Can i charge?

Lisa Lane-Collins

Lisa Lane-Collins

Sophomore
Dec 9, 2012
270
0
16
Adelaide, Australia
Sometimes bands book me to mix, then they ask me to come to a rehearsal to become acquainted with their sound, check out their PA yadayada.

I walk in blind to mix every weekend, their sound, their equipment, short of having something Very out of the ordinary, i dont think they would have anything i can't wing on the night. What i'm getting at is, these rehearsal sit ins are a total waste of my precious time. My gut feeling is to say "yes, sure thing, this is my call out fee"

I'm just curious as to what the rest of you do?
 
Re: Can i charge?

Think of it as show prep.

If the band is horrible and you still take the gig, at least you will know in advance what you are in for.
 
Re: Can i charge?

Are you going to work with them going forward or is it a once off?

Asking for a demo CD can also give an idea of their "sound" and save you the trip.
 
Re: Can i charge?

I would ask them if there is anything so unusual with their band that would justify you having to go to rehearsal. I'll bet there's nothing that you haven't seen before.

You may charge them a fee, but that doesn't mean they will pay it.
 
Re: Can i charge?

It depends. I never need to hear the band first to mix them but I have occasionally attended a rehearsal to help a band out with their PA. There was a very young band that I had several shows with during a summer concert series that had their own ear monitor set up and FOH mixer that I took an hour or so at one of their rehearsals to dial in their board for them. For the next eight shows I did with them that summer they would show up with their "soundman" parent at what ever venue we were at and hand me the left and right outs from their board and away we would go. Time well spent and zero problems with any of the shows.
 
Re: Can i charge?

If I was warned about this ahead of time, I might build an extra charge into my cost. If they sprung it on me after negotiating a fee, I think I'd be "busy" already at that time. This sounds like a request from an inexperienced artist. I don't fall into that category (at least in all the common genres of music), so I think I'd try and avoid attending rehearsals if I could.

If the show was something complicated (a musical, for instance) that required tech rehearsals, that's a different case, but I would expect to be compensated for those rehearsals.

It sort of reminds me a of a local drummer who was hired to play for a week or two of club dates with an out of town artist. The artist booked rehearsals with the local band, but the drummer had some other gigs that conflicted, so he sent a sub. Artist was not impressed. :twisted: The drummer pulled off the gigs, and was hired the next time Artist came to town, but was told "no subs" for the rehearsal the second time.

GTD
 
If it is a tech rehearsal that I must attend, then I am in charge and the band will do what I need. I am not interested in hanging out at their equivalent of the guys Tuesday night poker.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD
 
Re: Can i charge?

I did not charge to show up at a rehearsal with the band I was going out with that same weekend. There was a minimum amount of local driving to get to the rehearsal spot and both gigs were local as well. Plus, the band set up the entire PA before I got there for the rehearsal and the same was true for both gigs that following weekend. As it turned out in this particular case there was no real need for me to charge them. It was a new band that I had never met, I was not bringing any of my own gear and I didn't have to drive more than 50 miles or so total all week. I went to an out of town gig where I was running the band's gear and I charged about twice as much. For me it all depends on the travel distance as to whether or not to charge more for time at the rehearsal.
 
Re: Can i charge?

I've done it a couple of times with bands I work regularly with. Usually when they are in the final stages of rehearsing new material. I get to listen to how they perform it and test some mic selections, they buy me dinner&drinks.

If it involves actual work, as in anything more than putting a vocal through some monitors, I get paid.
 
Re: Can i charge?

It's a pop and rock cover band, $20 bucks says it will be all analogue gear. Conveniently turned out to be working on the night in question. Told them if it was in the day I could be lured out with food and fuel money and if not, then a Good tech should be able to wing it.

On a tangent. I think that "do this thing for free it will be good exposure" is the biggest con ever! I'm at a point in my working life where I am happy to say stuff the exposure, I want the money.
 
Re: Can i charge?

Lisa Lane-Collins said:
It's a pop and rock cover band, $20 bucks says it will be all analogue gear. Conveniently turned out to be working on the night in question. Told them if it was in the day I could be lured out with food and fuel money and if not, then a Good tech should be able to wing it.

