What's sib7?
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From: Gordon Kent <dbmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: August 28, 2011 9:58 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Employment versus Self-Employment: Options
for the Blind Audio Producer
Well, I do a lot of the accompanying for the two choirs especially
on the jazz/gospel stuff. And I do some solo work and play for
memorial services etc. Now that sib 7 is starting to be viable, I
am really going to work at doing some choral arranging this year
as well.
Gord
From: <mailto:lady.arwen15@xxxxxxxxx>Chelsea Dye
Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2011 8:41 PM
To: <mailto:ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Employment versus Self-Employment: Options
for the Blind Audio Producer
Hi Gord,
What do you do for your church?
I was really impressed by the demo of Sonar 6 you did! Granted, I
didn't understand much of the contents, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Chelsea
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From: Gordon Kent <dbmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: August 28, 2011 8:20 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Employment versus Self-Employment: Options
for the Blind Audio Producer
Hi:
Well, I have been doing this for a long time as you all know. I
think that it is very difficult to make all of your living working
in a studio, whether it is your own or somebody elseâ??s. I never
take walk-in clients unless I know them well. Most of the work I
do is for one established studio up in New Jersey and he is a
friend who I have worked with for a very long time. I do most of
his tracking for his clients, and send them to him either as full
mixes or as individual tracks. Now that I can use pro tools, I
send him sessions. It is possible for me to do the work in Sonar
if I havve to and then export the raw wave files from sonar. Then
I import them into a new pro tools session and send him the
session by posting it on my ftp site. If I know Iâ??m going to be
using plug-ins that are included in pro tools I do the project
there because that will make the session a lot smaller. I do,
however, make the bulk of my living as a live performer. And I do
a lot of work for kmy church as well. I guess that it is
necessary to wear a lot of hats to survive in this business these
days, and Iâ??m very fortunate to be able to do so.
GOrd
From: <mailto:billlist1@xxxxxxxxxxx>Bill
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 9:35 AM
To: <mailto:ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Employment versus Self-Employment: Options for
the Blind Audio Producer
Dear All,
Chelsea and I have been in contact off-list. I suggested that she
post here and start a thread about options for the blind audio
producer in the current marketplace. From our perspective,
virtually all of the customers we have who make some or even all
of their living from recording themselves or others do so as
self-employed professionals. Letâ??s talk about it.
In general, blind people have to deal with the same changing
dynamics of the audio production business that effect everyone
else. That is, decades ago there were big studios where artists
went to record. The equipment there was generally so expensive
that it was far out of the reach of most of us. Studio owners
could charge clients lots of money and use that income to hire
engineers and pay off their investment in all that expensive
recording gear. Over the past decade or so, software like SONAR
and Pro Tools has put affordable digital audio production into our
hands. Much of the audio we hear on the radio and TV was produced
in somebodyâ??s home studio at a relatively low cost. The â??big
studio jobsâ?? are gone or nearly gone.
Here are some questions to get things going:
If you get paid for your services to produce audio, do you work
for yourself or for an employer. If you produce your own tracks
and sell them, I consider that self-employment. By working for an
employer, I mean, do you receive a regular paycheck or some kind
of retainer to work on staff at a recording facility. If you are
hired and paid hourly as a consultant, that is significant but
that would still be considered self-employment. That is, your
employer sends you a 1099 form at the end of the tax year. In
other words, if your employer does not withhold your taxes or
offer you any benefits aside from compensation for your
professional services, you are still a self-employed consultant
who runs your own business.
Again, if you get paid to produce audio, what other kind of work
do you need to do to put together a living? For example, I know
that many of you play gigs at restaurants, churches, clubs,
etc. Some of you teach music privately or through a school. I
call this approach the â??portfolioâ?? approach to making a living
as a musician/audio producer.
If you are self-employed, how do you promote your business? How
do you find and retain clients? What kind of high-tech and
low-tech marketing tools do you use? These questions are really
general questions that anyone who runs any kind of business has to
contend with.
But what issues come up for you because you are blind? For
example, a customer once told me a very sad story of how he was
recording some clients who left his studio carrying away a laptop
and some other gear which he never saw again. He learned the hard
way that he needed to have a trusted sighted person around during
sessions with strangers.
How much work have any of you done to edit video and audio
simultaneously? What strategies have you employed to get that
kind of job done?
I hope that the questions above will stimulate a lively exchange
here.
Bill McCann
Founder and President of Dancing Dots since 1992
www.DancingDots.com
Tel: [001] 610-783-6692
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chelsea
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 4:47 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Reintroduction
Hi list,
I'm back. I left for awhile, because I couldn't follow the
discussions--too technical for me! LOL
I'm going to be getting my diploma next month, and I'm trying to
network with blind audio producers/mixers/DJs, etc. To learn the
tricks of the trade. And I have a question as well: do those of
you that are producers, DJs, etc. Work in your own home studeo or
do you work in someone else's? I know Nashville seems to be a hot
bed for music studeos. Do any of you have experience there?
Another option I've thought of is working in film/TV doing their
audio things.
It sounds like, from what I've observed, that i'll have to create
a couple home-based businesses--one for audio and one for Braille.
At the moment, I have no equipment whatsoever, just the Pac Mate
I'm using to write this message. And as far as material goes, it's
not my best. I know if I have JAWS and Goldwave or JAWS and
Sonar/CT, a good computer system with a midi controller, etc.,
I'll be able to put together a much better portfolio of my
abilities. The only problem is that BVR won't fund equipment if
they don't think I can get a job. And I don't know if home-based
businesses count because they're not constant gainful employment.
Or are they?
Any thoughts, suggestions?
Chelsea
