Don't want to be a "bedroom warrior" anymore

[The StabbinCabin]

I've hit a wall. Months ago I decided I was done going as a mobile service recording highschool/college aged bands and wanted to focus on situating myself somewhere actually practical. I've been on craigslist as well as google for local established studios that would be open to taking in freelance engineers or would be willing to rent out their studio or studio b for a flat monthly rate with no luck. I've had a few owner contact me that are great connections to have, but sadly have families and overheads they need to worry about themselves- and expected me to pay them a freelancing rate ($40+/hr) that I know I'm not qualified to charge anyone right now since I've only really been serious about this for a few years. The few studios that were open to flat monthly deposits wanted enough to rent a medium sized house. Just something I doubt I could guarantee in work- and that would just to "break even" even though the time I would have to invest would cost me.

In Sacramento, commercial space and generally any real estate is beyond my reach being a twenty-something student working an hourly waged job. I don't feel it would be entirely appropriate for me to lease out anything other than a place to live. I'm afraid a 12 or even 6 month commitment would potentially leave what credit I have a risk since this market is nearly impossible to making a stable living off of. I don't want to be the type that would rely on this for a main source of income, but rather something I could do to make enough to live comfortably while I go to school for something more realistic.

I came home recently from vacationing with my girlfriend and commuted to my apartment- since I live a good hour outside of Sacramento and everyone one I know- and I looked at everything that had accumulated in my room over the years and felt slightly discouraged. I haven't really been musically active in the past few months and haven't even bothered to turn anything on and use it since I have been running around with a move and vacation and job transfer.... It's just been nuts. I thought about what I would do if I could just sell everything and I'm not really much of a person outside of this- it would be kind of depressing just not being able to do the one single thing you've wanted to do.

I feel like the only options I have are very limiting. The only month-to-month option that I have are the few "rehearsal spaces" that are all a good 30 minutes away from where I live- and they are all in bad areas of the city. Something that I'm not comfortable with. The recent place I've gone to has 12x20 rooms that are $400 a month- which don't have dedicated power sources, a/c, and sometimes don't even have carpet... I could keep going but it's clear it's not practical for me to make twenty 30 minute trips back and forth just to get my equipment from one place to another to record in an uncomfortable and unprofessional environment. I have a few bands interested in recording- but I've had to put everything on hold because I'm unsure of what I could do...

So I'm currently still just kind of plugging away online looking for a break and good opportunity while reading up on helpful things here. I've learned how to work with Cubase pretty efficiently (mostly because of event slipping), which isn't great because most established studios use either ProTools or Logic- I feel that at this point, I would have to start over- and teach myself to use PT before I would be comfortable enough to freelance at any rate... I feel that method of quantizing would leave me totally useless anywhere else because that's what people expect now, clearly.

I've been planning on what I could do as for upgrades and have been thinking of what I could do to make my setup even easier to integrate with other studios so I would be able to run Cubase with my computer through their gear, or just convince the owner and install Cubase on their pc/mac and use my dongle/ilok whenever I'm in. I was thinking with an HDSP and Multiface and I would be cool to just adat integrate everything so I wouldn't have to unplug everything.

What would be a good decision to make? If I'm going to make anything from it I'd have to either be self-efficient or spend as little as time possible freelancing out of someone else's business...

I hope this doesn't come off as a rant- I know a majority or the members on here are in my situation- Would any of you established owners or freelancers be able to give us some advice? Like I said, I'm not trying to make a living and raise a family off this- I'd just like to make enough to support it and help with school while I work and study on the side.

 

[decoy205]

I think you should seek an internship or apprenticeship at a decent local studio. If you want to work in a real space the best places to start are ones that are already established.

Unfortunately you have to sacrifice your own pay sometimes to make a name for yourself and build a report with local engineers so that they will trust you to work in their studios. Eventually it will grow into a job im sure.

There is no quick way to make money doin this it takes a long time and sacrifice just like bands that have to pay dues engineers have to do the same.

