Is it me or are clients stoopid sometimes?

[Sandyrb]

So I'm sitting here in control 1 waiting for these guys to get back to the studio as I write. I'm all set up, ready to hit record. It's 12:10... they've already burned $190 of studio time whilst they choose whichever guitar amp makes them sound the most badass to rent at the local music store.

I don't mind waiting. I don't mind getting paid for waiting. I'd rather be recording. Are they mad?

Does this strike anyone else as bad economy on the part of the client? :p

As you may be able to tell I am feeling a little frustrated.

Cheers,

[Ken Morgan]

Its their money...I feel your frustration though. Last year, I ended up charging a band over $100 while the drummer (husband) and bassist (wife) had a domestic squabble...strangely enough, they were arguing about wasting money.

[Mixwell]

Does this strike anyone else as bad economy on the part of the client?

Kind of strikes me as a band who needs to read the pre-production thread.

Time is money, and I have neither.

[Tomasz]

they've already burned $190 of studio time whilst they choose whichever guitar amp makes them sound the most badass to rent at the local music store.

WTF..... just run "eleven" certainly they'll sound bad-ass then. ha

[Sandyrb]

It's not very often a band is as depressing as this one.

I'm getting too old for this sh*t... Someone please tell me why on earth I still do it? :)

Cheers,

[Jeremy Krull]

I think by nature, our end of the music industry is one of the absolute hardest ones to keep the saying "the customer is always right" at the forefront. I'd like to think that to do what we're doing, it'd require at least a little more of a developed mindset than just being a normal musician (except in the one or two rare cases I know of where it's an INCREDIBLE engineer who doesn't really play anything to begin with).

Ultimately, ESPECIALLY in this day and age because of the ease of being able to 'record' and the costs (or ease of piracy) to do that, artists/players don't really have the respect they used to have for people in our positions. It's not even a conscious decision to shit on us, but it's more that I think the mentality of being able to DIY (regardless of results) has caused a large demographic of musicians to be rather impatient, and DEFINITELY not appreciative of the value of man-hours involved.

The most talented artists that I've worked with, are almost always the most gracious, whether or not they're giving a lot of input they know to give you space as you are giving them. It's usually the really not-talented ones that are pushy, impatient, unappreciative, and absolutely hell bent on asking for as many mix revisions as possible to make sure they're giving 'input'. And while yea, I could say, clients are stupid sometimes Sandy (and I think we'd agree on that), I think it more is about how clients choose to view our end of the process and what they do and don't take for granted.

Caring about them burning time on tweaking over the amps, shows your passion for the art, and shows that regardless of this you still want to make a good record at the end of the day. Passion I think is a great thing, but also can be a nuisance sometimes (like when I get these wheeler dealer budget basement clients, yet I'm still spending time editing, reamping through real amps, and actually making sure the turd has a sheen instead of a matte varnish)...

and of course it's bad economy on part of the client, THEY'RE MUSICIANS hahaha and next thing you know they'll be pushing YOU along like you're the one wasting time. But you know this better than me, you have probably twice the years of experience that I currently have doing this.

sorry to blabber, just remember, at some point it's not always a perpetual facepalm.

:)

[Sandyrb]

Caring about them burning time on tweaking over the amps, shows your passion for the art, and shows that regardless of this you still want to make a good record at the end of the day.

Thanks Jeremy, I appreciate the graciousness of your words.

The buggers are back in tomorrow for drums... the drummer is the only one, I think, who can really play his instrument. We will see! :)

Cheers,

[Ken Morgan]

Can't you just turn them down and be done with it? Ive done this, or at the very least passed these kinds of gigs off to assistants, interns, whathaveyou..

How much is your grief worth per hour? That's what my mentor asked me years ago, anyway

[Tomasz]

It's not very often a band is as depressing as this one.

I'm getting too old for this sh*t... Someone please tell me why on earth I still do it? :)

Cheers,

You love it?........ just a hunch! ha

[Sandyrb]

Can't you just turn them down and be done with it?

