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How much does it cost to record in ireland these days?
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17-05-2010 08:43PM#1Sorry, I know its a pretty open question, depending on time spent, amount of songs, engineer used - so I couldnt expect anyone to throw a set price. But sure, say a 6 song ep. Not including mixing and mastering costs - just the average cost of booking a professional recording studio with a bog standard engineer. No bells and whistles. Im expecting to be frightened obviously.
We're talking a pretty professional band (in the attitude sense) with all the ideas worked out in advance (not dicking around trying to write while theyre there.
). A "big ass studio" such as windmill, not a bedroom one I mean. (that isnt a hit at bedroom studios by any means, rather they will probably be the reality and I know loads are class and more than capable of giving a great recording) This is probably one of those questions - "if you have to ask you cant afford it". But sure its just an estimate from those of yas workin in them.
Oh and sure, if anyone can help with that, i guess throwin around the question for a 10 track album just for the heck of it!
Would any anybody actually bother to try to record abroad for cheaper? Dont know if they differ much?0
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Thanks for that - yeah the idea is to record as much as possible with the equipment I have myself in the short term, think it would be fine for a rough sketch ep. We've a macbook, logic and an profire 2626 and couple mics to build with - and the obvious massive benefit of not having a drummer (recording cheaply wise).
So Ive been throwing around the idea of investing in some room treatment as a band, get some decent diaphragm mics (even as a lend) and an analogue compressor - get a decent recording together and then if it needs a mixing engineer we'd send it off, (although ive a little bit of mixing experience and alot of free time it still might be a necessity). And hopefully without completely wrecking the recordings in some way in the process - give a good enough mix to a mastering engineer.
The reasons for doing it that way arent actually related to cost, theyre more along the "invest in something you can learn from, experiment with and have unlimited relaxed time to get a good performance with" school of thought. Because I just dont see us responding well to an expensive recording session and being creative with the recordings at the same time. Which I want to do.
I read an interview of how Cathy Davey did it on Tales of a Silversleeve, recording some of it in houses, and agree (generally - Ys still sounds great for its analogyness) with her opinion that far too much is spent on recording these days.
And then of course, if the eps rubbish, you just go to the recording studio. Where it still might turn out to be. 0 -
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Studio maybe 300-1k and then you have producer costs
wouldnt recommend doing it yourself on the 1st one, just allow some other ears on it you might be surprised....
Dont be silly with macbooks and stuff, or wait 10 years and then try as thats the head start alot of guys have on here who own studios.0 -
She was using a sight more than profire and a Mac book.
The tracking was done in a 'big' studio too.
If you want to buy the gear and call it a learning experience that's fine. But buying your own gear just to be able to record yourself is a bit of a waste of time IMO. Where as you can record and mix in a few days by booking a studio, I can guarantee you that doing it yourself you'll still be recording the same "Album" in six months time.
There's a lot of bands who exist because simple because they are recording, no gigs, little rehearsal just recording for months on end.
I suppose there's so little willingness to pay for recordings anymore because the music is basically worthless. The expectations from recording are so low...
I really appreciate your perspective, but there are a couple things:
Experience is extremely important to any band, and if you arent recording yourself, which most bands now do, how can you form opinions of how you should sound and be able to communicate that with an engineer in such a small time with large sums of money involved? (probably your own money, not a record companies) IMO the less vagueness and cliches thrown at poor sound engineers the better for the music. To have your own opinions and experience recording, and then to be excited by ideas and perspectives coming from the studio is the best way to elevate your recordings.
I think you assume everyone is happy with the final product of a studio session. Which isnt the case. Maybe it was unprofessionalism on their part, or not listening to advice from the mixing engineer etc. But it happens. Even if you end up with a product that sounds professional, it still might end up very far from what you intended. And your inexperience will dull your confidence in asking for what you want.
Just to be provocative - the last 10 years has produced some of the worst quality studio recordings ever (recordings - not albums/songs). This can be from any point in the development line - recording mixing and mastering, probably due to marketing pressure and insecurity of the artist- over compression, digital clipping etc. And its the same ol thing - these albums are ripped to 128 vbr mp3s, played on phone speakers or through your television. Probably 70% of people buying your music wont give a curse how it sounds. I think any band that can simply put back dynamic in their recordings will be the first to be bought, regardless of how it was recorded.
