Opening a Recording Studio

J

Jeroth

New member
Ok here the story......
I am currently in my last year of school, after that i am going to do the sound engineer course at university. When i have completed that, i am going to open my own recording studio(thats my career goal). I have done mobile DJing since i was 12, and been DJing with turntables for about 6 months, so i know a lot about music and setting up audio equipment. What i want to know is what stuff do i need for a proffesional recording studio, and would anyone be able to tell me or refer me to a site that explains what each piece of equipment does, or tells me what i want to know.

Thanks,
Jeroth
 
sorry

forgot to add something, i basically want to know stuff like, the mics have to go through a preamp and then into the main mixing console, do u guys know what i want to know. Sorry for such a complicated post.
 
BTW, im not asking for advice or brands, costs etc, just asking what stuff i will need, then im gonna go and research what it all does. Ive seen so many things in pics of peeps studios and want to start researching now. So im prepared when its shoppin time.
 
Jeroth said:
Ok here the story......
I am going to open my own recording studio...I have done mobile DJing since i was 12, ...so i know a lot about music and setting up audio equipment.... Thanks, Jeroth
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Do you know why restaurants have a high failure rate? Because restaurants are opened by people who know a lot about cooking, but nothing about managing a business.

If there is one thing you should know about owning your own business, it is this:

Don't even think about it unless you are prepared to lose everything and I mean EVERYTHING that you have.

Good luck.
 
whoah, calm down there man, im not rushing into anything here. Jus asking a question. The course im doin is about 2 - 3 years. Im just wanting to get a head start. I know i dont know anything about running a buisiness, im only 17! Still in school, and i know that im gonna be damn good at recording in MY studio that IM gonna START, and thats because of self confidence. I wasnt asking this question because i wanted to hear the most negative comment about how this might end, i asked it so i good get a positive start.
 
When I was 17 I never paid attention to good advice either.

If all you are looking for is positive feedback, you'll need a lot more than just good luck.
 
im not only looking for positive advice, its just that that was a very negative way of saying, starting a recording studio as a job is not as easy as it seams. I just really hate it when people say stuff in such a negative way that makes it seem impossible. But i dont get discouraged by stuff like that, when all my friends told me i would never be a mobile DJ, and thought it was a stupid dream, it blew right back in there faces when i was the DJ at the next school disco. The same thing happned when i was saving for my technics turntables. Anyway, maybe its a good thing that this always seems to happen. Thanks.
 
If your still in school, take some business management classes. Where do you plan to open the studio? Id say start collecting equipment that is universally used in a studio, a shopping list if you will. I would also start to reseach other studio's in the area and focus on maybe specializing in areas that they might be lacking as a service. I would also start networking with potential customers, but don't tell them your opening a studio in 3 years, wait until its closer to being a reality. Most places I know of started out small in a home somewhere to build experience and customer bases. Set your goals into play with planning ahead. If the Wright Brother can guild a plane in their bicycle shop and fly it, building a studio isn't far fetched at all. Determination is failure's worst enemy!

SoMm
 
Thanks

I am actually doing a subject called structured workplace learning this year, and also a buisiness management class. In the buisiness management were doin stuff like budgeting and the likes, and in the structured workplace learning we go out and do work experience(in our industry of choice)once a weak and also do buisiness management as an off the job course. I have contacted 2 recording studios in my area and they both said they would take me for work experience, so thats where im goin once a week for the next year!!!And because its work experience in the recording industry, it wont be stuff like makin coffee for the people who work there, ill be helping and mainly observing the way recording studios are run and how all the equipment is used.
Im really lookin foreward to it.
Thanks for the response!
 
Well, a good audio school is a good place to start. But as a graduate from one, I doubt you'd be ready to start up your own business. After graduating from there, you'd be well adviced to work for someone else for a while, at least a couple of years, just to gain some practicle experience. The school is going to give you a lot of theory, but little practicle experience.
Some business management classes are damn good advice too.

It is absolutely essential to develop a business plan too. I can almost guarantee you'll fail without one.

Then you're going to need some capital to start a business. Right now that initial investment is $100,000; bare minimum! By the time you're ready, I'd guess that figure will jump to about $150,000.

After a few years, if you do everything right, and you're very lucky, you MIGHT get away with charging $50 - $60 an hour, if you have really nice facilities, AND you're a very capable engineer.
Most studio owners seem to be able to book about 20 hours a week of studio time. After taxes you might net $30K a year from the studio.
Not a real great return for a $150,000 investment. Running a business IS MOST DEFINATELY all about a return on your investment. If you don't think it is, and have the attitude of well, its all about doing what you love to do, then I can almost guarantee that you wont succede as a profitable studio owner.
These may seem like harsh words, but I'm not going to sugar coat things, or paint you a pretty picture.
Its not the words that are harsh, its the reality that is.

It's a sizable investment of time and money and training and education.
Think long and hard about it.
$150,000 could put you through Law School!
 
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Read every thread on this forum for the next year and you should have a good handle on the basics. It's impossible to tell you what you what you need to know in this one thread. Like MJ said, you will need a lot of cash. Especially if the studio is going to be your source of income. Don't plan on breaking even for a few years if ever.

Get used to egos, negativity and cynical attitudes. There are 3 types of people in the entertainment business.

1. Young Know it Alls
2. Old pissed off used to Know it All's
3. the half of one percent who are financially successful

Anyone who has a studio and a healthy attitude doesn't rely on the studio for their income or they are in that last category.
 
Actually, I sort of side with the post that you thought was so negative.

What you can sell something for depends on supply and demand. There's an over-supply of recording studios in the market (most markets, anyway). Why? Because people think it's a cool thing to do. People have studios because it's fun to have one ... some of them started out just wanting to record themselves, then began recording other people because it's a combination of (a) interesting and (b) a source of a few extra dollars. It's very hard to make a living if you're competing against people who are just trying to make a few extra dollars. It's sort of like trying to make a living as a ski instructor.

On the other hand, there may well be an under-supply of remarkably good studios (depending on how you look at things, I suppose there's always an under-supply of remarkably good things ... if there weren't, they wouldn't be remarkably good).

Will you be able to start a remarkably good studio? Will your studio be better than 9 out of 10 existing studios? Why?

Don't underestimate how much money is "a living," and how much more it is than a few extra dollars. It depends on lifestyle (obviously), family and location. If you will be happy, at age 40, to have a college-student lifestyle, no family and live in a smaller city in the midwest or south (or somewhere else where housing etc. is cheap), a living might not be a lot more than a few extra dollars.

Edit: Okay, forget the part about the midwest or the south. The south of Australia would be the equivalent of the north? I don't know if there is such a thing as a midwest in Australia, either.
 
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Thanks for the replies.

Im glad i chose to do this buisiness management class at school, cos most of you guys mentioned it, and also, going for work experience in a studio(which i start doin in feb) will help a lot in maybe getting a part time job while im studying, although its proly not likely.
As for the amount of recording studios in Perth(City of Western Australia), there are quite a few, but there isnt a huge amount either, but the thing is how well you run the buisiness, because if i have a better recording studio, and i am better at recording than the other studios, people will come to me instead of them(obviously depending on the price diff, but mine will prolly be about the same +- ), so it is a competitive industry if your on par with everyone else, but there is a lot of money to be made if your better than everyone, which i belive i will be.
Anyway, ive started reading on th net and have started getting a knowledge base for all this stuff.
Thanks a lot for all the advice, anything else?

Edit: BTW, i didnt plan on starting up my own recording studio straight after Uni, i was going to get a job working for someone else, and then start my own buisines when i feel im ready to.
 
Let me commend you for having the initiative to follow a set goal.This quality is a lot less common than it used to be.
Now,this thread is fullof good advice.Even the ones with negative overtones provide very good advice.I don't know anything about running a studio,but I have a co-worker that could only keep his going by gaining full time employment elsewhere.
One thing to keep in mind,working for someone else initially will give you two big pluses. first ,it wil give you practical experience.Secondly,it will give you insight to the business side of the industry.Hope this helps..........:)
 
Thanks!
What im gonna do is that because im going to do work experience at this recording studio as part of a school subject, when im finnished im gonna ask if i can keep coming back(durung the school holidays) and observing(you can never learn too much) and in return ill do stuff like cleaning up, makin coffee, running errands and stuff like that. The good thing about going there is that its not only gonna count as work experience when i try to get into my course, but it will be in the same industry, so thats an added bonus, and the more hours i do, the more points i get(you are accepted into the course based on points for an interview, subject marks, work experience etc), and i need a lot of points cos they only accept 20 students each year into this course.
Well thanks again, all the responses have given me more confidence(especially the first one).
 
Jaroth,

It's good that you are still young enough to have goals and dreams. Everyone who has succeeded in the music business (in whatever capacity) started with hopes and dreams.

However, MJ provided a very clear idea of what you are facing. Be prepared to live a very frugal life style for several years (if you truly hope to support yourself by running a studio).

I must admit that I find it humorous that your are asking for what appears to be specific advice at this time. By your own posts you indicate that you have 2-3 years of "engineering classes" and then you plan to "work" for someone else. So you are likely 5-6 years from opening a studio -and given the wages you could earn "working" in some other studio as an assistant to the assistant engineer (ie: coffee boy) it will likely take longer than 5-6 years to come up with $100,000-$150,000 to finance a mid level studio. Perhaps it is a tad early to be asking for specific advice. Hell, 5-6 years from now all the gear we're useing will be junk and recording will be done by connecting a lightpipe to a brain stem and we'll "record" musical thoughts (rather than performance).

The advice to read the posts on this site was a good one. Obviously there are other fine sources of audio/engineering information. Hopefully your classes will provide you with good theory (although limited experiance).

Hold onto to your dream - but perhaps have a "Plan B"
 
Thanks, you can never start too early(thats what i think). BTW, i wasnt asking for specific advice, just the basic concept of how to set up a recording studio. Anyway, im prolly gonna try get a part time job in something to do with sound while im studying at uni, so that way, by the time im finished the course, ill have the knowledge, and some kind of experience in related fields. Thanks for all te advice everyone!
 
Re: Thanks for the replies.

Jeroth said:
so it is a competitive industry if your on par with everyone else, but there is a lot of money to be made if your better than everyone, which i belive i will be.
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That is half true. Yes it is competetive but even if you are the best then you are still lucky to break even. Studios are usually owned by Engineers who love it, rich guys who want to be a part of the action or larger companies that need the services and want to own their own equipment.

I doubt you could find 100 studios in the entire world that are making 'a lot of money'.
 
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