Post: #51

(06-05-2016 03:15 PM)General Stalin Wrote:  An artists just starting out does not have the resources to pay half a dozen professionals to get their vision to come to life. Plus, once again, the ease of making decent recordings in your bedroom these days has made the demand for such specialized people plummet. Of course big money studios and huge top-40 artists will have bankroll and demand for such people, but not your average unsigned DIY artist.

The more you talk about "best case scenario" recording the more you alienate more common everyday musicians

That was my point: the specialised people are now really cheap. Back in 2012, I was quoted $4,000 for one of the hot bedroom producers in Melbourne. At the same time, I was quoted $6,000 for 80's indie legend Mitch Easter, whose name was on heaps of great records I've owned since I was a kid (REM, Game Theory, The Someloves, The Hummingbirds). I didn't end up using him, (though an associate did a few years before, and the record sounded incredible).

Let's see. Last album: 52 tracks recorded, 31 taken to fully-mixed-and-mastered completion, (though only 11 were publicly-released on the album), live strings and brass across various tracks. The producer had been recording since the 80's, and would tell stories about recording budgets of half a mill. Total costs of all that before manufacturing, somewhere between $4,500-$5,000. Back when I started out, that would have gotten you a tinny-sounding EP.

That's hardly Professional League money. Many of the local bands I know have put out vinyl albums - probably $6-8 grand to manufacture. Hell, I was recently involved in a big label project where thousands upon thousands of dollars were simply wasted through incompetence and arrogance. Those kids are going to get a rude shock.

Just something to think about.

Post: #52

Interesting stuff AB.

The silly money it takes for big name producers are more for the contact and industry ties than any kind of god-given ability to turn silver into gold. Though a good producer who you pay a decent wage to, should indeed be able to turn silver into gold.

Anyway, I got a bit waylaid with stuff, and I'm only getting around to reading this now after a while.

Imho, it would be good to keep this thread going as a kind of counterpoint to the other 'lounge' thread you started GS. This one being more practical and experience based perhaps, whilst the other might be more musings and ramblings, kind of thing.

Just a thought.

Post: #53

Owning a recording studio is tough work. A lot of the big, profitable ones have closed down recently. It sucks because you can't scale it. You can only record one client at a time (unless you have a huge facility but then you can only record one client in each room)..

A profitable thing to do is get clients in the film and/or advertising business who will pay top dollar for voice overs/adr etc... these people often look for the most expensive facilities they can find so they can tell everyone what a high class/exclusive place they were working out of..

If you can, try and do some of the voice over yourself...especially if it's a weird animal noise or something (as opposed to singing which you need to have a talent in..) Get some SAG credit for the animal noises, whistles whatever.. and you now have a nice backend payout..

Post: #54

Currently studying audio engineering at a small school, which means I get almost unlimited free access to top quality professional mixing desks, recording equipment, and workstations preloaded with Pro Tools, and a bunch of other DAWs. Going to try make some moolah out of this situation and get some real recording experience before I graduate/move onto my own studio.

Aside from that, I produce from home with Ableton on a busted laptop, albeit with decent specs (and extremely temperamental headphone and power jacks) and some Audio Technica ATH-M40x cans.

I'd highly recommend those headphones for anyone looking to enter into the production side of things. They are relatively cheap and high quality with a very neutral response and superb clarity across the frequency spectrum.

Post: #55

Delete

Post: #56

Great thread by AB. I've just started getting into audio recording/producing and bought Pro Tools. Steep learning curve but unlimited potential.

I've been doing folky/americana music but want to expand into EDM and synthpop. I'm also on the fence about a Nord Electro or A1 but will probably explore some pro tools synth plugins before I invest in a bigbucks keyboard.