Charging

technominds

technominds

New member
So ive finally got my studio up to 'pro' standards, and was thinking what people actually charge for each service?

Every studio website seems to miss out prices and charges so im guess that apart from the very big studios who have very hefty set rates.. I dont know what the general charge is?

What do you charge? Let me know =]
 
Not sure about prices, but what do you mean by pro standards? You got all the acoustics sorted? What's your full gear list? Your recordings do sound good. Emm, where will you put a drum kit if needed? What happens if a band wanna record together?
 
pandamonk said:
Not sure about prices, but what do you mean by pro standards? You got all the acoustics sorted? What's your full gear list? Your recordings do sound good. Emm, where will you put a drum kit if needed? What happens if a band wanna record together?
Click to expand...

Just because its 'pro' standard, doesnt mean you have to record entire bands. Ive actually recorded in alot of pro studios that only work with pop artists and have no need for large recording spaces. Regardless, I can record entire bands in here as I have more than enough room for a kit in my main room.

As for acoustics, when mixing I pull out my 7 rockwool traps that I have made.. which are stored in my vocal booth and used in there when I record vocals.

My full list:

DAW:
Ethernet VSTi Linked PC's;
3.40ghz 2GB RAM DAW Towers X2
Echo Layla 16in/16out Soundcard
Waveterminal 8Out, 4 In Soundcard
Apple MacBookPro 2.16ghz Dual Core
Dual 17inch Dell Monitors
26" HD Video Display
15" Vocal Booth Display
Camera System In both rooms

Monitors:
Alesis MK2 Active Monitors
Fostex PM2 Active Monitors
Wharfedale Passive Mastering Monitors
12inch Prosound Loudspeakers
Elta 5.1 Surround Sound
ProLogic 5.1 Surround Sound
15inch Subwoofer

Pre-/Amplification:
Focusrite Platinum Penta Premium Preamp
Kustom 15Watt Guitar Amp
Marshall 50Watt Guitar Amp
Laney 70Watt Guitar Amp
Prosound 400Watt Amplifier
Prosound 400Watt Studio Amplifier


Mixing Desk / Outboard:
24 Channel 4 Bus MX2442a Mixing Desk
5 Channel Headphone Mixer
2x 8 Channel BCF2000 Motorized Fader Controller
Virtualizer Pro DSP Effects Unit
Marantz Single CD Player Unit
Marantz Twin Cassette Recorder
Behringer 48 Way Patchbay


Instruments:
Vintage Electric/Acoustic Guitar
Vantage Electric Guiatr
Les Paul Epiphone Electric Guitar
Promega3 88 Key Stage Grand Piano
Yamaha DJX MIDI Keyboard


Microphones:
Behringer B2 Pro Large Diaphram Condenser
Sure SM58 Dynamic Microphone
2x Audio Technica ATM33a Pencil Condensers
Sure c606 Dynamic Microphone
5 Unbranded Dynamic Microphones for extra use


Storage:
2x 250GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drives
80GB iPod
160GB appleTV Media Center


Acoustics:
Soffit Corner Mounts
Corner Bass Trap
5x 4inch 4x2 Rockwool Acoustic Panels

And considering I have every music plugin known to man (an uncle hands down his software from multi-licenced Virgin Studios).. hardware is just an added extra for me.

As you say, my recordings come out great; my clients pay for that great end product.. not high-end hardware.
 
technominds said:
Just because its 'pro' standard, doesnt mean you have to record entire bands. Ive actually recorded in alot of pro studios that only work with pop artists and have no need for large recording spaces. Regardless, I can record entire bands in here as I have more than enough room for a kit in my main room.

As for acoustics, when mixing I pull out my 7 rockwool traps that I have made.. which are stored in my vocal booth and used in there when I record vocals.