I hope you stay determined and do it man. Hopefully you can make money too.

 

[metalkingdom]

I don't want to be the type that would rely on this for a main source of income, but rather something I could do to make enough to live comfortably while I go to school for something more realistic.

There's your problem.

 

[RandomAwesome]

+100 "making a decent living" plus going to school? You will literally kill yourself.

 

[pikachu69]

+100 ^^^

you described my situation 100% up to this point. I was trying to run a mobile service for a while but like you decided I wanted more, so I quit my full time job and devoted myself to it. If you had the right amount of passion required to make it a full time gig you would too. If you dont, dont give it any more thought and continue with your day job.
I have a wife and 2 kids so I have a lot to loose doing this, but every day spent doing what I love makes up for the days of no food or money lol

 

[The StabbinCabin]

You guys are right, I think that's expecting too much from myself... But what are you guys currently doing to pay the bills, if that's not too much to ask? Are you full time engineers doing any serious paying work you can find or doing live sound at a club or casino or are you just freelancing while you work full time somewhere else?

And even so with scoring a deal as an intern/freelance- I'm just curious about that process of sacrificing one's own time and even money to build a portfolio- but aside from just running a studio in your own home, I'm just trying to wrap my head around a minimum freelance rate, on top of my own to make it worth my time- I'm not sure if that seems feasible.

With rates at a certain level that are pretty close to say Kris Crummett, Will Putney, Eric Rachel and others that are known to work wonders with rock/pop/metal genres- How would someone like me keep up with that? Generally labels and bands go with these producers for what they have to offer. If I'm working through a studio that is "established" and required to pay a minimum that is nearly the same as any other engineer much more qualified than myself- I could definitely see how that would not work out for me because the clear choice would be to go with someone with a long history of consistency, rather than a new guy.

Is there a middle-ground somewhere in between those levels? Are there other alternatives to where I could think to start this or do I need to invest more time and work for free to record bands?

 

[The StabbinCabin]

And I appreciate the honesty guys. Thank you.

 

[Sloan]

do I need to invest more time and work for free to record bands?

If you get an internship at a studio and become a totally reliable person, you may get perks, like being able to use the studio on off hours - this is when you could start building your own personal credits - you may not make money, but you can start spreading the word. "yeah i know this dude that got is in STUDIO for real cheap and it sounds damn good!" etc...

Keep in mind i don't make any money via music at the moment. I've made the most consistent money playing cover band gigs. I haven't had much luck getting recording clients since I do it out of my mom's house and there are not a lot of bands in the area I want to bother with enough to have them here, and I also have a lot to learn until I'm confident I can deliver a solid product every time.

 

[pikachu69]

I am struggling to make money TBH, but like yourself I am working on reputation building at the moment.
Heres a tip: Keep your expenses to a minimum so you dont need to earn too much. Live within your means.
I have little to no debt so I am able to survive on little. My kids get what I earn and I eat occasionally, thats enough for me.

Yes, you need to invest more time but you should never do it for free. If you complain you cant make money from this gig but when you do get work you give it away for free how do you expect to make a living AND build a serious reputation. You have to sell yourself for what you are worth. If you are cheap or free, people will assume you are new at this or shit, one or the other. If you place yourself under the top dogs but above the bottom feeders you will attact a better quality of musician and the plus then is you will enjoy your work more. You may start with fewer clients but once the word spreads it will be spreading to other talented musicians and then it is only a matter of time...

 

[Shinozoku]

Glenn Fricker builds Chrysler minivans as his day job, to give a great example of great engineers who make money elsewhere

I'm currently pursuing employment.. And not nearly as well as I should.

 

[guitarguru777]

I just opened my own "real" studio 4 months ago and I haven't made a single penny yet in profit. I started out locally building my clientel by recording for free out of my house, when I opened my new place I had rates so low the clients swarmed in. I was charging $100 per song with no time limit.

