Op-Ed by Erin Barra: The Indie Artist’s REAL Guide to Booking Studio Time

To all Sovereign Soldiers of the Music Industry…

Tune in to Erin's experience in the wild west that is booking studio time.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that “independent artist” is part of your job description:

You write your own material, you run your own social media marketing, you rehearse in someone’s basement, you sleep on strange floors while you’re on tour and you make Garageband demos. You care more about your music than anything in the world and you constantly scream into the abyss hoping someone will hear your brilliance…

And now the time has come for you to cut a record!!

The myriad recording options available to independent artists are overwhelming. Whether you have a budget or not, you could do things a million different ways, work with a everyone in town and spend two years of your life working on ONE album.

But rest easy fellow artist, for I have a good deal of experience producing records independently in NY and I’m here to share my knowledge — based upon not only my brightest moment but my many, many mistakes.

Be Prepared

Those Boy Scouts were on to something… not only will preparedness save a life in dire straits, but it will save you time and money in the studio.  Knowing what you’re doing before you even walk into the live room is far and above the most important thing you will ever do. I mean this not only in terms of your band being rehearsed properly, but also on a macro scale of knowing what kind of record you want to make and how you’re going to make it.

Beyond the whole nuts and bolts of pre-production, you also need to ask yourself a number of questions like, “What level of sound quality am I trying to achieve?” or “How produced do I want my record to sound?” and my favorite, “Why am I doing this in the first place?!”

Staying true to your intent and goals will ultimately help you achieve them, and knowing what you’re doing will prevent you from wasting precious resources trying to figure it out.

I know that all seems like simple common sense, but I cannot stress enough how many people ignore this crucial step: If I could have every dollar back that I spent wasting time in the studio trying to learn chords, settling on a BPM, or having completely avoidable conversations and confrontations… I’d probably have enough money to fully fund my current record : (

Studio Time

There are certain things you need to book studio time for and there are others which — provided you have access to certain technologies — you don’t.

If you’re tracking live instruments (especially drums) I highly suggest you find a studio with a decent-sounding live room and the right type of gear (i.e. Microphones, hardware, software, isolation, instruments… a tape machine for all you hipsters). After all, if you want those spacious Indie Rock drums sounds, you’re gonna need a big space. If you’re tracking something like a grand piano, you wanna make sure they have some paired mics for you to choose from (and that the piano is in tune).

These are just a few of the things you need to consider when deciding which studios to take a look at. Speaking of taking a look, definitely go check them out in person… vibe has a lot to do with making the magic happen.

My engineer is also my co-producer, not to mention a total perfectionist. It will take us at least a week of back and forth text messages, meetings, phone calls AND emails to figure out which studio we’re going to book for what. It always comes down to a balance of resources between those that the studio provides and those that come out of your pocket.

He wants the studio that has all the dope gear and huge live rooms, and I want the one that allows me to be as frugal as possible without compromising quality. Luckily for those of us in NY, one thing we don’t lack is options. In the past five years, in three boroughs, I’ve worked at around 10 different studios, and been inside of countless others. I’ve also heard rumors of amazing and affordable studios in Jersey….

Middle Men

Once you narrow it down, it’s time to play what I like to call the “Studio Time Tango” and mostly this will be a dance between you and the studio manager.

It begins with the part where I ask him about the availability and rates for each room, which is followed by a sense of hesitation from the studio manager. Many studio managers are total flakes (not all though… see below) that may or may not return your phone calls, which in the current state of the music industry, completely boggles my mind.

In my case, I’m unsure if this is because I’m an Independent Artist and they figure I don’t have any money, or perhaps because I’m female which I’m assuming means I don’t know shit about shit… but I have my suspicions regarding both.

When you finally do get this person on the phone, try to build a rapport and know exactly what/when it is you’re looking for. Hopefully they’ll be able to give you a straight answer regarding availability and rates, which most likely won’t be the case due to any number of holds and internal politicking.  You’ll just have to go back and forth between dates, studios, middle men and rooms until something eventually falls into place.

Erin’s Potentially Incendiary Tactics To Get a Better Rate

Just like the music business itself, there’s a lot of nepotism and shady shit that makes the studio world go round.  I find it beneficial to get down in the mud with all the other pigs out there and play dirty. Leave the integrity for the tracks!!! Just kidding… kind of.

•    Booking via engineer – every studio has a house engineer or assistant engineer that has direct access to everything you need.  If you book through an engineer, the studio manager will be pleased because their employees are driving business to the studio and is more likely to cut a significant deal for someone internal.  Not only that, but you will most likely be able to work past your paid session time without any extra charge. AND you’ll probably be able to use any of the studio gear you want, for free.  The only catch here is that you have to use that specific engineer, so I hope he’s good!!

•    Pay in cash– Depending on how legitimate your operation is, going off the books is usually the cheaper option.  A good time to breech the subject would be on the phone with the Studio Manager. Say something like, “I don’t know if this makes a difference to you or not, but if so, I can definitely pay cash for the session if that changes the rate at all. Ha ha.” I have yet to have this backfire in my face, but I will neither confirm nor deny having paid for any session in cash… ever.

Got it?

•    Day-Of – So let’s say you’ve got a lot of quick session or post-production work that needs to go down and you’ve got some flexibility with the timing. If you call up a studio day-of, or even the day before, and ask them if any of their rooms are empty, they’ll usually give you a killer rate. This is because they’d rather make SOME money than none. In this situation, I find that coming off as if I don’t desperately need their room works to my benefit — as far as they know I’ve called every other large studio within 40 blocks and one of them is definitely going to get my business. It isn’t often that you have leverage when independently booking a session, but this is one of those times.

•    Bumpable Time – some studios will respond to you wanting to book bumpable time, and others won’t. A lot of the big boys will literally bump your session if someone on a major label or debatably more important wants it. If you pay the regular rate and put down a deposit, they technically aren’t supposed to do that, but if you make it clear that you’re okay with getting bumped then they might offer you a better rate. Basically it’s like telling the Studio Manager that you’ll pay them “X” and all parties consider the session “booked” unless a better offer comes around. Sometimes this makes sense, and sometimes it doesn’t…

Fine Print

Just because a studio has certain instruments, microphones or outboard gear listed on their website, that doesn’t mean you have access to it. In fact it can be quite the contrary.

When you are negotiating the room rate it’s imperative that you know exactly what comes with it. A lot of times if you’re not asking for too much and it’s far enough in advance they will just throw whatever you need in there free of charge, but I’ve definitely been in some situations where I’ve spent $400+ more than anticipated.  Things like pianos, organs, vintage keyboards, drum sets, microphones – all that needs to be sorted out before you arrive and could potentially change the quoted number.

If you’re using the house engineer, that will of course be an expense not included in the room rate. Having said that, hiring a quality engineer who you can easily work with is an advisable investment and perhaps a topic for another blog.

Another additional cost, which I find to be somewhat inane, is piano tuning. You would think that if you were renting someone’s instrument that it would be in tune, but that is definitely not always the case. Piano tuning is something that is paid for by YOU, and again, isn’t necessarily included in the room rate.

When to Say No

God grant me the resources to track certain things in the studio, the technology to edit them in the comfort of my own home, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two things.

If you’re at home putting in work editing your own sessions, comping vocal takes and experimenting with new ideas then I applaud you. There is a special place in heaven for those of us who get down on our hands and knees, or rather, hunch over a computer and do the grunt work.  Conversely, if you try to mix your record on a fu@$*ng laptop you deserve to have it slapped out of your hands.

I realize that everyone has a finite amount of resources and being an independent artist is as much about making music as it is about making compromises, but knowing where to allocate those resources is imperative. If I had to pick two things that I wouldn’t skimp on the studio time for, it would be basic tracking and mixing. Go into the studio, get those drums tracked and get out. Then return for the almighty mix.

The amount of work you are capable of doing at home with a minimal amount of gear is massive. As an independent artist you are entitled to nothing, but you are EMPOWERED to achieve anything.

It is your responsibility to be hands-on in every aspect of your career and making your record is no exception. I highly urge you to learn how to run Pro Tools or any other DAW for that matter. It will not only save you a huge amount of money instead of paying someone else to do the dirty work, but will help you put as many of your fingerprints on your art as possible.  Not everyone’s cut out for minute editing and decision-making, but if you or someone in your band is, take advantage of it.

Outro

Making a record is a hugely complicated and involved process, and taking heed to some of this advice might mean the different between releasing your masterpiece through CD Baby or being picked up for distribution… or God forbid a label.

In the end, it’s the music that matters the most, so perhaps with our forces combined we can make this world a more listenable place.

On a side note I would like to say a few thank yous:

– Thank you Tino at Avatar Studios! For bumping me up from Studio G to Studio A (for two straight days) out of the goodness of your heart. I will never ever, in my entire life, forget that experience.

– Thank you Fab from Flux Studios! For going the extra 100 miles to help me complete a very special vocal chain..

– Thank you Ari from Deepwater Studios, for making your clients feel so at home : ) and being such an amazing collaborator and friend.

– Thank you Converse Rubber Tracks Studios, just for existing.

– and Thank YOU for reading this far! Now go forth and CONQUER.

ERIN BARRA:  Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Multi-Instrumenatlist/Ableton-Enthusiast/Nationally-Touring-Aritst. Also visit her on Facebook or Twitter @erinbarra.

For Erin’s last session in NYC she decided to book time at FLUX Studios.  Here she is with her band laying down the basics for her new song “Broken Banks.”

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