The 4 Powerful Secrets Behind a Lucra ve Home Studio
By Gary Gray
© 2018 Gary Gray
All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is a viola on of applicable copyright laws.
lucra vehomestudio.com So you’re probably reading this ebook because you either have a home studio and want to make it more profitable, or because you want to build a home studio and want to know what it takes to be successful.
I’ve been working as a producer, engineer, and composer for 30 years and I’ve managed to build a home studio business that brings in six-figures and serves clients like 20th Century Fox, Disney Music Group, CBS, A&E EMI, and Hollywood Records - all from my one-bedroom, condo home.
I’m telling you this so you can see that I am not going to teach you anything that I don’t use in my own home studio - and that I don’t deem 100% necessary for success.
In this ebook I want to share a super-condensed overview of my approach to mixing, produc on, and owning a home studio business.
But before we get started, I want to share one of the biggest keys to success in the world of music produc on.
Regardless of your experience and knowledge of music theory, music produc on, IT savviness, musicianship, working with bands, studio recording, arranging, mixing, mastering and licensing, you will ONLY reach your full poten al if you have a humble yet voracious appe te for knowledge.
lucra vehomestudio.com 1 The VERY BEST producers and engineers in the world are willing to say, “I don’t know what I’m doing, can you help me with this?” They are willing to listen without asser ng their own self-worth or ego -- and they o en take notes. They are willing to take what they are shown and go home to their own studios and put the me in to EXPERIMENT ON THEIR OWN.
This ebook is just one small step on a much bigger music produc on journey. How you con nue that journey is up to you, but I am ready to guide you in my course The Lucra ve Home Studio should you chose that path.
lucra vehomestudio.com 2 Home Studio Myths & Truths
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When it comes down to actually building a home studio - one that will get the job done and produce high-quality recordings and a ract top-dollar clients - there are a lot of myths out there. Some of those myths are even accepted as fact, was ng home studio owners hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
I have logged thousands of hours in home studios and in mul - thousand dollar studios, and in that me I’ve been able to find the truths behind a lot of the home studio myths.
So let’s take a look at some of these myths and how to effec vely plan an inexpensive home studio (that s ll delivers on the quality).
Myth: You need a big space with excellent acous cs. Truth: My one-bedroom home studio generates a 6 figure income. AND I built my home studio in a condo, which means neighbors are just one wall away.
Myth: You need to spend a lot of money on sound treatment. Truth: Total money I’ve spent on sound treatment: 0 dollars.
Myth: You have to invest in expensive pre-amps, mics and speakers worth at least $4,000 - $5,000 to create radio-ready recordings.
lucra vehomestudio.com 3 Truth: I spent about $2,000 on my ini al studio set up and have very happy clients, including The Disney Music Group & 20th Century Fox. I have a full breakdown of my home studio costs with exact expenses in the Lucra ve Home Studio course.
Myth: The Microphone and Pre-Amp you are using in the studio makes a huge difference. Truth: Any decent Mic and Pre-Amp can be (and have been) used on hit recordings for Major Labels and Home Studio Recordings.
Myth: Never Touch The Master Stereo Out Fader On Your Mixing Console or it will mess up your mix. (Applies to Actual Consoles or In-The-Box D.A.W. “Mixing Consoles.”) Truth: If adjus ng the volume of your Stereo Out Master fader would mess up a mix – there wouldn’t be a Fader Switch on it!!! Some mes the best thing you can do, if you have a great mix and the level is a bit too high – is to lower the Master Fader before bouncing your Mix in order to give the Mastering Engineer ample headroom.
Myth: Drums always sound be er when recorded with Analog Tape. Truth: First of all, I grew up as a drummer prodigy. I also played drums under Berry Gordy and Suzanne De Passe at Motown Records. I’ve worked my whole life as a studio and live drummer, as well as keyboardist, composer, conductor and Musical Director.
lucra vehomestudio.com 4 A er spending over 900 hours experimen ng personally during a two-year Residence Producer posi on at the 13,000 square foot Mul -Million dollar Springs Theatre Studio in Tampa Florida (featuring a 7,000 square foot main room) under John Zumwalt Stephan, I discovered the empirical truth – if a producer/engineer is experienced and competent at both digital and analog recording – DIGITAL recording of drums come out sounding be er.
And this was with blindfold tes ng, where listeners thought, me and me again, that DIGITAL recordings were analog recordings and told me how much be er they sounded!
Now, this Myth/Truth may never affect you in any way. I understand – perhaps you won’t ever be in a posi on to even think about having drums recorded analog, and you may use a version of any number of Studio Created Digital Drum Programs (which I love by the way) for your drum tracks.
