The cost of making music
As a result of the post about the wonderful properties of child pornography and the subsequent discussion in the comments, it became clear that a significant proportion of people do not know how much music production costs. The musicians themselves say that it is expensive, but “expensive” is an immeasurable value. Someone says the opposite, that apart from the bees everything is garbage, but the authors just want for bread with butter and caviar, when, meanwhile, the artist must be hungry.
So I decided to tell you how much it costs to create music. Whatever position to copyright, just specific numbers. In order not to make a “spoiled phone”, I will talk about what I have to work with, namely about a rock band with a composition of six people: drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, keys and vocals. Backing vocals are also present, but no individual is selected for it.
Interesting? I ask under the cat.
For a start, let's look at the instruments that musicians will play. And here comes the first subtle point, which is that the instrument is not enough just to sound good. You can come to the music store and find there a lot of guitars that will not be too expensive and at the same time it sounds quite nice to yourself. The trick is that the sound of the instrument itself does not at all determine the sound of it in the mix, surrounded by other instruments - it can either get lost or, on the contrary, stick out too much. And often the sound of inexpensive instruments cannot be brought out to the required condition by any treatment. Approximately in the same degree in which of Tavria it is impossible to make a Mercedes-Benz.
')
The most classic example of such a phenomenon can be inexpensive guitar gadgets, such as Hughes and Kettner Tubeman, Tech21 SansAmp, or the extremely popular Zoom 505. By themselves, they may sound good, but are lost in the mix, and also have a wonderful property: “hummer” there is, but no sound (in the sense of sound). In addition, these gadgets have nothing to do with the behavior of "normal" iron and do not provide the experience that allows you to quickly and accurately adjust the sound on an intuitive level. Therefore, a guitarist who previously worked only with similar devices, at the sight of a normal guitar amplifier, can simply get lost, because the knobs seem to be the same, but behave completely differently. By the way, another great incident is connected with Tubeman - the lotion is positioned as a lamp tube, but when the lamp is removed from it ... the sound does not change.
If we consider exclusively concert activity, then the drummer needs only plates, because dragging, for example, the bass drum and toms is absolutely useless - they will simply never be put up. But at the same time, cymbals need two sets - one inexpensive for rehearsals, the second one sounds good for concerts. The reason is that the plates have the peculiarity of breaking, or rather breaking. From the additional equipment you need your own pedal to the barrel (or cardan), because in the clubs, that at the rehearsal bases, either it is simply not there, or it is physically impossible to play on it because of its deplorable state and general quality.
Total we have two sets of plates containing hi-hat, smaller crash, bigger crash, splash, ride and china - only 6 tools. Good percussion makes the same Meinl and it turns out about 12,000 rubles for one plate, that is, the kit will cost 72,000 rubles. A cheaper set for rehearsals will be about 30,000 rubles. That is, in total, the drums will stand at 102,000 rubles.
It's all quite simple ... and expensive. A guitar that will simply sound good and fit into the mix costs from 40,000 to 60,000 rubles. These are different versions of Gibson (SG, Les Paul, Flying V), Fender (Stratocaster, Telecaster), ESP, Jackson and other manufacturers in the standard version. If we consider guitars that sound really good and possess a recognizable and individual sound, then this amount can be safely doubled or tripled, since here the wonderful word custom begins, magic over the pickups, and so on. That is, two guitars will cost from 80,000 rubles in an absolutely minimal version to 360,000 rubles.
But the electric guitar itself does not play, it needs at least a preamp, but rather a full-fledged amplifier. In theory, they could be replaced by gadgets and / or processors, but I already said everything above them. A lotion at a concert is the key to the lack of sound. Here it is the hummers that are meant, and not really necessary and useful things like delay, wah-wah, etc. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are not much cheaper than full-fledged guitar amplifiers - take the same Ax FX.
Here you can argue that the vast majority of clubs and rehearsal bases already have guitar amplifiers and it would be nice to use them. However, it is not. The first reason is that the only thing you can more or less vouch for from the equipment provided is the cabinet, as a maximum - the performance of the power amplifier. With a high probability, the preamplifier part may simply not work, be buggy (for example, it may not switch channels), produce a distorted sound, and so on. In the Russian language, the equipment in clubs and bases is overwhelmingly terminally ushatno and unsuitable for use. The second reason is that the most popular guitar amplifier from touring companies is Marshall, from which it is extremely difficult to extract a decent sound. It went from the time when they were still good, but since then a lot of water has flowed. The only person I know who likes to play Marshall is Angus Jung, but he can.
