Getting Work

[rayne]

I have a comfortable little recording studio in Orlando FL, and I have been recording for about 5 yrs. I started recording with my band, and as soon as people started to hear the demos, I was getting some calls. My name was passed around by word of mouth and I started to record a variety of groups and acts.

How can I get more work? I want to quit my day job and record all day. I love it, it makes me happy, and it makes me good money when I do it. Should I put up flyers down town, or go seek out bands and groups? Any ideas that have worked for you would be really helpful.

[Audio1420]

What do you charge??? How do your Mixes sound??? What kinda gear do you have??? Just Curious...

[NathanEldred]

In central Florida? There is no pattern or formula for getting business. It's completely random, and even when bands hype you to other bands, it won't always happen (possibly due to finances, or they just break up...the turnover rate for bands in this area is like a fast food restaurant). The three most important things to an unsigned local band 1) Cost 2) Location 3)Bling factor of studio (i.e. square footage being most important factor here). Great sound and gear are usually further down on the list. I've been doing this commercially for close to 12 years FWIW.

[rayne]

Originally Posted by Audio1420

What do you charge??? How do your Mixes sound??? What kinda gear do you have??? Just Curious...

i charge $20-$75/hr depending on how many times i have worked with the artist.
if i do an entire album, i charge by the song. anywhere from $250-$1000/song.

i do a lot of vocal groups, where it is completely a cappella, even the drums and bass are vocal.

the gear is protools mix, 888/24, avalon 2022 pre, and ksm 32, rosetta a/d. i have some other gear and mics, but that is what i use mainly.

if you want to hear some stuff i have done recently, go to itunes and listen to "unstoppable" by the band 4:2:Five. (all a cappella)

[djui5]

I'd recommend getting out of Orlando. It's crawling with Full Sail grads that have studios similar to your in their apartments....insane amounts of them.

[picksail]

Originally Posted by djui5

I'd recommend getting out of Orlando.

And I just recommend getting out of Orlando. (period)

The Cellophane City

Orlando: Where the only culture that exists is celebrating the birth of a fictitious cartoon character.

[AcousTronic]

Originally Posted by djui5

I'd recommend getting out of Orlando. It's crawling with Full Sail grads that have studios similar to your in their apartments....insane amounts of them.

Because Full Sail is in Orlando, doesn't mean full Sail grads stay there after completing the courses. I have 3 friends that went to Full Sail. None of which were from Orlando, and none of which are currently in Orlando. All 3 are still in the biz in various parts of the world.

[JonCraig]

Originally Posted by AcousTronic

I have 3 friends that went to Full Sail... none of which are currently in Orlando.

but how many of their 3,000 classmates are still there? randy's point is a good one. (and so it stewart's, for that matter, )

--jon

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by picksail

And I just recommend getting out of Orlando. (period)

The Cellophane City

Orlando: Where the only culture that exists is celebrating the birth of a fictitious cartoon character.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Man, Florida can be a scary place...it's like a never ending high school, filled with newlyweds & nearly deads. Great place to visit once in a while and I'm sure it's probably a great place to live but it's not at the top of my hit-list.

Man, if you can get $50-75 an hour and stay booked at least 15-20 days a month then there's no reason that you shouldn't be able to make a studio work unless you have crazy overhead or expensive habits of some kind. You'll never get rich from it, but you'll be able to make a living. I ran my shop in north NJ for a long time before I finally decided to pack it in for numerous reasons. It never really made money...but it always broke even, covered my expenses and believe me I felt like one of the lucky ones. I saw a ton of places that came in went inside of two years and they usually advertised constantly, I never advertised...all word of mouth and a couple of industry listings.

[JonCraig]

Originally Posted by Jay Kahrs

Man, if you can get $50-75 an hour and stay booked at least 15-20 days a month...

geezus! i'd feel like a friggin millionaire if i got that kind of dough. 'course, i'm not paying overhead on a studio, either...

--jon