Pricing has been the bane of my existence for a long time, but I think I have developed a fair service for estimating the cost. My rates for most services are $35/hourly with a minimum charge of $5.

Estimation guideline:

Editing/repair/restoration generally takes an average of 2.2x the length of audio to be edited to complete. So a 40 minute audio file would take me approximately 88 minutes to complete. This is a good guide, however some audio is easier than others while some is much harder.

Recording/mixing is art. If I come to you, travel time is included in the time considered working. It is up to you if we rush micing, however in the recorded world mic placement is one of the highest rungs on the totem of importance; if we are just laying down ideas then maybe you care less about the final sound but if you are doing an album then I suggest bearing with me until we get the placement perfect.

Forensic Audiology is something I really want to do, however I have little real-world experience with it - just the knowledge and tools to get it done. This would be a discussion before fees are decided upon.

Audio transfer from one format to the next is done in real time, so for example if you have 8 hours of cassette to transfer to digital it will take the full 8 hours, not including any time you want me to spend cleaning it up or editing.

Voice acting is generally billed in blocks of 1000 words - I require a discussion before we agree to pricing however.

Video game assets: I will write and record music, record sound effects, come up with atmospheric and ambiance effects. I enjoy doing this and would love to hear from you about your projects!

Filming: I offer a flat-rate for filming depending on the number of hours required. A typical wedding will cost $750, including all audio and video processing (colour correction, audio mixing, etc.) Set up and tear downs are not included in pricing as people often feel a need to chat to me during this time and I don't feel comfortable billing for time spent chatting. Recitals are $85/hour, sporting events are $65/hour. I bring as many staff as I need to ensure that everything runs smoothly, and my prices reflect this.

Feel free to contact me to discuss your project and get my input and estimation. I keep accurate timesheets rounded up or down in 5-minute increments.

• Due to REPEATED jobs that end up affecting my mental well-being, I no longer will assist with any "hidden microphone" scenarios. It breaks my heart that as humans, we treat each other this way and I do not want to live through anyone else's drama. I don't even want to deal with my own drama.
• I am happy to send short samples for free, but I will choose the audio for the sample - I can tell when I am sent a 4 minute audio and the important part is what's asked for.
• My staff is comprised of my closest friends and family - and as such must be treated professionally and respectfully at all times.

SERVICES

   Filmmakers often run into trouble with audio, and it's often not the fault of the recordist. Who could have predicted the bird's chirping, the car honking? The crosswalk beeping or door creaking? Sometimes the mic picks up the sound from the wrong angle and sounds unnatural. Or perhaps the acting was superb but the vocal performance just wasn't what you had in mind. Whatever the cause or reasoning to replace, don't worry about it - it isn't the lengthy process of the past. A voice recording session and a few button presses quickly remedies the problem.

So recently I have moved up from DSLR video shooting and invested in a professional camera, and gathered a small crew. We all clean up nicely and have professional attire for things like weddings, bar mitzvahs, business meetings, interviews. Alternately we can set up a smaller rig for more incognito settings such as sporting events, archival footage for recording plays, dance recitals... with up to 4 channels of audio in a multitude of configurations. For example, a shotgun mic on the camera capturing the action, with lav mics on the more prominent speakers for a wedding or perhaps a mic on the stage for a dance recital to pick up the room sound and feet sound with a direct line form the mixing board for perfect music. The possibilities are endless, and with all my years as an audio engineer I can definitely suggest the best equipment for the task at hand.

Also partnering with a local photographer so that we can cover the best of both visual media! Ask about our affordable combo packages.

   Splicing audio, fades and cross fades, and getting it all to sound right. Some examples of editing and mixing include:

• Editing dance tracks together for duration, tempo matching, and ease of playback
• Mixing together multiple takes of a recording to sound natural
• Mixing multiple tracks together to create one audio file
• Tuning vocals

Forensic doesn't mean (necessarily) relating to murder or anything foul - basically, anything audio in matters relating to law. For example, if Fred was on a motorcycle and crashed into someone but claims he never heard a horn, can it be proven that the sound muffled by his helmet plus the volume of his bike was enough to drown out (with reasonable probability) the volume of the horn in question? If someone jumps from a balcony because she is locked in a room by mistake and nobody comes to help her is it possible that they just didn't hear her calling out? I have the tools to find these types of answers, and the knowledge of how to do testing for double and triple checking my results. I can also clean up poorly recorded audio for example to make audio more intelligible.

   You don't have to make due with poorly recorded audio, it can be restored and revitalized.  A thin voice over can be made full, background noise reduced or removed, and unintentional noises like birds chirping or footsteps deleted leaving everything else intact. There are any number of reasons you would want to do this:

• Preparing courtroom material
• Video post production
• Archiving
• Restoring memories from cassette or other obsolete media

Need a voice over done for a commercial, a male voice for your audiobook or a character in your radio drama or video game? I'm happy to give it my best shot, happy to send samples, happy to receive direction and do redos and overdubs.

I can take an existing audio track and REMOVE certain elements, or even separate and existing recording into different stems for remixing. I can take your favourite obscure track and remove the vocals for custom karaoke; feel free to discuss with me your needs and I will work on getting it done for you!

   Transferring audio from one format to another can be a royal pain. Trying to get your audio from old, outdated formats to a digital file does not have to be difficult.  I can do everything from cassette tapes to vinyl records, as well as pull audio from video files or even extract it from websites such as youtube.

   Sometimes even going from digital to digital can be overwhelming, such as when you need to convert your entire audio library to another format. Or when you have a file in the wrong bit depth or sample rate. Permanent Records is equipped to do large batch-file processing in a short amount of time.

   Unfortunately my 8-track, DAT  and ADAT players have grown legs, but if you have a player I am happy to use it to convert your files to something a little more this-century. If you have a player that works, I can record from the output and clean up the audio if need be!

• 8-Track
• Vinyl
• Cassette
• DAT
• ADAT