Therefore, you need to carry your guitar amplifier. Rather simple and low-cost Mesa-Boogie Triple Rectifier Solo Head or the same ENGL Invader 150 cost about 100,000 rubles. More serious models of top lines (for example, Mesa-Boogie Rectifier Road King) cost as much as 150000-200000 rubles. If you confine yourself to a preamplifier and sacrifice sound quality, then something decent still costs from 30,000 rubles (ENGL 830) to 60,000 rubles (Mesa-Boogie Rectifier Recording Preamp) and higher (Mesa-Boogie Tri-Axis, Ax FX and so on) . That is, in the guitar part it is necessary to lay more from 60,000 rubles in an absolutely minimal version to about 350,000 rubles in good, if we average a little over two guitars.
In total, the instruments themselves plus gain / processing give us an amount from 140,000 to 710,000 rubles.
With a bass guitar, things are about the same as with electric guitars, except that the bass amplifiers are a bit cheaper - prices range from 50,000 to 100,000 rubles. Thus, in total, with the guitar itself, the bass part will cost between 90,000 and 280,000 rubles.
And here everything is much more complicated. The first problem is that the sound of the piano is still not properly learned to synthesize normally, which is why all sane synthesizers of the piano are simply controlled sample players. The second problem is that there are very few good synthesizers, and there are even fewer good synthesizers that have a sane sampler.
No, of course there are lots of models from many manufacturers: Korg, Roland, Kurzweil, Yamaha, and so on. But Kurzweil have a poor sound, and Yamaha, for example, is harassed by pop music (in a bad sense) to a state of absolute recognition (again, in a bad sense). Korg is simply none - against the background of the fateful mix, they are either not heard, or they “ride over the ears”, while somehow processing them and equalizing them is completely useless due to poor implementation of harmonic synthesis. Roland have a sound rather dirty, although it’s not lost in the mix.
In fact, the choice is limited to several models - Clavia Nord, Waldorf Q and Roland JP-8000, which is still to be found. Something that the other costs about 90,000 rubles and in a good way needs to be supplemented with a piano synthesizer, which is good just for Yamaha. Total we get the budget for the keys from 90000 to 180,000 rubles.
Total we get:
We take in hand a calculator and calculate that only the tools stand up to the group in the amount of 350000 to 1272000 rubles. I was not mistaken with zeros, it is really from almost half a million to almost one and a half million rubles.
Why do we need microphones when they are in clubs, bases, in studios? Then, in those very places either there are very cheap and crooked microphones (the awful Shure SM58, especially if the Chinese version of the SM58SK, now popular because of the low price), or simply unsuitable for a specific vocal. Meanwhile, a high-quality microphone is a guarantee of good sound to the same extent as a high-quality instrument.
From microphones we need:
The choice of a vocal microphone is a matter of specific vocals, but on average, they ask from 12,000 to 20,000 rubles for a normal live microphone (Shure Beta87, Sennheiser E965), for a really good one - 60,000 (Neumann KMS104). Microphones for guitars are cheaper, they cost around 6,000 rubles (Shure SM57, AKG Perception 170). The microphone for a barrel is about 12,000 (AKG D112), for volumes and a working one is about 6,000 (Shure SM57, Sennheiser E614), if good, then 10,000 each (Beyerdynamic M201, Sennheiser E914). Overheads - about the same. That is, in the end, a set of microphones for a group goes from 90,000 to 134,000 rubles.
Here I will simply write the set that we plan to use for ourselves (and partially already use). It includes:
The total is 327,000 rubles, not counting the cost of the wreck itself, wires and connectors (which, for a minute, cost $ 20 each, if we consider the Neutrik and Switchkraft suitable for use in the field).
