Looking to make money by selling your music?

If you are looking to sell your music and make money from CDs or MP3's you should probably know that most artist make 90% of their money from tour and only 10% from music. You should really look at your music not as a product but as a marketing tool. If your music is good you can use it as a tool to go on tour and make money from merchandise, royalty/ publishing and other things.

If you your looking to develop your music and make a recording that your fans will want to listen to you can hire me to help produce/record your single or album. I can also help with a lot more if you hire me as a music consultant. Just visit www.smallcitystudios.com for more info.

End Of 2011 Update

So a lot has changed since the last time I posted on this page. Many upgrades have been made to the studio and I partnered up with Engineer Ben Cohen.

The studio is now running Protools HD 9, High quality pres,  new mics and more. Plug ins have also been updated for high quality mixes. For list of equipment and new rates check out the web site. We can now hold rehearsals at the studio, we have amps, drums and a PA.

If you are looking to record we have many different deals depending on the quality and budget that your project requires. Anything from one song demos to full albums, also live recording for bands on a tight budget. Check out www.smallcitystudios.com if your looking to record and see more of what the studio has to offer.

Young and Dumb...

Young and upcoming bands… please don’t ever have the same attitude as these kids…its just stupid…
Ok so to set up this story I was recording audio for a show, We were all waiting for someone to open the venue. The promoter was 4 hours late and bands were waiting out side the venue, the guys throwing the show where waiting with the pa system and lights outside too. So things where off to a bad start.
Even with the bad start (and the now realized bad venue) the main bands and tour manager got their shit together very fast. 4 hours of work got done in around 2 hours. The opener bands were some locals, one of the bands had a drum set on stage that the tour manager needed moved cuz it was in the way.
The tour manager asked a few times “whos drum set is this? Please move it!” after a few minutes later a kid that probably heard the message the whole time says “yea its mine”. He continues to work on this cymbals and the tour manager repeats him self. Then he and other band members talk and mumble to themselves “who do these guys think they are, this is our town”.

At that point I was just sitting and waiting cuz stuff was everywhere and people were working hard to get things setup to make the show happen. It was ridiculous hearing those kids attitudes. The headliner came out to throw a show in a small crappy town at a shitty venue with shady promoters and these kids are talking shit like they owned the town. The main band brought 200 plus fans to this packed venue and the opener was acting like the fans where there to see them.
Long story short the pathetic opener band was mad there set got cut short so they played again at the end… in front of about 10 people with everyone else that was cleaning up for the night.

Moral of the story, if you going to be in this business get over yourself, put your ego aside and try to have a positive and open mind when working with other people. Its sad  to see a small pathetic crap band COMPLAIN about getting the OPPORTUNITY to play in front of a crowd with a hard working established band. I personally know many bands with more talent and drive who would have loved to open the show, even if it was just a few songs.

Grow Up.

Great Inspiration

I have been watching “Pensado’s Place” on YouTube and I just downloaded the podcast. If you would like to know more about how “real” engineers and mixers work check this show out! He shares a lot of great info and interviews other top engineers.
I have watched almost all of the shows and have been inspired to apply the theory’s that he talks about to my mixes. Also he shows some stuff that I already did before watching the show. Kinda made me happy to see I was on the right track when working on my mixes.

check out http://www.youtube.com/show/pensadosplace 

Studio Update Feb. 3

So I haven't posted on this thing in a while. I have been really busy with the holidays and everything. Here is a little update on whats been happening this past month.
Right before Xmas I recorded Winds Of Plagues live show at the glass house. They are doing a live DVD for the next CD that they are putting out.  So if you like the band get their next CD at Hot Topic and you will get a copy of that DVD.
I have also been working with the band Set Your Anchor. The EP is almost done, I am in the final stages of mixing and mastering. If your into Metal music check them out @ myspace.com/setyouranchorus
The singer for the band also made a new logo for me!

I have been working other projects as well, just check out my facebook for day to day updates.
I will be posting more recording tips and info on this page soon so keep checking back for updates!!!

MONEY Vs. TIME… What’s more important? The short version…

So right now I feel like this is an important subject because I have worked with a lot of musicians and money seems to be the biggest problem that musicians THINK they have. This is the short version of the article… I get to the point a lot quicker…

           

So I have meet a lot of musicians that think if they had enough money they could make it in the music industry. Well only a couple of these bands had the actual musicianship, talent, dedication and work ethic it actually takes to be successful.

There is something else that can compensate for lack of money… its called TIME! Instead of trying to invest more money in to your project try investing more time! Yes, Everything is expensive, bands always need better instruments, better recordings and better gigs. All that stuff takes money but if your focused on what’s really important you will find that hard work and spending more time on your music will help you be more successful.

Here is the break down. So you need better instruments to sound good? That’s not true, YOU should make the instrument sound good, not the other way around. Take a poor sounding guitar and make it sound good, so when you do get a good guitar it will sound great! Take the TIME to practice more and get better at your craft, no one else can do that for you!

