be discouraging, but it just doesn't help to be unrealistic.

[Mr.HOLMES]

Even I do not call my place a Studio.
Because it is not a studio even if I own some Neve preamps and a lot of hardware and plug ins etc.

I only offer my clients that I have a well treated mixing room.
For recording up to maximum demos in overdubbing no live recording is possible.
I do live recordings at studio that I hire at low night rates.

I also offer every client a 60 second rough test-mix because my clients list is not that impressive. I offer my clients to send them a compilation mix with different Bands I have worked together which I am sending not by E-mail as CD by POST.

Clients like this offer and 70% decides to work with me.

By the way I even would not call me an engineer because I know that having the Equipment and 6 years experience in recording and mixing is not a lot of experience.

I try to give my best and try to have happy customers in the end.
But having a home recording setup is not a STUDIO!!!!!
By the way you have to work on your skills as well as on your room treatment....avatar picture.....

You can improve skills every day that is what happens to me....

[Terminus Est]

I have a small home studio (or whatever you want to call it) and we're just finishing up our first project. Did it for free.

Over the next month I'll be recording two more bands (friends or friends of friends) - for free.

After that I'll be working on two more projects - one of them my own the other a friends. No money there either.

Even after all these projects to toss around, of which I'm sure I'll be quite happy with and will sound quite nice, I doubt I'll be asking for money any time soon.

I actually have a degree in the related fields of engineering (live and studio) . . . and I don't have any plans on making money off of it any time soon. Luckily I love the art of it. If you're looking to make some cash, I'd find a different path.

[noah330]

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't pay to record at a place that has

1- Gear that I could buy myself for 2-3k @ GC
2- No samples of work posted

[James Meeker]

On the upside once you figure out how to market yourself and have established yourself somewhat you can do very well. I booked 90 hours in 2 hours today, and have another 80 hours paid for and booked for the next 2 weeks. So I've got almost 200 hours to contend with in the next 4 weeks....

So it can be done. Hang in there.

[mr. torture]

I think it's great that there are people still willing to get a studio up and running. I have my own studio just to do my own stuff, but there are many times I kinda wished I went to a studio to have it done. Engineering is a whole lotta work and when you do everything Write, record, perform... It gets tiresome..

Just keep recording, take everything and anything out there and build a name for yourself. I wish you luck.

[jetglo]

I have been to a few expensive studios.. some are full of great equipment, nice floors and couches and someone that came into some money but doesn't know his equipment.. and then some expensive studios are truly great. But, typically if a studio IS good.. the people working there learned their craft bit by bit.. you know, they probably knew compressors before they knew converters.
What I mean is.. even if you have "low end gear", get to know it inside and out on bands/musicians who are on the same page.. that is, with bigger dreams than checking accounts and make the best damned records you can for nothing or trade services for gear if you're good enough, some versatile mic stands go a LONG WAY.. I even once had a guy do some work for me in exchange for a little shopping trip on my Guit-Center card.
Another idea.. sell some of your instrument/amp cache for known and respected equipment.. a nice condensor mic, a good pre etc.
Work step by step! Start with actual recording skills.. learn to use what you have to capture a great performance. Suppose you can get that.. and keep it raw (don't destructively edit/eq/compress), then get someone else to mix your wavs in a superior setup if yours is not up to it.. no shame there. It is still recorded at your place.. something to add to you calling card.
Even if you had $50K, it takes a while to get to know equipment vs. people vs. room. Start right where you are and go forward with honesty that you are just starting out.. and keep it comfortable. There is a niche.

[acdctom92]

Wow. Everyone's full of great information and advice!

[steveschizoid]

Originally Posted by jetglo

even if you have "low end gear", get to know it inside and out on bands/musicians who are on the same page.. that is, with bigger dreams than checking accounts

Good Advice! Most bands do begin this way.

Originally Posted by jetglo

then get someone else to mix your wavs in a superior setup if yours is not up to it.

