So now I'm focused on what I want and where I want to go, and I see examples of what I want in my colleagues. I'm proud that these people have what I'm striving for, so this isn't a jealous stab at them. But this blog is a place for me to get my thoughts out, and right now my thoughts are that I'm starting humble and building my way up to mega awesomeness with my studio.
This is gonna take a lot of effort on my part, and a LOT of major money management changes. I've been implementing those changes, and I have made some minor accomplishments so far to reduce my debt and increase my net worth. If I'm gonna get there, I gotta get outta the hole a.s.a.p. So this new lazer-like focus is a very big help with that.
But again, we all start somewhere. Right now, I feel that my skills have outgrown my meager gear, and I'm pretty good with the meager equipment I own. But my client base isn't there yet to justify any major gear upgrades. So I have to focus on the most important upgrades first, while continuing the necessary steps to increase my net worth and get myself out of insolvency. This way, when the time comes to make the switch from a full time day job to my own self employment, this insolvency won't be hanging over my head giving me a reason to say no to making the jump into uncertain income earnings. There's freedom in working for yourself completely, but there's also major risk, and right now I can't afford that risk until this insolvency is reversed. So that is a major factor that I'm attacking with full strength.
But here's a snapshot of where I've been. This was my studio in October 2009 in Conifer Colorado.
A few months later, I met Bob Swanson. This was the real game changer for me. Bob had talked one of my recording clients into having his studio mix the project instead of me, and yeah this did sting because I was trying to fight and scrape for clients where I could. To lose one was painful in those days.
But I took it like a professional. I went to Bob's studio and delivered the files. I walked into Bob's Pro Tools studio in Conifer, and was admittedly jealous of what I was seeing. This was light years beyond anything I could afford. But I was there for a professional purpose, so I had to be a pro and talk about what was intended for the mixes for the client.
Bob started probing me asking about the version of Pro Tools I was using. I told him I was tracking on a BOSS BR-1600, and mixing in Adobe Audition 1.5 on a shitty old PC in a spare bedroom…..
…..and you could see his demeanor change.
He said what struck him the most was that I was going out there with what most in the business would call toys, and calling myself a studio. And the thing that dumbfounded him was that it was working, because I was getting clients. He said he knew 30 people who wanted to "play the game" but didn't feel they had enough gear, when they had 10 times what I had, yet here I was doing it.
I think he felt somewhat guilty about snagging a client from someone who was just starting out, and felt compelled to help me out. So the next thing you know, he started handing me pop filters and headphones! He began placing bids on ebay for pieces that I could use, and got me a nice headphone amp. Then he started raiding his mic closet, and gave me a $700 mic! To top it all off, he asked his friends who were also audio engineers to pass him along some of their spare pieces that they were no longer using. I got two flat panel PC monitors, new Tannoy Active monitors, a bunch of new mics, and more! This was all given free of charge in an effort to help give me the jumpstart he felt I needed.
First of all, I did not deserve ANY of this generosity, but as if that wasn't enough Bob started having me come over to help him with studio tasks and began gaving me tips to improve my skills. I'm still flattered and somewhat confused by the generosity of someone like Bob, but here he was helping me left and right to build myself up. He'd say "With someone like you going at it with the meager amount of gear you have, if someone really pushed you………you'd be dangerous." And here he was pushing me.
So next thing you know, my gear list jumped by leaps and bounds. I went from this….
…..to this……
Then Bob ordered a new console for his studio, straight out of Nashville. This console is a Raindirk Symphony console, and there aren't many in the US. There's one in Columbus, Ohio, at John Schwab's studio, but Bob's is bigger (that's what she said…..) The fun thing is that I got to help install this behemoth! This console was as long as my Bonneville, I kid you not Here's a video I shot after helping him load it in off the truck from Nashville.
……and here's a pic of the console all set up in Bob's studio.
Here's the cool thing. Bob's new toy was bought from Nashville, where it was featured in this Casey Ashley video. The console in this video is the EXACT SAME ONE I helped install in Conifer, Colorado at Swanpro Studios.
Things were going well knowing Bob. Bob was the best thing that happened to me professionally, because it was the first time that someone not only showed faith in me, but it was also the first time someone put their money where their mouth is. The generosity he bestowed will never be forgotten.
