How often a week are you booked

general questions, comments and ideas about recording, audio, music, etc.
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dungeonsound615
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How often a week are you booked

Post by dungeonsound615 » Mon Feb 14, 2005 7:22 pm

The other posting about how much you work, made me think how often are you booked a week, I have been doing this for about 3 years and i still go weeks on end without work sometimes, then get real busy. Just curious where people are at. Sorry if this is to much like the other posting didnt want to hijack it.

Mike

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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by bigtoe » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:19 am

i do every other weekend (friday night saturday sunday) unless it's the stones or some huge project and then usually about 3 nights a week...

lately it's been tracking - if i'm not tracking i'm cleaning up tracks...

then i'll get slow...

i think it's a feast or famine thing by nature...don't be discouraged.

Mike

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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by Seventh Wave Studio » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:56 am

Same thing here. Just as I am finishing up on all projects, I check the phone to make sure I still have dial tone! Then, BLAM I am booked for six months. This happens every single time. I start to get worried, then, it happens.

It just happened again. I was finishing up two demos and an ep, getting worried about spring, then out of the blue, I get three full length albums that have me packed until July. (all within 48 hours)

Karma, dude. You get what you throw out there.

Point is, I stay up at night too thinking about bills (I do this for a living). You are not alone.
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GregW
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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by GregW » Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:30 am

Winter in New England is usually called "The Dead Zone." I guess nobody wants to record, nor rock live, in the winter. As said, it's feast or famine. I had a freelance gig on New Year's Eve, then a couple of Saturdays on an on-site that needed the gear...but not me... :-(

So it was kinda famine time...until this weekend. I had a live gig, and next weekend I start another on-site, which will last for several weekends. By then, it'll be spring, and the live stuff, freelance or on my own, starts up again. Then the summer hits, when it's friggin' crazy!!!

To answer the question, about once a week in the spring and fall, once or twice a week in the summer, maybe every other week, every third week, in the winter. (All this, plus my day gig, too...)

So if you do this as your main source of income, make sure you have some reserve (or even *gasp* a part-time job) to cover the Dead Zone(s.)

-GRW
N.O.M.A.D. Travelling Recording Studio.
http://world.std.com/~grw
"Keep it off my wave" -Soundgarden
"America may not be perfect, but it's done fu***** all right by me." -John Valby

Wild Bill
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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by Wild Bill » Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:11 am

It's seasonal for me, too.
Right now I have more jobs than I can handle, people are getting ready for the "festival" season and need fresh press demo's etc.. I think it's also due to what types of music you are geared toward. I regularly turn down metal acts and that kind of thing. It's not that I am predudiced, but I'm brutally honest with them and tell them that I don't believe that I can do their genre justice. It onbly takes one "stinker" of an job to marr your rep.

There's a fair amount of jazz, rock and acoustic work going on here in Chi-town and I can give them that "old school" sound they're looking for. I use "gueriila" engineering tactics in that if my room can't handle it, I'm not ashamed to rent a room that will give them what they want. They want my skill, not a list of gear because I've built up a rep for that type of stuff. These are the kind of musicians that want to play, not engineer, and don't need time to "write their music" in the studio. I screen acts before they get studio time.

One advert every four months is enough to keep me as busy as I want. Sometimes I don't even need that.

Plus I have a backlog of material I want to do myself. Each year I put out a collection of between 10-30 songs.

That adds up to 20 or so hours a week. more than enough for my particular needs.
Last edited by Wild Bill on Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bill~~~

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Slider
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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by Slider » Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:19 am

GregW wrote:Winter in New England is usually called "The Dead Zone." I guess nobody wants to record, nor rock live, in the winter. As said, it's feast or famine. I had a freelance gig on New Year's Eve, then a couple of Saturdays on an on-site that needed the gear...but not me... :-(

So it was kinda famine time...until this weekend. I had a live gig, and next weekend I start another on-site, which will last for several weekends. By then, it'll be spring, and the live stuff, freelance or on my own, starts up again. Then the summer hits, when it's friggin' crazy!!!

To answer the question, about once a week in the spring and fall, once or twice a week in the summer, maybe every other week, every third week, in the winter. (All this, plus my day gig, too...)

So if you do this as your main source of income, make sure you have some reserve (or even *gasp* a part-time job) to cover the Dead Zone(s.)

-GRW
Everything stops for me in late Dec. early Jan.
Then it's always great after that.
I just call it vacation now, it makes me feel better.

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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by cgarges » Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:28 am

Yeah, it comes and goes for me, too. Last year was just pathetic. The end of the year picked up though and I had an incredibly busy January. February's been slow for sessions, but I've been doing a lot of playing. March is pretty booked. I guess it averages out to three or four nights a weeks of playing and three to five days a week of sessions.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by MASSIVE Mastering » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:10 am

I'm almost afraid to "jinx" it, but I've been slammed non-stop since late December.
John Scrip - MASSIVE Mastering

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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by Cellotron » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:11 am

Beginning of January things were definitely tailing down - but right now I'm fairly slammed with a week backlog and jobs coming in steadily. Most of what I do though is unattended sessions cutting vinyl masters.

Unfortunately this is a feast or famine "business" - either you're so slammed you only can get about 5 hours of sleep a night - or you're sitting around twiddling your thumbs worrying about how to pay upcoming bills. Not for the faint hearted or for those who don't know how to store the honey for the winter.


Best regards,
Steve Berson

GregW
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Re: How often a week are you booked

Post by GregW » Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:14 am

Slider wrote:I just call it vacation now, it makes me feel better.
Someone who was working stupid hours (maybe, 60, 70, 80/week) once said that someone asked him when he slept. He replied "That's what February is for!"

Cellotron wrote: Not for the faint hearted or for those who don't know how to store the honey for the winter.
That'd be me!! Hence the day gig "subsidizing" the biz. Ah well...

-GRW
N.O.M.A.D. Travelling Recording Studio.
http://world.std.com/~grw
"Keep it off my wave" -Soundgarden
"America may not be perfect, but it's done fu***** all right by me." -John Valby

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