session musicians

Management: Session musician

Introduction
There are musicians who manage to make a steady living from playing music for years on end. They don't get famous but they do get to play in the best studios, the world's biggest stadiums and appear on prime-time TV. They are known as session musicians and they are sometimes very well paid.

This section gives advice on becoming a session musician, including:

What they are
Who hires them
What makes a good session musician
Getting work
What you need to be one

What Are They?
There are all sorts of reasons why someone might need to hire a musician, singer or even a whole band. Session Musicians can be used by:

Solo artists don't have a band so they hire in players for studio sessions, TV appearances and tours.

An established band may want to use an instrument that none of the members can play.

An artist may have added loads of extra parts in the studio and need to hire in some extra help to recreate the parts live.

Adverts, TV themes, corporate events and stage productions all need music and someone has to perform it.

Artists who need people to mime on TV performances.
They may not all be that glamorous, but for some people the idea of being paid to play music - any kind of music - is better than a run-of-the-mill regular job.

"The first job I got was doing promotion for Sunblest Bread, playing on top of a yellow bus that was painted up like a loaf of bread. We drove around the country from 8.30 in the morning 'til 5.30 at night for 26 weeks, playing Dixieland Jazz. I really hate Dixieland Jazz.

"But if it's a choice between going down the Job Centre and getting a job digging up the road or driving a van; or playing my instrument and earn money then I've always chosen to earn money playing my instrument."
Gavin Harrison - Session Drummer

Who Hires Them?
For a studio session, it's most likely to be the producer who decides which musicians to hire. For low-budget TV work the composers may hire the players directly.

Both types of people are likely to have a list of musicians with whom they've worked before and they will always prefer to hire these first. Studio time is too expensive to risk hiring a player who may not be up to the job and this is one of the problems you face trying to break in as a session player.

Large tours and musical productions will have a Musical Director whose job it is to organise and hire the musicians. Much of this kind of work is also repeat work. Either the players will have done a tour with the artist before or they will have worked with the musical director.

Touring has a visual element and an artist's record company or management may want a very specific look for the band. This can provide a handy in-road. If the MD only knows white drummers and the label want the band to have a black one, then it could be your chance.

Some work comes through Session Fixers. These are people who act as agents for session players. If a producer needs a particular player, they'll call a fixer who will send details and showreels from a few players on their books. There's more on these later on in this section.

"In charge of the session is the producer and they've got a bunch of people on their backs like the artist and the record company who they have to deliver a satisfactory piece of music to. They know that if they ring that specific guitarist or that specific singer, they will deliver. There's no risk factor, and there's no expensive studio charging £1200 a day and it's all going wrong.

"As far as live work, it's about getting the look right, getting the sound right and getting people who gel together. You don't have to gel with people in the studio. You're only there for 2 hours. That's not as important as being on the road with them for 3 months and making sure you get on."
Simon Harrison - BH Musicians and Management

What You Need
There's only really one thing you need to be a session musician, and that's the ability to get the result that a producer or musical director wants as quickly as possible. That will help get a song recorded without wasting expensive studio time, or make rehearsals for a tour go much more smoothly.

In order to achieve this, an ability to read music will be an enormous asset. If there's a job that requires a singer or player to sight read a chart, you don't want to do yourself out of the work because you're unable to do it.

Even if there are no charts, the ability to read music can be very handy. You can make notes of the structure of the song or of any special phrases that the producer wants you to play. That means you can learn a song more quickly.

You're also going to need to be able to play as many different styles as possible. If you can do a pop session in the morning, a jingle in a reggae style in the afternoon and an RnB gig in the evening then you're on your way.

"It's all very well having this idea of 'I'm going to grow huge hair and get a double-bass drum kit and play heavy rock'. Well that's great but then the only chance you've got of landing a job is a heavy metal gig that will accommodate your one style. If you want to work as a professional musician, you've got to be so versatile.

"First you should learn to read music. That opens up a whole area of work, some of which you may not want but you'll probably find yourself getting quite hungry after a while if you turn down everything you don't like."
Gavin Harrison - Session Drummer

Ear Training
Your other major asset will be will be a "musical ear". For a singer, it's essential as you'll need to be able to pitch your voice correctly and probably come up with some harmony parts, too.

