There’s a challenging question! … Be prepared for a list of questions if you ask this of a sound engineer. It’s best if you provide them with as much detail about your project as possible up front. Here’s a few pointers:
- How many and what type of instruments do you want recording/mixing ?
- If recording, do you need to hire a studio or do you have a suitable space already available to you? (Obviously, if the Engineer has their own studio, they will almost certainly want you to use that)
- How many songs do you want recording/mixing/mastering?
- Do you want some help with song arrangement/production? ie. Do you want the Engineer to contribute their creative ideas to the songs?
- Do you need to hire musicians?
- If you have recorded your own songs and just want it mixing and/or mastering, to avoid additional costs you should take a look at this article I wrote about preparing stems for mixing.
I know everyone wants to get at least a rough idea of prices when they go searching for something on the internet… me included. So as a (very) rough guide, my own prices start at around £80 a day for a mobile recording and mixing project at a place of your choosing. Dependent on the number of people in your band and if you are organised and well rehearsed, you can probably get three songs recorded in a day with another day to mix them. Prices increase if you want to hire a professional studio or you need me to source additional musicians for example. Please get in touch with the details listed above for a personal estimate for you project.