Getting the Gig, Recording the Gig, Finishing the Gig | The Remote Musician, Part 4 of 5

I wanted to cover what an actual gig looks like from start to finish. I show you the recording part in detail in my next post, but here's how gigs flow on Fiverr:

GETTING THE GIG

You have two options when it comes to getting gigs through freelancing sites: Submit to "Buyer Requests" (or whatever they're called on your site) or sit and wait for someone to come at you with a gig opportunity. I've used both approaches, depending on how much free time I have to submit to Buyer Requests.

Option 1: Wait for gigs to come to you

Of all the options you could've chosen. This is certainly one of them. That said, when I was starting off with session bassoon recording, I had very little competition on the site. I made the profile and then started getting random gigs within a few weeks. You can leave the gig up and it will stay active as long as you log into the site every few weeks, so if you can't always focus on it, it doesn't hurt to keep it active.

Option 2: Buyer Requests

Submit to open "Buyer Requests" by going to the buyer request page and finding relevant, active requests. Don't get discouraged if the request page is full of hot garbage one day. Keep checking back periodically and something reasonable will come up. You can get to this page when you are in Seller Mode by clicking "More" at the top of the page, then "Buyer Requests"

When I started trying to do podcast editing, I had much more competition, and I had to start submitting to Buyer Requests. Here is what I sent in to my first successful Buyer Request to be the podcast editor for NRI Woman, a podcast that shares stories of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Women from around the world:

COMMUNICATING WITH BUYERS

If the buyer is interested, they will initiate contact with you about their project. Every project is different, so here are a few examples of my first interactions with buyers. Be alert, if anyone tries to get you to communicate outside of the platform, remind them that it violates the terms of service of the platform. Once you leave the site, you are susceptible to getting scammed.

CUSTOM OFFERS AND ORDERS

You may have to negotiate pricing with your buyer if the project requires something beyond what is laid out on your gig page or the offer you sent them, but when you get everything settled, you can either send a custom offer that lays out everything you discussed and have them accept that, or they can just order the gig from your gig page.

Here's what it looks like when someone accepts a Custom Offer

Once somebody hires you, the real fun begins :)

RECORDING THE GIG

Time to get to work! I'll show you how to do this from start to finish in my next post, but here are the steps:

Download the files submitted in the order requirements
Print out or load the sheet music onto a tablet
Import the buyer's audio files into Reaper
Set up your audio track and get ready to record as demonstrated in this video from my previous post
Record your tracks
If there is something that the client wrote that could be interpreted in a few different ways, record both of those ways - just in case
Edit your tracks, pick the best takes!
Apply any plug-ins you need (Gates EQ or Compression)
Give the track one final listen
Export the STEM of your instrument track, NOT the master mix
Make sure your sample rate/bit depth is set to the format your buyer wants (standard is 48k/24bit, .wav)
Deliver the file(s) to your client. Some platforms may require you to share .zip folders if you have more than one audio file.

FINISHING THE GIG

The client might request revisions. DO NOT TAKE THIS PERSONALLY. From my experience, revisions are usually for things like key noise or extraneous noises, blips, cracked notes, etc. that can't be fixed or edited out
If they accept the delivery, you get paid! Hooray!
Make sure you leave feedback for your buyer, and they should be able to leave feedback for you. This feedback helps other potential buyers see that you do great work!

I think that's it. I probably missed something here, so please reach out to me if there's something you have questions about! I hope you have as much fun recording yourself as I have! Continue to Part 5 of The Remote Musician where I show you what it looks like to work on a real gig from start to finish - and you see all my mistakes and bumblings!