Studio Drummer – Uninhibited!

*STRIVING TO BRING A GREAT PERFORMANCE ON ALL LEVELS, A COMPLETELY UNINHIBITED PERFORMANCE, INTO A WORLD OF UNKNOWNS!*

This is an obvious ideal!  One can’t bring this every time into a situation of unknowns.  It’s an ideal that we all strive for and sometimes we hit the mark and some times we fall short.

There are many variables and many unknowns.  I’ve also found Murphy’s Law at work here in my own experience. 

*THE MORE COMFORTABLE AND RELAXED I AM COMING INTO A SESSION, THE MORE I’M GOING TO GET SLAMMED AND NOT PERFORM TO MY POTENTIAL! *

So I try to never enter a session with this mindset.  In a sense it’s like underestimating an opponent.  When you think about it, it’s very much like the mindset of a professional athlete.

If I don’t personally prepare and be in a sort of pain state, a healthy nervous state, the less likely I am to be properly prepared mentally for a session.  It tends to be a prerequisite to a successful session.

That is generally the life of a session musician. 

A good friend and great session guitarist friend said to me that you have to be careful of this because in a sense the circumstances can seem stacked against you.  One only needs a bad day, slightly off your game and kaboom, you’re off the A list so to speak.  And yet as he said it’s part of the craft and part of the challenge!

Jingle sessions can often embody this strongly.   The first thing to conquer is that you’re playing full on at 9.00 am in the morning.  Perhaps you’ve had too much coffee (although not in my case!) or you’re just trying to wake up in general. 

I remember jingle and movie sessions at 9am that were very challenging, where I was playing material that pushed me right to the edge of my limits and abilities. Another example of this situation was on sessions for Electronic Arts video game productions.   

Different session situations tax different areas. 

I’m paraphrasing here but as an all time great session drummer Jeff Porcaro once said, “Experience, experience, is the real teacher of how to handle the many situations a session drummer is confronted with.”

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Studio Drummer – Pressure situations

DEALING WITH PRESSURE

The environment a session musician exists in is most often unlike that of being in a band or being strictly a ‘live’ musician.  There are different types of pressures that apply to this environment.

Being in a band is a very familiar and most often, a rehearsed situation.  You don’t necessarily need reading ability to be in a band.  And similarly you don’t need the ability (learned tolerance as I would call it) of walking into a pressure-situation without knowing anything about what you’re walking in to. 

*I USE THE TERM “LEARNED TOLERANCE” BECAUSE YOU NEVER REALLY GET USED TO IT OR COMFORTABLE WITH IT, NOR SHOULD YOU.* 

It is something that you can learn to deal with though and in your own way prepare for. 

For example, if I have a session coming up that is causing me anxiety I never have coffee on the day of that session.  If I know the players, I will work emotionally and mentally to diffuse issues of insecurity and tension. 

These types of issues, as in every relationship, tend to crop up.  If you’re not prepared for relational issues and don’t have your game face on so to speak, you can be put in vulnerable positions. 

My intention when I walk into the session is to be prepared on every level, not only playing and reading but emotionally prepared as well.  That’s just one small example and of course everyone is different and handles stress in a different manner.

*THIS KIND OF PERFORMANCE ANXIETY CAN BE PAINFUL AND YET IT’S A HELPFUL PROCESS THAT RAISES YOUR ABILITY TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF FUNCTIONALITY.*

There are times when this can be very intense.  You’ll lose some sleep I guarantee it!  When I played with Ray Charles I definitely lost some sleep as I did with the David Foster Band.  When we backed up Toto I most definitely lost some sleep! 

The standards are very high, about as high as they can get.  But something happens in these situations.  You’re so aware and so on.  It’s a place you can’t get to on your own without this tremendous back pressure.

But back to the studio;

A typical recording session would be this.  You are given the session start time and place.  From here you typically don’t know;

The complexity of what you’re playing…

What particular style you’re playing…

What session players you’re playing with…

How your kit and/or tuning will translate in that particular studio..

If I’m playing a studio’s drum kit, what is the condition, tuning, hardware like etc…

Who’s producing or engineering, what’s the artist/client like…

If you could perhaps sum up the experience of being a session drummer or session musician in a sentence, from my perspective it would be this;

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Studio Drummer – Getting Experience, Rise To The Challenge!

