weird "business problem", how would you handle it?

"hey! there's a nasty guitar part added to our recording! we want a new recording!"

"ok! here's 15 grand, sorry about that"

yeah, the pizza and recording analogy.... it just doesnt work

Well I meant instead of receiving a pizza you receive the paste thingy, tomato sauce, pepperoni, maybe some bacon and cheese, will you pay for it? I would tell them to go away and I will go to McDonalds. And if I would have paid before for that "pizza" I would be pissed. But for 14$ I could survive.

And when there is a hair or whatever in the pizza ( a real pizza ), I call back and they send a new one. No questions asked. Many many people deliver pizza here.

The part after the sell or after the money has been taken is very important for someone who aspires for marketing domination. Or simply doesn't want to piss off too much the family.

But can they actually get a decent mixing for 1000$? Do they know other people? So now you would stop making them a discount because they had the chance of you not finishing? :p hehe, I'm sorry, personal experiences arise inside.
 
Now that we're on the topic of Papa John's...

Bloodninja: Wanna cyber?
DirtyKate: K, but don't tell anybody ;-)
DirtyKate: Who are you?
Bloodninja: I've got blond hair, blue eyes, I work out a lot
Bloodninja: And I have a part time job delivering for Papa John's in my Geo Storm.
DirtyKate: You sound sexy.. I bet you want me in the back of your car..
Bloodninja: Maybe some other time. You should call up Papa John's and make an order
DirtyKate: Haha! OK
DirtyKate: Hello! I'd like an extra-EXTRA large pizza just dripping with sauce.
Bloodninja: Well, first they would say, "Hello, this is Papa John's, how may I help you", then they tell you the specials, and then you would make your order. So that's an X-Large. What toppings do you want?
DirtyKate: I want everything, baby!
Bloodninja: Is this a delivery?
DirtyKate: Umm...Yes
DirtyKate: So you're bringing the pizza to my house now? Cause I'm home alone... and I think I'll take a shower...
Bloodninja: Good. It will take about fifteen minutes to cook, and then I'll drive to your house.
**pause**
DirtyKate:I'm almost finished with my shower... Hurry up!
Bloodninja: You can't hurry good pizza.
Bloodninja: I'm on my way now though
**pause**
DirtyKate: So you're at my front door now.
Bloodninja: How did you know?
Bloodninja: I knock but you can't hear me cause you're in the shower. So I let myself in, and walk inside. I put the pizza down on your coffee table.
Bloodninja: Are you ready to get nasty, baby? I'm as hot as a pizza oven
DirtyKate: ooohh yeah. I step out of the shower and I'm all wet and cold. Warm me up baby
Bloodninja: So you're still in the bathroom?
DirtyKate: Yeah, I'm wrapping a towel around myself.
Bloodninja: I can no longer resist the pizza. I open the box and unzip my pants with my other hand. As I penetrate the gooey cheese, I moan in ecstacy. The mushrooms and Italian sausage are rough, but the sauce is deliciously soothing. I blow my load in seconds. As you leave the bathroom, I exit through the front door....
DirtyKate: What the fuck?
DirtyKate: You perverted piece of s**t
DirtyKate: F**k



:D But seriously, it seems wrong of them to have pressured you into it, though I don't think you should've given in if you couldn't have committed 100% cuz of the potential for it it to lead to a situation like this. However, that obviously doesn't help you now; seems like the best thing is to try to get it off your hands and into someone else's!
 
just tell i'm mix the shit for $200 and be done with it

its probably about a week worth of work....

its radio rock, there's a ton of editing / pocketing that needs to go into it

there's also TONS of vocals to quantize / hand tune

god if someone edited the whole thing right, i could mix it in a night.

i just dont know anyone who's editing on my level.
 
its probably about a week worth of work....

its radio rock, there's a ton of editing / pocketing that needs to go into it

there's also TONS of vocals to quantize / hand tune

god if someone edited the whole thing right, i could mix it in a night.

i just dont know anyone who's editing on my level.

gimme that fucker

I'll edit it
 
its probably about a week worth of work....

its radio rock, there's a ton of editing / pocketing that needs to go into it

there's also TONS of vocals to quantize / hand tune

god if someone edited the whole thing right, i could mix it in a night.

i just dont know anyone who's editing on my level.

ahh

i didn't realize all the edits still needed done

fuck that noise
 
no befores on me ... only afters

besides, you're talking about editing ... don't know if tuning plays into that but I can do that as well with little problem as long as shit is not too fucked from the start. quantizing is no problem, I fly through that shit. drums I wouldn't be replacing anything anyway, just tightening up the performance. Here is a rough mix (faders up) from my band. Vocals are tuned in 4 spots, if you can find them I'll buy YOU the pizza ;) Drums were fixed in numerous places but not so much in the double kick spots

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/594184/One More Taste.mp3
 
no befores on me ... only afters

besides, you're talking about editing ... don't know if tuning plays into that but I can do that as well with little problem as long as shit is not too fucked from the start. quantizing is no problem, I fly through that shit. drums I wouldn't be replacing anything anyway, just tightening up the performance. Here is a rough mix (faders up) from my band. Vocals are tuned in 4 spots, if you can find them I'll buy YOU the pizza ;) Drums were fixed in numerous places but not so much in the double kick spots

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/594184/One More Taste.mp3

drums are quantized (i dont track anything until after the drums are perfect)
guitars are close enough

bass and vocals need to be both quantized and tuned (main take sylables to grid, the rest of the vocals follow suit to fit)

its pretty close to begin with but im talking ultra tight

you'd be hand tuning every single sylable... i dont leave anything "play"
i could send you a song we could go over details you could give me an idea if this is possible? its a LOT of vocal editing lol...
 
drums are quantized (i dont track anything until after the drums are perfect)
guitars are close enough

bass and vocals need to be both quantized and tuned (main take sylables to grid, the rest of the vocals follow suit to fit)

its pretty close to begin with but im talking ultra tight

you'd be hand tuning every single sylable... i dont leave anything "play"
i could send you a song we could go over details you could give me an idea if this is possible? its a LOT of vocal editing lol...

How much time do you feel comfortable with for completion? I have a rehearsal tonight, tomorrow, and this weekend is my anniversary with the wife but if you want to send me the files to one song I could start flying through it friday. BUT ... I would need to know exactly what you are expecting when you say "editing" so that I don't lead you on with how quick I can do it. I'm gonna assume basically no drums need to be touched since you said they've been quantized already. Lining up bass & vox is a no brainer. Tuning the vox would no be much of a problem I'm hoping as long as I don't have to push the limits of reality.

Oh, I use PT LE 6.7

yeah I know, old :p
 
I guess I'm the only one who agrees with Moonlight Seeker. From day 1 there was poor communication and now things have spiraled out of control. When the guy said, "you're going to do it, there's just no other way" and you said "whatever" instead of saying "NO, actually I'm not doing shit." That is big mistake number one.

The other cold hard fact is that the band has now paid you $2500 and has received NOTHING tangible. That is big mistake number two. They should have at least gotten a tracking reference mix if their bill was paid-- this is pretty standard.

I don't know about you-- I'm a peaceful man, but if I perceive that someone has stiffed me for that much cash, I would be jonesin to dish out some pain. Now consider this: Whomever you have been speaking with may not have communicated everything with all the members of the band-- if so, they got HIS story. But again the fact is they have received NOTHING other than the "privledge" of having their audio stored on your hard drive. I'm certainly not one to tell someone how to run their shit, but you may need to "watch your back" if that is how you choose to conduct business. At least giving them the reference mix makes it easier for them to shop for someone else to edit/mix.

Also, whether you realize it or not, it does sound like you are holding their sessions hostage. People in the thread are offering to work on it, but you say, "I don't know anyone editing at my level", well wtf-- you don't even have time (or budget) to work on it, so LET IT GO. You've been paid $2500 already so why not pass it to someone else? It appears that you'd rather force the band to pay you to finish it or leave it in limbo. Personally, I wouldn't want my clients to perceive things that way. Again, I'm just offering a different perspective.

Good luck:kickass:
 
Sorry if this sounds harsh, but my take on this is pretty clear actually: You seriously gotta finish this!!! Your chance to say no was before starting the recording. Now, you'll probably not make that mistake again in the near future, but you DID NOT say no, so the only thing left to do without being a complete asshole is finishing it. That's especially true if you normally don't charge for mixing/editing, which would mean they paid you in full. That argument about the discount would be bullshit then. A discount means a lower price but not an unfinished product! Yeah, no contract and so on... It's kinda weak to hind behind that. An agreement is an agreement, especially if you're that close. An when you agreed on recording them, you probably both meant the full thing (a finished product), at least that's what the band understood. From the sound of this, it seems to me that's what you meant at the time too. If not, you would have had to be more clear.
/rant off ;-)

EDIT: Ooops, I absolutely didn't notice that the thread is that old already! How did it turn out?
 
I've had some similar experiences. Guys act like you're friends and beg you to cut them a deal and then you do. Then they're pickier and want it fast. It end's up taking 2 or 3 times longer than most projects and you get paid less to boot. It's lame.

I would say the cut in price you gave them basically cut the cost of mixing. Since this was on your vacation time, that rate should have been more than usual.

It's not like Joey stiffed them, he's in a tight situation and being friends/family with the guys, they should know that he's good to finish it when he finally gets a chance. You take your car to the repair shop, wait weeks on the parts, and get charged 5 times more than quoted, and you still pay it. You bitch about it, but you end up taking your car right back and repeating even though it's likely the repair shop is responsible for the new problem.

Getting you to pay for the mixing is just pure bullshit. That would mean you basically gave up your vacation and got them great recordings for free or next to nothing. Yeah, that's real fair.

For your quality, there shouldn't be a free mix/master. Especially with all the editing that goes into your stuff. Contracts dude, I keep putting them off because I don't like the whole ordeal, and yet I'm sitting here being owed money by numerous people and I most likely won't ever see any of it.

I swear, no good dead goes unpunished.
 
Bloodninja: Are you ready to get nasty, baby? I'm as hot as a pizza oven
DirtyKate: ooohh yeah. I step out of the shower and I'm all wet and cold. Warm me up baby
Bloodninja: So you're still in the bathroom?
DirtyKate: Yeah, I'm wrapping a towel around myself.
Bloodninja: I can no longer resist the pizza. I open the box and unzip my pants with my other hand. As I penetrate the gooey cheese, I moan in ecstacy. The mushrooms and Italian sausage are rough, but the sauce is deliciously soothing. I blow my load in seconds. As you leave the bathroom, I exit through the front door....
DirtyKate: What the fuck?
DirtyKate: You perverted piece of s**t
DirtyKate: F**k

Damn that was fuckin hilarious! Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Back on topic, I say let them say what they want, but you did your job at the time you had to do it. It's not like they were your only clients anyways.