Of course, there are a large number of inexpensive equipment on the market (Behringer, Alto, Phonic, Samson, Alesis, etc.), but it is made with so many constructive, technological and circuit blunders, and also has such low reliability (especially for the Behringer), that the last thoughts about whether “I should play Behringer” disappear as soon as the Behringer falls into my hands. This equipment is simply unsuitable for professional use.
Rehearsals are what directly affects the sound quality of the group and its “teamwork”. It affects much more than you might think, since a good and correct performance can somehow sound even on very bad equipment, but a poorly played material can not be fixed by anything. On good equipment, it will sound even worse at all, since all the jambs will be heard.
In order for the musicians to have the “feeling of an elbow” and the material confidently remained in memory at a level sufficient for concerts, we need two rehearsals a week, preferably three. One rehearsal a week for concert activities is no longer enough. On average in Moscow one rehearsal costs 1000 rubles for three hours of time (minimum set).
On good rehearsal bases with normal equipment - as much, but in an hour. Thus, rehearsals cost the group 8,000 rubles a month in the minimum version, 12,000 in the optimal one. If we consider good rehearsal bases, then we get from 24,000 to 36,000 rubles a month. For the year, respectively, we get numbers from 96,000 to 144,000 rubles at the usual rehearsal base and from 288,000 to 432,000 at a really good base.
Even if a group is assembled from professional musicians with experience, it takes six months or a year to reach a level that allows playing concerts and not “messing up”, so that the musicians play and there is contact between them - this is very important in music. That is, any group that performs at concerts, even in a very, very modest form, has already spent only on rehearsals at the rate of six months from 48,000 rubles (in absolutely minimal form) to 216,000 rubles in good form, depending on their own diligence and financial capabilities. I think that I will not be mistaken if I say that the average value will be around 100,000 rubles.
And with the recording in the studio all the same, only studio microphones, as well as technology, are several times more expensive. That is, if a quite good vocal microphone for Shure Beta87 concerts costs 12,000 rubles, the younger Neumann TLM103 costs already 60,000. The cheapest sane studio microphone costs 20,000 rubles - this is Rode K2. Equipment? Compressor for concerts - from 35,000 rubles somewhere for two channels and slightly cheaper for 8 (BSS DPR-402, Drawmer DL241, Klark Teknik SQ-1D), and for the studio - already 120,000 for the same two channels (for example, Universal Audio 2-1176 or their same 2-LA2A).
In total, we received the costs of instruments, microphones and equipment in the amount of 767,000 to 1,733,000 rubles. But besides that, the musicians still have to pay for rehearsals and eat something. Yes, most of the musicians in Russia are engaged in music in their free time and earn money in a different way, but this greatly affects the quality of the result in a negative direction. By and large, to get a quality result, a musician should deal only with music - this is the same creative and demanding full immersion process as software development.
I don’t want to go into the evaluation of copywriters and everything connected with it (especially since I promised not to do this), but there are a number of facts from which you cannot get anywhere. Music is a very expensive and time-consuming exercise. At the same time, donateware does not work almost completely, in Russia at all, and even for very large projects, disks are almost not sold (even very successful teams earn about 10% of their total revenue), and they start paying for concerts only when it’s objectively very large. popularity And all of the above you have to buy long before reaching this moment, but really - many times more, because here is listed only a very minimal set of essential things. The copywriters pay something to the musicians (I’m not going to tell you the numbers here, because I simply don’t know), but this doesn’t cancel their frostiness.
Obviously, a way out must be sought from the situation, because the continuation of movement in the same direction will only lead to the death of high-quality music as a phenomenon. Maybe it is you who will come up with a new model of relations with the authors? ..
So I decided to tell you how much it costs to create music. Whatever position to copyright, just specific numbers. In order not to make a “spoiled phone”, I will talk about what I have to work with, namely about a rock band with a composition of six people: drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, keys and vocals. Backing vocals are also present, but no individual is selected for it.
Interesting? I ask under the cat.
Instruments
For a start, let's look at the instruments that musicians will play. And here comes the first subtle point, which is that the instrument is not enough just to sound good. You can come to the music store and find there a lot of guitars that will not be too expensive and at the same time it sounds quite nice to yourself. The trick is that the sound of the instrument itself does not at all determine the sound of it in the mix, surrounded by other instruments - it can either get lost or, on the contrary, stick out too much. And often the sound of inexpensive instruments cannot be brought out to the required condition by any treatment. Approximately in the same degree in which of Tavria it is impossible to make a Mercedes-Benz.
