[partonkevin]

I made my living in music for several years by keeping my expenses as low as possible and by diversifying my income streams. I played gigs, did live sound, recorded, advised, repaired....whatever. I also bought an inexpensive house, automobile, etc. It was a tough life, but I loved it.

Life happened and I moved on with it, but I've been trying to get back into it all in between everything else. It's a hobby now, but I have a choice of when I work and what I work on. Financially you're much better off with a "real" job. It allows you to buy toys!

I used to work at a small studio years ago that went under financially. Even then I always thought a better way to work would be to have a good sounding small room with a good signal chain or two for overdubs, but take the project to a bigger commercial studio for drum tracking and mixing.

The place I worked at tried to be all 'in-house', but our rent for one month would pay for many, many hours at a top-notch studio. We had some high-end equipment, but our place didn't sound good, have adequate space, and we were limited to the hours we could track loud...or quietly due to other tenants in the complex.

I still want a studio, too!