eeenteresting..

I usually end up charging depending on the context. I'm no great believer in overworking mixes.. which is why this last pop-esque project has been eating my brains... but anyhow-- i usually end up charging 'round 4-500 for 2 days of recording basics-- up to 2 sessions of vocals-- a rough mix, and a final mix to the standards of whoever's mastering (in some events, me..).

BUT.

I usually never touch money- and take all payment in microphones/gear. Cash is reportable and problematic. Its also dirty and bound somehow to the idea of commerce, which renders recording prostitution of sorts. no can do prostitution . so i take the pay it forward approach.

now... that said-- there is the PITA charge if somebody is just destined for a nightmare. but usually-- those people won't like my demeanor, and won't work with me in the first place. so self selection is very very helpful.

but yeah.. bout $400 for 8 tracks.. so 50 bucks a track works out pretty well.

Interview seemed to go ok but I really can't tell any more. It went better than my usual UK interviews anyway, I think they liked the accent Seems like an awesome place to work, pretty laid back - you can work late one night if you want to go riding the next morning, and that sort of thing.

Well, then i am the cheap and ghetto version i guess!

The punkrock band, i wound up getting about $80 in mic stands for. Again though, i initially told them i would do it for free; the stands were an unexpected bonus.

I definitely need to break the habit of not charging. I would feel a little better about that maybe, if my recording rig was a little scaled up from what it is currently though i think. As it stands, i sort of go with a bit of a lo-fi prices for lo-fi gear with perhaps a projected lo-fi results kind of approach...

Hmm.

DUDE.. the whole process IS my scratch to experiment with cheap new mics. i just got a pair of CAD m179s for the last recording i did.. $250 for a record? absurd! BUT.. pay that shit forward.. overheads? yup. general purpose? yep. vocals? sure! toms? hell yeah! you just build up your stuff collection, and pretty soon, you're not cobbing a mic kit together-- you HAVE 'em. if a band can't scratch together 60 bucks a piece to make a record, they're doing it wrong. YOU have already learned your craft, take the time to know the program, run the show, have all the gear to make it possible, AND deliver. break that into per person cost for your time, right? fuck.. i usually spend 40-60 hours running mixes. if i were being ACTUALLY paid for that in self-employment wages-- that'd be like $1500, y'know?

don't undersell yerself-- yer recordings sound good, and not just 'for home recordings'!

Knocked it out of the park


I think I gots a job! Aaaaand it is a work from home dealio. Granted I will almost undoubtedly be working for free, this allows me to graduate and is kind of a nice little gig for a recent-graduate resume.

Work from home? Swell! Is it a job forwarding money orders for Nigerian princes?

Almost as good.

Essentially I will be a/the tech-savvy writer for: http://www.progressiveag.org/

Granted it is kind of ... rural ... but it is a charming thing to slap on a resume.

man.. i'm stoked for you that you're working-- congrats!

i'm a little puzzled as to what that organization does though-- are they a farm safety advocacy group or something?

i gotta say.. as a small scale organic type... they got some big corporate sponsors at that joint that're kinda... well.. not so progressive . but they're gonna exist one way or another anyhow. don't sweat the rurality though... it's good for y'.

Essentially they develop programs and host one-day special events for farm safety.

They also keep up with other agriculture-related news and such, so I would be creating and maintaining their Twitter and Facebook pages. I'd also set up a mailing list for their coordinators, and modify/develop training manuals for volunteers.

On top of all that, I will be writing their press releases and more than likely a bunch of articles for Progressive Farmer Magazine.


I will be the only young person on staff.


So yeah, tech-savvy writer is a good title.

Yeah it's gonna be weird working for Monsanto ...

congrats Dev.

Nice one Dev, I am jealous of you people who can get through interviews

Fo reals Brahmin. Have you (anyone reading this) seen some of the documentaries on them/the modern food biz in general? Really quite disturbing.

I'm not trying to bring you down though, good for you. I foresee this being a stepping stone towards other writing gigs...

Why do the best musical ideas come only late at night when you have to wake up early the next day?

I've been straight-up vegan at points in my life and had a long-term significant other who was such (for environmental and personal health reasons) and was politically involved re: environmental stuff. So yes. Big Ag is a big offender when it comes to environmental destruction. One of the biggest. (And let's not go into the politics of it, especially in The States...)

Even doing what I do and working for a printing company- and one that promotes itself for being somewhat responsible (runs on wind power, FSC certified paper, etc.) I know we can always do more. Whether we have the budget to upgrade... well, they're getting at least one thing out of there that I know is full of toxic shit, and that's a plus, 'cause it makes the plates for the presses. Delicious delicious sodium hydroxide fun wow!

It is too late for me to sort out a proper rant on the subject.

I want a 36 hour day and to quit my job and do music full-time in this 36 hour day world. The universe has not allowed me this.

But yeah, they do.

I'm a former environmental science student and have seen all the big documentaries about modern ag. and Monsanto specifically, but I simply will not give up delicious delicious steak.

As far as my dealings with Monsanto go, I am about as low-level as an employee as one can be, and thus am rather guilt-free in the whole situation. My job is to write tweets to let people know about the blind-spots on tractors, and how many kids get killed by them a year (John Deere = another sponsor).

Plus I need it to graduate

I wish I had more time on my hands; between the band and work I've worked I think 80-odd hours in the past week with no days off. And will continue to do so for the immediate future as I have a record to mix, artwork to do, and two rehearsals a week for the next six weeks.

...because the thought struck me to do a disco-funk version of Holy Diver, complete with horns.

Dev, you should see if you can score any sweet genetically modifying drugs. By now they should certainly have developed something to make humans grow and heal a dozen times as fast and be resistant to disease and pesticides.

In the End Times that sort of thing will be useful.

Monsanto has done plenty of dick things(i particularly like the one where they imported a bunch of mixed beans from south america, sorted them into individual types... and then patented themlol) but on the other hand, they are doing some fucked up things with genetics. And i think you should try to weasel your way into some of that stuff.

Got me summa dat A&W root beer, way better than MUG in that it doesn't taste completely chemical. I would even go so far as to say I might buy it again.