ABOUT INDIE MUSIC MATH

The math shouldn't get in the way of the music.

Indie Music Math is a collection of free, practical tools for independent musicians.

It started with the kinds of questions that come up when you're making music yourself: What string gauges will feel right if I change tunings? Will these songs fit on two sides of an LP? How much material can we fit into a 45-minute set? How much storage should I actually set aside for a recording project?

None of those questions is especially difficult. But answering them often means finding a formula, opening a spreadsheet, digging through forum posts or just guessing.

Indie Music Math does that part for you.

Built from actual musician problems

The tools here are designed around decisions musicians really make—in rehearsal rooms, home studios, clubs and while trying to finish a record.

That means we're interested in more than getting the arithmetic right. A vinyl sequencing tool should understand that some songs are essential. A setlist tool should know that energy matters as much as running time. A guitar setup tool shouldn't tell you to reach for the truss rod just because your action is high.

The goal isn't to replace experience, judgment, engineers, repair techs or mastering professionals. It's to give you better information before you make the next decision.

Free tools. No account required.

You don't need an account to use Indie Music Math, and the core tools are free. Some pages may eventually include advertising or links to products and services we think are genuinely useful to musicians. If a link earns Indie Music Math a commission, it won't change what a calculator recommends or what we tell you. Keeping the tools useful comes first.

Who's behind this?

Indie Music Math was created by Eston Martz, a musician with the independent band The Long Afternoon.

A lot of the ideas started with questions that came up while recording, rehearsing, working on guitars, planning live sets and figuring out how to release our own music. Rather than keep solving the same problems with calculators and spreadsheets, I started turning the useful ones into tools other musicians could use, too.

Have a problem that needs some math?

This site is meant to grow. If there's a recurring music problem that has you reaching for a calculator, spreadsheet or scrap of paper, I'd like to hear about it.

Tell me what we should build next.