Problem is people got so used to paying that rate that as soon as I raised mt prices business dried up. Now I am in between a rock and a hard place.

Go to school, then intern and build your rep don't rush into it like I did and paint yourself into a corner.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

I honestly wouldn't mind breaking even, really- as long as I knew that time would have paid off. Eventually I would be okay with it just being able to sustain itself while I make the same I'd be making at my regular minimum wage job. If I'd end up on my own going at like $200-300 a day blocks and translating that into about $10/hr in profit just to fill my gas tank and eat, that would be badass. I don't want to nickel and dime because yeah, you get stuck being the "cheap guy"... That's what everyone has been telling me.

This last place I went to speak to the guy about freelancing at his studio. Cool place- I mean it was NICE- but the guy was charging like $70 an hour which just seems unreal to me. He had the whole PTHD with API's and Fatso's and LA2A- all that outboard that I'd only dream of having... But he played back his mixes (on Genelecs, too...) and I was honestly disappointed in what I heard. Seriously, nothing better that a first timer "rate my mix" post, but being pumped through the most high end stuff- so it SOUNDED nice, but the mix and his general approach to things just had me in an awkward silence. And I say that in no way like I could do better...

I just went there in hopes that I'd be even more humbled with hearing and seeing what this man was capable of with his knowledge and experience and he honestly just seemed more lost than I was... I don't know. We talked about how he had gotten to where he was now- which was a good talk- but when it came to rates, bills and all the not-so-fun stuff when reality sets in- it just seems like he (and a few others I'd met prior to) were in over their heads. He just decided at some point to go from his home studio to his current one- but had a huge overhead to worry about from that. I didn't get it. He and his engineers were talking about how they worked with mostly shitty hip-hop artists and casino cover bands and did voice-overs because THAT'S what paid the bills, and they hated it. They charged that much before because it weeded out the bad clients, but they just knocked out a whole part of that market- for an SSL console. He said I could work there if I charged $400 a day and could guarantee him $1000 a month. It just seemed like too much responsibility, so I backed off and just added him on facebook to stay in touch. It's kind like that all over Sac... A bunch of nice studios with really nothing to show for it. It's really only until you go south a bit to San Francisco where you find the well known talented guys- with practical rates.

When I came home from that interview/session sit-in, I wasn't sure how to feel when I walked into my room that has accumulated all this shit I hardly have the opportunity to touch. Right now- I feel the more time I put this off, the more opportunities and experience I miss out on. I may just try and find a secluded room in the gross rehearsal space- get a better lockout, insurance plan, voltage regulator and treatment and see what I can pull from that going with cheap daily blocks or something on my days off from work and school- regardless if it's not the most ideal place to record acoustically. I'll try and develop a better ear and workflow and clientele and just keep plugging away at trying to find a good studio to freelance out of when I feel qualified enough to compete with the guys I look up to.

Sloan, Pickachu and Guru I wish you guys luck and hope you catch a break to get the ball rolling, too.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I know exactly the mindset you are in right now. I ran my business while studying simultaneously for two and a half years, and I've been running it full-time for... umm... eight months now. While the idea of "just making enough money to survive to do something I love" seems like something you're completely set on and not such a big deal, trust me, barely breaking even gets really old really fast. 99% of the time when you're going self-employed that's exactly what you have to endure for a year, two years or three years, and it really is a tough spot both physically and emotionally. I'm not trying to discourage you, I just want you to be realistic of what's ahead.

Best of luck with the venture, and remember, you are not in a hurry. Take your time, and go one step at a time!