            Recordings cost a lot and you need them to get gigs…It goes back to practicing… If you play your song better, your recordings are going to sound better. The gear and place doesn’t matter as much as time and work! You can fart in to a $10,000 mic going to a million dollar mixing board… its still a fart at the end of the day. Same thing goes for your music. If your music is shit you can polish it up all you want, its still a piece of crap. But you will still need a recording to get live gigs and now of days promoters want musicians to play a crap load of MONEY just to play a show. (or sell a bunch of tickets to that show)

            Think about it, why would you want to play a show? To get new fans? If your music is actually good then there are many ways to get new fans. I rarely see or hear of musicians taking the TIME to really promote their own music the right way. A label doesn’t just promote their artist’s music to anyone and everyone. Indie musicians shouldn’t ether. Yet I see musicians trying to add friend after friend on MySpace, people who don’t even give a shit about the bands music. What’s the point of having 10,000 friends on MySpace if non of those people like or listen to your music. Promote and focus on people who like your type of music, not just anyone. If you do hit 10,000 friends it will mean a lot more, trust me. Give your music out for FREE!!! Go to shows and hand out cds in person, talk to people. Be social in real life, not just on the computer! If you take the TIME to write and make good music, then take the TIME to promote it and build a fan base. You could play gigs and get paid for it. If your bringing people to the shows the promoter is going to want you there!

Some people say its not so easy… Well no, its not easy! If being a successful musician was easy, you would see a lot more people doing it. If you put in the work and people like your songs, you will be successful. If people don’t like your songs… work on writing better music, work even harder and don’t keep pushing the same stuff that people don’t want to hear. If that doesn’t work…well… Don’t quit your day job and do music as a hobby… that’s the harsh reality.

Home Studio Vs. Big Commercial Studio… Time Vs. Gear

So every musician should know that the most obvious difference between a home studio and commercial studio is the cost. A home studio can cost hundreds maybe thousands of dollars to put together while a big commercial studio can cost hundreds an hour maybe thousands of dollars per day. But the most important difference is experience. You can take a producer or engineer with the experience of regularly working in a commercial studio, put him/ her in your home studio and you will get a great sounding recording. On the other hand you can take some one who has only worked on one or two projects in a home studio and put them in a million dollar facility, he or she will probably not get the best recording from the equipment available. They probably won’t even know where to plug the mic in and get a signal to tell you the truth.

When picking a studio the first thing is to know what your budget is going to be when starting a project. If you want to record 16 songs and only have a $1000 dollars you’re not going to get that done in a big studio. (maybe at a project studio) The second thing is to know what kind of quality you want. (Demo, Okay, Good, Very Good or Best Possible) Do you want 3 great sounding songs? Or 10 demo quality songs? The price can end up being the same, depending on the quality. I would go with 3 better sounding songs, quality over quantity! Do you really want your fans to hear bad quality recordings of your songs? Once you figure out what quality and budget works best for you, then you are ready to pick a studio.

Each type of studio serves a purpose. Home Studios are great! They don’t always have the best quality but that’s fine. Get a cheap audio interface, a couple of cheap mics, some headphones, speakers and you have yourself a home studio. Record demos of your songs so that you can hear them back. When practicing a song “live” musicians don’t normally hear the songs. They are concentrating on playing and hearing themselves in the moment. When you listen to the recordings you can hear how everything sounds together. You can then hear the changes that need to be made to the structure and sound of you music! You can also record scratch tracks to a metronome at your home studio so that you’re ready to go when you do get to the commercial studio. Save time, be prepared if you are going to record at a different studio.

Big Studios are awesome! They tend to have the best gear, best acoustics, best engineers and its best to go there if you have a lot of money! Some advice… You don’t want to go to a big studio and spend a ton of money to record for one day. (unless your doing one song or one instrument and you are very prepared) You still need to spend the time recording parts right in order for your recording to sound good. Just because your recording though a $10,000 mic and a $5,000 preamp on to a $30,000 Protools rig doesn’t mean you are going to sound good! That stuff is not going to help you sing in tune, or help you hit the right note on the guitar or help you hit your drums harder. It takes talent to sound good, talent comes from hard work and taking the TIME to practice. You will be better off spending that money and recording more songs yourself or at a project studio. Even artists that are signed don’t go to a big studio unless they have done preproduction and they know exactly what they are going to record. There is no time or money to experiment. That’s all done ahead of time. This is where project studios come in to play. They are more affordable with an engineer that normally has more experience recording then the average musician.

Project studios like Small City are popping up everywhere now of days. The main thing to know is that YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!! Don’t go to a project studio that charges $50 a song and expect it to sound really good, Its Not. But it is better to go to a project studio if you have $1000 and want to record for a few days instead of one day at a big studio. Look at the experience of the producer or engineer before picking a project studio. I recommend taking a tour before you go in to record, see if you feel comfortable in the studios environment.

Small City Studios is a private recording studio with a productive environment. I have some really good gear with a lot of experience. I have worked with over 200 bands in about 6 years. I love working with dedicated musicians. If you willing to work to get the best performance possible, I’m going work with you to get the mix and master possible. I can also work at bigger studios if your budget allows. We can also rent better gear/ instruments to get you the best recording possible for your budget!

Check out smallcitystudios.com to get a quote on your project or to set up a tour.