Session musicians

What do they do?

Go on tour with bands.
Session musicians sometimes go on tour with bands; this involves getting paid a certain amount to play various gigs and concerts around a certain part of the world (or indeed all of it!). A session musician will either ask the company, or the company will ask the session musician to go and play either a whole tour, or just a few numbers in the tour. There is a large amount of gambling involved when it comes to being a session musician or hiring one. This is due to the fact that: a session musician gets pain a certain amount for the show (say £1,000), if the show is a total flop then the record label will lose money, BUT if the show is a roaring success then the record label will make mega bucks. The gamble for the session musician is that he or she can’t go back and claim a percentage of the profits if it is particularly good. The session musician gets paid a set amount and no more.

Recording sessions.
Quite often a session musician will go for a recording of a single or a few tracks. This will involve the producer talking with the session musician, and agreeing a set amount of pay, agreeing the song(s) that will be performed, and how long it will take, and possible whether it will be split over multiple sessions of not. After the terms have been agreed, the rehearsal and tuning will be done, this involves the band and session musician playing the first few seconds of each song, and adjusting their instruments until they are in proper tune. Finally the actual recording will begin, this involves the session musician and the band playing a set list of songs perfectly, whilst being recorded. Again there is still the gamble that if the song if a flop, then the session musician will still get full pay.

Practice/ individual techniques.
In order to be a successful session musician, you must receive some kind of musical tuition. This is because you really need to be the best in the business to be a decent session musician, in order to be the best, and make your songs worthwhile, (and make the big companies pay large sums of money for your musical genius).

Rehearsals with bands/ singers.
Obviously the session musician will need to play with other on a regular basis, as solo practice is not quite enough to cut the mustard, and a second opinion on your music can make a world of difference. The session musician will have to practice all of the songs he/ she will play in a band, because if they didn’t then the tempo might not line up properly, he/ she would be unaware of any changes made to the track, and furthermore the session musician would have less time to improve their musical craft. During a rehearsal each member of the group (and the SM) will play a few scales, tune up properly and strum a few finger loosening exercises, or something of the like. Then it is down to business with playing through a song that needs to be learnt, identifying the weak areas, tightening them up, and moving on to the next part.

Promote themselves.
Session musicians are forced to promote themselves, otherwise they would not get anywhere in their career. Promoting yourself consists of, making a few you tube videos, creating a website (hired or self designed), putting up posters, or just making some mix tapes of various songs that show of your various skills. This is probably the hardest part about being a session musician, as there is so much competition. Session musicians are a dying breed, so any opening is quickly snapped up by the fastest and the best. The best approach is to make a site, create a few videos on you tube, call a few companies, and hope for the best. If there isn’t work out there, then make work.

Do their own accounts.
Session musicians can be self employed, this means doing their own taxes and bills for things to do with their profession. This is the most unexciting branch of being a session musician, as you will have to dedicate a couple of hours a week to doing the tax returns, and the business costs (website maintenance etc).

How do they link in with other parts of the music industry?

Concert producer/ promoter.
Session musicians link in with concert producers through the sharing of music, obviously. But what a lot of people are oblivious to is how the producers get a hold of the session musician and do business. As I have previously stated, the session musician will upload a few videos to You Tube and on other sites that may facilitate this. The producer will look at the musician’s videos, the number of views, and the number of likes and dislikes. After the producer has seen the video, given a verdict, and seen that it is awesome (or not), then the producer contacts the session musician and says “we have an opening, would you like to have a recording session and make a demo. If it is good then we will take you on tour” but then if you are not what they want, you get a recording session under your belt.

Roadie.
A roadie is a person who takes equipment etc from place to place. A roadie is one of the less thought about aspects of the music industry, they are not involved in music producing but they are involved in music, just not in the usual way. A session musician is quite dependant on the roadies, because they are busy people (along with the rest of the band) and need as much rehearsal time, and relaxing time before the show. Just imagine a full rock band (Bass, Rhythm guitar, Lead guitar, Full drum kit, and all the other gubbinz that may be needed) carrying their own things in, it would take forever. But luckily the burly roadie is here to take all of the kit in. also I am sure that no musician wants to play with a pulled muscle.

Live sound technician.
A live sound technician is the bands best friend, and a session musician’s messiah. The live sound technician has the power to make a concert a big hit, or make it fall flat on its face. The LST will first have a detailed conversation with the musicians about what needs to be done, this includes the volume, the dominance of the band instruments to the mic, and the times when certain bits of backing need to be played (if there are any). Session musicians rely quite heavily on these wonderful people. To put it into context “Jimmy Quake is a session musician, he is about to play his first signed gig. He is playing with Sepultura (a thrash metal band) and he wants to make a good first impression on the world for his debut. The LST says to him and the band what needs to be done to your track to make it a hit, and the band will say this that and the other. But if the LST didn’t do this, the track would fail and Jimmy would never reach the big time. However if the LST and Jimmy work in unison, Jimmy hits the big time, and the world screams his name when he enters the room.”

What would happen if those bonds were not there?
Concert producer/ promoter.
Well. As you know, the concert promoter/ producer is going to hire the SM in the first place. So the musician would essentially not exist in live performances. Just imagine if you would only ever see bands in their original form. It might not seem that bad, but the band “them crooked vultures” was formed by merging: john Paul Jones (from led zeppelin), Dave Grohl (from Nirvana and Foo Fighters), and Josh Homme (from Queens Of The Stone Age). They also have a session musician that plays on live tours etc called Alain Johannes, he used to be a session musician, but his music was heard by John Paul Jones, and he decided that his sound needed to combine with the other members sound to create an extremely popular band. Strictly speaking Alain Johannes was not a session musician in all respects, but in many others, he was one.
Roadie.
A session musician would be lost without a Roadie to cart their various tools, instruments, and all manner of other kit to its proper destination. Hypothetically speaking, a session musician could survive without a Roadie, but it would be rather inconvenient and time wasting. “Joe is a SM, he is heading to Tokyo to play a $20 000 gig. He gets off the plane and gets into the van, ready to take him to the “Tokyo Dome”. Joe suddenly realizes that his Roadie no longer shared a bond with him; he takes all of the equipment out of the plane and loads it into the van. Then they set of. Joe has pulled a muscle in his back and is in crippling agony, he gets to the arena, lugs the rest of his things into the staging area, realizes that he is 2 hours late for practice, plays terribly because of his back and lack of practice, he is hung drawn and quartered for his crimes against music, and his career is over. (but realistically not his life.)
Live sound technician.
Well, as I have previously stated, a LST has the almighty power to change the sound of the music. The fans come for the merchandise, the concession, and the thrill, but the music is paramount over all of these other factors combined. If a SM does not have a LST then the concert would be a disaster waiting to happen.. if there was no live sound technician then the volumes would be all wrong, and any other tracks that may need to be played over it would not happen. Also the LST is the person who runs the rehearsals, so they would no longer happen, leading to an all round shoddy performance. Theoretically, a SM could live without a LST as well, but they would have to play acoustic, or just be realy in sync with the volume and timing of their performance.
BY BRANDON TIPPET 10