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 – Dealing with Attitude

*THIS IS ANOTHER RULE THAT YOU MUST BEAR IN MIND.  THE ARTIST MAY HAVE TERRIBLE COMMUNICATION SKILLS BUT YOU ARE STILL REQUIRED TO HAVE THEM!*

 

You’re going to run into artists that have a lot of attitude.  It’s inevitable and just a matter of time.  A couple of buddies of mine were doing a gig with Kenny G and they walked into the rehearsal and there’s Kenny standing there with his saxophone playing away doing his circular breathing thing while he’s meeting all the players!  Circular breathing technique allows you to continuously play without stopping.  So he’s standing there blasting away on his horn while shaking hands with these guys.  And apparently that was just the beginning of the attitude!  At one point he yells at the drummer, “Drummer here’s your tempo!”

So there are times when you have to steel yourself against the negative vibes.  You truly put on your game face in these moments.

 

But back to a studio setting, artists still are the boss.  The artist is always right in the end!  It’s their product and they are footing the bill. This is a rule that you have to internalize.

 

You never want to disrupt the forward motion of a session and the creative atmosphere!

 

The artist or producer may also ask you to change or adjust your part or go in a completely different direction.  You may completely disagree!   I know of one session player who actually started debating with the producer about the merits of his change.  What a terrible mistake.  His overbearing position was the end for him.

 

The other thing to remember is that session players and producers are always a tight knit group of people!   You can go to any city or music center and the people that do the bulk of the session work are a relatively small group of professionals.   It literally only takes one infraction of the sort I’ve been talking about for it to be over for you.  And on the same token good news travels quickly.  Producers are intensively aware of a musicians’ ability to interact with artists and their handling of difficult communicative situations.  A musician who can deftly handle these relational situations and retain the positive energy in the room as well as bring their A game to the table as a player are gold to producers and good news travels!

 

But remember, an experienced producer will go with someone of slightly lesser talent but who has the ALL elements necessary!   People skills are absolutely the key essential!

 

On the flip side of this issue though is this. 

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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 – Find that Relaxation Focus

*ANOTHER TECHNIQUE I USE IN THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCE IS TO GET MY HEAD INTO THE CHART MORE.*

 

I know this normally is looked at as a negative and can be a negative in other contexts but wait!  Hear me out.

 

Again, you may not necessarily need to get more inside the part as it may be very simple but try it. Sometimes you need to divert your mind. 

It’s as simple as that.  Your head is obsessing about something too much due to the pressure of the situation. 

 

It’s another trick that helps you to just play.

 

I find that this mindset happens less on more musically complex sessions because you don’t have the physical time to deal with these mind issues!  You’re too busy catching everything on the chart and around the kit.  But all these tricks can be very useful.

 

Another mental trick that sounds overly simple is this.

 

*THINK OF SPECIFIC THINGS OR THOUGHTS THAT ARE RELAXING TO YOU.*

 
This sounds silly but it also works well from my experience.

 

For me personally I used to think about my kids at moments like this.  It’s fleeting no doubt but these little moments help you to move towards relaxation and can at the very least get you through a passage or a phrase in a tense moment. 

 

 

*IT’S AN EXERCISE IN CONTROLLING YOUR EMOTIONS UNTIL YOU REACH THE POINT WERE YES, THE SESSION AND YOUR MOOD ARE RELAXED, THE CLIENT IS HAPPY AND THERE IS TRUE SYNERGY IN THE ROOM.*

 

 

Lastly, but of great importance;

 

*DON’T FORGET TO BREATHE!*

 

It’s easy to start holding your breath or at the very least, not to be breathing properly in these situations.  Oxygen flow is also very important to relaxation and ensuring the right outcome!

 

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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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