Studio Booking Enquiries: What to Expect
Studio booking enquiries almost always start with the same question: how much will it cost? When people book into our Sydney Recording Studio, it is understandable that they do not know what is involved in their audio production. This is especially true if they are new to a studio session. The amount of time, and therefore money, corresponds directly to the kind of work that is going on. It may be the first recording of an album, a podcast, a voice over, or the composition of a film score. All of these projects are very different from one another. As a result, they require different amounts of time and work.
Albums
Albums are probably the biggest undertaking that can happen in a studio. All music is different and all artists are different. The time required to record an album is very difficult to predict, and therefore difficult to quote for. There are many stages to recording an album: preproduction, tracking, mixing and mastering. Each of these stages is a huge undertaking in itself. Depending on the artist, they can take very different amounts of time to complete.
Podcasts
Podcasts are fairly simple productions. They are usually conversational in nature and require very little editing. We just need to set up a good signal chain (microphone, preamp, compressor and so on), then let the speaker jump into the vocal booth and chat about their chosen topic. Afterwards, we provide them with an MP3 or WAV file of the recording. Sometimes things become a little more complex when we need to integrate sound effects or intro and outro music. Other than that, they are really simple, which means these productions do not cost too much. You can read more on our podcast recording page.
Voice Overs
Voice over recordings come in all shapes and sizes and serve all sorts of purposes. At the most basic level they, too, are conversational and require little editing. At the most complex level, they require surgical editing where every breath needs to be removed. These jobs are highly detailed and take a lot of time. Things become more difficult when the speaker is not confident and makes a lot of mistakes. In that case, it is our job as the editor to correct them.
Composition
Composition is the most difficult service to quote for a potential client. A person’s artistic preferences can be hard to predict, and creating a truly original work from scratch is quite a task. For this reason, we usually quote a flat fee for these projects. This removes the variable of time, to an extent, and allows the composer to explore many potential ideas for the project.
Why There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Quote: Studio Booking Enquiries
We hope this article has given you a brief overview of the different kinds of projects that can happen in our Sydney Recording Studio. In particular, we hope it is now clear why there is no one-size-fits-all method of quoting. If you would like a quote for your own project, please request a free studio booking and we will talk it through with you.
Studio booking enquiries deserve a real answer rather than a number pulled from the air. Tell us about your project and we will quote it properly.
