That sounds great about getting more work, dude! But I have a question about your profession, I'm thinking about doing the same thing (freelance musician) and I was wondering:

Is the pay as unreliable as they say it is? Do you really live paycheck to paycheck, etc?

I'm going to be getting a degree in performance (in classical guitar). Is that the sort of thing that will help me out there? (I was trying to get to berklee school of music for electric guitar but I could only get a small scholarship, nowehere near enough to make it affordable)

How did you get started in the industry?

Thanks a lot for any and all answers, man. And good luck trying to live without poker!

Hmm thanks for the info! Yeah I'm pretty competent at bass guitar and drums, and I have to learn piano next year. I didn't really want to get a degree in classical guitar, but after focusing on it for as long as I have, I'm really liking the instrument as much as electric.

Like I said, I'd prefer an electric guitar degree, but I can't afford any of the good schools for that.

So basically my plan is now:

Take a course on record engineering, find some studio I can intern at, finish my degree... and then what? lol

Thanks for all the info, man. It's hard to find anyone who has much experience at it, so I've just been guessing around.

...and then what?

its kind of hard to explain. you just start meeting people and getting work. and it kind of snowballs upon itself until you have stupid-long days. my average day is between 10 and 14 hours long and when things are busy i work 6 or 7 days a week.

my other suggestion is to find $500. buy an Mbox. and learn to use Pro Tools. this is a pretty essential skill. if you write songs....you need to know enough about recording to demo your own songs. if you want to do studio work.....you need to know Pro Tools. if you are playing on other people's songs...trust me that it makes things 1000 times easier when the performer knows what Pro Tools can and cannot do. just as an example....if the guitarist knows that auto-tune cannot work with polyphonic sources and therefore cannot pitch-correct an out-of-tune note in a chord....then the engineer wont want to kill the guitarist because the guitarist wont be acting stupid.

jon

Mbox? And where do you just start meeting people? Just hang out at shows and introduce yourself? Put out ads? etc? I have no idea

Yeah I've heard of pro tools, will have to get that sometime soon.