Studio Drummer – No Fakes

DON’T BE PHONY EITHER* 

People can spot a phony from a mile away.  Don’t be gushing and overly complimentary for example.  Yet don’t be a doormat either.  There do arise moments, and for very good reason, when you have to be assertive. 

Here’s a good example of that from my experience;

I was working on a very good session for ‘the greatest outdoor show on earth’, the Calgary Stampede when I noticed there was a playback issue that was critical.  The session up to this point had been upbeat and very positive with great results.

The issue was that the playback of the tracks that we were recording was slightly delayed against the click track.  What that did was make everything that we were playing on the floor sound slightly out of time with the pre-existing recorded tracks that we were playing to.

In a very assertive way I had to enter the control room and insist that there was a software issue.  I could hear it.  But at the time the producer and

engineer were thinking, ‘it’s 10am in the morning and you guys all have to wake up and start playing in time’!  At least that was the general vibe coming from them.  Plus we happened to be recording at The Armory Studios which is a multi-million dollar world renowned studio.

Since what we were recording was pretty complex and busy I had the idea to ask the engineer to do a test with me.  I asked him to feed me a click track and I’d go in and play something dead simple, he’d record it and then we could compare the playback to the click track to see where the timing fell.

Sure enough they all could then hear that there certainly was a software issue and all systems were re-booted and the session was back on track again.  Also and equally important, I was not made to look bad as a player due to something that was not my fault!

There are definitive times when you have to stand up for something but as in this case it was something that was essential to the overall progress  that could have completely derailed the session as well as our reputations as players.

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Studio Drummer – Diffuse Negative Energy

*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.

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Studio Drummer – Rule of Rules!

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. 

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Studio Drummer – Be on your toes

*YOU HAVE TO BE FAST AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO SWITCH GEARS AND INTERNALIZE MUSICAL CHANGES TO YOUR PART QUICKLY AND WITH FLUIDITY AND CONIFIDENCE IN YOUR PLAYING.* 

There are several mental tricks that I have used continuously over the years to combat building stress or anxiety.  The first one is this.

*DON’T FIXATE.*

By fixating I mean dwelling on a specific part of your playing or a specific limb. 

As a pilot in my flight training that I’ve done for instrument flying I was taught that one of the most important things to avoid and never do when flying by instruments is that you never fixate on one instrument. 

You should be scanning all the instruments almost in a steady rhythm.  But you never dwell on a single instrument.  This can cause you to lose control of the aircraft.  In our profession this is also true when you’re getting ‘too inside’ a specific part. 

It often happens on a session where you’re playing something very simple part-wise but challenging from an accuracy standpoint.  It can be very easy to over think your part in a case like this.

For example you start to think too much about your bass drum foot or hi hat foot and next thing you know you’re complicating something that is usually easy for you to execute.

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