')
The most classic example of such a phenomenon can be inexpensive guitar gadgets, such as Hughes and Kettner Tubeman, Tech21 SansAmp, or the extremely popular Zoom 505. By themselves, they may sound good, but are lost in the mix, and also have a wonderful property: “hummer” there is, but no sound (in the sense of sound). In addition, these gadgets have nothing to do with the behavior of "normal" iron and do not provide the experience that allows you to quickly and accurately adjust the sound on an intuitive level. Therefore, a guitarist who previously worked only with similar devices, at the sight of a normal guitar amplifier, can simply get lost, because the knobs seem to be the same, but behave completely differently. By the way, another great incident is connected with Tubeman - the lotion is positioned as a lamp tube, but when the lamp is removed from it ... the sound does not change.
Drums
If we consider exclusively concert activity, then the drummer needs only plates, because dragging, for example, the bass drum and toms is absolutely useless - they will simply never be put up. But at the same time, cymbals need two sets - one inexpensive for rehearsals, the second one sounds good for concerts. The reason is that the plates have the peculiarity of breaking, or rather breaking. From the additional equipment you need your own pedal to the barrel (or cardan), because in the clubs, that at the rehearsal bases, either it is simply not there, or it is physically impossible to play on it because of its deplorable state and general quality.
Total we have two sets of plates containing hi-hat, smaller crash, bigger crash, splash, ride and china - only 6 tools. Good percussion makes the same Meinl and it turns out about 12,000 rubles for one plate, that is, the kit will cost 72,000 rubles. A cheaper set for rehearsals will be about 30,000 rubles. That is, in total, the drums will stand at 102,000 rubles.
Rhythm and Solo Guitar
It's all quite simple ... and expensive. A guitar that will simply sound good and fit into the mix costs from 40,000 to 60,000 rubles. These are different versions of Gibson (SG, Les Paul, Flying V), Fender (Stratocaster, Telecaster), ESP, Jackson and other manufacturers in the standard version. If we consider guitars that sound really good and possess a recognizable and individual sound, then this amount can be safely doubled or tripled, since here the wonderful word custom begins, magic over the pickups, and so on. That is, two guitars will cost from 80,000 rubles in an absolutely minimal version to 360,000 rubles.
But the electric guitar itself does not play, it needs at least a preamp, but rather a full-fledged amplifier. In theory, they could be replaced by gadgets and / or processors, but I already said everything above them. A lotion at a concert is the key to the lack of sound. Here it is the hummers that are meant, and not really necessary and useful things like delay, wah-wah, etc. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are not much cheaper than full-fledged guitar amplifiers - take the same Ax FX.
Here you can argue that the vast majority of clubs and rehearsal bases already have guitar amplifiers and it would be nice to use them. However, it is not. The first reason is that the only thing you can more or less vouch for from the equipment provided is the cabinet, as a maximum - the performance of the power amplifier. With a high probability, the preamplifier part may simply not work, be buggy (for example, it may not switch channels), produce a distorted sound, and so on. In the Russian language, the equipment in clubs and bases is overwhelmingly terminally ushatno and unsuitable for use. The second reason is that the most popular guitar amplifier from touring companies is Marshall, from which it is extremely difficult to extract a decent sound. It went from the time when they were still good, but since then a lot of water has flowed. The only person I know who likes to play Marshall is Angus Jung, but he can.
Therefore, you need to carry your guitar amplifier. Rather simple and low-cost Mesa-Boogie Triple Rectifier Solo Head or the same ENGL Invader 150 cost about 100,000 rubles. More serious models of top lines (for example, Mesa-Boogie Rectifier Road King) cost as much as 150000-200000 rubles. If you confine yourself to a preamplifier and sacrifice sound quality, then something decent still costs from 30,000 rubles (ENGL 830) to 60,000 rubles (Mesa-Boogie Rectifier Recording Preamp) and higher (Mesa-Boogie Tri-Axis, Ax FX and so on) . That is, in the guitar part it is necessary to lay more from 60,000 rubles in an absolutely minimal version to about 350,000 rubles in good, if we average a little over two guitars.
In total, the instruments themselves plus gain / processing give us an amount from 140,000 to 710,000 rubles.
Bas-guitar
With a bass guitar, things are about the same as with electric guitars, except that the bass amplifiers are a bit cheaper - prices range from 50,000 to 100,000 rubles. Thus, in total, with the guitar itself, the bass part will cost between 90,000 and 280,000 rubles.
Keyboard keys
And here everything is much more complicated. The first problem is that the sound of the piano is still not properly learned to synthesize normally, which is why all sane synthesizers of the piano are simply controlled sample players. The second problem is that there are very few good synthesizers, and there are even fewer good synthesizers that have a sane sampler.
No, of course there are lots of models from many manufacturers: Korg, Roland, Kurzweil, Yamaha, and so on. But Kurzweil have a poor sound, and Yamaha, for example, is harassed by pop music (in a bad sense) to a state of absolute recognition (again, in a bad sense). Korg is simply none - against the background of the fateful mix, they are either not heard, or they “ride over the ears”, while somehow processing them and equalizing them is completely useless due to poor implementation of harmonic synthesis. Roland have a sound rather dirty, although it’s not lost in the mix.
In fact, the choice is limited to several models - Clavia Nord, Waldorf Q and Roland JP-8000, which is still to be found. Something that the other costs about 90,000 rubles and in a good way needs to be supplemented with a piano synthesizer, which is good just for Yamaha. Total we get the budget for the keys from 90000 to 180,000 rubles.
Brief tool summary
Total we get:
- percussion - from 30,000 to 102,000
- bass guitar - from 90,000 to 280,000
- electric guitars - from 140,000 to 710,000
- keyboards - from 90,000 to 180,000
We take in hand a calculator and calculate that only the tools stand up to the group in the amount of 350000 to 1272000 rubles. I was not mistaken with zeros, it is really from almost half a million to almost one and a half million rubles.
Microphones
Why do we need microphones when they are in clubs, bases, in studios? Then, in those very places either there are very cheap and crooked microphones (the awful Shure SM58, especially if the Chinese version of the SM58SK, now popular because of the low price), or simply unsuitable for a specific vocal. Meanwhile, a high-quality microphone is a guarantee of good sound to the same extent as a high-quality instrument.
From microphones we need:
- Vocal microphone - 2 pcs.
- Microphone for guitar - 2 pcs.
- Microphone for bass barrels - 1 pc.
- Microphone for hi-hat - 1pc.
- Microphone for snare - 1pc.
- Microphone for volumes - 3 pcs.
- Overheads - 2 pcs.
The choice of a vocal microphone is a matter of specific vocals, but on average, they ask from 12,000 to 20,000 rubles for a normal live microphone (Shure Beta87, Sennheiser E965), for a really good one - 60,000 (Neumann KMS104). Microphones for guitars are cheaper, they cost around 6,000 rubles (Shure SM57, AKG Perception 170). The microphone for a barrel is about 12,000 (AKG D112), for volumes and a working one is about 6,000 (Shure SM57, Sennheiser E614), if good, then 10,000 each (Beyerdynamic M201, Sennheiser E914). Overheads - about the same. That is, in the end, a set of microphones for a group goes from 90,000 to 134,000 rubles.
Treatment
Here I will simply write the set that we plan to use for ourselves (and partially already use). It includes:
- Long ParaEQ 4/8 - parametric equalization of vocals and guitars - 2 pcs. (48000 rubles)
- Long Exciter II - exciter for vocals - 1pc. (8000 rubles)
- Klark Teknik SQ-1D - compression and diesser for vocals, compression for drum and bass - 1pc. (75,000 rubles)
- ARX ​​MaxiMIX - mixer compressed and clean vocals for up-compression - 1 pc. (20,000 rubles)
- Peavey Kosmos V2 - subharmonic synthesizer for bass - 1 pc. (15000 rubles)
- TC Electronic M-One XL - reverb and delay for vocals - 2 pcs. (70,000 rubles)
- TC Electronic G-Major - effects processor for guitar - 1pc. (25,000 rubles)
- Echo AudioFire 12 - recording concerts and rehearsals for further analysis - 2 pcs. (56000 rubles)
- Furman PL-8E II - power rack (very important, because in open areas diesel generators are not uncommon, and equipment is expensive) - 1 pc. (10,000 rubles)
The total is 327,000 rubles, not counting the cost of the wreck itself, wires and connectors (which, for a minute, cost $ 20 each, if we consider the Neutrik and Switchkraft suitable for use in the field).
