best cities to move to for engineers

[Marjan]

Originally Posted by bigdoghat

If you're talking about studios in Ireland, there are probably more in 10 blocks in NY than in the whole of Ireland!! I'm in L.A. now but am originally from the Emerald Isle. No matter how tenacious you plan to be, there's just no studio work there. Going over there with your own rig and courting musicians to record, that might be a different story. BUT, Dublin is expensive as S**T, and I mean, outrageous. You need a car pretty much anywhere in Ireland or it's a major pain and the cost of a car and car insurance alone is prohibitive - taxes are way higher on stuff like cars so it's a whole different ballgame. (Dublin has v good public transit systems but they don't cover all areas equally well)

PS If you're hell bent on Ireland, Galway city/County Galway in general would be the place to go for music. It's a cool city with a very lively arts scene. Regarding how much to live there though, I have no idea but it just can't be as bad as Dublin I'm thinking!

Thanks for the info.
I do play, that's a fact. I try to regard myself as a musician/composer who hasn't been able to turn down production work for the last few years. Not bad at all when recording is your day time job, ahh?
So gathering musicians to play with will always be part of the game wherever I live.

As for the 'recording industry' in Ireland... you certainly know your own country better than me.
However, lack of studios could mean there's a lot of projects to record... (no?)
I've witnessed a lot of good music comming from there for many years...

[bigdoghat]

Originally Posted by Marjan

Thanks for the info.
However, lack of studios could mean there's a lot of projects to record... (no?)

Maybe....I don't know about that end of it - I only know the looking for studio work end....There's definitely plenty of music coming out of there and definitely plenty of money flying around - whether the musicians have benefitted from the economic boom there in the last 10 years, I don't know. But I don't think it would be too hard to find out by spending a couple of weeks there and hooking up with the local scene...

[audiovisceral]

Originally Posted by hey_mavis

Sow how is Toronto? As compared to Montreal?

I saw a sticky about a studio in Poland that is looking for people, perhaps Poland is the place to be.

toronto's much bigger of course. including outlying areas it's quite endless. i love that about it. and mujch warmer than calgary, which is killer.

[picksail]

Originally Posted by AMIEL

Picksail ...Do not forget all the time that you need to stay in shape!!

Haha. It's been a very good year. And yes, I still work-out six days per week.

Somehow I manage to squeeze it in even if it's 3:00am.

[picksail]

Originally Posted by lozion

Hey Stu! Happy to read you're swamped with work! thumbsup

Thanks so much. I am truly blessed.

When you comin' back down to visit?

[Frost]

Originally Posted by octatonic

Narnia.

Thats the name of my company... Narnia Productions. I have work for live engineers but barely enough recording work for me, so no gigs here.

Frost
Owner, Narnia Productions

[lozion]

Originally Posted by picksail

When you comin' back down to visit?

Would love to! Summers are crazy here but maybe after...
Are you still partners with B-Magikal?

[Sean Sullivan]

It seems to me it would be smart to open a studio in a mid-sized city (being from Ohio, Cincinnati comes to mind) and opening a good room for tracking bands and probably some commercial/radio gigs. Anywhere there are people, there are musicians and bands.

[picksail]

Originally Posted by lozion

Would love to! Summers are crazy here but maybe after...
Are you still partners with B-Magikal?

I here ya. Yeah, B-Magical and I are still in it to win it.

He and I just finished a ten month long album. I think I posted one of the songs on my Myspace page. I believe it's the second song-the country/pop diddy!

We both have our own things going, but occasionally get to work together.

[Marjan]

Originally Posted by bigdoghat

Maybe....I don't know about that end of it - I only know the looking for studio work end....There's definitely plenty of music coming out of there and definitely plenty of money flying around - whether the musicians have benefitted from the economic boom there in the last 10 years, I don't know. But I don't think it would be too hard to find out by spending a couple of weeks there and hooking up with the local scene...

It wouldn't...