I disagree. The best way to learn the consequences of tracking decisions, mic techniques/placement, how different mics and pre's sound in various situations, etc., is to be forced to get to know them very well as you try to clean up the mess you've made. Trust me. I am still learning - I spent 4-5 hours yesterday trying to fix one lame sounding guitar track that I let slide because the guitar player was in a hurry. I pretty much made it sound acceptable by using Ozone to multiband excite and phase shift upper harmonics and running the result out into my $2500 GTQ2 (for EQ) and my $2700 GTC2 (for somewhat radical compression) - a lot of trouble, but I did learn a new trick.

[Renegade Prod]

Have a look at my page

MySpace.com - Renegade Productions - CHECK IT OUT! - Brisbane / Gold Coast / Byron, AU - Metal / Thrash / Punk - www.myspace.com/renegadexproductions

Im 18, i have new projects every month, i use a lot of other studios apart from my own, depending on the situation, take advice from my page, anything else i will murder you.

- Tyse

[acdctom92]

Is that your studio? If so, how did you get the money for an SSL4000 AND Pro Tools HD system if you're only 18? And why do you top off pro tools HD and an SSL, with a behringer "tube" compressor?

[jetglo]

Steveschizoid says, "The best way to learn the consequences of tracking decisions, mic techniques/placement, how different mics and pre's sound in various situations, etc., is to be forced to get to know them very well as you try to clean up the mess you've made..."

Well... yeah that is very true.. trial and error ARE the greatest teachers.

[Shadow_7]

Not that I've looked at the site or gear list of your setup. But there's a whole starving college student collective that you can tap into. And a number of young ones(primary / secondary school) that need to record audition samples/CDs to make it into All-State Band and such. Plenty of Yuppy Dads wanting to give their kids a leg up. So if you know some studio musicians perhaps a good pianists / organists, and have a decent piano/organ, you can definitely tap into that market. With some contacts in the music education realm.

If you have a large enough space, you can get some larger ensembles, simply because other studios just aren't big enough to accommodate them. Trombone choir, Brass Quintet, Jazz Band. At a minimum you can take your small gear list on location and do location recording. Granted that you might need extra gear to facilitate that. And a watchfull eye for security concerns.

At the moment all I have is basic basic stuff. Korg MR-1000, Avenson STO-2's, Delta 44, DMP3, HP4, BX8's. But I'm confident that I can go out and record local brass bands, drumcorps, wind ensembles, and deliver acceptable, maybe even impressive results. Even though I have little more than two mics and two audio inputs. Granted that I got into the recording side to help improve my craft as a Brass Player. There are certain things as a brass player / musician that you can only become aware of by recording yourself with decent gear. Or paying a professional (private lessons) to tell you about, and otherwise trust/understand them.

I recorded a drumcorps out of town a couple weeks ago. And the results even impressed me. Maybe not my ultimate goal, but better than I thought it would sound. But then again I have intimate knowledge of this medium, and that gives me a leg up. And typically groups like this are used to hearing themselves recorded on boom boxes or laptops where the gain was too high and the recordings are otherwise distorted. And that's acceptable to most of them. So it's kind of hard to give them bad results with half decent equipment and a watchfull ear/eye.

[Mr.HOLMES]

Originally Posted by acdctom92

Is that your studio? If so, how did you get the money for an SSL4000 AND Pro Tools HD system if you're only 18? And why do you top off pro tools HD and an SSL, with a behringer "tube" compressor?

I think you do not have to take everything here at the forum for sworn on the bible

So to come back to your major question.
For sur you can make a little business for you out of it.
I have students they do great stuff with a cheap equipment.

The thing is you need to have one or two good references.
When I had this the rest was running like charm at my place.

Work for two or 3 Bands for nearly free. Or watch out for remix contests even if you do not win it, you have a nice mix you can show to your clients.

Make sure that they love what they hear.
Make sure for you taht it sounds good to you and to others non Band members.

Read Books and good forum articles about mixing and recording.
Thank god that he gives you the ability to separate the bla bla thereds from the serious ones.

Do not waste time!!! Work on your acoustic treatment.
Since my room is treated by a professional I mix two times faster as untreated. This is good because some Bands have not a lot of money.

To mix fast save Channel-Strip Settings.
After a year you see that you tend to use similar settings eg on base guitars etc... using such a setting is great you just re adjust it a little and you are faster with this too.