Of course, there are a large number of inexpensive equipment on the market (Behringer, Alto, Phonic, Samson, Alesis, etc.), but it is made with so many constructive, technological and circuit blunders, and also has such low reliability (especially for the Behringer), that the last thoughts about whether “I should play Behringer” disappear as soon as the Behringer falls into my hands. This equipment is simply unsuitable for professional use.
Rehearsal
Rehearsals are what directly affects the sound quality of the group and its “teamwork”. It affects much more than you might think, since a good and correct performance can somehow sound even on very bad equipment, but a poorly played material can not be fixed by anything. On good equipment, it will sound even worse at all, since all the jambs will be heard.
In order for the musicians to have the “feeling of an elbow” and the material confidently remained in memory at a level sufficient for concerts, we need two rehearsals a week, preferably three. One rehearsal a week for concert activities is no longer enough. On average in Moscow one rehearsal costs 1000 rubles for three hours of time (minimum set).
On good rehearsal bases with normal equipment - as much, but in an hour. Thus, rehearsals cost the group 8,000 rubles a month in the minimum version, 12,000 in the optimal one. If we consider good rehearsal bases, then we get from 24,000 to 36,000 rubles a month. For the year, respectively, we get numbers from 96,000 to 144,000 rubles at the usual rehearsal base and from 288,000 to 432,000 at a really good base.
Even if a group is assembled from professional musicians with experience, it takes six months or a year to reach a level that allows playing concerts and not “messing up”, so that the musicians play and there is contact between them - this is very important in music. That is, any group that performs at concerts, even in a very, very modest form, has already spent only on rehearsals at the rate of six months from 48,000 rubles (in absolutely minimal form) to 216,000 rubles in good form, depending on their own diligence and financial capabilities. I think that I will not be mistaken if I say that the average value will be around 100,000 rubles.
Recording in the studio?
And with the recording in the studio all the same, only studio microphones, as well as technology, are several times more expensive. That is, if a quite good vocal microphone for Shure Beta87 concerts costs 12,000 rubles, the younger Neumann TLM103 costs already 60,000. The cheapest sane studio microphone costs 20,000 rubles - this is Rode K2. Equipment? Compressor for concerts - from 35,000 rubles somewhere for two channels and slightly cheaper for 8 (BSS DPR-402, Drawmer DL241, Klark Teknik SQ-1D), and for the studio - already 120,000 for the same two channels (for example, Universal Audio 2-1176 or their same 2-LA2A).
Summarize
In total, we received the costs of instruments, microphones and equipment in the amount of 767,000 to 1,733,000 rubles. But besides that, the musicians still have to pay for rehearsals and eat something. Yes, most of the musicians in Russia are engaged in music in their free time and earn money in a different way, but this greatly affects the quality of the result in a negative direction. By and large, to get a quality result, a musician should deal only with music - this is the same creative and demanding full immersion process as software development.
I don’t want to go into the evaluation of copywriters and everything connected with it (especially since I promised not to do this), but there are a number of facts from which you cannot get anywhere. Music is a very expensive and time-consuming exercise. At the same time, donateware does not work almost completely, in Russia at all, and even for very large projects, disks are almost not sold (even very successful teams earn about 10% of their total revenue), and they start paying for concerts only when it’s objectively very large. popularity And all of the above you have to buy long before reaching this moment, but really - many times more, because here is listed only a very minimal set of essential things. The copywriters pay something to the musicians (I’m not going to tell you the numbers here, because I simply don’t know), but this doesn’t cancel their frostiness.
Obviously, a way out must be sought from the situation, because the continuation of movement in the same direction will only lead to the death of high-quality music as a phenomenon. Maybe it is you who will come up with a new model of relations with the authors? ..
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/124063/
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