On a tangent. I think that "do this thing for free it will be good exposure" is the biggest con ever! I'm at a point in my working life where I am happy to say stuff the exposure, I want the money.
Click to expand...

Seen in a forum signature: "We're doing this gig for exposure." "This is Canada, people die from exposure."
 
Re: Can i charge?

Kelly Johnson said:
I stopped at a rehearsal tonight, and I was there under 10 minutes. Showing my face for that amount of time was enough for them to be satisfied
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I've never been to a bands rehearsal either. Ill usually look them up on reverbnation or youtube to get a feel for the band. Ill send out an email or two to get a stage plot, or at least a rundown of the band.

2 guitars, bass, 5 piece drum kit, 3 vocals.

Good to go.

Good for you, for getting beyond the free thing. You've paid your dues, it's time to place some value on your work.


Keep at it!

:)
 
Re: Can i charge?

Rob Gow said:
I've never been to a bands rehearsal either. Ill usually look them up on reverbnation or youtube to get a feel for the band. Ill send out an email or two to get a stage plot, or at least a rundown of the band.

2 guitars, bass, 5 piece drum kit, 3 vocals.

Good to go.

Good for you, for getting beyond the free thing. You've paid your dues, it's time to place some value on your work.


Keep at it!

:)
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I have generally done the YouTube/Reverbnation/Soundcloud "research". But I finally got burned by an up-and-coming group that had done all their stuff in ProTools and couldn't actually play live as a group. To say I was p***ed is an understatement. As a musician myself, I found it hard to not call a cab...
 
Re: Can i charge?

Dick Rees said:
I have generally done the YouTube/Reverbnation/Soundcloud "research". But I finally got burned by an up-and-coming group that had done all their stuff in ProTools and couldn't actually play live as a group. To say I was p***ed is an understatement. As a musician myself, I found it hard to not call a cab...
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Had that happen a time or two. Their sound files are what they would like to sound like. You do what you can and keep the isolation headphones handy. Interestingly enough one of the two bands I have actually taken time to go to a practice in the last five years turned out to be that way. The stuff on youtube impressed me so much I had considered sponsoring them on some level and went to a band practice to actually see them live. What a shocker and I am not easily shocked when it comes to bands. The band could not play AT ALL. Other than the guitar player/singer who wrote all of the music and did the recordings in his home studio the rest of the band appeared to have only been playing their instruments for maybe 3 or 4 months. This was a situation where I was going to get them an opening spot for a very large local festival and I NEVER under any circumstance EVER recommend a band I have not seen live so a practice was the only opportunity prior to the festival. It is very fortunate that I saw them prior to making a recommendation. I still love the writing and playing of the guitar player and hope to see great things from him but this could have turned out really bad for everybody involved.
 
Re: Can i charge?

Eric Cagle said:
Had that happen a time or two. Their sound files are what they would like to sound like. You do what you can and keep the isolation headphones handy. Interestingly enough one of the two bands I have actually taken time to go to a practice in the last five years turned out to be that way. The stuff on youtube impressed me so much I had considered sponsoring them on some level and went to a band practice to actually see them live. What a shocker and I am not easily shocked when it comes to bands. The band could not play AT ALL. Other than the guitar player/singer who wrote all of the music and did the recordings in his home studio the rest of the band appeared to have only been playing their instruments for maybe 3 or 4 months. This was a situation where I was going to get them an opening spot for a very large local festival and I NEVER under any circumstance EVER recommend a band I have not seen live so a practice was the only opportunity prior to the festival. It is very fortunate that I saw them prior to making a recommendation. I still love the writing and playing of the guitar player and hope to see great things from him but this could have turned out really bad for everybody involved.
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Eric, your story reminds me of a very similar experience from the Waaaay Back pages of history. Similar deal, the singer/guitarist had a great demo done on his TEAC/Tascam Portastudio. The band was a different story... they were sufficiently talented to play the parts but not inclined to do so (I suspect the band thought their songwriter would throw them under the bus at record contract time). The live playing I heard was above train-wreck status but not above most garage bands and I was very glad I found this out before spending political capital with a festival owner.
 
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