Studio Building - Is it worth it?

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sjaguar13

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I have a half finished studio in my garage. My friend and I were recording, but we decided to go our own ways. I went out and bought the stuff I needed to record everything myself. My brother was in a band, so he was helping me with the studio. When we got done, I was going to record his band. They ended up breaking up last week. Now, I don't know if I should continue the studio, record everything on location, or give up on recording completely. I might want to record some of my own stuff, but I don't play in band anymore either. Would it be worth the trouble of getting my garage to sound good? I would like to record local bands, but when my friend and I did it, we just went to where they practiced. I hated moving all my equipment, but we only recorded a handful of bands. Most of which we did for free. The cheapest studio in our area charges $55 per hour and is getting bad reviews. I'm fairly certain I could record for less than that. I have a website up, but haven't promoted it a whole lot. I did go to a battle of the bands and handed out stickers. A local music site is going to let me email all their bands (about 500) about the stuff I do, so I might be getting a couple band interested in recording.

Think I should finish the studio? All the studs are up and one room (control room) has been dry walled. I have to dry wall and put up foam in the vocal booth, and do some kind of acoustic treatment to the live room. I also have to cut the places for windows.
 
If you're looking at this like a traditional business (invest money in short-term, make profit in the long-term), you could probably find better business opportunities.

If making music is part of your blood stream, and the infection can't be defeated, you will satisfy a certain artistic drive by completing your studio construction. This drive probably won't be satisfied if you don't proceed. Take comfort in the fact that if you take this approach, you will see bands come and go, but bands will usually find a way to you.
 
I'm not really trying to get rich off my studio, but I don't want to loose thousands either. I already have most of the equipment I need (mics, Aardvark Q10, software). My original idea was to help poor bands get a recording. The local radio stations have all started playing local bands. I thought I could go cheap and record for about $10 an hour or something. Even though I don't play in a band, I still practice everyday. I would like to record some of my stuff, but I don't need a studio to do that.

My brother said he would help record bands, but since his band is gone, I'm a little worried I won't be recording anybody. I have taken classes on marketing, and from what I found out, I suck at marketing to people on a specific area. I'm in a crappy little town in Ohio. The good part about that is, there is hardly any recording studios close.

I need 3 windows, dry wall, insullation, and some lights. I suspect I could actually finish it this summer, but unlike my equipment, I am stuck with it. I can't put it on eBay if I decide I don't want to do it anymore.
 
Canton. How are the studios in Columbus? Do you have your own?
 
there are a lot of studios in columbus, but I have the same situation as you. Cheapest is $50. There is one guy who records bands at my high school, for $10 an hour, but he doesnt even have a studio. Just a one room unfinished basement with a sm-58 and a fostex mr-8. And some carpet on the walls. I have a far better set up, but I havent marketed it yet. IM not sure if i want to open my studio to the public.

these pics were from recording in canton. www.Relientk.com for the band site. Cant say i like them, but my bro is in it. Anyway, i dont know what they paid, because they paid for the album in full, but i doubt anyone would charge $50 for that. Its not even treated!!!
 

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They came from Columbus to Canton to record? I think I could offer bands a better value for their money, but I still don't know if I should go ahead with the studio. Plus, it's in my parents garage. I am looking at some apartments right now. They are only an hour away, but it's not like I will have the studio right in my basement. I would probably only be home on the weekends a couple times a month.
 
whos to say what your thought will be 6 months to a year from now....after my last band broke up....i stopped booking, playing in bands and going to see bands all together.....that lasted about 5 months and now I'm back at it again and this time i built a small bedroom studio. putting thousands into it is one thing. but sitting there recording your own stuff in a quality made setting for free is priceless........well it wasnt really free....but I'm sure when your done with it and you've recorded and mixed a bit and then you look around....you'll forget how much you put into it financially and remember what you put into it emotionally and physically. i put about 3k into mine and i dont think about the cost until someone asks me how much it cost to do it. i mainly get asked "how did you do that?", "can you make my voice do this?" and lately it almost seems like the out-takes are more valueble than the song. people want to hear their out-takes over and over.
 
Hey notbradsohner,

Seriously, you brother is in relient K. They rock. I saw them on the Festival Condios Tour. Thats crazy man Pretty Cool. Yeah they got signed by gotee records that got started by the Guys from DC talk. Hey you all should check out their stuff. There pretty cool. Just my 2 cents. You can give me my change if you would like.

Stockton
 
finish what you started!!!

definitely finish the project, man. music can have massive off-seasons. mine lasted 2 years. there's some cool little home projects started up recently in my town that are working well for the local music scene.

depending on the size of the town, you'll get word around soon enough once you've recorded a few bands. the studio i'm thinking about doesn't charge much. they even do jobs for free every now and then. basically they're just one of the focus points in a large obscure network of musicians here. even just going to the place there's always someone hanging around whom you haven't met before.

they got a good vibe going on and their reputation is growing.

you get something like this going man, and you'll probably find yourself in a band before you know it! (if you wanna be, that is). you could do session work for people who need it. when you got a studio everyone's gonna want a piece of it :)

so let the good times roll!!!

g
 
Yeah, but the only thing that kinda sucks about it is that it was started in my parents' garage. I am looking to move out to an apartment that's about an hour away, so I won't be hanging out there all the time myself. Also, I like metal, and my parents don't. They really don't want a lot of metal heads hanging out in the garage.
 
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