But we are dealing with an invisible, subjec ve art form which is very vulnerable to “authori es” and “authorita ve statements” being accepted at face value - without a balance of research done to verify as truth, or discard as false. In fact, don’t even take what I tell you as truth for yourself – I would rather you challenge what I say and I would even welcome someone showing me I’m wrong.
A) I would learn something new and even more importantly…
lucra vehomestudio.com 5 B) B) I would feel great, knowing that an independent thinking individual, able to thoroughly research any subject, not suscep ble to being professionally seduced by assumed “authority” was standing up with their own integrity intact and speaking up about it.
Believe me, my purpose is not to “be the be-all-end-all authority” on audio recording. My purpose is to educated and inspire students so that they experience ever increasing confidence, create masterpiece recordings and constantly improve their abili es and results as musicians, songwriters, composers, producers, engineers and entrepreneurs.
Myth: The equipment you record on makes a huge difference. Truth: The Producer and/or Engineer you are working with makes the biggest difference BY FAR. There have been Major Label Releases recorded on Garageband – by competent Producer/Engineers.
Myth: Home Studios cannot put out the same quality as Pro Hollywood Studios. Truth: With my home studio, which has no mixing console, no expensive pre-amps, uses a PC laptop computer (HP BeatsAudio), Cubase and East/West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra, StormDrum II and Ministry Of Rock, I landed a featured Single release on the pres gious Concord Records Major Label for a recent Dennis Quaid Major Mo on Picture Sound Track Album, nego ated through one of the top Hollywood Music Supervisors, Mason Cooper.
lucra vehomestudio.com 6 I’ve landed jobs with Disney (all 5 projects were accepted first me no ques ons asked when submi ed) and several re- record jobs. I did a re-record of U2’s “One,” and received an email response the same day from Steve Lillywhite, Grammy Award-Winning Producer of U2: “Gary, it sounds just like the original!!”
Myth: You need people with be er ears than yours to master your mixes. These people have special powers that you’ll never a ain. Truth: Mastering is actually much easier than mixing in terms of the number of decisions you’re making. I’ve developed a Music Produc on Ear Training exercises that allows anyone to sha er that myth in a ma er of weeks.
Myth: You have to be born with good ears, you can’t “develop” good ears.
Truth: Anyone can develop not only good ears for recording, but great ears.
My opinion (backed by years of experimenta on and produc on) is that the equipment you are using doesn’t really ma er much. A pre y crass and blunt statement, Yes. But is that statement true? An equally resounding. . . Yes!
So, if you thought I was going to encourage you to buy this latest plug-in or that latest hardware. . . not me. I’d rather you work on developing a good ear and on ensuring you have a posi ve, construc ve environment to work in.
lucra vehomestudio.com 7 When you talk to the greatest mixing engineers and mastering engineers behind the scenes, they will tell you that it doesn’t ma er what gear they are using - as long as it’s working! They can deliver amazing masterpiece recordings on whatever equipment they are using and in whatever room they have to work in.
How?
Because they have developed their ear, and thus their confidence, to the point where myths die gasping and the truth lives strong.
Developing A Good Ear
Developing a good ear is not hard, despite what others may say. Consistent daily prac ce will pay off nicely. Even if you only get in 15 minutes a day.
That said, experience and knowledge in music produc on and audio engineering are intertwined with and inseparable from the fields of music theory and musical arrangements.
Whenever I cri que a PRODUCTION, I CANNOT cri que the musical produc on and audio engineering without also taking into considera on the musical arrangement and performances as well. Because truth be told, a knowledge of music theory and musical arranging absolutely affects the quality of the produc on of the track. In other words, if there is an inherent
lucra vehomestudio.com 8 weakness in the arrangement or the performance of a track, no amount of producing tricks or engineering tricks will solve it. You might be able to control the damage somewhat, but you won’t be able to fully solve the problem of a bad arrangement or a bad performance.
And so it applies to developing a good ear. A good ear includes being able to hear and iden fy different phenomena of music theory.
Don’t let that frighten you or believe that you’ll never be able to do it. It’s actually simple, if you take it on a gradient. And even if you already know something of music theory and musical arranging, it’s a great idea to brush up – this will help your ear as a producer and engineer greatly.
Here’s the good news, there now exists a set of Music Produc on Ear-Training Exercises developed specifically for Home Studio Owners in the course The Lucra ve Home Studio!
