How's Things!??

[Mike Tholen]

I'm busier than I've ever been!
I've gotten about 3 hours a day of drunken sleep for the past 2 months...
I'm going nucking futs...I can't complain though.
I've been doing ALOT of 5.1 tracking/mixing Orchestras and incorporating them into HEAVY rock.
It's been a hell of a learning experience to say the least.

[Jules]

Quiet on the paid producer job front. Unless I have newly developed severe halitosis that means - it's rather bleak out there or folks are broke..managers, bands, small lables. Or everyone is getting work done on living room DAW set ups...But...it's hard to track drums in your living room!

Cheap deals to engineer / producer friends trickle in.. again ...it's hard to track drums in your living room!

Hire biz ticks along..

Spec deal work is going well I feel... industry insiders say I am 'on to something" with the last 3 acts I have signed up...I am nearing completion of the 3rd. I take AS LONG AS I DAMN WELL PLEASE on them!

I plan to expand, to reach out further to the home DAW engineers I know, and create an expanded live band tracking space that doubles as a 2nd studio. Track n go I call it. Get the sh!t down, then take it home. Fine with me!

[e-cue]

Yeah, it's been pretty damn depressing. I've been fortunate, but a lot of studios in LA seem to be sweatin' bullets. Miami seems to be busy as ever.

[Jack Ruston]

January was dead...February was better, and it looks as if March is going to be busy. I always slightly get the fear in January. I think 'you're a fraud and you're effing useless, and now everyone else has finally noticed and you're going to die poor'. Of course the dying poor is pretty much a given in our industry. That much remains constant, but the rest usually gets disproved by February, with any luck.

Jack

[subspace]

Originally posted by Jules
I plan to expand, to reach out further to the home DAW engineers I know, and create an expanded live band tracking space that doubles as a 2nd studio. Track n go I call it. Get the sh!t down, then take it home. Fine with me!

Perhaps we should start a franchise! You know, "call 1-800-trackngo to find the location nearest you."
The after Christmas slump has gotten longer these past two years, and I don't think I'm alone. I've had two engineers come in this week looking for a room to work out of, but with no projects in hand. They both have their own DAWs with some outboard/mics/ monitors, but lack a serious space to bring bands into. Both used to run their own studios before re-locating here as well. Yikes. I'll have to come up with a rate for them if they get any work to materialize.
I'm starting to get pushed into a mastering role by a lot of clients who record themselves. They can't afford to record everything here, but they want me to help bring the sonics up before duplication. Hardly ideal. I've always followed the "don't trust a mastering engineer without a lathe" credo, and here I am considering a duplication/ printing set-up to bring in more short run "pre-mastering" jobs. Ah well, it's all about meeting market demand I suppose, and it's shrinking for start-to-finish in studio productions...

[vodka gimli]

Too busy to officially open, fortunately!

Having amicably lost three partners and acquired one, the pie is now 50-50 instead of 25....much better for me. He brought with him an existing group of writers from his "spare room home studio" to my downtown office space studio...as well as some people who shied away from the "home studio" visage.

He also brought some nice gear: 02R v.2...Tascam MX-2424...dbx 160SL...several pres and a bunch of cool mics. We bought a friend's computer that was loaded with audio software, and found a guy to sell us a tower with two 18gig Seagate drives and a Travan tape drive for $350.

Just finished a six-song demo session for a publisher that secured us the gig as their choice for future demos. Their business alone will pay ALL of our monthly bills.

The studio band we put together was great and they have agreed to do all future projects for that publisher. Stability and familiarity is a plus, and that helped swing the deal, I'm sure.

Also, as I suspected, the "vibe" of the studio is what everyone - writers, producers, publishers, musicians commented on. I think it is VERY important in this business, as has been proven on other threads. Plenty of bottled water, Starbucks coffee, chocolate and cool guitars hung on pegs throughout the palce give it a comfy feel. People seem to like it.

VG

[Jay Kahrs]

November-January was solid. February sucked, March is looking a little better. I've got a bunch of people talking to me about good size projects but so far nothing's come through yet. Everyone's waiting on funding or whatever.

[cajonezzz]

Well, we've been building since dec 15th. I'm looking for a mid march opening but the jury is still out as to final gear purchases.

We've got 3 full album projects (local stuff, but good quality) and a smattering of little stuff that are lieing in wait for the new room.

Gigs (live ) are really slow. The corporate work for me has been cut to half of the previous 6 years numbers.

keyword: deversify

[Messiah]

Originally posted by cajonezzz
keyword: deversify

Or maybe :consult. (As in spellcheck/dictionary.)







Sorry to be a smartass.

[Messiah]

FWIW, I'm pretty much ditto what Jay said except January consisted more of getting paid from Sept-Dec jobs (as usual....).