Just to everybody:
A final point - we're talking about art here. And to not have a basic understanding of probably the most important point in production - during the mix - is a major oversight as an artist. I dont see why anyone, with the expense involved in recording in a studio, wouldnt try to educate themselves to get the best value out of any part of it. You certainly dont need a macbook to get started, which is probably why home recording is so scary to studios. Musicians should try to be creative at every point in the production process. Which ALOT are doing now. Half of the work a recording does to convey its meaning, is from the studio process. With all the bedroom muscian/recording engineer enthusiasts out there, its only a matter of time before something thrilling comes along. And it probably wont be to do with a neve desk. (Although it would sound better).
This isnt a bedroom vs studio debate - its that the creative process has changed. For the better. Musicians by and large are keeping up with technology, especially electronic musicians. IMHO - If you want a good sounding recording go to a studio. If you want a great one learn more about it and go to a studio. BUT if you want to create good music that anybody will listen to - either/or. Ive yet to find great music I wouldnt listen to due to recording quality.
Just to be clear, our albums a good way away. And will probably be done in a studio. This is a small 6 track ep. We're a good live band - the mbp and profire are a necessity for our gigs - why not use the technology you already have. I think the serious concerns of most musicians is the gigging non-stop, not the recording non-stop. To be able to record whenever you feel is by far a luxury, not a compromise.0 -
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Oh, I was definitely interested in the question. If i wanted to start a never ending debate, I would have created the thread "lets debate studios vs bedrooms" or "macs vs pcs" or "ben and jerrys vs hagendaas" or "oasis vs blur" etc. But I just felt I needed to respond to some of the above posts. I cant claim to have the knowledge and experience of anyone above, and Im sure theyre excellent at their respective jobs, but I think to express interest in record yourself, you get the usual "your being naive! your a young man, dont do it!" And its important to inject some "jeez - its only a recording". So I would very definitely not like to start a flame war or something which would be ridiculous and a waste of everyones time. Which I hope I havnt. And Im rubbish at preaching. I dont think I came off tooo preachy. Maybe coulda done without the "studio recordings blah blah not great blah blah mp3". ha. sorry. But just you get hassle for trying to learn. Which I think is what most burgeoning sound engineers get too. I cant see the creative process and the production process having to be so seperate. Im done - no more hot air blowing! 0
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MulliganStew wrote: »Oh, I was definitely interested in the question. If i wanted to start a never ending debate, I would have created the thread "lets debate studios vs bedrooms" or "macs vs pcs" or "ben and jerrys vs hagendaas" or "oasis vs blur" etc. But I just felt I needed to respond to some of the above posts. I cant claim to have the knowledge and experience of anyone above, and Im sure theyre excellent at their respective jobs, but I think to express interest in record yourself, you get the usual "your being naive! your a young man, dont do it!" And its important to inject some "jeez - its only a recording". So I would very definitely not like to start a flame war or something which would be ridiculous and a waste of everyones time. Which I hope I havnt. And Im rubbish at preaching. I dont think I came off tooo preachy. Maybe coulda done without the "studio recordings blah blah not great blah blah mp3". ha. sorry. But just you get hassle for trying to learn. Which I think is what most burgeoning sound engineers get too. I cant see the creative process and the production process having to be so seperate. Im done - no more hot air blowing!
Blur!0 -
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MulliganStew wrote: »I really appreciate your perspective, but there are a couple things:
Experience is extremely important to any band, and if you arent recording yourself, which most bands now do, how can you form opinions of how you should sound and be able to communicate that with an engineer in such a small time with large sums of money involved? (probably your own money, not a record companies) IMO the less vagueness and cliches thrown at poor sound engineers the better for the music. To have your own opinions and experience recording, and then to be excited by ideas and perspectives coming from the studio is the best way to elevate your recordings.
I think you assume everyone is happy with the final product of a studio session. Which isnt the case. Maybe it was unprofessionalism on their part, or not listening to advice from the mixing engineer etc. But it happens. Even if you end up with a product that sounds professional, it still might end up very far from what you intended. And your inexperience will dull your confidence in asking for what you want.
Just to be provocative - the last 10 years has produced some of the worst quality studio recordings ever (recordings - not albums/songs). This can be from any point in the development line - recording mixing and mastering, probably due to marketing pressure and insecurity of the artist- over compression, digital clipping etc. And its the same ol thing - these albums are ripped to 128 vbr mp3s, played on phone speakers or through your television. Probably 70% of people buying your music wont give a curse how it sounds. I think any band that can simply put back dynamic in their recordings will be the first to be bought, regardless of how it was recorded.
