Need advice

Trujeeper

OK. My daughters boyfriend is in a band. They have enough material, finally, to record and have been seeking a studio to record at. These kids are in high school, but i have heard them and they are good, at least as good as some on the radio (maybe not as good as PJ). Anyway.....here is the need for advice. They met with a guy in another band that has his own studio. He told them he would give them two weeks to camp out at his house and record, he would mix for them, and it would cost them 300.00 plus whatever food they ate, etc. As a Mom and supporter of this kid, I need to know if this guy sounds like a rip off. I mean I would rather contribute and get them into a real studio if possible.....real ones around here record for about 100.00 an hour and that is just a recording. If the guy is on the up and up, it sounds great. But if he is conning these kids, I'd rather they didn't give him this money. He has done this with other struggling bands and they claim to have gotten good recordings out of it. I just want to help the kids. Is there anyway to check up on this situation before these kids get ripped off?

exhausted

get in touch again with those other bands and confirm their experiences.

and i guess get something in writing as far as the costs etc. and what you'll get for that money.

not that i have much experience but that's what i'd do in any situation where some $$ is involved.

JofZ

Trujeeper wrote:

OK. My daughters boyfriend is in a band. They have enough material, finally, to record and have been seeking a studio to record at. These kids are in high school, but i have heard them and they are good, at least as good as some on the radio (maybe not as good as PJ). Anyway.....here is the need for advice. They met with a guy in another band that has his own studio. He told them he would give them two weeks to camp out at his house and record, he would mix for them, and it would cost them 300.00 plus whatever food they ate, etc. As a Mom and supporter of this kid, I need to know if this guy sounds like a rip off. I mean I would rather contribute and get them into a real studio if possible.....real ones around here record for about 100.00 an hour and that is just a recording. If the guy is on the up and up, it sounds great. But if he is conning these kids, I'd rather they didn't give him this money. He has done this with other struggling bands and they claim to have gotten good recordings out of it. I just want to help the kids. Is there anyway to check up on this situation before these kids get ripped off?

Many friends of mine own studios (real professional ones LOL ) and some of my friends have studios in their homes. Essentially, you are paying for the expertise and ears of the mixer. Can anyone do it? Sure, but the end results will vary and could take good material and make it sound like absolute trash. So if I were your kids, I would listen to what this guy has done in the past, the previous results will provide some good insight to what he will produce. If the kids band has a "sound" and you know what you want as far as production, then you are better off getting into a studio that can meet your expectations. This isn't a science, and you really need to make sure you check out the contract, who will own what and is there any fine print? A young friend of mine just wasted a month recording and found out everything he was laying down was no longer his, due to the fact he was recording for free.
I can help you out with some studios if you give me the genre and location. At the end of the day, you can pay anywhere from 1500 to 10,000 for a recording. Just depends on what you are looking for and how much time you will spend in the studio. Which brings me to my last point, what ever they do, make sure they don't use the studio time to rehearse it is costly. If money is no object then of course do it, but if you are on a budget spend the time in the studio producing.

All Those Yesterdays

In the contract, need to verify what format you will be giving the final mix in (I.E. cd). Also, copy right there stuff now, before (just in case) he does it for himself etc. It could be he just likes his stuff.

I know my buddy and I at our studio, have a tendancy, to just charge for the reel for a couple song two day recording demo. If they like it and want more after that, the price jumps up.

Trujeeper

Well, you all came through in fine style for me. Good advice and I will use it. These kids to a genre of music that I don't really like, but they sound great at it....so I guess you could say they have a sound. I will pass on all of this advice to the other parents and we will talk to the other bands and check in on what the kids are paying for, paperwork, credits, CD or tape, etc. Thanks so much guys!!!!!!!!T

who's_pearljam?

All good advice above! :cool:

#1 Check with the other bands and see if they were happy with their result!
$300 bucks for two weeks doesn't sound like it's going to be a pro quality recording. If the guy isn't a total rip off, at least the band may get a good demo out of it, though.
It might be a good learning experience for the band, too. Once you record and hear yourself,,, you become a better band and musician. It may be a good prep for going into a bigger pro studio, which like said above can be an easy $2000 to $10,000. It would be great for the band to be well rehearsed for the recording, but even if the $300 one doesn't work out, they'll be rehearsed at what they need to rehearse for later . (Hmmm,,,, if THAT makes sense! )

#2 Make sure they don't lose their music! Make sure it's not someone trying to sign and promote and become partners. Make sure that the band retains ownership of their music, makes it public right away, and look into the copywrite process now. You have some time to copywrite as long as the music has been recorded, but it will protect them down the line.

#3 have fun with it!