?5,000 to record an album?

[jeff]

Hi people can I call on your collective wisdom for the good of great music everywhere for a second please?

I am in the process of setting up an organisation that will give bands the chance of ?5,000 to make a record.

What I need to know is:

1: Is it possible for a band to record a full album with a ?5,000 budget?
2: Would the money be more useful for studio time, or for purchasing equipment?

That?s it ? all advice gratefully received ? and you WILL know of the organisation I?m talking about as soon as can tell you more.

Cheers, Jeff

[Guinness]

Contact KatieC from the board... She's your girl!

[very_special]

?5000 would be more than enough to get you some high end studio production:

http://www.komodorecordings.com/
http://www.blast-furnace.com/

It would also buy you some quality home studio equipment:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan04/articles/basicsystems.htm
http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/article.php?id=064

[dukester]

Lucky me and My villain Heart were each recorded for less than ?5000 and possibly included mastering and pressing some up too! In my opinion good ideas and time are far more important than a good studio. A surprising amount can be achieved with crap gear but the right ideas. so if someone has a lot of technical ability I would recomend them buying some sort of recording gear and then maybe work along with a producer .... such as Paul Wilkinson or Dave Lynch to realise some of the ideas.

If, like me, not great on the techie front, i would still employ a producer or engineer, work with them and their equipment and work in a budget type place spending most of the money on their fee/time. In a good studio, unless you are mega prepared and have a really really tightly rehearsed band you are should maybe be less ambitious and aim for an EP.

Remember, you also need to budget for mastering and pressing up the CDs, vinyl or whatever.

Good luck :)

[thesneakybandit]

what ever happened to east belfast's lingerie studios? are they still up and running.

(only slightly off topic)

[jeff]

Excellent, thanks for the help guys-
We have extra budget for mastering and pressing an inital 500 copies.
so Dukester, how do I contact your guys Paul Wilkinson and Dave Lynch? :D

[arginite]

If you do your research properly it is possible to record an entire album for very very little.

In the past, in an effort to build up portfolios I have recorded albums for not much more than a regular supply of chocolate and coffee. The engineer is the key... studio time will be at a fixed price, it is the cost of the engineer that will vary.

Unfortunately, the music business is all about who you know and what connections they have. I have recorded albums for friends in our studio here at no cost whatsoever to them. That is a rare opportunity granted, but they do exist. There are engineers by the dozen looking for experience that will charge a lot less that an engineer-in-residence for work that is top quality. The key is to find a studio which will do a good deal and allow you to bring in your own engie if necc.

Recording an album for less than ?5000 is most definitely possible. Certainly with the home setups most private engies have you can def save on studio costs. Like I said, it just takes time, research and building connections, something which the music business is all about anyway.

[arginite]

Contact KatieC from the board... She's your girl!

awwwww bless!