An excellent suggestion Ken but this lot won a bunch of recording time at the local Band Warz so I kinda have to be nice to them. Perhaps they're not as horrible as I'm making out... The drummer's doing his stuff now and he seems very switched on. And he's called Clint... that really helps. Gotta respect a man called Clint. :cool:

You love it?........ just a hunch! ha

It is entirely possible that you have caught me red-handed. On the other hand, recording IS the only thing that I'm any good at. Well, I can drive a car (not very well), I've had some success as a hypnotist and I once won fifty pence first prize in the Ruddington Garden Association competition category "An Interesting Snapshot", but I keep coming back to this recording thing. Verily, verily, it's probably my only talent.

Anyway, now the drummer's getting his sh*t together I'm starting to feel a lot happier. I like doing drums.

Cheers,

[delay]

Lesson #1 - never give time to band contest winners

[Sandyrb]

Lesson #1 - never give time to band contest winners

But on the other hand, as the prize is offered "toward a full project", the time I'm investing now will be making me (personally) at least ten grand later so lesson number one is actually learn to promote your studio effectively, like we do! :p ;)

Cheers,

[pauly]

hang in there sandy, the only reason they took their sweet ass time was because it wasn't their money.

we need a standard form or checklist for bands to prepare themselves for the big day...

[Sandyrb]

hang in there sandy, the only reason they took their sweet ass time was because it wasn't their money.

Ha ha! You know it buddy. :)

we need a standard form or checklist for bands to prepare themselves for the big day...

That is a very fine idea indeed. I wrote an article about it for the website but it's on the computer at home somewhere... perhaps I'll dig it out and post it here for people to read. But a checklist is another great idea... maybe I'll make one of those too.

In fairness this lot aren't sounding too bad now. Everything's tracked and I'm just doing a bunch of editing. The drummer was great if a little inconsistent and I'm starting to feel there's some hope for the project haha.

Cheers,

[Zachg]

we need a standard form or checklist for bands to prepare themselves for the big day...

I saw a checklist somewhere for bands going into a studio, give me a minute or two and I'll try post it.

Zach


Edit: Nevermind it got deleted from the harddrive... and the link to it's dead

[Sandyrb]

Never mind, it got deleted from the hard drive... and the link to it's dead

No worries mate we'll figure something out. I'd welcome your suggestions. :)

Or anyone's for that matter. Maybe I'll go make a thread about it.

Cheers,

[bitflipper]

The buggers are back in tomorrow for drums... the drummer is the only one, I think, who can really play his instrument. We will see!

Maybe you should write a blog about your experience, then publish it under a pseudonym so that people can debate whether the band is real or not, and what your true identity is. Use clever fake names for the principals so you can't be sued. Make sure every character comes off like a total moron, because readers will find that humorous.

You don't have to give me credit for coming up with this great idea, either.

[Sandyrb]

Maybe you should write a blog about your experience, then publish it under a pseudonym......

GREAT IDEA! I could call myself "Mixedupman", the band "Beachslap" and the Radar operator "Fish Fingaz".

As it goes though, I recently abandoned my dreams of being a famous novelist so I'm kinda not ready for another literature project. Could change though.... ;)

Cheers,

[Mixwell]

Radar operator "Fish Fingaz".

Don't get p'd on in the editing booth. Fish and Pee smells won't mixwell.

[ears2thesky]

What kind of fish do you recommend for hip-hop?

[Weiss-Sound]

2na Fish.

[RWB]

Good hip-hop always has a little sole in it as well.

[Zachg]

we need a standard form or checklist for bands to prepare themselves for the big day...

Finally found this one. I think this is the one I was looking for when the thread started...
Its slightly geared towards metal guys, but most of the info would be pretty useful for bands to know.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/285689/Systematic%20Productions/studio_checklist.pdf

[Dan]

There are billions of dollars to be made off of stupid people. Be thankful you found a small way to tap into that market. I'm still looking for mine.

-Dan.

[Halfway Competent]

There are billions of dollars to be made off of stupid people. Be thankful you found a small way to tap into that market. I'm still looking for mine.

-Dan.

DVD rewinder. ;)

Or, you know... a box that you set in a room near your stereo and it absorbs stray EMF, thus tightening the bass of your stereo.

[Ryan Kelly]

I've spent days waiting for clients to show up. And while it's terribly frustrating at the time, the money's paid my rent just as well as days I've been slammed.

Think of it as a paid vacation....where you're confined to a poorly lit room......by yourself...