Studio Drummer – The Golden Rule!
THE GOLDEN RULE
Here is the golden rule of being a successful studio musician. You can choose to heed it or you can choose to ignore it. I’ll tell you this though, if you choose to ignore this rule it won’t really matter how great you are.
*YOU MUST BE A PERSON THAT GETS ALONG WELL WITH OTHERS AND BRINGS POSITIVE ENERGY TO A SESSION AND THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN A SESSION. YOU MUST BE AN ENABLER!*
I kid you not that all else is secondary. You can have all the chops and talent in the world but if you’re disruptive, egotistical, arrogant, reactionary and if you generally diminish the flow and the energy in the room then you should start looking for another career!
The best session musicians are a hybrid of talent, tools and great people skills. A studio setting is most often a tense environment to start with. You have players who are on edge usually working with new material and unknown elements. The same is often the case for the artist, producer and engineer. There’s often a lot of money at stake and time is always of the essence. The best session players are aware of the dynamic in the room at all times and are consistently working together with the artist, players and production staff to bring the most positive energy to the creative process. Not only the above but this is also key.
*THE BEST STUDIO MUSICIANS DIFFUSE NEGATIVE ENERGY*
If something negative occurs or is introduced they will dissipate it through their communication skills. This results in a ‘righting of the ship’ so to speak.
This is not some airy fairy psycho babble. This key element is often overlooked by very great players who suddenly find that they’re no longer being called for sessions. It happens all the time that musicians who may have great ability have completely overlooked the importance of human relations within the profession. I know of great players directly in my circle where this has been the outcome for them and the situation was entirely created by them.
One situation that often arises and tests a player’s patience, humility and communication skills is one where the client doesn’t like what you’re doing and says so in front of the players and staff, in a sense putting you on the hot seat. Their intention may not be to do that at all! It can be very testing as to how to respond in a way that is disarms the situation yet still retains the confidence in the eventual outcome and continues the forward motion and good vibes of a session.