 

[Grumbly101]

I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but to the OP - if you're looking to make money, you're looking in the wrong place. There is NO money to be made in this area of the music industry. NONE - ZILCH - NADA. I can count the number of people who "make good money" as rock and metal producers / engineers on one hand. If you are going to school and need to pay for books, tuition, housing and food, you are kidding yourself if you think that you are going to do it in this industry. There are some pretty established guys who are AMAZING at what they do, who are simply scraping by. Do you really want to live like that? Do you want to work at some dirtbag’s studio, FOR FREE (oh sorry – as an “Intern”), just so you can get some "perks?" The only “perk” that you should get from a job is fucking MONEY! Point blank. Is there anything so great about being an engineer that you would be willing to do it for FREE? If you think about it, it's fucking absurd! Develop the drive for an amazing life – strive for a big house, strive for a snazzy car, strive for a top notch woman, strive to settle down and have kids, work for a company that will pay for your medical benefits, give you a 401K, and put GOOD money in your pocket so you don’t have to lie awake nights wondering how you are going to pay for food. Don’t make the rash decision to starve for this “art,” and don’t be satisfied with mediocrity – you’ll only be spiting yourself.

Go to school, and while you’re there, get a steady job with some legit cash-flow so that you can pay your bills (even this is difficult in today's economy), and once you graduate, think long and hard about what you want to do. If you still think that you want to pursue engineering as a career, then feel free, but at least you'll have an education to fall back on when you realize that you're sick of eating ramen noodles, living in shitty apartments and driving a shitty car, just to be a full time engineer. And don’t let anyone tell you that working and going to school is such a difficult thing. Millions of people do it every day. Some people work 2 jobs, go to school at night, and come home to take care of a family. Don’t convince yourself that being an engineer is such a load of fucking brain surgery that you won’t be able to go to school and be an engineer at the same time. If anything, going to school and getting good grades will be the hard part. Moving mics around, pushing up faders, twisting a few knobs and listening to shitty music all day isn’t all that difficult in the grand scheme of things.

Sorry for the rant, but I get so sick and tired of all of the whiny bitches on this message board giving career advice to people. Be an engineer as a hobby, but don't waste your time trying to make it your full time job. It's not worth starving for – in fact – NOTHING is worth PURPOSELY starving for – NOTHING! If you can’t make money at a certain job – go and do something else. The purpose of working is to make money - don't let anyone ever tell you any different. Think about it – do you want to "work" for FREE just to put money in the hands of some douchebag studio owner who decides to take advantage of naive kids by calling them "interns." Not a smart career move by any means.

Grumbly

 

[black.death]

StabbinCabin,

You will never be truly happy in life if you do not make a living doing what you love.

This is the absolute most important realization that anyone can have.

Is living your dream more difficult then having a ghostlike existence working a 9 to 5 job just to barely get by? Hell yeah it is. You will be faced with so many obstacles that it will make your fucking head spin. You will barely make enough money to live for the first few years at best. Your "friends" won't understand, your parents won't understand, your girlfriend whom hasn't had this realization will not understand. They won't understand someone living their dream because, they do not live their dream. They, like all other people I have met simply cannot break out of the years and years of the persistent bombardment of the idea that you go to school to "get a good job."

People still cling onto the naive thought that someone else should be responsible for paying them. When in reality you should be paying yourself and not subject to the whims and wills of fucking mindless managers, company policy, cronyism, and all of the other hellish joys of working for some dumb fuck corporation that does not care if you live or die. Also good luck on keeping this job for long since practically every state has at-will employment and we are living in the absolute worst financial times the entire United States have seen since pretty much ever.

Unpaid Internship=legalized slavery. How this is even allowed is beyond my imagination. Oh wait, no it's not; corporations and even tiny piss ant companies love free workers. All it does except in very extreme circumstances (like learning from your hero/idol engineer) is devalue yourself and make these companies believe that it's okay to not pay their workforce. For a more light-hearted but fairly accurate guide for the working for free predicament checkout http://shouldiworkforfree.com/ .

Here's my solution for you and just about anyone reading this thread.