For other players, it will help you pick up parts from a demo of the tune. These days it's less usual for a session player to be presented with a score for the piece. More likely, there will be a demo of the tune done with MIDI instruments which will be replaced with "real" instruments.

If you can pick up the part you're required to play from the demo and get your fingers on the case straight away then you're going to be making friends with that producer.

Any decent music teacher should be able to offer ear training. If not then there are plenty of home study courses which will help you get started.

"It's important, especially in the studio environment because you have to be exact. So you hear a phrase and you have to track that phrase and you have to remember exactly what you've done and be able to do it again accurately."
Bianca Glynn - Session Singer

Personality
The final thing you'll going to need is a professional attitude. That means keeping your equipment in good order and turning up on time. It also means being able to get on with people.

A winning personality is an asset in the studio but it's essential on the road. If you're going to be stuck in a tour bus for months on end, it's important to get on with the band and crew.

"I've seen it happen on jingle sessions, where they've got the rhythm section booked from 10-11 and the brass section from 11-12 and the singers from 12-1, a mixing session from 1-2 and then this thing has to be on TV that night. So I get there at 9am to set my drums up and get ready and the bassist wanders in at 11 going, 'Hi man. I couldn't park me car. You haven't got a tuner because I forgot mine and I need to change my strings?' He might think that he's got a cool muso attitude but obviously that guy's never going to get booked again.

"There are loads of brilliant players out there who can run rings around you - play any style, read music, play with a conductor, play with a click and all for half the price that you're willing to do it for. You need to turn up, be professional and be able to get on with people."
Gavin Harrison - Session Drummer

Starting Out
Getting session work is a bit like virtually every job in the music industry. You need luck and contacts. Luck might not be so easy to control but contacts are another matter. You may even find that, while you're building up the experience you need, you're also filling your address book with useful names.

As a session player, you're no longer part of a band. You can play anywhere that will have you. Some young players join two or three unsigned bands in the hope that one of them will get signed. Realistically it's best viewed as experience and the money certainly isn't there.

Less glamorous but better paid are the numerous function and tribute bands that tour the nation's hotels and clubs. Playing a Christmas party for 250 drunk accountants may not seem like rock and roll, but it's better than being a drunk accountant... Cover gigs are regular, well-paid work and there are a few opportunities to network with other professional players who fill in (or 'dep' in musical parlance) for regular band members who can't make a specific gig.

Other, possibly less glamorous, alternatives are youth orchestras or jazz bands, school or semi-professional musical theatre. These won't pay the rent but they will expand your range of styles, get you used to working under someone else's direction and may also help your ability to read music. They're also things you can do if you're too young to be looking for sessions, yet.

Getting Session Work
Getting some actual session work is a struggle.

Call up local radio stations and find out who makes their jingles or adverts. See if they will employ you.
Check the credits of TV programmes. You'd be amazed how little money most TV composers make for a show - especially on cable - so get some composer's names and set about tracking them down.

Check out studio technology magazines like Sound on Sound or Future Music. Mags like this often profile less well-known composers and writers. Skip all the obsessive details about what mixing desk they use and go straight for the stuff about musical styles and what work they've done. Try and get hold of likely people. If you can't trace them any other way, see if the magazine will forward your details on.

You can also try advertising in local music shops, rehearsal rooms and recording studios. If there are any local producers or songwriters looking for people to help demo their tunes you can do them a deal. You appear on their song in exchange for the use of the recordings for your demos.
Look in papers carrying 'Musician Wanted' adverts like NME, The Stage or Loot.
Go to open mic events. There's a chance to meet other singers. If you stand out of the crowd there's a chance that someone will take your number if they're looking for talent.
You need to be careful not to sell yourself short though. After you've worked for the same people a couple of times you need to increase the price. If you give the same quality as someone else for half the price you're always going to get work but you're not going to make a living

"There is always work out there. Maybe not at the top level. Maybe you have to be prepared to get out there and do things for next to and work your way up. Established singers don't want to do a £75 roadshow miming with a pop star? Are they going to want those demo sessions where there's no budget to pay anyone? Those gigs are out there and the big name players don't want them for the money. That's where you can get your foot in the door."
Simon Harrison - BH Musicians and Management

Session Fixers
As we've said. Most session jobs are people booking people they know. However, there are occasions when the job requires very specific musicians.

