Ask Me Anything!

[Greg Savage]

Who are some producers that inspire you and why?

Who are some mix engineers that you admire?

Is Music Dealers credible?

What is your overall opinion of the VRM box?

How long did it take for you to get to the point where music was your primary job.

What is your go to compressor, eq and saturation plug ins?

On your site, your Platinum Plus package claims paid production gigs. Splain.

Mix Engineers

I had to look at albums I liked and find who the engineers where. I don't follow engineers work much

Bob Rock
Norman Smith
Steve Brown
Nigel Godrich
Jim Douglas

Music D Legit?

Yes, they are. They are one of the top 5 libraries I use for placements http://diymusicbiz.com/stock-music-libraries/

Thoughts On VRM

It's a great grot box

Go to Comp, EQ and Saturation Plugins

Most of the time I use whatever the stock app has as they are more than capable of getting the job done. When I do venture outside of the stock I stick with Oxford or Waves (on my own setup) if I'm at someone else's spot... whatever they have.

For saturation I stick with hardware processing

I've found Tracks to be very good as well.

Producers that inspire me

What inspires me is sounds and visual media. When I hear odd sounds... I want to make them, that later inspires me to create with them. Same for when i'm in the store listening to a new synth or processing unit.

Paid production gigs

I outsource work from time to time and give my members an opportunity before venturing out.

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

How long did it take for you to become self-employed through your musical ventures?

Approximately how many hours do you spend creating (right brain activities) as opposed to the business side (left brain activities)?

Do you consciously try to improve on any aspect of your musical abilities?

What are your long term/short term goals?

What genre do you prefer when creating?

 

[Greg Savage]

How long did it take for you to become self-employed through your musical ventures?

Approximately how many hours do you spend creating (right brain activities) as opposed to the business side (left brain activities)?

Do you consciously try to improve on any aspect of your musical abilities?

What are your long term/short term goals?

What genre do you prefer when creating?

Self Employment

This didn't take long you can file a business entity online within a few minutes


Time Spent Creating Vs Business

It's about 50/50. Most of the business happens in several minute segments throughout the day/week/month. Meetings 10 minuntes – an hour (sometimes more)

Projects (creating) – Roughly about the same time. The bulk of the project can take a few hours (depending on the projects). The tweaking (based on client feed) can take 5,10,15 minutes here and there

I do handle more business imo as I can speak with several clients at the same time (damn near), but I can only work on 1-2 projects at a time (3 at most). So in the end... it's about the same “time spent”

Do I Improve Musical Abilities

All the time, if there is something I need improve.... I work on it

What Are My Goals?

http://diymusicbiz.com/my-goals-for-2013-music-business/

Preferred Genre (To create)

Any genre that's revolves around 4/4

 

[Greg Savage]

I'm surprised more people aren't taking advantage of this

Let's keep the questions coming

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

U didn't get the gist of my self employment question. How long did it take for you to be doing music full time?

Is mixing a love of yours, or a means to an end ?

Do you have any interest in placing a song with a major artist?

Do have any placements with video game companies?

 

[Greg Savage]

U didn't get the gist of my self employment question. How long did it take for you to be doing music full time?

Is mixing a love of yours, or a means to an end ?

Do you have any interest in placing a song with a major artist?

Do have any placements with video game companies?

How Long It Took To Make Living From Music

Completely different than what was originally asked

It took a few months, I want to say 3 maybe 5 if that.

Mixing

Not a love, but not a hate either. The mixing process is very simple when you start off with the right elements and most people skip that. I can't mix other people's work, too much of a pain.

Game Placements

Yes, there is a credit list on my site http://diymusicbiz.com/my-clients

Work For Major Artist

No, I don't like working with artists at all. I go into a little detail about that here http://diymusicbiz.com/about-diymb

 

[thedreampolice]

How did you do it in 3-5 months??​

 

[Greg Savage]

How did you do it in 3-5 months??

Good question!

I spent time learning the basics, mostly what I felt was most important and that was:

1)How the sampler(s) worked
2)how the sequencers worked
3)Basic fx/dynamics

Just learning the sampler and sequencer was enough to put tracks together.

I picked an easy genre of music to produce → hiphop, it's loop based so not much of a learning curve.

I copied what I liked (instrumental wise). This not only helped with knowing what instruments worked well together, but it also helped me further learn the gear I was working with (Mpc 3000/Triton) and song structure.

I offered studios instrumentals in exchange for studio time.
I used the studio to build relationships, it also familiarized me with how studio sessions were run.

