Full Build · Scoped Per Song
Bring an idea. We’ll build it by playing it.
A lyric, a melody, a voice memo, a reference track, or just a direction. We work out the arrangement and build the music together — real drums, bass, guitar, and keys — then record your vocals in the room.
A Full Build is a project, not a rate. We talk first, you get an estimate, and nothing is booked until you’ve seen the number.
Recording Session or Full Build?
These are two different things, and the difference is simple: does the music already exist? If it does, you’re booking hours. If it doesn’t, we’re building something, and that gets scoped first.
Recording Session
You have an instrumental, a purchased beat, or a finished song. It needs to be recorded properly — vocals tracked, takes comped, the performance right. This is the standard hourly booking, engineer always included.
Straight to booking — no scoping needed →
The music doesn’t exist yet
Lyrics in your notes app. A hummed melody. A voice memo from the car. The song has to be written, played, and arranged before there’s anything to record. That’s a build, and it’s quoted as a project before it starts.
Starts with a free 15-minute call →
An hourly session never quietly becomes a build. If you book $60/hr and we find the song needs real building, I stop and tell you what that would take — and you decide. Nothing changes on you mid-session.
What a Full Build includes
Hands-on work on your song by a recording engineer and multi-instrumentalist — not studio rental, and not a beat off a shelf. Depending on the song, it can include any of this:
- Building the music by playing it — drums, bass, guitar, keys
- Working out tempo, key, and feel to fit your voice
- Simple programmed parts where a song calls for one
- Song structure and arrangement — verse, chorus, bridge, and how it moves
- Turning voice memos and rough ideas into a working, arranged song
- Recording your vocals over what we just built
Editing and mixing aren’t part of the build. They’re added on separately, billed at $45/hr, and quoted once the song exists so the number is based on the actual song rather than a guess.
What this isn’t
Worth being straight about, because it saves us both a session. This isn’t a beat store, and I’m not a producer with a signature sound you’re buying into. Music here gets played — I’m an engineer and a multi-instrumentalist, and that’s the kind of song this room builds well.
If what you need is a fully programmed instrumental in a specific production style, someone who lives in that style will serve you better. Bring them, or bring their beat — I’ll record and mix it properly, and that’s a $60/hr Recording Session, not a build.
How a build goes
We talk first — free
A 15-minute call. You play me what you have, we talk about where the song should land, and I tell you honestly whether this is a build or just a session. The call, the one-page action plan, and the estimate are free — booked time starts after that.
You get an estimate
A real number before anything is booked: roughly how many hours the build takes at $85/hr, and what editing and mixing would add on top. If I’m unsure, I say so and give you a range instead of a guess.
We build the music
Tempo, key, and feel first — that decides everything after it. Then drums, bass, keys, and guitars get played, not bought, plus a simple programmed part where the song calls for one. You’re in the room making calls the whole time, not waiting on an email.
We record your vocals
Over the track we just built, with setup, takes, and comping handled.
Editing and mixing get added on
Once the song exists, I listen to it, tell you what it needs, and get your OK before starting. Billed at $45/hr. If the song has grown past the original estimate, you hear that from me before the hours happen, not after.
What it costs
There’s no fixed per-song price, because no two songs take the same number of hours. What you get instead is an estimate before the work starts and a heads-up before anything goes past it.
$85/hr is build time — the hours we spend making the song exist, agreed in advance as part of the estimate. $45/hr is solo time, when I’m working on your project without you: editing, mixing, session prep, added instrumentation. Every piece of solo work is scoped and quoted before it starts.
A song built from scratch costs more than a standard recording session for a simple reason. With a finished beat, the creative work is already done and we’re capturing a performance. From scratch, the music, the arrangement, and the instrumentation all have to be made first — and that’s hours in the room, playing.
Rather see a number before you commit to a call? Describe the song in the estimate form and I’ll come back within 24 hours.
Common questions
What’s the difference between a Recording Session and a Full Build?
A Recording Session is the standard hourly booking — $60/hr — for when the music already exists and needs to be recorded and mixed properly. A Full Build is a scoped project for when the music doesn’t exist yet and has to be written, played, and arranged with you. A build is quoted and agreed before it’s booked, so an hourly session never turns into a build without your say.
I only have lyrics or a voice memo. Can you help me turn that into a song?
Yes. Lyrics alone, or a rough phone recording, is a completely normal starting point — one of the most common ways projects start here. We work out melody, tempo, key, and feel, then build the music underneath by playing it. You don’t need musical training or prepared material to start. That’s a Full Build, so it begins with a free 15-minute planning call and an estimate.
How much does a Full Build cost?
There’s no fixed per-song price, because no two songs take the same number of hours. Build time is billed at $85/hr, and you get an estimate of the hours before booking rather than an open meter. Editing and mixing are added on separately, billed at $45/hr and quoted before that work starts. If the song grows past the estimate, you hear about it first.
Can you help me finish a song I already started?
Yes, and this is one of the best fits for the room. We can add played instrumentation, rebuild or replace parts of the arrangement, re-record vocals, or fix what isn’t working. Bring whatever you have, including stems or a session file from another studio. Whether that’s a session or a build depends on how much still has to be created — which is exactly what the planning call sorts out.
Can you make me a beat in a specific style?
Not as programmed beat production. This is a recording studio, and I’m an engineer and multi-instrumentalist — music here gets built by playing it, with simple programmed parts where a song calls for one. If you need a fully programmed instrumental in a particular style, a producer who lives in that style will serve you better. Bring them or bring their beat, and I’ll record and mix it properly as a $60/hr Recording Session.
Can I record vocals over a beat I already have?
Yes, and that’s a standard Recording Session at $60/hr with an engineer always included. Bring the instrumental as a file or a link and we track vocals over it. No scoping conversation needed — you can book that directly.
Start the song
A build starts with a 15-minute call, and that call is free.
Would rather just get in the room first? The $89 two-hour Launch Intro is a recording session, not a build — enough to test a direction and capture initial ideas, and a good way to see how the room works before scoping anything bigger.