If you spend me and apply discipline to your career while doing the Music Produc on Ear-Training Exercises in the course The Lucra ve Home Studio, I guarantee that you will find yourself taking huge leaps forward in your mixing and mastering career!
lucra vehomestudio.com 9 Finding Your Niche
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I learned - as many great mixing and mastering engineers, producers and studio owners learned - by doing. I did receive a college educa on in music theory and performance, which is very, very helpful (though not required) for running a lucra ve home studio. But I have never been able to find a school that teaches producers how to thrive with a home studio.
And a big part of thriving is finding your niche - something you do be er than anyone else that will keep clients coming back again and again.
I want two things for your home studio: 1. To succeed in not only making more money with your music and your studio, but also… 2. To help you achieve stable confidence in your art, your cra and your business, and to share your successful ac ons as an ac ve member of the music industry community.
As we all know, “overnight success” involves a very, very long “night.” Years in most cases (though I’ve seen some people do it in a few months).
lucra vehomestudio.com 10 My “night” lasted for at least 10 years (and I created the Lucra ve Home Studio course so yours won’t have to be so long! You can learn from my mistakes, as well as my successes to get yourself on the fast-track).
Over those 10 years, I developed one par cularly interes ng niche in the industry - without even knowing it.
This niche involves what is called in the music recording and publishing world, “Re-Records.”
The defini on of a Re-Record is: a brand-new recording produced from scratch which sounds iden cal to an original master recording. Quite a challenge.
So why are “re-records” in such big demand in the music industry?
There are certain laws and regula ons governing the publica on and licensing of major mo on picture soundtracks. To make a long story short, in many cases, it can be extremely cost prohibi ve for record labels or major film studios who own the master recordings of a music soundtrack, to license those musical composi ons. It can be crazy expensive for everyone involved.
So, labels and large movie corpora ons some mes have a master recording re-recorded.
lucra vehomestudio.com 11 The resul ng re-record can then be licensed much more easily. And when they own the master and own/control the copyrights, this is something they have every right to do.
The niche I created for myself, is being able to take any recording needing a re-record and, without the use of a score, lead sheet, stem files, or any other elements - just the original MP3 or WAV file (and my ears) - quickly produce an exact replica of that recording from scratch.
My niche is that I can do it well, do it fast, and do it with extremely low maintenance. (I don’t ask for addi onal resources, and I turn in my recordings on schedule, without the need for changes).
This requires me to be on my A-game consistently - in every single aspect of recording, mixing, mastering, and administra on (business).
What I realized a er producing my first few re-records for major companies such as The Disney Music Group and 20th Century Fox, is that I’m ge ng paid to thoroughly study the best composers, writers, producers, and engineers in the business - hands on, note for note. A prac ce that has taught me so much about music produc on and engineering.
So how did I get into this re-record niche?
lucra vehomestudio.com 12 In 2013, a colleague of mine, who owns and operates a tribute band booking agency that I supplied backing tracks for, happened to employ the Director of A&R Administra on at The Disney Music Group in one of his tribute bands as his guitar player.
Word got around to that guitar player from my colleague that I could do something pre y remarkable -- create unbelievably realis c recordings in any genre that sounded just like the original works - right from my home studio.
All of a sudden, on a Monday morning in April of 2013, I received an email direct from The Disney Music Group!
This is an example of one of many self-created “breaks” in my life - breaks that show up when you are truly prepared. I know it seems like it came out of the blue, but I consider all breaks to be the result of working hard and working smart.
Needless to say, that was a par cularly good Monday morning for me. The key ques on becomes, then, what exactly did I do, as a Home Studio owner, to prepare for and create that moment?
Let’s take a look in the next sec on…
lucra vehomestudio.com 13 What REALLY Ma ers for a Home Studio
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To answer that ques on, and as part of this story, I’m going to point out several key cornerstones from my course The Lucra ve Home Studio and how they apply to real life.
Cornerstone #1 Trea ng People With A Posi ve, Can-Do A tude, and Ac ng and Communica ng Professionally.
Being A TRUE TEAM MEMBER is far, far more important than any other single a ribute, talent, or value you will ever bring to any table in the music industry (or ANY industry for that ma er).
Yes, it is super important that: 1) Your studio is set up properly 2) You have your music theory chops down 3) You have your produc on chops down and 4) You have your business chops down.
However, I have found that your level of success is governed by this first cornerstone. This point cannot be overstated.
lucra vehomestudio.com 14 Fast forward four years from that email from Disney in 2013. In the winter of 2017, another “big break” occurred. This me, “out of nowhere” I got a call from 20th Century Fox Music. But why did they call me?
It was because I consistently applied Cornerstone #1 with The Disney Music Group (Posi ve Can-Do A tude, Professional Communica on, Being a True Team Member). I found out that “the call from nowhere” was actually a result of The Disney Music Group referring 20th Century Fox to me.