While I lived in Conifer, I also met Brad Smalling, who owns Evergroove. This happened when one day I called up Evergroove after just having moved to Colorado to ask about their freelance rates. I never got any freelance clients to go to Evergroove, but one day I'm using the local Freecycle service and I spot a pro audio rack! I thought this was an odd find, but too good to pass up. So I snagged it up, which started a conversation with Jenny Chaput Smalling. Jenny informed me that they were the owners of Evergroove, which reminded me that I'd been in touch with them before. I got back in touch with Brad, and we started talking. I toured his studio, which is a very nice place in the mountains and is just down the road from Bob's studio! The environmentalist in me was stoked about Evergroove because it's solar powered, and I still think that's REALLY cool. Here's a photo of Evergroove.
So here I was with some meager equipment, but meeting some really cool Colorado contacts. Things were looking up, and even though I had a long way to go before I could match what these guys had, I was glad to be considered a player in the game of the Colorado music scene.
But then I moved back to Ohio when Sarah got a job in Richwood. I came here with a dedication to make Skyline Sound Studios something grand in the Buckeye state, and I'm still trying to make that happen. But when I landed here, the flow of clients I had obviously ground to a halt. The first session I had in Ohio was a blues band called Breadwagon, who were really cool to hang with. We spent 7 hours recording and mixing a really cool demo. Here's a video I shot that day.
But Skyline was still limited to just a spare bedroom of the house Sarah and I rented. We rented a house an hour north of my target market, which made getting clients a bit challenging. And then my ensuing personal financial crisis that occurred after Sarah left meant that I was stranded in Marion until my finances improved. So I decided to make the best of it. I spread the studio around the house, and now I had more space than Bob Swanson or Brad Smalling. The difference is it's in a house, not a professionally treated studio environment. But at least now I had a place finally all to myself to put my studio full time.
You see, before Sarah moved out my recording sessions would happen remotely. I'd pack up my gear and take it to the clients rehearsal space to do the recording, then bring the tracks back to "home base" to do the mixing. My current client Enemy By Mourning got this treatment in Ohio, as their first demo was rush-tracked in the band's rehearsal space. Here's a video of that session.
Again, this was just a demo, but it helped the band gain a footing in the central Ohio scene, which did help bring me a couple of clients. I know that Liquid Ghandi came in after hearing what I did for EBM on their demo.
When The Blitz wouldn't play EBM's demo on local stuff, I wasn't surprised. It was a rush job, and they wanted it that way. It was just a good sounding quick and dirty demo from the start. So we started planning out a way to get them something that did sound radio quality for airplay on The Blitz. We decided to use Electronic Drums I had acquired as a midi recorder and run the midi through Steven Slate Drums to get the drum sounds without the room playing a factor. I also upgraded my gear from Adobe Audition 1.5 to Pro Tools 9 on a brand new 27" iMac!
Now it was time to play the game. We buckled down and pumped out a mix that was successful in getting them airplay, and quite frankly it was one of the best things I'd recorded. I was uber proud of myself.
And now not only had my gear selection grown, but my abilities had grown thanks to the amount of space I had in the house to dedicate to the studio. Here's a pic of the live room in the current studio.
Not much has changed since then, as I've decided to focus any money coming in from Skyline toward my debts to reduce my insolvency. But more upgrades are in the works very soon. I'm going to switch back to using studio revenues for the betterment of the studio very soon. But the current set-up works very well for me and is proof that it's not the gear, it's the engineer. I've spent a lot of time over the last year honing my skills. Here's some of the fruits of those labors.
So I've come a good way in a couple of years considering the limited amount of time I have to put into things, and the amount of resources I have. It's been a ghettophoenic experience from the ground up. But I have places I wanna take it, and I'm working every day to make that happen. For example, let's look at Swanpro Studios and Evergroove Studios, then compare that with where I am gear wise…..
It's NOT the gear, it's the engineer. But being a quality engineer with the high end shit = living the dream. So I'm working toward it. Meanwhile, I just hope that people will judge my product, and not my gear. Because, again, it's NOT THE GEAR. It's the engineer. But I can honestly say that without podcasts (IHR, PSN, HRO, HRS, Sessions With Slau, Ronan's Recording Show…..to name a few), or the help of the engineers I've met guiding me through and giving me advice (Bob Swanson, Brad Smalling, Dave Piatek, to name a few…..), I'd not be where I am now. Two years ago, I'd have KILLED for what I have now, so it's all in perspective. But this isn't the end of the line. I wanna move Skyline out of the house and into it's own facility. I wanna make it a major player in the Columbus music scene, because my mixing skills have been proven to be competitive (Nuber on The Blitz is a tough cookie). So hopefully within the 5 years I have allocated for my 5 year goal, I'll be able to transition from where I am now to something more like one of these.
……and my blog will come along for the ride. Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment