Tips?

[TapeOpLarry]

Yesterday a long-time client (and excellent, pleasant person) was sorta embarrassed to ask me if it was customary to include a tip for recording engineers, and if he'd been making a jerk or himself for not doing so. I replied that I never expected them, and only a few folks over the years had given me a tip. I even refused one recently.

I used to work in food service for years. When you make $3.15 an hour tips are important and expected in the US. But I never expect them in the studio. Does anyone else ever get tips for recording folks? Does anyone expect them?

[chris harris]

I don't expect them at all. And, I hardly ever receive them. When I do, it's usually because the client feels like they've gotten more than they paid for, or were a pain in the ass to work with. That's usually true in those cases. But, unless they've already written a check, or they've been a HUGE pain in the ass, I tell them to keep their money for the next record.

[Gregg Juke]

Yeah, same here (as Chris said). I've had a few as a session musician, and it's more common on the live gig scene (believe me, it's VERY Uncommon, it's just not completely unheard of as it is in the studio). I guess it would (once again, as so many things do) depend on if you're officially producing, or engineering. I would think that it would be more appropriate to tip the engineer, as the producer has (or should have) his "tips" built into the deal structure.

GJ

[joelpatterson]

The last guitar player, when we settled up at the final session, pulled out a bottle of Scotch! The way he handed it over, I was made to wonder... I must have made some jest, somewhere sometime, maybe, "after this is over, it'll be time to break out the Scotch!"

I can't stand whiskey! Too many teenaged memories of choking down the bitter, vile stuff... I'm all about the rum and coke these days, Captain Morgan if you've got it.

So, it sits on the shelf. It's fifteen years old so far, the label says.. I'm guessing it's the kind of thing that only improves with age?

[jhharvest]

So, it sits on the shelf. It's fifteen years old so far, the label says.. I'm guessing it's the kind of thing that only improves with age?

If it has an age label it's probably a single malt whisky. If that is the case it's very, very different stuff to what you had as a teenager. The age label tells how long it has been matured in a cask. However they do not continue to mature in the bottle (unlike wines).

Which distillery is it? ... And please don't mix it with coke, that would be akin to blasphemy.

[drumsound]

I've had some people round up the check a couple of times, but never a full on tip.

[joelpatterson]

... it's probably a single malt whisky. If that is the case it's very, very different stuff to what you had as a teenager. The age label tells how long it has been matured in a cask. However they do not continue to mature in the bottle (unlike wines).

Which distillery is it? ... And please don't mix it with coke, that would be akin to blasphemy.

Right you are, it's a Glenlivet "single malt scotch whiskey, French oak reserve." We kids did make a habit of drinking alot of Annie Green Springs Peach Creek spirits... probably was rotgut whiskey, too, it would stand to reason. Man, the things you never re-examine!

So how is this taken, shaken or stirred? On the rocks? Straight up? Now tell me...

[jhharvest]

Nice whisky! Glenlivet is pretty smooth and balanced. I have mine neat - a big tumbler will help it unlock the aromas. If it's too strong you can add a tiny bit of water. This will also open it up. I'm not a fan of ice as it makes you less sensitive to the subtle nuances.

It's like tasting wine: give it a swirl in the glass and smell, take a sip, let it wash over your tongue and the roof of your mouth. Enjoy the warming sensation in the throat and body. Then after a while you'll start to taste / smell the tail which is different usually different to the initial taste.

... I like whisky, if you couldn't tell.

[RodC]

Which distillery is it? ... And please don't mix it with coke, that would be akin to blasphemy.

Yeah... mix it with Pepsi, then drink a real mans drink - gin

[Gregg Juke]

"No. No gin tonight son. Not a drop."
George Bailey, Sr.
Bailey Building & Loan

GJ

[cgarges]

I've gotten several tips over the years, but it's certainly not something I expect and I never bring it up.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[joelpatterson]

You know what happens to me now pretty consistently all the time? I'll find myself humming a tune, out of the blue, but if I stop and think about it... "Why am I whistling Mama Told Me Not To Come, when I maybe last heard it about, what four or five years ago? Why...?"

And then I go "Oh yeah! 'Put some whiskey in your water, sugar in your tea..."

[MoreSpaceEcho]

pretty much whenever i've gotten tips it was from friends who i was helping out either for free or at a serious discount. one band gave me a bottle of makers, another friend, when i gave her the tight-bros-from-way-back discount mastering rate, said "fuck that!" and paid me my regular rate.

i mastered a record for one of garges' clients last year, and he (the client) tipped me an extra $50. garges himself tipped me for a record i did for him as well. thanks buddy!

i would never ever expect a tip, but they're certainly most appreciated.

[williamsongs]

I never really thought about this, but it actually has happened twice, both times from people who had zero experience with recording studios and were very unsure about it.

Both times were parents hiring me to create their child's music school audition reels. When they discovered that I wasn't going to rip them off, they each overpaid by $50-$80 in their check. If it had been cash, I would not have accepted it.

Regular musician types have never done anything other than suggest that I give them free shit.

[DrummerMan]

I always considered it kind of a tip when the client pays for your meals, as I never had that as something to be expected.

Cash tips seem a little crass to me in the studio, unless maybe if it's the kind of thing where I could actually palm someone a couple hundred bucks, which has never been th case. If I really appreciate someone's work I tend to a) buy the meals/coffee/etc., b) present them with a bottle of something at the end (or something else if thy don't drink), and/or c) refuse to allow them to give me a discount on their already reasonable price.