Dealing with unprepared clients - What do you do?

[Nawor]

I have a small home recording facility... who doesn't these days? While I mainly self indulge myself I ocassionally take on small outside paid projects. Is it the weather, the state of world affairs or WHAT? The last few projects I've taken on have been with people I just can't be fucked dealing with. :mad: I'm talking about turning up with instruments that are unplayable or sound like shit... you know, three year old rusty fencing wire strings. Guitar amps with more buzz than a squadron of Kamikazes! Drumkits that sound like cardboard boxes full of custard. Mind you half these jobs are 'friends of friends' that just want to get a demo together. I always discuss the session with them before hand in relation to drum heads and tuning etc, making sure their guitars are set up properly... new strings the day before played in for about half an hour etc. But lately I just seem to being getting the hopeless cases. :freak: I've had to postpone two sessions in the past fortnight due to muscian's gear problems... lack of maintenance etc. I've been somewhat leniant as far as charging them goes... but NO more Mr Nice Guy from now on! :mad: I think the solution is to put up my rates about 50%. That should filter out some of the 'wannabes'! :rolleyes:

[DSD]

A lot of greenhorns don't realize that to achive a proffesional sound #1 they have to have a certin level of talent and #2 they should have killer sound coming out of their instrument/amp. But those people you are talking about wouldn't know how to get a killer sound if their life depended on it. Drums with beat up heads, shitty cymbals, guitars with horrible intonation, shitty amps, theres not much you can do in this situation but make the best of what they got. What I try to do is be honest with them and try make them realize there's only so much you can do, because trust me some of these people will blame you because their new disc doesn't sound as good as the disc's made by the bands with a clue. To me, getting a great sound with a great player who has killer tone is as easy as throwing a mic on them and turning up the fader. The same thing with mixing,I find that when I have something solid on tape ( song, arrangment,tone etc) when I turn up the faders the mix is 90% there, I don't have to wrestle with it. Good Luck good luck

[Sylver]

If you tell them what they need to do before they get in and they don't get it done, charge them while they tune thier stings and replace thier drums heads. You told them already how to be prepared and save themselves money. If they want to pay you for waiting around for them while eating a vegemite sandwich, that's thier problem. They are not only paying you for the work you are doing, they are paying you for your time. If 1/4 of thier first session time is used up prepping, they will learn real quick to be prepared next time. ANd if they don't, that's more money for you. Win-win in my book.

[DSD]

[b]They are not only paying you for the work you are doing, they are paying you for your time. If 1/4 of thier first session time is used up prepping, they will learn real quick to be prepared next time. ANd if they don't, that's more money for you. Win-win in my book.[/b] I agree as I've never had a problem with charging them for their lack of preperation. As long as you advise them of how to prepare for recording it's really all you can do, after all the advise you are giving them will save them money and time and if they don't take it that's their problem.

[Wiggum]

At least you're smart enough to be charging them.... I took on a demo project from a "friend" free of charge, and when he started missing sessions, I told him to get fucked. From now on, it's $400 for a fully polished track. No exceptions. I may be an amateur, but I won't be a sucker again. Best of luck, Rowan. Wiggum

[MattC]

Wiggum's got the right idea, as for as pricing goes. I have always hated paying or charging by the hour. IF the band's on target, you'll end up making more and giving out a better product if no one's watching the clock. I plan to record on gear that I own, know, and trust, no matter whose session it may be. If they insist on using their noisy amps, them let them use them for tracking and we'll go over the parts again with a better preamp. I should also always be able to have a good drummer over when the band shows up, so that he can "offer his assistance" if the drum heads sound sh*tty. As far as snare and cymbals go, I think that every studio should invest in several snares and a killer set of cymbals specifically for recording. The performers who record in these smaller studios probably don't have the kind of equipment necessary to pull off a great recording, so it seems to be in my best interest to have this gear available. This way, the product sounds better and I have new toys to play with. I also think education is key here. A group going into the studio for the first time won't have any clue as to how things actually work, so we as engineers should be there to disseminate as much info as possible. At least their next session will go more smoothly.

[Nawor]

