Entrepreneurship - sound as a living?

[Michael Ewald Hansen]

The last 2 years have been an amazing journey for me, i've gone from having very little knowledge about sound and electronics to having a very decent understanding of how speakers, amps etc works.. I've built numerous things, and sound has become a passion for me, but its only the last 7-8 months reading and posting in here, that i've really started contemplating about stepping up my passion to become a living.. But I don't have a degree in either engineering, sound or likewise so even though im a lot more knowledgable than most hifi enthusiasts I talk to, its still hard to show it, when I dont have a piece of paper that tells it.

So I need to start somewhere. I've been doing multiple scenarios in my mind of how I could start out..

I would like to build BFM cabs as a part of the business, but later on i'd like to do more - like concerts, events, consulting on sound for small venues etc - but those are mainly future prospects once I actually get going and gain even more knowledge..

I've been DJing a bit some years back and I was wondering if that might be a good place to start and show off some equipment.. Then when people hear the quality of sound that they are definately not used to around here, i'd hope to expand the business to other areas..

My first idea was to build 2-4 DR250 and either 2-4T48 or 2 x slim T60 and a wide T60.. But I'm not 100% sure what kind of equipment I wanna settle on.. I know im going to need amps, DSP and crossovers but what kind of equipment would you start out with for a full setup if you wanted to spend something in the area of 8-10.000$ for a DJ setup?

Take the post as primarily a brainstorming of ideas.. I'm still a student, but i'll have my university degree in economics this summer and I do have quite a lot of freetime - so that could be used to start up my business

ANY ideas, critique, thought etc are very welcome!

[Jon Barnhardt]

Being in the sound business is not a cheap business to be in by any means. I spent almost $15k this year in upgrades and I'm a "small timer" compared to most.

First and foremost - make sure you have a passion for it, as once you realize the money is very tight in this arena, at least you have the love for sound left to keep you comfort!

[Grant Bunter]

Don't worry about the piece of paper!
Before the piece of paper existed or was even thought of, everything was learnt by mistakes or handed over from someone who "knew".
Get someone you know (who ideally would also be a sound guy/gal with lots of experience) to give you critical analysis of you mixing, EQ'ing etc. You will end up in a "discussion" about techniques for PA tuning and whatnot, but if you reckon you're up to speed with your theory and what you've learnt so far, you should be able to easily counter any arguments with your own rationale. If you're already in the ballpark after that, you're good to go.
As Jon said, it won't be cheap.
And did your budget cover lighting too?

It will be your mixes, your work ethic, word of mouth and your personality that will get you more work...

[CoronaOperator]

Don't worry about the piece of paper!
Before the piece of paper existed or was even thought of, everything was learnt by mistakes or handed over from someone who "knew".
Get someone you know (who ideally would also be a sound guy/gal with lots of experience) to give you critical analysis of you mixing, EQ'ing etc. You will end up in a "discussion" about techniques for PA tuning and whatnot, but if you reckon you're up to speed with your theory and what you've learnt so far, you should be able to easily counter any arguments with your own rationale. If you're already in the ballpark after that, you're good to go.
As Jon said, it won't be cheap.
And did your budget cover lighting too?

It will be your mixes, your work ethic, word of mouth and your personality that will get you more work...

+1

Rule number #1 : thou shall not covet equipment but covet SKILLS!

[SoundInMotionDJ]

First and foremost - make sure you have a passion for it, as once you realize the money is very tight in this arena, at least you have the love for sound left to keep you comfort!

+1

I know literally thousands of ways to wind up with a "small fortune" running a sound business...and every single one of them is to start with a "large fortune."

--Stan Graves

[Titanium Hand]

I know literally thousands of ways to wind up with a "small fortune" running a sound business...and every single one of them is to start with a "large fortune."

Thats a brutally honest, thoroughly entertaining answer!

The world needs more, better equipped and knowledgeable Sound Persons - upper echelon and economy.

I paid $200 AUD to go to Future Music Festival on Saturday. Massive national EDM touring festival. At least 5 Massive outdoor stages and two indoor stages. Lineup was impressive; Swedish House Mafia, Fatboy Slim, Skrillex, Chase & Status, Flux Pavillion, Knife Party, Zane Lowe, Porter Robinson, Aphex Twin and heaps of other big names (I only remember ones I saw).
Anyways, I spend about $1000 a year going to music events of many genres, since being on this forum, I'm becoming a bit of a sound cynic or snob Soooo many get it wrong, for $200 a ticket I want to hear and feel every single note yet I rarely do. There was a big presence of Dubstep performers on the weekend and only in the indoor venues was the sound up to scratch (bass wise anyway)and they weren't dubstep stages either
I was let down, by not being able to hear and feel the lows on a lot of the Dubstep. I could hear them bottoming out just not good enough.

Phaedras, please do go into a career in sound, and do it right! I'm sure you could get away with doing it how every other mug seems to. There must be a market for 'Proper, Articulate Sound Reproduction'. I'm sure as sound in motion DJ "says start with a large fortune" is true, but the price of Nexus flagship Sub cabinets is massive. Whereas T60's really aren't costly, nor is the power to drive
them. I'd imagine two stacks 50 something feet apart, of 12 Dual Loaded T60's would wreak considerable havoc along with the correct re-inforcement of DR's, you would have to be well ahead of the pack. $7872 would get you the drivers for the T60's (you would be lucky to get two nexus for that price) $30 000 worth of BFM gear is going to go a whole lot further than commercially available gear. You can do it

[SoundInMotionDJ]

I dont have a piece of paper that tells it.

The only piece of paper that "matters" will be the "rider." DIY by any description tends not to be accepted on riders. That is only a concern if you are after "big name" touring acts. For any "local only" work, your reputation and resume is about 10x as important as the specific gear you use.

My current setup is ten DR200's and ten T39@14. I use DEQ/DCX combo for filtering. I have a DJ mixer & dual CD player for the DJ's, and a Yamaha 01v board to combine the DJ's music with all the wireless mics. This system was sized to be able to run in a 25,000 sqft indoor ballroom. I can split the system into four rooms if needed. In most cases I run 8 tops + 8 subs in a "big room" and 2 tops and 2 subs in a "small room." I have used the system outdoors and with 8 of each cabinet I was able to cover 350-400 people on a lawn with ease.

If I were to try to make a business out of this....

For a "live sound" setup for outdoor events I would go with DR280's and T48 3015 loaded. I would start with either 4 or 8 of each cabinet...depending on the exact scale I was trying to hit. Add in four WH8 for vocals and two WH10's for drummer/keys.

For "DJ" shows, the above setup would be reasonable for everything except the insanity that is DnB. For that genre, I would stick with the DR280 as a top, and build T60's with the Lab15. Again, 4 or 8 of each cabinet depending on the exact scale I was trying to reach. I would also build a pair of Jack 10's or OT12's to use a "monitors" for the DJ.

--Stan Graves

[horst]

I know literally thousands of ways to wind up with a "small fortune" running a sound business...and every single one of them is to start with a "large fortune."

--Stan Graves

Actually in general if you started off with a large fortune in the USA, chances are that your fortune is now vastly greater.

this is long but drop dead fascinating
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2012 ... dle-class/

[chenry78]

+1

great article..and fairly accurate as well!

I know literally thousands of ways to wind up with a "small fortune" running a sound business...and every single one of them is to start with a "large fortune."

--Stan Graves

Actually in general if you started off with a large fortune in the USA, chances are that your fortune is now vastly greater.

this is long but drop dead fascinating
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2012 ... dle-class/