As a result of that referral, the 2017 Holiday Season, which normally a slow me in the music industry, ne ed me $5,000 in two weeks for producing 10 minutes of music for just one client.
And, besides being an official vendor for The Disney Music Group, Disney Publishing and Hollywood Records, I’m now an official vendor for 20th Century Fox as well. That means something very important to a Home Studio Owner: future work!
Cornerstone #2 True confidence is your second most important asset.
A successful career as a Home Studio Owner cannot be maintained and expanded with fake confidence.
lucra vehomestudio.com 15 True confidence (as well as fake confidence) can be sensed five miles away. I have been taught - and believe 100% - that your level of true confidence dictates your income range. So set your life up so that you have confidence-builders surrounding you, and keep any confidence-killers away from you.
By working hard on all the points in Cornerstone #1 (Posi ve Can-Do A tude, Professional Communica on, Being a True Team Member) and Cornerstone #2 (A aining True Confidence), the results for me have been nothing short of spectacular.
With complete confidence, I promised - and did deliver - an industry standard quality 6-minute fully orchestrated cue to 20th Century Fox, recorded en rely in-the-box, no analog gear, in my Home Studio, start to finish -- in four days!
So let’s talk about one of the biggest confidence issues I see in producers. They are always asking themselves one ques on: Why Do My Mixes Sound So Different Than My Favorite Commercial Tracks?
If you understand that you are dealing with an ART FORM, you will be able to achieve the standards you are aiming for. If you also understand that the founda on of what you are doing is a SCIENCE, you will be able to CONSISTENTLY and QUICKLY achieve the standards you are aiming for.
lucra vehomestudio.com 16 So let’s go through the steps together that will help you achieve the same quality as those commercial tracks you look up to:
The Founda on It is vital at THE BEGINNING of your project to carefully listen to your favorite tracks in similar genres compared to what you are about to create. Listen over and over to one or more commercially released tracks that are your benchmark comparison tracks – on your studio monitor speakers – the same speakers you will be mixing on.
Here’s a big p: Listen to the commercial track you are A/B’ing (comparing) to your project THROUGHOUT the recording: during edi ng, mixing and mastering of the track you are working on. Don’t wait un l the end. And never start your project un l you have listened to the compara ve track, calmly, and without distrac on.
IMPORTANT: While mixing YOUR track, adjust the volume of the commercial track to the SAME VOLUME AS YOUR MIX. You must compare “apples with apples.” When Mastering, return the commercial recording to its exact original volume.
Let’s say you’re trying to get your kick drum track to sound just like a Maroon 5 track but you “just can’t do it no ma er what you try.”
lucra vehomestudio.com 17 Well, first of all, wipe out that statement in the last sentence and believe that you can.
Once you have that down, start cu ng and pas ng a kick drum sound from a Maroon 5 recording and quan zing it into quarter notes and placing that sound event on a track in your Digital Audio Worksta on.
Then, start building your kick drum track that you are working on and you will start “A/B’ing” (comparing) your kick drum sound to the sound of the Maroon 5 kick drum track.
Quan ze your kick drum track to quarter notes, but off-set those quarter notes by an eighth note so your kick drum sounds on the off-beat and the Maroon 5 kick drum sounds on the beats.
Loop a couple measures of these two sound events: Maroon 5 kick drum hits on 1, 2, 3, 4 and your kick drum hits on the “ands”.
Sit back and listen closely to the overall rhythm and sound of this comparison: “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and,” with each number being the sampled Maroon 5 kick drum and each “and” being your kick drum.
lucra vehomestudio.com 18 Then, everything becomes quite simple – just keep adjus ng literally whatever you can un l your sound becomes similar to the Maroon 5 sound. Believe me when I tell you that THIS IS HOW THOSE GRAMMY AWARD WINNING PRODUCER/ ENGINEERS earned their awards! This is how THEY learned!
You might have to duplicate your kick drum 5 mes, you might have to use 5 different kick drums layered on top of each other, you might have to EQ each of those tracks differently, you might have to use 3 compressors and 2 limiters on your kick drums – whatever. It doesn’t ma er! Whatever you have to do, you CAN get your kick drum to sound as good OR BETTER than that Maroon 5 kick drum sound. Am I trying to pump you up? No – I’m just telling you the truth.
And along the way, you are going to be learning what doesn’t work, and what does work, and you’ll start developing your own tricks and techniques and secrets – a er all -- this is part Science and part ART – and we are talking now about the ART.
This is an adventure and it’s all about experimen ng, then streamlining, experimen ng some more followed by more streamlining, over and over. And a er a short me, you may not no ce it right away, but your Mixing and Mastering chops are going to even blow you away.
