Studio Musicianship

[azraelswings]

Hi All,

If you want to start working as a studio musician for hire, how do you begin? Does one require a press kit of sorts? Cold call studios?

--Sean

[DavidK]

It requires a "connection". You gotta know the person who is contracting the session. Actually, they gotta know YOU.

That work is almost gone in 2008. In the 80s I was doing quite a bit. Hardly anyone does anymore, so the jobs are coveted and scarce. Regardless, the way to get the job is to be in the same circle as the contractor. How you do that is by doing as much work as possible and getting your name out there.

[mikeh]

As DavidK indicates, consistant session work is very hard to come by. Things like jingles, etc are run through marketing firms who either have in house contractors/composers or who hire outside contractor/composers. Those people in turn already have a network of musicians (1st call, 2nd call, etc). - or more often than not, use samples, etc. If musicians are used, it is very common that a musician is hired to contract the other musicians - in this case the contractor already has 1st call players, etc.

Artist recordings normally have one musician who acts as the contractor - (same thing happens with tours) and again, that person already has a network. Some smaller studios that focus more on singer/songwriter projects may use session players (although samples and loops have taken away most of that work) - but you still need an "in".

So....how does a musician become 1st call for contractors??? Network!!!! You need connections who respect your playing and are willing to hire, or recommend you. In almost every case, session musicians paid a lot of dues (when work was much more available) - playing in numerous bands, subbing in bands, playing small sessions for little on no money, etc.

Like DavidK - I did a lot of session work in the late 70's and early 80's (as a session drummer) - only to lose most of it to samples and sequencers (in the later 80's and 90's). However, every session I ever did came from connections I'd made through hundreds and hundreds of gigs - and in most cases, it was my ability to be dependable, friendly and profession more than my chops, that got me the gig.

Some recordings of you playing and some bio package (and certainly business cards) can have some value - however, nothing will replace playing with as many people as possble in as many musical genres as possible - you never know who may offer you the next gig, but your chance increase with every new musician you work with.

[DavidK]

Good post, Mikeh.

Originally Posted by mikeh

Some recordings of you playing and some bio package (and certainly business cards) can have some value - however, nothing will replace playing with as many people as possble in as many musical genres as possible - you never know who may offer you the next gig, but your chance increase with every new musician you work with.

Yup. Business cards etc cant hurt, but they arent the bottom line. Its usually a combination of respect and friendship that gets you a gig.

[JuliánFernández]

Good posts, guys...
The most important thing that you need to start working as a session musician (IMHO) is to be as pro as you can...

That means being able to adapt to almost any musical situation, being polite, always willing to try new ideas, being confident on your skills, arriving always early...

It´s a really long subject, but I like to think that if you have your sh*t togheter, the phone will ring... Obviously you have to play as many gigs as you can, trying to put your name on the street, but still...

Studio had been drying out all over the globe, but it´s not impossible to make it... Good luck!

[notredamer0789]

I'll agree 100% with the earlier post to say that Studio Session work is HARD to come by now-a-day. My friend works in a music store with a guy that used to be a studio musician (OUTSTANDING BASSIST) He used to work with George Jones, Randy Travis, The Allman Bros. AND in any commercial that Coca-Cola put out in the late '80s he was the one behind the bass. NOW... he plays bass for a cover band in local bars that usually gets paid in beer and shows up to work half of the time, b/c of it. Sad... Not to say that studio musicians are lazy and drunk . Just to state that studio work like that is dying down alot!