Create a portfolio of killer work. Let's say a solid 6 full albums that you are incredibly proud of that showcase your talent and the type of bands/genres that you want to record. There is no shortage of people that try and crowd-source free tracks and pittance priced recordings on this very board. Take every band that you feel is a good match for what you want to record up on that. If they say "Oh wow, we have X person doing this for $X price or even for free." You say, "That's awesome, I still want to record your band. You would now have the unique option to choose between two rad full length recordings. How sick is that?" No one in their right mind would refuse this ridiculously great offer.

You might be saying "But you just more or less told me not to work for free." Right now at this stage you are not working, you are creating a showcase of work to attract clients. They will not know how much X band paid unless you tell them. So you will not be struggling to work at unrealistic rates, once you are prepared to do this full-time.

Start recording records right now that you are proud of and you will be well on your way to obtaining your dream. Hell, you have already had a good response with a SSL fitted studio. How much better of a response will you receive once, you blow their fucking minds with some new records that you made sitting in your bedroom? They might just be willing to reduce their studio fees in exchange for you not poaching their talent and at the same time creating a better name for themselves engineer-wise.

Let's breakdown some costs and your financial responsibilities. Right now you mentioned going to school. I have no idea how much you are paying for that, or if you owe any money so far. Stop. Stop throwing your money at something that is not your dream. You probably could have bought a huge amount of that gear which you lust for and that would inspire you to create better work. How much money do you spend driving? This will automatically be less money now, that you aren't driving to school 3-5 days a week. What about rent? You have a couple options now, which aren't typical considering your hookup with that nice studio.

Normally, I would say move to a place that would allow you to record in the convenience of your own home, or simply record using guitar VST and electronic drums for the meantime. (I know I know you want to record double kick drumsets and full stacks of guitars. Put this part of the ultimate dream on hold till you are making enough money to record at your own space.) You mentioned possibly renting some piece of turd place for $xxx/month and then having to pay the expense of fixing it up. Instead see if you can strike a deal with the land owner. Maybe they need someone to general maintenance in exchange for a free space? Maybe cut their grass, etc.

The idea is to reduce your costs to making your dream happen as much as possible.

The more I think about it, you might be able to come up with a rad solution to working at that studio without fear of having to pay out more than you make. The studio has already went to the insane costs to putting together a super nice work area fully decked out with equipment. You might just be able to work this to your advantage in several ways. After recording some more absolutely sick records for your portfolio; start reaching out to other bands. Setup a website. Setup a Facebook studio page. Start hitting up your favorite local bands. Now, see what the studio owner says about beginning a working relationship of bringing in a few bands a month during some of the down-time or during unbooked days (if you do not feel you can make profit after paying him $1,000/month). More or less start out small and at the same time letting the owner see that you can generate revenue for him. This combined with your talent might change the owner's mind about the rates. This would also ease your mind about the extent of the overwhelming responsibility of being constantly booked.

I honestly don't know the specifics but the idea of finding an "affordable" dump that you would need to renovate (big $) in order to sometimes book bands; does not sounds like your best option right now. You would still have to commute to said dump resulting in loss of time and money due to driving back and forth.

After establishing your portfolio; either start renting a house where you can live at and record or begin hitting up the super nice studio and record bands there on a possible client to client basis.

You can do this man.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

You will never be truly happy in life if you do not make a living doing what you love.

This is the absolute most important realization that anyone can have.

That's a beautiful idea. Unfortunately, beautiful ideas don't pay the bills. Driving yourself into a financial crisis while chasing your dream is a great way of turning something you love into something you loathe.

Is living your dream more difficult then having a ghostlike existence working a 9 to 5 job just to barely get by? Hell yeah it is. You will be faced with so many obstacles that it will make your fucking head spin. You will barely make enough money to live for the first few years at best. Your "friends" won't understand, your parents won't understand, your girlfriend whom hasn't had this realization will not understand. They won't understand someone living their dream because, they do not live their dream. They, like all other people I have met simply cannot break out of the years and years of the persistent bombardment of the idea that you go to school to "get a good job."