Just to everybody:
A final point - we're talking about art here. And to not have a basic understanding of probably the most important point in production - during the mix - is a major oversight as an artist. I dont see why anyone, with the expense involved in recording in a studio, wouldnt try to educate themselves to get the best value out of any part of it. You certainly dont need a macbook to get started, which is probably why home recording is so scary to studios. Musicians should try to be creative at every point in the production process. Which ALOT are doing now. Half of the work a recording does to convey its meaning, is from the studio process. With all the bedroom muscian/recording engineer enthusiasts out there, its only a matter of time before something thrilling comes along. And it probably wont be to do with a neve desk. (Although it would sound better).
This isnt a bedroom vs studio debate - its that the creative process has changed. For the better. Musicians by and large are keeping up with technology, especially electronic musicians. IMHO - If you want a good sounding recording go to a studio. If you want a great one learn more about it and go to a studio. BUT if you want to create good music that anybody will listen to - either/or. Ive yet to find great music I wouldnt listen to due to recording quality.
Just to be clear, our albums a good way away. And will probably be done in a studio. This is a small 6 track ep. We're a good live band - the mbp and profire are a necessity for our gigs - why not use the technology you already have. I think the serious concerns of most musicians is the gigging non-stop, not the recording non-stop. To be able to record whenever you feel is by far a luxury, not a compromise.
Good Post -
The only definitive way to make a decision which is better for you is to do both - with involves both money and risk.
There is no definitive 'better', there probably is a 'better for you' though.
I will say that like doing a gig is like doing a rehearsal x 100 so too with studios - If I got one guitar pick for every bewildered looking drummer I've seen startled by a click track or a blank expression from a guitar player who is entirely convinced he's in tune ..... I'd have a lot of picks.
Dive in, it might go well !0 -
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Still with the band absolutely, the rest is ongoing...so forgive me if I can't get too specific. I'm fairly philosophic about it...sh*t like this happens, it's been really horrible at times and we've learnt a lot, but the thing will get done soon enough hopefully with other people. I'll try to answer those questions as best as my experience will allow - this was my first album and my 4th time in the studio (rest were just demos etc):
Re 'option B'. It depends on your situations I suppose. But short answer would be yes. It may mean you and the band have to save like f*** for 6/8 months but if you guys put away a grand a month between you for 6 months you're well on your way to a reasonable budget for studio - like someone else mentioned (and i'm sure studio owners won;t mind me saying this), times have changed and for recording it's somewhat of a buyers market re studios - again though , I would stress the critical area being indentifying the right people rather than the right place, the place comes into too though obviously.
Record deal - nope, just ourselves. We all have 9-5 jobs, which may be quite unusual, so I guess it was easier for us to put away a few quid and do weekends and nights in studio.
Re engineer choice: yes we had a choice, we chose someone we had worked with previously for some demos. The results from the demos had been pretty good and we figured we knew them and everything would be hunky dory. No contract and full o jiz, we sat down and discussed a fixed price (which turned out not to be fixed...) and lashed into it. Do not do this...
Re how to choose an engineer:
Again this is based on my limited experience, if I was to go looking right know I'd be looking for.
- someone with a back catelogue that reflects the sound/quality we are aiming for regarding genre and audio quality - if you're a hip hop band no point in going to someone who's had 50 hit albums in the trad area.
- find out about how they operate. If you're sure you don't want someone meddling with your arrangements, tempos etc then find out if the person in question is a hands-off type of person or whether their style/strength is to 'produce' as such which may not be what you're after. (but always listen to suggestions even if you don't implement them). Equally if you're interested in someone who will produce, even semi-collaborate then check that out
- talk to other people who have worked with them and get it straight from the horses mouth. Were they professional, lucid, willing to discuss, humane etc??? Or were they rude, not turning up, unreliable etc??
Knowing this stuff is gold (the info in question, not my information) and you are doing yourself a disservice by not finding out about it.
I have to run out the door...wanted to write more but hopefully that helps answer some of it0 -
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Maybe let is know what kinda stuff you do and we can point you in the right direction producer wise !
Was that directed at me..? You can always depend on the kindness of strangers! Well, Im not from round these parts, and Im young and naive, but ive bags of cash my grandma left me if thats what youll think will help? My lord everyones so awfully nice on this big interweb!
Im afraid to start the question of how much production costs these days as it may indicate plain laziness on my part. Which might be fact. And generate angry responses - Although.. If anyone were obliged...! Remember I do have bags of cash and Im inclined to believe any number.0 -
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