My full list:

DAW:
Ethernet VSTi Linked PC's;
3.40ghz 2GB RAM DAW Towers X2
Echo Layla 16in/16out Soundcard
Waveterminal 8Out, 4 In Soundcard
Apple MacBookPro 2.16ghz Dual Core
Dual 17inch Dell Monitors
26" HD Video Display
15" Vocal Booth Display
Camera System In both rooms

Monitors:
Alesis MK2 Active Monitors
Fostex PM2 Active Monitors
Wharfedale Passive Mastering Monitors
12inch Prosound Loudspeakers
Elta 5.1 Surround Sound
ProLogic 5.1 Surround Sound
15inch Subwoofer

Pre-/Amplification:
Focusrite Platinum Penta Premium Preamp
Kustom 15Watt Guitar Amp
Marshall 50Watt Guitar Amp
Laney 70Watt Guitar Amp
Prosound 400Watt Amplifier
Prosound 400Watt Studio Amplifier


Mixing Desk / Outboard:
24 Channel 4 Bus MX2442a Mixing Desk
5 Channel Headphone Mixer
2x 8 Channel BCF2000 Motorized Fader Controller
Virtualizer Pro DSP Effects Unit
Marantz Single CD Player Unit
Marantz Twin Cassette Recorder
Behringer 48 Way Patchbay


Instruments:
Vintage Electric/Acoustic Guitar
Vantage Electric Guiatr
Les Paul Epiphone Electric Guitar
Promega3 88 Key Stage Grand Piano
Yamaha DJX MIDI Keyboard


Microphones:
Behringer B2 Pro Large Diaphram Condenser
Sure SM58 Dynamic Microphone
2x Audio Technica ATM33a Pencil Condensers
Sure c606 Dynamic Microphone
5 Unbranded Dynamic Microphones for extra use


Storage:
2x 250GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drives
80GB iPod
160GB appleTV Media Center


Acoustics:
Soffit Corner Mounts
Corner Bass Trap
5x 4inch 4x2 Rockwool Acoustic Panels

And considering I have every music plugin known to man (an uncle hands down his software from multi-licenced Virgin Studios).. hardware is just an added extra for me.

As you say, my recordings come out great; my clients pay for that great end product.. not high-end hardware.
Click to expand...
Cool, sounds good. Never known your whole setup before. I agree with bingoman. Call local studios, and undercut them, haha.
 
I charge $35 per hour. That's both tracking the band and also any editing I do if the band is there or not. So far everyone has been happy. No complaints.
 
Track Rat said:
I charge $35 per hour. That's both tracking the band and also any editing I do if the band is there or not. So far everyone has been happy. No complaints.
Click to expand...

Thats very reasonable, especially with the US > UK currency. Youd be VERY lucky to find that over here!
 
One local studio is doing £12.50 p/h weekdays including engineer. Looking at your gear as say you've actually got a better set up though they are more geared to recording live bands.

The studio my band is planning on using for our next record has quoted us £480 for 4 days (inc. engineer). Most of the studios around here seem to be somewhere between these prices
 
shockingcandy said:
One local studio is doing £12.50 p/h weekdays including engineer. Looking at your gear as say you've actually got a better set up though they are more geared to recording live bands.

The studio my band is planning on using for our next record has quoted us £480 for 4 days (inc. engineer). Most of the studios around here seem to be somewhere between these prices
Click to expand...

Whoa, I guess its where I live. Prices in London are insane, ive paid over £2k for a studio with a vocal booth only! It was a week session with two engineers, pro tools rig.
 
technominds said:
Whoa, I guess its where I live. Prices in London are insane, ive paid over £2k for a studio with a vocal booth only! It was a week session with two engineers, pro tools rig.
Click to expand...

Haha yeah I've no doubt London is a lot more expensive than Notts. None of the studios we've looked at are Pro-Tools (oddly enough Logic seems to be the software of choice amongst the local budget shacks). I'm more interested in the size and quality of the live rooms plus analog consoles as this suits us more.
 
shockingcandy said:
Haha yeah I've no doubt London is a lot more expensive than Notts. None of the studios we've looked at are Pro-Tools (oddly enough Logic seems to be the software of choice amongst the local budget shacks). I'm more interested in the size and quality of the live rooms plus analog consoles as this suits us more.
Click to expand...

Dont get me wrong, if I had the room.. id be recording pretty much everything in. But as i dont, I offer a great solution... my software will make more realistic drums than your drummer, and my piano sample library combined with my promega will knock dead anyone who hasnt spent close to £50,000 on their piano!

Pro-tools is strangely everywhere in London, personally; im a Sonar on the PC man... even though im a complete apple fanboy, I just dont have the money on their continual upgrades and expensive alternatives. (Really angry right now at Apple after following the WWDC update at which Steve has RUINED the entire iPod lineup!)
 
technominds said:
my software will make more realistic drums than your drummer
Click to expand...

LOL that's a bold statement! Various setups fulfil differing requirements. For instance there's one local studio that is basically someone's garage and another based around a portastudio in an industrial unit. I've recorded bands in empty theatre auditoriums and last time we recorded in an antiques warehouse surrounded by 16th century furniture. Whatever works for a particular project really. I think the most important thing is to have the skills to get the best out whatever you've got
 
shockingcandy said:
LOL that's a bold statement! Various setups fulfil differing requirements. For instance there's one local studio that is basically someone's garage and another based around a portastudio in an industrial unit. I've recorded bands in empty theatre auditoriums and last time we recorded in an antiques warehouse surrounded by 16th century furniture. Whatever works for a particular project really. I think the most important thing is to have the skills to get the best out whatever you've got
Click to expand...

Couldnt agree more.

As for the drummer comment, the sample library's and programs I have can out-do any drummer I know, and alot faster! The technology is out there to produce extremely realistic drums.
 
technominds said:
Couldnt agree more.

As for the drummer comment, the sample library's and programs I have can out-do any drummer I know, and alot faster! The technology is out there to produce extremely realistic drums.
Click to expand...

I dunno, I've never heard any drum machine or computer get remotely close to the dynamics and feel of Brian Viglione's (Dresden Doll) playing. Drum machines have there uses and can sound really great but I guess I prefer the human
 
Hey, are you for real or trying to make everyone drool?

Charge what the market will allow. If you need more clients, charge a bit less. If you have too much clients, charge more. Might be best to start low ($100-200/day) just to get the word out. Once everyone starts talking about how great you sound, jack it up to $600/day or even $30-50 / half an hour. If everyone stops coming to you, well, you'll know what to do...
 
shockingcandy said:
I dunno, I've never heard any drum machine or computer get remotely close to the dynamics and feel of Brian Viglione's (Dresden Doll) playing. Drum machines have there uses and can sound really great but I guess I prefer the human
Click to expand...

We arent talking about preference though...
Multi-layered drum library's are sampled and put together from thousands of drums hits, you could probably even program in a realistic drum solo if you had the patience!
I think Pandamonk can agree with me as ive actually caught him out with a recording of mine, where after listening to the track he commented on great mic positioning and playing!
 
I dunno, some genres of music are good with drum machines, just like some genres of music are good autotuned and quantized. But I think it's ludicrous for some genres! Would you ever sequence a guitar solo? The fire and emotion you can put into physically manipulating something like a string on a guitar or the hammers of a piano...You can't quantize that!

Show me a crust punk song with fake drums that will have the same aesthetic as real ones and I'll be on your side brother.

Oh yeah, I charge $15/hr. When I feel I've stepped it up another level, after I get monitors and finish my room treatment, I'll probably get more bookings and if things stay well, I'm upping it to $20/hr. You really do need to look at your market first. In an area with a semi-active music scene like my little town and it's surroundings, down into Tampa...Me charging what I am vs. the average $50 an hour most project studios with half my equipment and experience do means I get business sometimes JUST because I'm cheap.
 
Last edited:
I'm opening my little studio in two weeks. GOnna charge 15 euro's, but hey...I record on tape, cassette tape that is. For me the money is just to pay for the rent of the (self built) recording space not for profit.
 
Bobby Darko said:
I'm opening my little studio in two weeks. GOnna charge 15 euro's, but hey...I record on tape, cassette tape that is. For me the money is just to pay for the rent of the (self built) recording space not for profit.
Click to expand...

What model o' Tascam is that? i have been looking for another multitrack machine and that looks the ticket. By the way I'm adding you on my space.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top