Last week I hired a contractor to build a booth for me in my
home studio. We went on for a couple of days discussing the design of the booth
and how we would make it look good in such a small space. I showed him some websites: Closet Vocal Booth. Also, some pictures of how it should look: Vocal Booth. During this
conversation is when I realized what little knowledge the general public has of
this industry.
I explained to him that we needed to use a lot of isolation
in the walls so that sound would not bleed through. I also explained the
urgency of a solid door. I explained that the booth inside needed to be nearly
dead inside so that we can have good takes for vocals. Throughout the whole
conversation he seemed very confused and dazed of what was really going on. I
stopped and asked him what was wrong. He thought that building a booth consisted
of putting up 4 pieces of 4 x 4 and that was a booth. I went to the local
hardware store and I showed him the type of materials that we needed to use. As
we bought everything he asked me what everything was for. By the end of the
purchase $600 worth of materials he had a better idea of what was really going
on.
The next day when he came in to start the building process
the first he said to me in the morning was “Hey Bryant! I went online last
night, and I did some research on this project. This is definitely a whole
different world for me.” He went on with his day of work and many other days of
work went by. The last day of work came by when the project was done and it was
time for the business side of this lengthy project. I was ready with the cash
in my hand to pay him when he said, “I have learned so much throughout these
past couple of days, and how the music business really works. I would like to
thank you for teaching me all of this. Just for everything that you have taught
me I take that as my pay for my job, please do not give me anymore of your
money.”
This is when I realized what true values this industry can
teach to many others that has no idea of what really is going on. Why do people
act so innocent towards an industry that can offer a whole lot to lots of
people?
Hello Bryant,
ReplyDeleteThis post is quite inspiring! First because you took the time to actually show the guy what was needed in order to complete the project successfully (instead of kicking him to the curb) and also because someone else actually got a glimpse of what the audio industry is based upon. Notice I said only a glimpse.
You could have easily said "you know what man, goodbye" but you didn't and that alone shows tremendous passion for what you do. A lot of times you never know who is willing and ready to learn about what you do until they tell you they've learned something.
I enjoyed the post!
Bryant Belin