So, got my first recording gig in years coming up......

[bryan_kilco]

I've never actually recorded any bands aside from my own. About 5 years ago I started to record drums for a friends band, but that all fell apart (thank god because the drums were just god-awful).

My current drummer and another friend have started a side project and want me to record/engineer/produce for them. So far I think it would only be a few songs, nothing technical. Sort of experimental hard rock/metal type stuff.

My problem is I don't exactly know what to charge. I know this topic has been touched on a few times before, but I wanted to consult you guys.

I could do it for free, but fuck that. It's going to be days worth of my life spent on something that isn't mine.

Not working out of any type of real studio, just a small setup in a spare room of my house and thinking about setting up a drumkit in my living room which is hardwood floor and big high ceilings with a slanted ceiling.

Not sure what to tell them to be fair. Maybe $100 a song or something?

 

[Arsenu,]

NEVER work for free, and NEVER charge a flat-rate per song. It will backfire every single time, and will let the musicians walk all over you walking into the studio completely unprepared.
Rates vary according to your location and currency. Try to sniff around to figure out what other studios are charging, and charge a bit less since they're friends.

 

[mstone564]

Do like AT LEAST 100 per 8 hour day.
Maybe more if you want to add in the time for mixing.

That way they can pay you per day for however long they take.

 

[mva801]

Charge $15 per hour for tracking. Mix it for free. I'm guessing since it's your first paid gig you'll want to take a little time to experiment and what not. But don't let some jerks waster your time and take advantage of what you can offer.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Well, these guys are pretty good friends, so I'm not worried about a whole lot. Just sort of feel bad to have to charge good friends but I just tracked my bands full length and that shit took FOREVER and I did that for free and sort of wished I charged them something for all that time. What really bogs me down is editing, samples, phase, shit like that. The guitarist has always sort of been the "do the whole track in 1 take" kind of guy, which is great, so I think they'll want a more live and natural feel for the songs so I won't have to get too crazy with perfectly timed everything.

I guess $10-15 an hour would be a good number. Thanks for the input so far and keep it coming!

 

[Arsenu,]

^ if they're friends they will understand and respect your offer, there is a difference between personal gain and professional work so don't worry about them looking at you all dodgy for doing your own bands album for free.
After giving them a quote add something like "if it's too much for you we can of course discuss it so we can come up with a deal that would keep us both happy". They'll usually respect your offer and won't try to bargain.

 

[crillemannen]

Yeah you shouldn't do it for free. Just charge a small amount for the sake of it!

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

NEVER work for free, and NEVER charge a flat-rate per song. It will backfire every single time, and will let the musicians walk all over you walking into the studio completely unprepared.
Rates vary according to your location and currency. Try to sniff around to figure out what other studios are charging, and charge a bit less since they're friends.

I charge a flat rate. Come at me bro.


I agree with not working for free. I see OP's point, these are friends. I see no reason to charge a shit load.

Flat rates work fine as long as you lay out what the band is gonna get for that rate (ok essentially I guess it does end up being hourly, but bands seem to like knowing what things are gonna cost going in).

 

[Arsenu,]

I charge a flat rate. Come at me bro.


I agree with not working for free. I see OP's point, these are friends. I see no reason to charge a shit load.

Flat rates work fine as long as you lay out what the band is gonna get for that rate (ok essentially I guess it does end up being hourly, but bands seem to like knowing what things are gonna cost going in).

I used to do the same, which is why i'll never EVER do it again.
Mixing and mastering is one thing as the worst you'll get is an annoying client asking for an endless amount of revisions and formats.
With recording though, what you'll more likely to end up doing is recording each take 10 times until they get it right. the first 9 times being the practice they didn't do at home because they figured "whatever, it'll be alright", the 10th time being decent at best, but never a jaw-dropping performance.
That shit doesn't happen when musicians pay by the hour.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I used to do the same, which is why i'll never EVER do it again.
Mixing and mastering is one thing as the worst you'll get is an annoying client asking for an endless amount of revisions and formats.
With recording though, what you'll more likely to end up doing is recording each take 10 times until they get it right. the first 9 times being the practice they didn't do at home because they figured "whatever, it'll be alright", the 10th time being decent at best, but never a jaw-dropping performance.
That shit doesn't happen when musicians pay by the hour.

Yeah the revisions thing: I don't indulge that kind of shit. I'll do one for free and after that they pay for not paying enough attention to get what they wanted.

As far as the second thing, I have yet to have that happen but I have flat out told a band that I couldn't record them because I knew right off the bat they were not ready to record AT ALL.

In the end I don't feel like I have given them that much control over my time and that's ultimately what it comes down to. Nobody likes the feeling of having a band look at you like you have kunt tattoo'd on your forehead.

 

[Arsenu,]

the way you describe it it's really hard to define what you're doing as "flat-rate" as bands do have to pay extra eventually, but whatever floats your boat bro.
i don't think that getting payed for professional work is in any way being a cunt IMO. some AEs go the extra mile to get paid as much as possible, but as long as you're being fair bands will usually respect you more than if you say "yeah i do it to a flat-rate but if you fuck up you pay extra" IMO. sorry for jacking the thread

 

[Nebulous]

Never assume that things will go smooth with friends.
Provide a project outline and charge SOMETHING to cover yourself.
If you're at a point where you want to experiment and not have it be "on their time" then perhaps offer a "free" set up day, then once you start to hit the record button on day 2 they start to pay you.

For friends at your point I would suggest about $10-15 an hour, that way you could explain that it's a comparable pay to flipping burgers (I think?), and you're not out to screw them.

 

[J.Lindmann]

What I once did was to ask the band to pay an amount that THEY considered adequate.

I did that because one of the band’s members is a friend of mine.
I ended up with 150€ for a couple of songs (2 whole days tracking, some hours mixing, no editing [because Blues-Band]).

I was totally happy with the price, especially when considering my skill and my equipment by that time.

I think all of us were happy with this solution.
But I think this method only works out if you can trust in the sincerity of the band.