*BUT YOU SHOULD RISE TO THE CHALLENGE AND TRY!*

If you’re unable to accomplish it then alter the part slightly so that it is comfortable.  They may or may not even notice that you’ve done this.

This has happened to me many times in the studio on pressure filled sessions.  I get asked to play something that I wouldn’t normally play and I have to play it!  I have to get comfortable with it.  One specific producer used to do that to me all the time!  As I also mention in the chapter on technique, you have to be very analytical as a session drummer.

If you’re uncomfortable with something very specifically analyze what it is that is making you feel that way.  This can often result in the correction of the issue.  This is what I do personally in all areas of my playing in the studio.  I try to be as analytical as I can in a positive sense.

For myself, if I find that I can’t play something exactly as it’s being asked I will modify it slightly and again often the artist or producer isn’t aware that I’ve done that.

The same issue can arise on the chart.  You might be making the same mistake repeatedly on the chart.  Stop and quickly analyze where you are making the error and why.  Fix it.  Refer to the chapter on reading where I go deeper into this issue.

*DON’T PANIC.  ANALYZE AND CORRECT THE PROBLEM.*

You will also notice the effect on your playing and your ability to groove and sit in a pocket when other players are rushing or dragging!  The effect is often drastic!  And again on the flip side of this it may be you who is rushing or dragging in this situation.  You’ll experience headphone-monitoring issues.  Some instruments will be too soft or too loud and you won’t have enough click level for example.

For all of these reasons it’s vital to get in a room with 2 other players or more and work through the myriad of issues that will ensue.

FINALLY…

In the area of experience you have to be creative.  You HAVE to create your own situations to garner experience.  No one is going to do that for you!

How can you convince an artist or producer to utilize your abilities?  Think of every possible creative scenario that you can!

*IF YOU’RE DEDICATED AND PATIENT, THE DAY WILL COME WHEN YOU’RE DISCUSSING YOUR PRICE POINT WITH CLIENTS!*

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Studio Drummer – Getting Experience

GETTING EXPERIENCE

For many, acquiring experience is their famous “catch 22”!  How does one get experience when you can’t get hired without having experience?

*YOU HAVE TO CREATE SITUATIONS FOR YOURSELF.*

Of course the most obvious situation you can create is to join a band and get experience that way.  Joining a band that is much more experienced than yourself may or may not be a good thing to do.  It may push you to develop faster or it may be that the other band members may be on a different plateau in their experience level.  You might perhaps be better joining a band where all the members have relatively the same experiential level.

 If you are just starting out and you’re ambitious offer to play in any studio situation for free.  Don’t ask for money at this level!  As I mention in the book I did several years of sessions for free to get experience.  It wasn’t until several years later that I actually started to get paid in a studio setting.

stay tuned for more on this topic…

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Studio Drummer – The Morphing Continues!

*YET WORK IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY KEEPS MORPHING AND INTEGRATING INTO DIFFERENT AREAS AND DIFFERENT STYLES.*

For example we’ve seen a fundamental change in the industry with the advent of the internet.  The digital download issue has drastically affected all the variants work in the music industry.  It’s killed some areas and yet opened up new avenues in others. 

Also the explosion of the home computer based studio more than any other single technological advance is responsible for the obliteration of an entire strata of traditional recording studios.  These days nothing but the large and extravagant recording studios survive in a general sense.  So what has that done?

*IT HAS MORPHED THE WORK AND PUSHED IT INTO DIFFERENT VICINITIES.*

The need and demand is still there for studio drumming or studio performances from all players in general.  This happening just changed the location and the method of where the work is and how the playing takes place.

With something as primal as music I believe that:

*THE ART FORM AND THE INDUSTRY WILL ALWAYS REINVENT ITSELF.*

Your job is to find your market, your unique angle and re-invention!

It’s a given that it will constantly morph so don’t be a follower.  Be a leader and a trendsetter!  Utilize existing technology to create work for yourself and even better think ahead!  Be willing to work for free when it comes to gaining valuable experience in regards to studio playing!

Experience is not only the best teacher regarding studio playing.  It is a prerequisite for getting hired to do sessions.  So you have to garner studio experience.  The best way to do this is to offer your services for free at the beginning.

*HOW CAN YOU CREATE NEW AVENUES FOR YOUR ABILITIES?*

I encourage you as you read on to explore your own avenues.  Simultaneously, think creatively as you read this book about how you can apply these skills and methods.

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