I targeted rap/hiphop artists, that was 90% of my income. Most of them wanted an instrumental like *insert any artist* and since I had the gear I filled the void.

The other 10% was other producers which eventually (years later) lead to a lot ghost production gigs

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

Would you advise giving beats away ?

Do you do your taxes as an independent contractor?

You said "The mixing process is very simple when you start off with the right elements and most people skip that."
Splain.

 

[2GooD Productions]

You said "The mixing process is very simple when you start off with the right elements and most people skip that."
Splain.

I would assume that by picking the right sounds ie. sounds that fit into each specific frequency range with an idea of keeping frequency clash to a minimum, it then minimizes the work you need to do in the mixing stage, as most of the work is already done. And good sounds in = less work trying to get good sound out. Of course this will never replace the need for a proper multi-tracked mix. But it will minimize the amount of work required for the mixing stage.

I copied what I liked (instrumental wise). This not only helped with knowing what instruments worked well together, but it also helped me further learn the gear I was working with (Mpc 3000/Triton) and song structure.

I had to quote this for importance.

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

I would assume that by picking the right sounds ie. sounds that fit into each specific frequency range with an idea of keeping frequency clash to a minimum, it then minimizes the work you need to do in the mixing stage, as most of the work is already done. And good sounds in = less work trying to get good sound out. Of course this will never replace the need for a proper multi-tracked mix. But it will minimize the amount of work required for the mixing stage.

Good stuff bro. To continue the line of thinking, when producing, u consciously think about what frequency range each element of the beat will be? Every time?

 

[2GooD Productions]

Good stuff bro. To continue the line of thinking, when producing, u consciously think about what frequency range each element of the beat will be? Every time?

Yeah, I try to stay concious of the frequencies, i try to think "A place for everything & everything in its place" and not have too much going on at any particular frequency.

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

I do that always in mixing. Never thought about it while producing. Thanks for the insight again bro. Bless,bless

 

[Greg Savage]

Would you advise giving beats away ?

Do you do your taxes as an independent contractor?

You said "The mixing process is very simple when you start off with the right elements and most people skip that."
Splain.

Giving Music Away Free

Good question, you should never give anything away without receiving something in return. There is no reason for not getting paid in some form.

If your client is a graphic artist, then trade services.

Simple Mixing Process

2Good hit the nail on the head!

If you start off with good sounds you won't have to do much manipulation to them. The better sound choice you have the less work you do in the end.

Most beat makers/composers go after sounds and get tweak happy. There is nothing wrong with this, but it's silly when you're on a deadline or you're trying pump quality content consistently.

This is why you hear a lot of unoriginal music (regardless of genre) or music that sounds similar to so and so → The answers have been given to you and in a lot of times Mix templates for certain tunes are shared around, so all you have to do is rearranged the melodies

Less work → Quality control intact → consistency → Easy $

Taxes

I have a LLC so I file depending how much I make for the year and what my tax adviser advises. Sometimes it's better for me to file as an Corp than a Indi contractor, it just depends on the numbers (income/expenses etc)

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

Suppose I chop up some drum sounds and make a beat. Every other element is music i actually played, opposed to sampling. I don't use the drum sounds as a loop, i create my own beat. Does that have to be cleared?

 

[Greg Savage]

Technically yes (unless it's public domain) because you're using someones recording without their permission. Doesn't matter what you do with the loop, the fact that you're using the recording without permission gives the owner a case against you

The likelihood of someone coming after you for a drum break.... Highly unlikely.

Very hard to proove as well unless you just left the break open and un altered

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

Good info in your last news letter. Trying to get some clients after moving to Philly, and it's slow motion. I'll try it.

 

[Greg Savage]

Good info in your last news letter. Trying to get some clients after moving to Philly, and it's slow motion. I'll try it.

Thanks man, email me if you need help

 

[SoberMindedMuzk]

Do a majority of your placements end up being money up front as well as back end royalties?

I have an idea for a T.V. show. How do I best go about getting it out?

If there was 1 must have attribute a person needed to succeed in making off music, what would you say that attribute is?

 

[Greg Savage]

Do a majority of your placements end up being money up front as well as back end royalties?

I have an idea for a T.V. show. How do I best go about getting it out?

If there was 1 must have attribute a person needed to succeed in making off music, what would you say that attribute is?

It's about 50/50 some are upfront only or start off as upfront and later turn into royalties.

I don't know how to go about getting a TV show out. Best thing to do is get in touch with people who are experienced with that

Directors, filmographers show supervisors etc

If there were one thing it would be persistence