So throw away your self-imposed mental barriers and start playing a new game. A mental game of advantage, where you perceive YOU to be in full control.
lucra vehomestudio.com 19 Buyer Types and How to Sell Them
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When dealing with ar sts, producers, engineers, clients and collaborators, it’s important to know before you go. What do I mean by that?
You need to know the “buyer type” of the person across from you. This will instantly help you close more clients. When receiving specifica ons or requests, “too much informa on” is not enough.
To illustrate this point, I want to tell you about how I was hired by a major music publica on in Hollywood as the Director of Promo on & Adver sing.
I had just arrived to Hollywood from the Midwest. Every day, for 28 days, I would visit their offices during my lunch break while working as a printer. I would ask the recep onist if I could please speak with the Publisher in charge of Adver sing about a job.
Every day for 27 days, she politely answered, “I’m sorry, no. We don’t have any jobs available.” I would respond, “Ok, thank you. I understand. Can you please tell the publisher that he can start me on commission only? I will prove myself as an adver sing salesman for the magazine without him having to spend a dime,” and I would hand her my card.
lucra vehomestudio.com 20 Long story short, on day 28, when her politeness started wearing off, just as she was about to show me the door once again, the Publisher walk by. “Is this the commission only guy you were telling me about?” He asked.
“Yes,” she hissed, expec ng him to say, “I thought you told him we have no jobs available. Here, let me handle this so he stops bothering you.”
Instead, she looked quite surprised when he said, “He’s persistent. And I like his offer, actually.” He then looked at me, opened the door to his office and said, “Come on in and let’s talk. What’s your name?”
A er a 20 minute mee ng, he showed me to a small cubicle office full of cardboard boxes and an old table. He had the recep onist plug a phone into the wall and place it on a table. He then handed me a list of adver sing prospects and said, “Don’t talk to anyone with a checkmark next to their name. Those are current clients. The rest are open game. Here’s our rate card, if you have any ques ons you can ask our adver sing manager down the hall. You have 30 days to sell at least $2,000 worth of adver sing space.”
“Yes, Sir,” I responded. I looked at the list and the first thing I no ced was that about 80% of the companies listed were Hollywood recording studios. And here started my educa on into how recording studio owners either ran a successful opera on or failed miserably. There didn’t seem to be a middle ground in this industry.
lucra vehomestudio.com 21 Before the end of the day, I had already visited 3 major Hollywood recording studios -- and had my first sale under my belt. I reached my $2,000 quota within my first 17 days, and within 3 months I was running the en re adver sing department.
Knowing the “buyer types” can change your life as a musician and studio owner.
Sooner or later, every single student that I teach mixing and mastering achieves a level of quality where he or she is ready to seriously enter the market and make a decent living.
Those that approach my lessons about the business, as intensely as they approached mixing and mastering, achieve a much higher level of success.
During my Hollywood music magazine days, I found myself mee ng with almost every single studio owner in Hollywood - from small one room project studios, to Sunset Sound, The Record Plant, Ocean Way and more.
It was also during that me in my life where I learned a vital lesson about life: if one does not understand the technology of salesmanship, one will flounder and more likely fail.
Some aspects of salesmanship are common sense and come naturally, such as don’t be rude, don’t be over-pushy and don’t forget to ask for the sale. And of course, some people are more comfortable selling than others.
lucra vehomestudio.com 22 Since I tend to be a researcher from hell, I decided to research the art of selling -- all the way, no holds barred, 100% down the rabbit hole.
My goal?
To find out if there were salespeople or a salesperson, somewhere in the U.S., who was among the top 10 in the country - that I could personally meet and be mentored by.
I learned something fascina ng. A er figuring out who the top 15 were, I scratched 14 of them off the list fairly quickly. All 14, though extremely successful, did not share the approach that this one par cular salesperson did.
His whole philosophy was based on honesty. It’s not that the other 14 followed a philosophy of dishonesty, but this one salesperson made it a point to always be 100% honest, and every sales technique he taught was based on being 100% honest. To me, that was not only refreshing, it was fascina ng. Like most people, I had the stereotypical view of salespeople - pushy and dishonest. This was going to be interes ng.
I tracked him down. I asked him to Mentor me, and he did. He has since passed away, but I consider that Mentorship one of the best things I’ve ever done as a musician and studio owner.
I adapted what he taught me to the music industry, and from that point forward, life became much less stressful.
lucra vehomestudio.com 23 The Buyer Types
In the course The Lucra ve Home Studio, you will learn the details about each buyer type, but to help you achieve be er success star