Often people will call a fixer because they want a specific look for a TV appearance - maybe a white drummer, black bassist and two Asian singers. Other times they will need a touring band to back up a new act.

As a second source of work, a session fixer may be able to help you out. It's important to remember that session work is a lot about reputations - the more work you get, the more you're likely to get. Hence one tour or studio session though a fixer can lead to more.

It's polite to refer direct repeat bookings back through the fixer. So if a producer calls you directly you'll still end up paying a commission. This might seem a bit harsh but a fixer would argue that you wouldn't have got the second booking if they hadn't found you the first one.

Approaching a fixer

Most session fixers will tell you that their books are full, but will probably still ask you to send in some details just in case they can use you. There shouldn't be any charge for them to take you onto their books. They make their money by placing you and taking a commission, usually 15%, from the session fee.

When you're trying to get onto a fixer's books they will need to know three things about you: what you look like, what experience you have and how well you can play. So you'll need a photo, a CV and a tape.

Demos
Instrumental Demos

Always call a session fixer to find out what they want from a tape but roughly speaking you should keep it short and to the point.

You may find that playing or singing unaccompanied will be enough. It's obviously going to be better if you can send tapes of actual sessions that you've played on, as it shows you have some experience.

Session fixers do most of their business over the internet. They will probably email your demo reel out as an MP3 file so keep it less than 5 minutes so that it's a manageable size. This is great for you. It means that you can edit the recordings so that they're just snippets which show off your playing to best effect.

Vocal demos

Always call an agency and see what they want from you. Generally, you should try and put on two or three different styles of track to show the full range of your singing.

At a push, you can use karaoke backing tracks but you might find it better you have your voice recorded onto them professionally, so that you sound as good as possible.

A recording studio will also be able to edit the tracks for you so that you can keep the tape short. Five minutes gives you scope for a verse and a chorus of around three songs. Don't bother with more than that - you're more interested in showcasing your range than singing whole songs.

This is where some session experience will count massively. Not only does it show you can do the job, but jingles and adverts will be 10-30 seconds long - the perfect length for including in a demo reel.

When choosing any session tunes you have, it's very important to make sure that your voice is the lead vocal. Although singing backing vocals is good experience, you should save that for the CV. It will cause confusion if your voice is mixed behind someone else's on your tape.

"I wouldn't bother putting the whole song on because nobody's going to get around to listening to all of it. Don't make all the songs basically the same because people will think that's all you do. And make it interesting so people think 'I want to listen to that again'."
Christine Poundford - Hobson's Singers & Musicians

CV and Photo
Your CV should be brief and to the point. Put in:

Everything you have to offer
Second instruments you play
Your ability to read music
List everything you have done as a musician, including where you've studied
You don't need to detail every single gig or recording session. Give the main points of the most important and then just list the others - "24 week season as a singer in so-and-so's bar" or "4 years gigging twice a week with XXX band."

"It's not all about just the names you've worked for. Quite often a CV full of big name gigs will come from an older player anyway. It's more important to include the details like name, address and phone number. Make sure it's well laid out and very easily readable.

"Also put down on there if there are any second instruments that you play or if you do backing vocals. That's important for touring. If someone phones me up and says 'I want a drummer who can do backing vocal,', I'm certainly not about to make 400 phone calls to all our drummers and ask if they do them. I'll go through all the drummer's CVs and pick the ones who specifically say they do backing vocals."
Simon Harrison - BH Musicians and Management

Photo

Photos are especially important for TV work. Seeing as you've only really been hired because you own an instrument and can look convincing pretending to play it, there's nothing else to choose between musicians.

Get them blown up to 10"x8" so that they look good when the fixer scans them in to their computer and emails them out.

"You need a good photograph. If you're just starting out I wouldn't bother with the expense of a photographer. Just get a black and white film and get a friend to take some good head and shoulder shots and some good full length ones. Don't worry about being too fussy. Then pick out a couple that you think are right and get them blown up."
Christine Poundford - Hobson's Singers & Musicians

source: www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic