what should I charge.
- Thread starter trax
- Start date
trax said:
If I were you, like I say, I wouldn't look at it as a way to make money at this point. The $100 would basically go towards more and better equipment. Take the session as a learning experience...as long as it may take. In the end, you'll learn more and the people you're recording for would be more likely to come back to YOU next time. Maybe next time around you'll have more to offer and also could ask for more $$$
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
Trax, they're busting your balls because you are in no way ready to charge anything for recording. You should thank anybody who lets you use them for a guinea pig just for the practice. Listen, I've got about $5000 bucks worth of mics, a $2000 digital recorder, $4000 worth of preamps, $6000 worth of guitars, and $5000 or so in assorted cables, power conditioners, stands, shock mounts, FX, compressors, guitar amp modelers, headphone amps, headphones, room conditioning, monitors, etc., etc., and I wouldn't dream of setting myself up as a commercial studio. Why? because I'm an honest man. What you've asked, in effect is," I have a first aid kit and no clue, what should I charge for brain surgery?" Hell, I've got the whole operating room here, and that doesn't make me a brain surgeon!
I give studio time away for free just for the practice, and if I stick with it, someday I might be able to call myself a recording engineer without lying. After $20,000 or so of gear, and 18 months tracking and mixing, I'm comfortable calling myself a tracking engineering assistant. Commercial recording is a profession, like being a lawyer or a doctor. It requires time, work, and patience. Don't give up, just look at the path instead of the destination. Instead of asking how much you should charge to do something you don't have the gear, the experience, or the knowledge base to do yet, you should be asking how you can learn to be a recording engineer and build a studio that gives you the tools you need to become a professional. Stick around, it's worth the wait.-Richie
I give studio time away for free just for the practice, and if I stick with it, someday I might be able to call myself a recording engineer without lying. After $20,000 or so of gear, and 18 months tracking and mixing, I'm comfortable calling myself a tracking engineering assistant. Commercial recording is a profession, like being a lawyer or a doctor. It requires time, work, and patience. Don't give up, just look at the path instead of the destination. Instead of asking how much you should charge to do something you don't have the gear, the experience, or the knowledge base to do yet, you should be asking how you can learn to be a recording engineer and build a studio that gives you the tools you need to become a professional. Stick around, it's worth the wait.-Richie
How much to charge ? ?
I'm new to this site also and this whole topic and it's responces have me gasping for air laughing ! ! But in all seriousness Trax......... LISTEN TO RICHARD ! ! ! I myself have been working on my studio and it's arsenal for 15 years and am still at the "gathering experience " stage even with an Otari 40 frame Concept 1. You hang in there and in years down the road you'll be glad you did. As for you other "posters"........ have you forgotten back when you didn't know "JACK" either ? ? ?
I'm new to this site also and this whole topic and it's responces have me gasping for air laughing ! ! But in all seriousness Trax......... LISTEN TO RICHARD ! ! ! I myself have been working on my studio and it's arsenal for 15 years and am still at the "gathering experience " stage even with an Otari 40 frame Concept 1. You hang in there and in years down the road you'll be glad you did. As for you other "posters"........ have you forgotten back when you didn't know "JACK" either ? ? ?
applesmasher
New member
you can probably make those scary sounds halloween tapes and try to sell them.
Bass Master "K"
New member
Here is the advice I would give you:
Get what you can for your services, but be real about it.
While you got some ribbing here, you also got some very good advice. You shouldn't realistically be thinking about how much to charge people with the gear you have. Someone mentioned $100 a session, and another person said that should be about 5 hours, well that breaks down to 20$ an hour which is way to high for what you have going on.
With the gear you have, you need to focus on building the gear and learning the trade. That means you might charge someone 50$ for 4 songs even if it takes all weekend, and it might mean that you don't charge someone who has some talent anything at all just for the privilage of getting to work with them and apply your trade at the same time.
Read as much as you can here, and record, record, record, and work to get as good of a sound as you can. If your lucky, in time you will get to worry more about what to charge people. There are some really good people out there who are trying to make it in the recording field who will work with the right band for $20 an hour....don't hose yourself by pretending to be that guy too early or it will only lead to trouble when they aren't satisfied with the final product.
Get what you can for your services, but be real about it.
While you got some ribbing here, you also got some very good advice. You shouldn't realistically be thinking about how much to charge people with the gear you have. Someone mentioned $100 a session, and another person said that should be about 5 hours, well that breaks down to 20$ an hour which is way to high for what you have going on.
With the gear you have, you need to focus on building the gear and learning the trade. That means you might charge someone 50$ for 4 songs even if it takes all weekend, and it might mean that you don't charge someone who has some talent anything at all just for the privilage of getting to work with them and apply your trade at the same time.
Read as much as you can here, and record, record, record, and work to get as good of a sound as you can. If your lucky, in time you will get to worry more about what to charge people. There are some really good people out there who are trying to make it in the recording field who will work with the right band for $20 an hour....don't hose yourself by pretending to be that guy too early or it will only lead to trouble when they aren't satisfied with the final product.
FattMusiek
New member
Traxs, you need to get your priorities straight....if you haven't even bought all the necessary equipment yet, how can you be expected to know anything about it and how to make it sound good? You can't...You have to learn before you think about the making money.
Bass Master "K"
New member
Bass Master "K" said:
ADDENDUM: Reading this thread now that I am awake and see your gear list, the above adice should only apply once you have enough stuff to make a decent recording. Your gonna need some gear if you want to get paid. Don't worry about being paid now, do it for the experience and work in getting the gear.
Doug Quance
2006 Cave Roast Chairman
rpe said:
Yeah, what he said!
OnTheBlackRock
New member
uh hum
you can probably only record a rap freestyle artist right now with one mic... thats what I did when i started haha I had a 4-track and a mic so I charged a guy 50 bucks for me recording him a 5 track cd... put the beats (instumentals) one one track left track 2,3, and 4 for his vocals and gun clicks.... damn rappers. but i made 50 bucks and learned a shit load then i bought another mic
now I have a pretty good home studio set-up but nothing to charge big bucks... I charge 25 bucks an hour I record a bunch of local emo/punk bands. but before you start getting into the hourly rate do a flat fee... because your a newbie and it'll take you a while to record them cuz your not familiar with you shit I'm geussing so just charge them a flat fee
you can probably only record a rap freestyle artist right now with one mic... thats what I did when i started haha I had a 4-track and a mic so I charged a guy 50 bucks for me recording him a 5 track cd... put the beats (instumentals) one one track left track 2,3, and 4 for his vocals and gun clicks.... damn rappers. but i made 50 bucks and learned a shit load then i bought another mic
now I have a pretty good home studio set-up but nothing to charge big bucks... I charge 25 bucks an hour I record a bunch of local emo/punk bands. but before you start getting into the hourly rate do a flat fee... because your a newbie and it'll take you a while to record them cuz your not familiar with you shit I'm geussing so just charge them a flat fee
Blue Bear Sound
New member
er... waituminut... OnTheBlackRock....
...a couple of weeks back you were asking how to wire all your gear together and now you're charging people to record?!?!?!
I think my first comment in this thread also applies to you......!
...a couple of weeks back you were asking how to wire all your gear together and now you're charging people to record?!?!?!
I think my first comment in this thread also applies to you......!
Last edited:
What in the hell are you smoking?
If you charged one dollar a week it'd be too much.
What are you doing renting the studio out?
For the price to make an album at one dollar a week a band could buy all that equipment themselves. That isn't even enough to make a half-assed recording!!!
You must be joking man - no one in their right mind would use your equipment for anything other than free!
If you charged one dollar a week it'd be too much.
What are you doing renting the studio out?
For the price to make an album at one dollar a week a band could buy all that equipment themselves. That isn't even enough to make a half-assed recording!!!
You must be joking man - no one in their right mind would use your equipment for anything other than free!
trax said:
Re: er... waituminut... OnTheBlackRock....
Exactly.
Renting a studio out requires a hell of a good setup
And if you're renting it with someone produce you better know how to use the stuff EXCELLENTLY
THis shoudl by a rule take at least 10 grand of stuff not including any structural material (probably another 5 g's)
Blue Bear Sound said:...a couple of weeks back you were asking to to wire all your gear together and now you're charging people to record?!?!?!
I think my first comment in this thread also applies to you......!
Exactly.
Renting a studio out requires a hell of a good setup
And if you're renting it with someone produce you better know how to use the stuff EXCELLENTLY
THis shoudl by a rule take at least 10 grand of stuff not including any structural material (probably another 5 g's)
Rimshot
New member
Hi Trax,
Are you thoroughly humiliated yet? These guys can be pretty brutal, but that's because they care about this so much.
I am a complete novice at this home recording thing. I've been arond for a while drifting in and out of the music world since the 60's, but it has only been very recently that I've gotten the "bug" to do anything with it. My gear so far is not much better than your's, but I have a lot of pretty good mics and a damn nice servicable mixing board with good pre-amps. I have really great ears and can tell when someting sounds good.I am a great pair of ears in a studio, but when it comes to recording, right now I suck at it pretty bad. I will be getting better; time and experience will do that.
Having really good gear is important, but having skills and experience is even more important. A real seasoned pro would probably walk into your studio and scoff at your equipment, but if pressed into it, would probably get a pretty damn decent recording out of it. That's skill.
Don't be disheartened by anything said here so far. You have time on your side and if you really work at it, you can probably do great things, and then you will be the one scoffing at a newbie that makes a post like your's. You're way ahead of me. I'm in my 50's so I have to learn a bit quicker if I plan on doing anything good before thay close the lid on my coffin. But I will eventually...I'm stubborn like that.
I've worked in studios with a few "self professed" "sound engineers" that accept pay for their work and I've been horribly dissappointed. I know Richard Monroe and I'm working on a project with him right now. He's doing really great work at a higher level than the "self professed sound engineers" and if he says what he said about himself, that should tell you something.
Spend the time to learn the craft. Then perfect your craft. Then make a million mistakes and correct them when you can. Remember you never stop learning until you die. And by all means have fun. This should always be about having fun. You're making art here. The world resents people that make art because we seem to be having fun. Don't let the "professionalism" of the world push you into a corner where you have to look at this as a cold profession. Your making music, it's fun.
Are you thoroughly humiliated yet? These guys can be pretty brutal, but that's because they care about this so much.
I am a complete novice at this home recording thing. I've been arond for a while drifting in and out of the music world since the 60's, but it has only been very recently that I've gotten the "bug" to do anything with it. My gear so far is not much better than your's, but I have a lot of pretty good mics and a damn nice servicable mixing board with good pre-amps. I have really great ears and can tell when someting sounds good.I am a great pair of ears in a studio, but when it comes to recording, right now I suck at it pretty bad. I will be getting better; time and experience will do that.
Having really good gear is important, but having skills and experience is even more important. A real seasoned pro would probably walk into your studio and scoff at your equipment, but if pressed into it, would probably get a pretty damn decent recording out of it. That's skill.
Don't be disheartened by anything said here so far. You have time on your side and if you really work at it, you can probably do great things, and then you will be the one scoffing at a newbie that makes a post like your's. You're way ahead of me. I'm in my 50's so I have to learn a bit quicker if I plan on doing anything good before thay close the lid on my coffin. But I will eventually...I'm stubborn like that.
I've worked in studios with a few "self professed" "sound engineers" that accept pay for their work and I've been horribly dissappointed. I know Richard Monroe and I'm working on a project with him right now. He's doing really great work at a higher level than the "self professed sound engineers" and if he says what he said about himself, that should tell you something.
Spend the time to learn the craft. Then perfect your craft. Then make a million mistakes and correct them when you can. Remember you never stop learning until you die. And by all means have fun. This should always be about having fun. You're making art here. The world resents people that make art because we seem to be having fun. Don't let the "professionalism" of the world push you into a corner where you have to look at this as a cold profession. Your making music, it's fun.
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
What Rimshot said. (BTW- Thank you for your kind words!) The only reason anybody is on your case is because the cart is before the horse. It is *way* too soon to talk about charging for your work. Aside from that, it goes against exactly what Rimshot is saying. So you bring in a band, they don't fit well into your limited studio space. They sound like hell through your one cheap dynamic mic. You have no capability to EQ, compress, mix or master the tracks in question. Furthermore, they probably suck, or they wouldn't be paying *you* to record them. So they blame it on you, are pissed off, and badmouth you all around town as a piker who thinks he's a recording engineer. Where's the fun or the money in that?
The bottom line is- recording simply costs money and takes experience. Get over it. I'm very familiar with Rimshot's gear, and he's way ahead of you. But I know he's not about to hang up a shingle that says, "Rimshot Studios- open for business", because he too, is an honest man. I'm not saying you should give up. What I'm saying is you cannot raise the startup money for a recording studio by recording people for money. First, you need the price of a new car. Then you need a couple of years of practice. Then you tentatively charge small amounts of money to do the small things you can do. It's brutal, but the reality is- get a job, and raise money to buy gear. Meanwhile, study gear. You came to the right place for that. Good luck-Richie
The bottom line is- recording simply costs money and takes experience. Get over it. I'm very familiar with Rimshot's gear, and he's way ahead of you. But I know he's not about to hang up a shingle that says, "Rimshot Studios- open for business", because he too, is an honest man. I'm not saying you should give up. What I'm saying is you cannot raise the startup money for a recording studio by recording people for money. First, you need the price of a new car. Then you need a couple of years of practice. Then you tentatively charge small amounts of money to do the small things you can do. It's brutal, but the reality is- get a job, and raise money to buy gear. Meanwhile, study gear. You came to the right place for that. Good luck-Richie
groover_jon
Member
Rimshot said:
I agree with you rimshot but I think the way some of these guys reply is way wrong. People come here for constuctive answers to their questions and there is a right and polite way to answer without totally taking the piss out of someone who is still learning and needs help and encouragement rather than a barrage of smart assed crap!
It's sad to see more and more of this kind thing on this bbs.
Son of Mixerman
Mix Junior
Roel said:
Maybe a refresher on the history of recording should be one of your next classes.
Your dissagreement come from making an assumption that all recordings are stereo, and that you can't do it because you haven't tried it. If you can't mic, track in mono how do you expect to learn to master stereo. No one ever said that getting paid to do anything meant you were entirely qualified. People grow into a job, rising to their level of incompetence. Ive done lots of recordings in mono. One mic..one source. It can be done... My first exp demo was 8 tracks..one mic.
Getting the gigs coming will come from his/her abilities in meeting the challenge gracefully. After his first mono gig he can goes stereo.
Maybe this should be a HRC... 4 tracks...one mic, bounce to your hearts content.
I bet Al Schmitt could do more with 4 tracks and a sm57 than most of us with full up studios.
Id like to hear....
SoMm