You're making it sound like these people just don't, like, get it. They do. Twisting knobs for a living isn't the only way to enjoy life. Their dream might be being financially stable, having a family, a decent car, good friends and a cool hobby or two.

People still cling onto the naive thought that someone else should be responsible for paying them. When in reality you should be paying yourself and not subject to the whims and wills of fucking mindless managers, company policy, cronyism, and all of the other hellish joys of working for some dumb fuck corporation that does not care if you live or die. Also good luck on keeping this job for long since practically every state has at-will employment and we are living in the absolute worst financial times the entire United States have seen since pretty much ever.

Being self-employed does involve working with and for other people, and surprisingly, not all of them are super cool and reliable. Instead of getting a guaranteed paycheck once a month in exchange of working for these people you somehow seem to loathe, getting your paycheck in time depends on either musicians (who, again, aren't always super cool and reliable) or labels, and well... The label just might involve exactly the people you just described. And yeah, the economy is crap at the moment. It reflects the studio world just like it reflects every other job out there.

Create a portfolio of killer work. Let's say a solid 6 full albums that you are incredibly proud of that showcase your talent and the type of bands/genres that you want to record.

This might sound easy, but in truth, it'll take a long time to get six such albums under your belt, especially when starting out. Sure, work for free and they'll pick you, right? Wrong. Bands who might have a really solid album in the works are usually the ones who are more than happy to pay properly, because they don't want to risk a newcomer fucking up the fruits of their artistic work they value so much. Of course there are exceptions, but again, it will take a long time to achieve the portfolio you're talking about.

There is no shortage of people that try and crowd-source free tracks and pittance priced recordings on this very board. Take every band that you feel is a good match for what you want to record up on that. If they say "Oh wow, we have X person doing this for price or even for free." You say, "That's awesome, I still want to record your band. You would now have the unique option to choose between two rad full length recordings. How sick is that?" No one in their right mind would refuse this ridiculously great offer.

Maybe I'm a moron (and I probably am), but whenever an up-and-coming web designer student calls me and asks if he or she could do my company a new website for free to get something in their portfolio, I politely decline the offer. If I want something better than I have, I'll find someone who's work I like and pay them for their work. Chances are the portfolio-hunting designer just can't come up with what I'm looking for, which means I'm either forced to use it out of courtesy (unlikely) or just wasting both of our time.

Let's breakdown some costs and your financial responsibilities. Right now you mentioned going to school. I have no idea how much you are paying for that, or if you owe any money so far. Stop. Stop throwing your money at something that is not your dream.

At the risk of sounding like an utter dick, this is terrible, terrible advice. Seriously. Don't stop studying. If you're studying for a proper degree that can get you decent work in the future, exchanging that for a bunch of gear would be a ridiculous decision. Finish your studies and get your degree. Having a plan B, or a safety net if you will, is nothing to be a shamed of and it will not make you any less of an audio engineer. You'll be able to concentrate on your audio work a lot better if you know that in the worst case scenario you can always pick up another job.

Instead see if you can strike a deal with the land owner. Maybe they need someone to general maintenance in exchange for a free space? Maybe cut their grass, etc.

Free space for cutting the grass? Sign me up.

The idea is to reduce your costs to making your dream happen as much as possible.

This I agree with completely.

The more I think about it, you might be able to come up with a rad solution to working at that studio without fear of having to pay out more than you make. The studio has already went to the insane costs to putting together a super nice work area fully decked out with equipment. You might just be able to work this to your advantage in several ways. After recording some more absolutely sick records for your portfolio; start reaching out to other bands. Setup a website. Setup a Facebook studio page. Start hitting up your favorite local bands. Now, see what the studio owner says about beginning a working relationship of bringing in a few bands a month during some of the down-time or during unbooked days (if you do not feel you can make profit after paying him $1,000/month). More or less start out small and at the same time letting the owner see that you can generate revenue for him. This combined with your talent might change the owner's mind about the rates. This would also ease your mind about the extent of the overwhelming responsibility of being constantly booked.