Oh yeah.. and I forgot to mention cymbals! :freak: Of course I realise that having a decent studio drumkit, one or two guitar amps and a pod etc is pretty common and would aleviate a fair bit of this angst. I normally charge for a minimum of fours hours. I setup the mics, stands, headphones etc. before the band turns up and allow up to an hour for soundcheck etc. I'm working on a flyer specifying how the band should prepare for a session in order to maximise their recording time versus their stuffing about time, and ensure the best recording possible. Of course if I stuff something up I have to wear it. [i]"Never mind the pricks, I'll fix it in the mix for nix!"[/i] That reminds me... about a year ago I had the misfortune to record a metal band. Now let be be completely frank here... these people were at the lower end of the feeding chain! :freak: The five piece band turned up with twelve members! Three 'band sluts' and four rock apes! I told them before hand that NO one else except for the actual band members were allowed... period! Anyone after a rather tense standoff the entourage reluctantly left and went to the pub. Then half way through a take the drummer stopped drumming. I thought maybe a mic had fallen over. When I get in there I find the drummer talking on his cell phone to his girlfriend who was at the pub! Anyway the session finally finished and the entourage returned. "Er... can we pay half now and the rest next week?" "Nooo!" "Why not?" :rolleyes: "Because I'm not a finance company and besides if you want to take your demo with you... you have to PAY FOR IT first!" Now get this the band was not really expecting to pay for the session then and there. The knew the conditions before hand but the just figured the could come and record, leave and worry about it some other time. They had collectively about fifty bucks between the lot of them... for a three hundred dollar session. I just finished burning the first copy of the mix. They offered to come back tomorrow with the cash but wanted the disc now. I had the distinct feeling I was about to be screwed! I said I'd give them the disc when I got paid. They started getting shitty. I decided that things were going downhill fast so I wrote "Finished Demo" on a blank disc and gave them that instead. I then told them I wanted some kind of security before they left to ensure I was paid. After much headshaking and procrastinanting I secured one Kramer guitar to be handed back on payment in full. The band left. I was MAD! I really felt like never doing another session again. As I was packing up I heard the sound of a cell phone ring. It was the drummers. He'd left it behind. I didn't answer it.. but I got thinking. The next day the guitarist and some other guy who looked like Axel Rose turned up with the cash. They said they'd be there at 10AM. They turned up at 5PM. I had an invitation to a friends 'going away barbecue' which I wound up cancelling cause of these fuckers! Another wasted day! He said the CD I'd given them wouldn't play on the bass players stereo. I said maybe it was an old model that wouldn't play CDR's. ;) So then I gave them the original burnt copy... just in case there was a problem with the disc I'd given them the day before! I gave them back the Kramer. I'd put the cell phone in the accessories box inside the guitar case but didn't say a word. The phone was turned off... well the battery was flat. And why was the battery flat?... Well about two hours of telephone porn @ $4.95 per minute is enough to flatten anyone's battery! ;) Did I hear anything after that... Not a thing! With any luck they would have all beaten each other to a pulp! :D

[Rim]

[quote]Originally posted by matt C: [b]I have always hated paying or charging by the hour.[/b][/quote]Currently, I've come up with a pricing that works for me. For recording, I charge by the hour but for mixing and sometimes DIY mastering, I'll charge a flat rate per track. To me, charging by the hour on tracking is the fairest to everyone. If you have your songs totally down, hey, you can track five or more songs in an hour and more power to you - save yourself some money and save me some time! I would never charge a flat rate for recording. What if the artist isn't prepared and/or very picky? I don't want to waste my time while the artist tries to get a perfect take or worse, like rewriting the song at the session. If they want to be picky, fine, let them pay for it. I once did a freebie. A girl had written a song about 9/11 and wanted a demo done of it. Fortunately, she was proficient on the keyboards and we tracked that in one take. The vocals was another story. Her mom apparently used to be a semi-pro vocalist (or at least acted like one) and I spent the next four hours while she coached her daughter for the perfect vocal take. I was drained. I didn't expect a perfectionist showing up. That's when I realized, even if I had charged her a flat rate, it would've sucked for me. I can bet that if I had charged hourly, it would've been done in two hours or less. As far as mixing/DIY mastering, I don't feel comfortable charging per hour. I'm still learning and by not charging by the hour, I can experiment as much or as little as I want. Maybe when I'm more proficient at this part, I could charge by the hour, but I still would probably stick to a flat rate for flexibility on my part.

[D. Gauss]

» Dealing with unprepared clients - What do you do?<< i used to shoot them, but eventually, the stench became too great to bear and there was no more room for the equipment ... -d. gauss

[KHAN]

[quote]Originally posted by d gauss: [b]» Dealing with unprepared clients - What do you do?<< i used to shoot them, but eventually, the stench became too great to bear and there was no more room for the equipment ... -d. gauss[/b][/quote]Dude. You're supposed to bury the bodies in your back yard. :thu:

[Alndln]

[quote]Originally posted by Rowan: [b] NO more Mr Nice Guy from now on! :mad: [/b][/quote]That's the spirit! How'bout "Recording Lessons" from the Teacher from "Hell"!!! :D ( :idea: )$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[MattC]

I've got to ask someone this: how stupid can those metal muthers be that they don't know the visual difference between a burned and blank CDR? Now that's stupid. Kudos for capitalizing on that stupidity.

[Nawor]

[quote]Originally posted by matt C: [b]I've got to ask someone this: how stupid can those metal muthers be that they don't know the visual difference between a burned and blank CDR? Now that's stupid. Kudos for capitalizing on that stupidity.[/b][/quote] [quote]Originally posted by Rowan: Now let be be completely frank here... these people were at the lower end of the feeding chain![/quote]

[Matt.Hepworth]

I try to verbally prep dense clients, then after they arrive and it is obvious that they didn't heed my rantings, I explain to them that they're just going to have a couple of expensive practices here at the studio. ;)