I can't complain myself for now as far as studio work goes.
Future will tell... thumbsup

[LeMauce]

Btw about paris. In the winter/spring there is ALOT of studio work to do. Bands want to record and master there cd/single's/demo's before the summer start. Why, because every 2days here in the summer there is a openair/hall concert going on. So in the summer you go live and also record the live gig and go back to the studio to cleanup the live record. And well in the winter, do your proper studio recording. I think i had 5weeks no work/stuff going on... in 3 years time that i live here.
Only drawback here in paris. Going out for a drink is quit expencive, but the pretty lady's make it all good

[lozion]

Originally Posted by LeMauce

Btw about paris. In the winter/spring there is ALOT of studio work to do. Bands want to record and master there cd/single's/demo's before the summer start. Why, because every 2days here in the summer there is a openair/hall concert going on. So in the summer you go live and also record the live gig and go back to the studio to cleanup the live record. And well in the winter, do your proper studio recording. I think i had 5weeks no work/stuff going on... in 3 years time that i live here.
Only drawback here in paris. Going out for a drink is quit expencive, but the pretty lady's make it all good

And you managed to buy a flat near Sacré-Coeur after doing studio work for 3 years... Pas mal du tout mon vieux! Tiens-moi au courant si votre studio a besoin d'un freelancer, Paris me manque!

[lozion]

Originally Posted by picksail

I here ya. Yeah, B-Magical and I are still in it to win it.

He and I just finished a ten month long album. I think I posted one of the songs on my Myspace page. I believe it's the second song-the country/pop diddy!

We both have our own things going, but occasionally get to work together.

Cool, the track sounds real good, country with a modern rock feel and tone...

I've just finished mixing tracks for local funk band Papagroove, check out the 1st one on my page...

[Tom H]

Originally Posted by lozion

Yes, do we have Amsterdam members who could share?

From where I live it is a 20 minute drive to the city and obviously, this weekend Amsterdam is the place to be!

Aside from the fun you can have around here the music scene in the Netherlands is actually pretty cool all though there seems to be a trend for artists to go to the states to record albums. The reverse thing has happened too, bands coming to Amsterdam to record.

I truly believe though that location becomes less and less important nowadays, if you can offer something unique the people will come to you.

[Mushy]

Originally Posted by lozion

that bad? What about the NY hustle... gone?

Nobody's making records in NYC anymore. Just a lot of crap indie bands making EPs in Brooklyn.

[Ricey]

i would say to find a city you love, and make it work for you. i love São Paulo! so when there's a dry spell i'm not cursing my surroundings.

[bigdoghat]

Originally Posted by LeMauce

I moved out to Paris. Frickin awesomem alot of nice live-concerthalls, Opera and alot of gigs in bars. Good paychecks, good food, good healtcare (almost free, even if you have no insurence and that is already cheap), just bought my own appartment next to the Sacre Coeur in the heart of Paris and we have really good studio's over here. And and and London is just around the corner by the fast TGV/Eurostar train just 2 and a half hours for less then 100euro up/down.
I will stay here for a while thumbsup

Are you a fluent French speaker? I've been thinking about France but my French is not fluent

[roostert]

Originally Posted by BlueSprocket

Truely some great advice. And I'm glad to hear you're doing well in Nashville. I guess after re-reading my posts I came off as sounding a little down on the place as a "working town". The town was great to me, and my career. My comment about "working for peanuts", was a slight over-exageration. I had just finished talking to yet another person who wanted something for nothing, so I think I was venting. If you're good at what you do, and are smart about it, you will do well almost anywhere.

I was mostly trying to stress that moving to a town just because of the promise of more work isn't always a great justification to move. By the time I left Nashville I was doing very well for myself, but I missed the mountains of VA. So back to VA I went. There is nothing quite like sitting on top of a mountain on a sunday morning looking out over endless miles of the most beautiful countryside you've ever seen. I will echo roosterts point...Go where you want to be.