Most commercial recording studios have a lock-out rate. You can always get a good deal for last-minute cancellations, night shifts and such, but unless you're the owner's cute nephew, you're still going to have to pay up. Freelance recording and lock-outs are an everyday part of the business, though, so just try and find a place that fits your clients' budgets.

I realize that after all this I probably sound pessimistic as fuck, but to be honest, I wouldn't trade a day in the business so far

 

[Redoubt9000]

I'm reminded of the oscar acceptance speech of robin williams

I'd say for those still young without family or any real responsibility - finish a degree/coursework training maybe even go so far as to pick up and leave for a small town/cheap living with a local college AND university within a 100 or so miles At the least that'd be ideal :S

For me I study something more or less unrelated, then again not really because the field is w/e you can make of it - but in the long run the job prospects are moderate. The greatest thing going for me apart from being invovled with a degree program is the fact I can relocate if need be.

For me such an investment would go over much more smoothly knowing I had a stable source from another profession. Maybe I'm too optimistic - but the most I've ever thought to get out of something like audio is having a solid source of income from elsewhere to propel me into my lifelong dream of building up a respectable studio of my very own (not one opened with "business hours" but soley the use for myself and w/e associates that may come along)

It makes me feel much more at ease, and tbh I'm not left with wanting any more than that I think I'm scared of getting knee deep into such a thing and growing to hate it because it ends up "not serving my needs" as far as a living goes. no doubt it seperates me from the professionals, but I can live with that. Then again Im coming from the pov that I still think of my mixes as less than stellar - so I've nothing to sell anyways

 

[AllanD]

Just give up

 

[black.death]

Hi Jarkko thanks for the reply. Here is my retort, I apologize if the quotes are formatted incorrectly; I have not responded to this many before.

That's a beautiful idea. Unfortunately, beautiful ideas don't pay the bills. Driving yourself into a financial crisis while chasing your dream is a great way of turning something you love into something you loathe.

I agree that driving yourself into a financial criss is indeed a bad idea. My advice for StabbinCabin is to become motivated and start recording some bands now, whenever he is not in class or work. Investing time vs. just dropping heaps of money on gear.

You're making it sound like these people just don't, like, I get it. They do. Twisting knobs for a living isn't the only way to enjoy life. Their dream might be being financially stable, having a family, a decent car, good friends and a cool hobby or two.

Audio recording isn't the only way to enjoy one's life. However, it seemed that this is StabbinCabin's wish/desire/dream/etc. I would say the same if someone's dream was to become a teacher or anything else that they truly want in life. Maybe having a family is StabbinCabin's dream? I don't know, I just imagined that since he posted asking for advice and direction on a recording forum, that that was what he wanted. Otherwise he would be posting on some parenting forum for getting serious about raising a family or on a car forum about buying a new ride. My impressions was that he posted because of wanting to start doing this for a living and not the items which you mentioned.

Being self-employed does involve working with and for other people, and surprisingly, not all of them are super cool and reliable. Instead of getting a guaranteed paycheck once a month in exchange of working for these people you somehow seem to loathe, getting your paycheck in time depends on either musicians (who, again, aren't always super cool and reliable) or labels, and well... The label just might involve exactly the people you just described. And yeah, the economy is crap at the moment. It reflects the studio world just like it reflects every other job out there.

Of course, you must work with clients, even if you just connect and share mixes online. My whole point is that the worst person while being self-employed is not worse than any of the awful people that you will encounter while working for some terrible company. The bonus is that you actually get to do something that you enjoy.

This might sound easy, but in truth, it'll take a long time to get six such albums under your belt, especially when starting out. Sure, work for free and they'll pick you, right? Wrong. Bands who might have a really solid album in the works are usually the ones who are more than happy to pay properly, because they don't want to risk a newcomer fucking up the fruits of their artistic work they value so much. Of course there are exceptions, but again, it will take a long time to achieve the portfolio you're talking about.

