A gift in the making with Brownbulb Productions

Album Cover!

As you might have read, Ben and I celebrated our very first wedding anniversary on the 16th! We had such a wonderful day full of lots of down time and food. Two of my favorite things!

Because it was our first anniversary and the fact that Ben tends to out-sentiment and out-romance me on a regular basis, I really wanted to knock it out of the park with my gift. I wanted it to be something artistic and meaningful that I could really put my heart into. After some brainstorming, and quite frankly I don't remember the exact thought process, I thought- how cool would it be to record a few of our wedding songs?

Stepping back a second, I guess I should say that I have been singing and playing piano my whole life. From church choir, children's choirs to Butler University's music department and lots of random gigs with fun bands, I've been really lucky to sing a lot of amazing pieces and work with some really talented people. Clearly, I went a different route professionally but music will always be a part of my life!

Hard at work.

Okay, back to our anniversary. Lucky for me, I have really wonderful friends who have connections with their other really cool friends and that tends to help me out a lot. This being the perfect example and the way that I became acquainted with Brownbulb Productions.

This is where the stars really aligned. If you would have told me, "Sure, with two months out you can one, find a studio that can make this work last minute and two, afford to have a professionally recorded product," I probably would have just laughed. Luckily, this is exactly how it worked out.

Owner Pete Brown was quick to come to my aid and within a day of contacting him I was already in the studio for a consultation. Two weeks later I was recording a practice track for the other musicians involved to work with and a month later I was finishing up the recordings just in time for the big day.

To learn a little bit more about the business behind my experience I asked Pete a few questions. His responses were so awesome, that I wanted to share them with you all!

RH: When did you start Brownbulb Productions?
PB: I started Brownbulb Productions roughly 12 years ago. Leading up to, and during, that time I had played in a number of bands and we were spending lots of money on studio time to put out pretty mediocre recordings. I wanted to be able to record us myself, because I thought I could do just as good - or better - than most of the places we were recording, and I was also interested in writing/recording diverse genres of music on my own as well. I had saved up gig money bit by bit and went out and bought my first basic setup, experimenting with it non-stop and recording anyone that had a desire to do so. I guess my mission was set early on, wanting to provide space and services for people that could use Brownbulb as a creative outlet.


RH: What sparked your interest to turn music into a business?
PB: Brownbulb Productions became a business out of necessity, really. Anytime someone would come to record and ask if I had certain capabilities, that I didn't, I wanted to run out and make that happen for them. I figured they wouldn't be the only person that needed it, and that I could learn a new aspect of the technology and process by upgrading the equipment/software that I used.  Unfortunately, adding all of these pieces really adds up and I put together a business model that could act as a guideline for charging clients to keep up with the continued investments, as well as the time I was devoting. While I do need to keep the bills paid, I don't know if you'll find a business with more flexible payment options and timelines. I don't think creativity should be stifled by money!


RH:What are the aspects of your job that make all the random Saturday night hours like a couple weeks ago worth it?
PB:All of the same reasons that I got into this in the first place are still the reasons that I'm in it today. Music is a major part of my life in every way and I know that there are others like that. I remember feeling like I couldn't record due to money, timing, finding someone who could tune into my vision or finding someone that could collaborate with me. Over a decade later, I have a family and life has evolved, but I still have the same passion for creative outlets in music, video production and fine art. The hours can be late and long, but it's a creative journey that's totally worth it when you see someone's face light up as they listen to, or watch, their dream that has come to life over hours, days, weeks or months of hard work.


Pretty fantastic, right? A HUGE thank you goes out to Pete as well as fellow musicians Doc and Barry (check out his stuff here- also recorded at Brown Bulb!) for all the work you put into making my gift to Ben such a wonderful experience! He absolutely loved it!

The Dream Team: Pete, Barry & Doc.

Here's a little taste of the final project! This is the song we walked back down the aisle to after we were married.
One Love by Elise Shrock-Mannies

You can check out the rest of the tracks here. And be sure to explore Brownbulb Productions as well! Along with recording, Pete creates some fabulous video production (see!) and art work. Go ahead like the Brownbulb Facebook Page while you're at it!