My wife's from Luray. Her grandadddy lives at the foothills of the Blueridge. It is truly spectacular. Someday we might even retire there. We visit Harrisonburg every time we're there, because it is the closest town with any shopping/restaurants!

Want you to know that I think everyone should work where they are comfortable. For now, I've found my home in Nashville, and I hope others will at least visit our wonderful city. It is truly an amazing music community. Just cut 11 songs today in 2 sessions.....A list players. Where else can the demo beat the record? It often can and does here. I'm in awe every time I track!

[heisleyamor]

If you're good, anywhere. If you're not, they will record themselves because "everybody records now".

[3rd&4thT]

Have you checked the Craigslist classifieds for studios in different cities? They all wind up "$10 an hour, your toilet or mine." You better be good, because someone will always beat you on price.

Paris seems to be the best bet so far. But those clammy, bone-chilling winters can be as demoralizing as Canada's. The food's better, though.

Sooner or later these threads always recommend bagging studio work and doing live sound instead. That's one thing the MF's can't do with Behringers in their basement.

3rd&4thT

[te-problematique]

hey guys, this information is awesome, thanks!

Just to give some background to my question, I'm about to graduate from univeristy here in Dunedin, New Zealand with a music degree...I've also got a bunch of live sound and a couple of albums engineered and one (soon two) produced in my name....I also have experience working with live location recording...and i know that none of this means squat really....I'm planning on travelling a bit next year just ot get a feel for a bunch of places to see if there's anywhere i'd like to live/work, perhaps play gat on curise ships for 6 months for a bit of a post-uni working holiday

So my question to all of you is: Where do you recommend, as someone who's geographically disadvantaged (well in terms of business loaction anyway, nz is pretty awesome in other regards) to look at go? any advice for how to get music business/producing/engineering jobs? I'm quite interested in working in the biz as well (i have a business degree and think that PR/ A&R/ marketing could be fun, would it?)

I appreciate this could be off topic, and just reading what you guys have said already has been really informative!

Or should i just get a regular marketing job and try and be a muso part time? (Not a huge fan of this option, but you guys know far better than I do in terms of job market)

[bigdoghat]

Originally Posted by te-problematique

So my question to all of you is: Where do you recommend, as someone who's geographically disadvantaged (well in terms of business loaction anyway, nz is pretty awesome in other regards) to look at go? any advice for how to get music business/producing/engineering jobs? I'm quite interested in working in the biz as well (i have a business degree and think that PR/ A&R/ marketing could be fun, would it?)

Try this guy - he's an American living in New Zealand - he has loads of great music software demos on youtube and he seems really cool, he's very bright and wildly creative and from listening to several of his tutorials, I reckon he's very approachable - I bet he could give you some insight
YouTube - AcePincter's Channel

[BlueSprocket]

Originally Posted by roostert

My wife's from Luray. Her grandadddy lives at the foothills of the Blueridge. It is truly spectacular. Someday we might even retire there. We visit Harrisonburg every time we're there, because it is the closest town with any shopping/restaurants!

Want you to know that I think everyone should work where they are comfortable. For now, I've found my home in Nashville, and I hope others will at least visit our wonderful city. It is truly an amazing music community. Just cut 11 songs today in 2 sessions.....A list players. Where else can the demo beat the record? It often can and does here. I'm in awe every time I track!

Its definitely a treat to watch some of Nashville's finest go to work after hitting record. I still get tingles when I listen to some of the projects I was on down there.

If you're ever find yourself in the neighborhood, feel free to drop a line. There aren't quite as many producers/engineers here, but those of us who are here enjoy our little community. Harrisonburg is expanding at an increasing rate, with restaurants, shopping, and things to do. And the music scene in Charlottesville (45-55 minutes away) has always managed to produce some of the best players in the country. Many of those players work in Nashville on a regular basis. So its not an awful place to be.

Heres to being where you want to be, and I hope that life continues to be good to you!

[te-problematique]

cheers bigdoghat, will do, yeah he seems like a very interesting guy!

[lozion]

bump