This will take time, thus urging StabbinCabin to start building his portfolio now. This is definitely not easy. I would bet that 6 albums could be recorded in a year's time from someone already knowledgeable with little connections; if he/she is very dedicated.

Maybe I'm a moron (and I probably am), but whenever an up-and-coming web designer student calls me and asks if he or she could do my company a new website for free to get something in their portfolio, I politely decline the offer. If I want something better than I have, I'll find someone who's work I like and pay them for their work. Chances are the portfolio-hunting designer just can't come up with what I'm looking for, which means I'm either forced to use it out of courtesy (unlikely) or just wasting both of our time.

This is an interesting comment in a number of ways. Originally, I was going to post and urge StabbinCabin to record a full album of his own music and begin by marketing that instead of finding other bands to show off his skills.
That way he could record something he was truly passionate about and be able to ease into recording other bands. I still think that this is a good idea. However, I felt that having a variety of work would be a bigger benefit at this moment in hopes of landing a more manageable deal with the recording studio that he mentioned. Now where does the web designer fit into this? These up and coming designers that are offering you free service are simply dumb.

But wait you might ask, "Why do you say they are dumb but not the up and coming record for free or cheap audio engineers? Because a web designer can build an audio themed site on their own without needing to contact any other people first. Sure it might not have a particular Audio Engineer's name on it but, an attractive design is an attractive design. This also at the same time keeps clients from expecting handouts. Recording a record can only be done by yourself if you yourself can play all of the instruments or have reliable friends help play. Otherwise you need people. Though collaboration is common, designers do not need anyone else to help when creating a portfolio. Therefore free website design for exposure is dumb. Not to mention that this is now way too late to try and get into the web design game with the proliferation of so many free uber customizable content management systems. Though the very same can be said about audio engineering. Thus if it is not your dream, don't even try.

At the risk of sounding like an utter dick, this is terrible, terrible advice. Seriously. Don't stop studying. If you're studying for a proper degree that can get you decent work in the future, exchanging that for a bunch of gear would be a ridiculous decision. Finish your studies and get your degree. Having a plan B, or a safety net if you will, is nothing to be a shamed of and it will not make you any less of an audio engineer. You'll be able to concentrate on your audio work a lot better if you know that in the worst case scenario you can always pick up another job.

There are some keywords here, "proper degree." I would literally only take back my advice here if he was somehow obtaining an education where you need a degree by law to work in that position. Say for instance a nurse or a teacher. Also, you can also always finish your degree. If the OP has a job and college is consuming his money that he would rather spend on establishing himself as an engineer, then so be it. A safety net is fine, but again if he is pursuing a degree in any field that does not require one by law; then forget about it. You can always pickup a job without a degree that doesn't require tens of thousands of dollars and/or debt. Will you like that non-degree safety net job? Probably not. Then again, my friend adores his bar-tending job and straight up does not want to do anything else besides play music.

Free space for cutting the grass? Sign me up.

I have seriously read of people not only getting free apartments for working maintenance but also decent pay as well. Hell, some incompetent bitch that I know of gets a free condo for simply being on her Condo Committee.

Most commercial recording studios have a lock-out rate. You can always get a good deal for last-minute cancellations, night shifts and such, but unless you're the owner's cute nephew, you're still going to have to pay up. Freelance recording and lock-outs are an everyday part of the business, though, so just try and find a place that fits your clients' budgets.

Yeah I figured that the OP would have to pay to use such a nice studio but; was trying to think of a way to ease into working their.

I realize that after all this I probably sound pessimistic as fuck, but to be honest, I wouldn't trade a day in the business so far

Exactly. Absolutely nothing beats living your dream.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Seriously man, hats off to you - I have a habit of coming off as a bit of a harsh and cynical bastard, but you managed to rationalize your points perfectly! While we might have somewhat differing views on the subject, I can definitely see where you're coming from, and I'd imagine the opposing opinions give the OP quite a bit to think through and consider