Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Struggling to do it all

Okay, as some people may know, getting time to do work, of a drumming/teaching/recording/creative nature that manages to pay the mortgage and feed the family is quite difficult.............but rewarding.
So trying to fit in the old FD in Music Industry Entrepreneurship is not easy. I wish blogging carried a higher percentage of the marks for the Study Skills module!
Am i the only one who is having, as the derisory term goes, Time Management issues?

Best get back to the studio to do some work, then try and prepare some time tomorrow for an essay or one.

all comments, ideas, suggestions more than welcome.

I thank you.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Am i obsessed with money?

I don't have anything to discuss this week...well not really.

I was looking at the Musicians Union rates the other day. £30 per hour minimum for private teaching, and £108 per person per 3 hour gig, with £36 per hour for overtime.
I applaud the fact that these rates are in existence but for most teachers and pub/club gigging musicians, they are approaching fantasy land

 I teach privately and i charge £20 per hour. Other drum schools, charge around £26. I know this is Swansea and that rates are probably higher elsewhere so £30 may be obtainable.
However the £108 per 3 hours for a gig is nowhere near obtainable. I got paid £100 last Saturday for a wedding gig, five piece band, and it was for a friend so cheaper than normal. However this involved 3 hours of travel, two hours of waiting/setup and 90 min set. If this was another band i play weddings for i would probably have got £150 but the time spent travelling/setting up and playing would have been similar.

Discuss?

Monday, October 15, 2012

Recording - as a totally creative concept

I am recording an album with one of my bands, Fernando Rey. However progress is slow at the moment, so Paul Battenbough and myself decided to spend most of Saturday on a new project.

Paul had sketched out some songs the previous week, came along to my studio on Saturday armed with an rather nice Epiphone acoustic guitar.
We recorded live drums, minimal mic'ing, along with the acoustic going through a Tech 21 amp. As there was no one on the desk, it was a bit hit or miss, but mainly hit. A friend dropped over a bass, so Paul put some bass down.
We then listened back, another friend turned up with his 60's valve Marshall and thin line Telecaster. We added some additional rhythm, replaced some of the original amped acoustic with mic'd acoustic, added lead guitar on all song and did some lead vocals and some group harmony vocals.
Had a listen back! All in all very pleased, there are obvious things that need to be redone, but probably about two bass lines and one lead vocal. So playing devils advocate, what do other people think about this form of recording? Or is it best with a dedicated sound engineer, full choice of instrumentation, time taken to find best spot in room for snare? etc etc.
Personally I had a load of fun, had a few beers, had a nice time with talented friends, and got a lot of work done, of which i can use around 85% (one very dodgy fill but i might make it a feature!).

Just thought i'd share

Thursday, October 04, 2012

First Post for FD Music Industry Entrepreneurship

Is there any justification for owners of pubs/clubs not paying an agreed fee?

I came across this topic on Facebook, yes Jon Goode, FACEBOOK. There was a young musician regaling the Swansea Musicians group with a tale of woe. Landlady books her after seeing her perform at a previous, well attended  gig as solo acoustic act, agrees fee with her. She turns up and the pub is empty, she offers not to play at the start but landlady says "no play" So she does two sets, packs up, goes to get paid, and is greeted with "what you want paying?" "you emptied my pub" etc etc. In the end the musician gets paid half of the agreed fee.

Is there any justification for the landlady's behaviour? Personally i dont think so, i have always been paid the full agreed fee, even though a couple of times it involved not moving until being paid (pub owners won't lock a drummer in a pub). This is becoming more common, if some stories i've heard are true. If part of the contract is that you bring a certain number of punters then so be it, but if its a case of being paid to play your music, especially if the person booking you has seen you before, then there is no justification at all.

Unless the band wreck the place a la The Who.

I thank you.