Traits Of A Studio Musician

In August, a book that studio bassist Paul ILL and I wrote will be published entitled "The Studio Musician's Handbook." It's an inside look at everything there is to know about being a studio musician, including how much you can make, how you become one, what it takes to become one, and what's expected of you. There's also a DVD included that takes you inside an actual Hollywood session so you can see for yourself what it's like to be a studio musician.

Here's a brief excerpt from chapter 5.

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You’ve got your first session, now how do you keep them coming? First of all, here are the traits that you find in all studio musicians.

Traits of a Studio Musician

Great Chops

Great Gear

Easy To Work With

No Ego

Takes Criticism Well

Proper Studio Etiquette

Let’s go over these one by one.

Great Chops
Studio musicians are expected to be creative, extremely versatile, and have a formidable skill set. They are usually the best musicians in town in terms of plain physical dexterity, and are able to play numerous styles convincingly. Your ability to read music will determine the type of sessions you can play on. For record dates, the ability to read and transcribe lead sheets is essential, but many other sessions like jingles and television and movie scores require expert sight reading.

To illustrate the reading abilities of session players, here’s a story about the late Tommy Tedesco, one of the most recorded guitar players ever and charter member of the famed Los Angeles studio band The Wrecking Crew during the 60’s and 70’s. Tommy was playing on a Jan & Dean date when as a joke, singer Jan Berry turned Tommy’s music upside down on the stand. The take started and Tommy proceeded to play the backwards score note for note. A frustrated Berry yanked the page off the stand and said, “You’re just showing off!”

"...the town is full of guys who play great, so that’s not even on the table. You have to find people who are doing what you want to do and connect with them, and when your shot comes, don’t screw up! It’s as simple and as cold as that."
Studio guitar player Gary Solt

"You don’t have to tell them (studio musicians) what you need, they just automatically go there. When you have to explain to someone how to make something feel better, it becomes a hard place to have it come from if you have to wrap your head around it first. As soon as you have to think about it you’re going to miss part of it anyway. But you can get there, you just have to listen and practice and always pay attention to it. For example, if I have Chad Wackerman on drums, I can tell him to lay back one more hair on the beat and he’ll know what I mean, where with younger players there’s only ahead of the beat, behind the beat, and on the beat. For advanced players there’s a hundred variations of all of those places."
Producer Frank Fitzpatrick

You can read more about The Studio Musician's Handbook on the excerpts page of my website. There's also a brief excerpt of the DVD there as well.

QR Codes and Music

QR or "quick response" codes are now beginning to pop up everywhere, from Pepsi cans to T-shirts, to magazine adverts to billboards.

Created by the Japanese company Denso-Wave in 1994 for inventory purposes, QR codes contain more data than the standard 10 digit bar code and are relatively easy to scan. So easy, in fact, that a typical smartphone can scan and read a code with a simple click of the camera, and anyone with a computer can generate their own. BayBrain’s Snappr.net offers a QR bar code generator and links to a comprehensive list of software for code reading.

Bands, artists, labels, and even casual users can embed the code with text or links to their favorite images, music and sites, which is great for viral marketing. Upon creating a QR code, Snappr then offers you a chance to transfer the bar codes to hats, mugs and just about anything you can print on. Because the point of the code is to provide additional info to passersby, there are a ton of potential uses for it, from tour dates and bio info to product information to just about anything else you can think of.

This summer, online event register Eventbrite is testing a QR code program for concert and party registration with an eye on increasing efficiency and reducing waste. Let's see how long before it becomes a standard in the concert and music businesses.

Here's a quick video on how QR codes work:

Death of the CD Slightly Exaggerated

For a few years now, music industry pundits have been predicting the demise of the CD as digital music becomes a bigger and bigger part of our every day lives. A new UK study finds that the assumption that the CD will die soon is just that; an assumption and not a fact.

It appears that most UK music fans are still happier buying a CD than downloading, according to the latest research by The Leading Question and Music Ally, both specialist media and technology research companies. In what was a major surprise, even teens (who are widely believed to be leading the charge towards digital music) say they still prefer CDs.

The Leading Question spoke to over 1000 music fans as part of their annual Speakerbox survey regarding the state of music consumption in the UK. Despite the growth of digital sales, the research showed:
• 73% of music fans are still happy buying CDs rather than downloading.
• 66% of 14-18 year olds prefer CDs.
• 59% of all music fans still listen to CDs every day.
• CD burning is at the top of all sharing activities (23%), above bluetoothing (18%),
filesharing single tracks (17%) and filesharing albums (13%)

This UK study parallels recent studies in the US, where CDs are still selling and still a large part of everyday music life, especially in the Country and Hard-Rock genres. For sure, someday the CD will die as a delivery format. It just doesn't look like that day is coming as soon as the popular predictions say.

Vocal Recording Checklist

Whether you're a producer or engineer, vocal recording can be one of the most challenging types of sessions you'll have during a project. Here's a checklist to help you keep the vocalist comfortable, get a great sound, and get the best performance possible.

1. Did you select the correct mic for the singer’s voice? Choose a mic with a lot of body for a thin voice and one with enhanced high end for a dark voice.

2. Did you select the correct microphone preamp? Certain mics come alive when they’re paired with the right preamp. Also, a certain mic/preamp combination can be just the right color for a vocal. Experiment.

3. Did you select the correct microphone pickup pattern? Not every vocal needs to be recorded with a cardioid pattern. An omni pattern will cut down on proximity effect and a figure 8 can help with isolation from speakers or other instruments.

4. Is proximity effect wanted or needed? Remember that the closer you get to a cardioid mic, the more the low end will become exaggerated. This could make the vocal too big for the track. Try the mic on omni if you really need to get a close and intimate sound.

5. Is the singer the correct distance away? Too far away and you’ll hear more room, which could change the vocal sound or take away the intimacy. Too close and the vocal might sound too big or too close due to the proximity effect of a cardioid mic. If the singer is singing softly and breathy, keep the singer close to the mic. If the singer is shouting, screaming, or just plain loud, back the singer off the mic from two to three feet.

6. Is the singer drifting off-axis? Some vocalists drift around the room and off-axis of the mic if they feel it’s too far away. Put up a dummy mic that they can get close to so they can feel anchored. This also helps when putting up different mics to determine which one works best for the vocalist.

7. Is the singer popping the mic? Try any of the following:

a) place the mic at eye level and point it down at the singers mouth

b) turn the mic slightly off-axis,

c) switch the pattern to omni

d) back the singer off the mic until the pops disappear

e) use a pop screen.

8. Would a handheld mic work better? Some singers aren’t comfortable unless they feel like they’re on stage. Give them an SM-58 and don’t worry about the sound. A great performance beats a great sound any day (and a 58 isn’t all that bad combined with the right preamp).

9. Are you limiting the signal? Just a few dB of limiting can help keep the vocal under control and stop overloading the signal chain. Don’t use software compressor/limiters because of the latency.

10. Is the headphone mix at the correct level? The phone mix is crucial to a good performance. If the track is too loud, the vocalist may sing too hard which might not be the sound you want. He may also sing sharp as a result. If the track is too soft, the singer may not sing aggressive enough.

11. Is the ambience conducive to a good vocal? Most singers like the light down low when they sing.

Hypbot's Great Marketing Ideas

Bruce Houghton's Hypebot is one of the best and most read music blogs on the Web. It's always filled with not only timely music stories but pertinent advice.

Bruce outdid himself today with his response to Rhino Record's digital single releases celebrating 60 years of the 45 RPM single. For between $1.49 and $1.99, Rhino will provide the original hit song, its B side and the original artwork. A shout-out to my friend Robin Hurley at Rhino who's responsible for the promotion.

But this got Bruce thinking and he came up with the following marketing ideas:

• Gems You Missed - A series of 2 - 3 seldom played but worthy cuts
• Cover Up - The original song plus a great cover version or two.
• Something Old, Something New - The classic version and a cover by an unknown artist

You don't have to be a heritage act or have a deep catalog to riff on the digital 45:

• Three Sides - One song in an early studio version, the final mix and then captured live.
• Radical Mixes - two or three very different mixes of the same song perhaps done by the fans.
• Two Sides Of (Your City) - Two different bands each contribute a track to a series chronicling a local scene
• Artist X Introduces _____ - One song by a somewhat popular artist plus a track by their favorite new band.

It's great marketing ideas like these that will expand interest in music and the industry.

Recording In The Cloud

The latest hi-tech phrase leaking into our every day language is "cloud computing." Cloud computing means that instead of using applications or storing data on your personal computer, you upload everything to an online server via the Internet. The beauty is that you never have to worry about upgrading applications or worry about backups because someone else is doing that for you "in the cloud."

On a corporate level cloud computing makes sense and has been somewhat common for the past few years, but except for a few online backup services like Mozy and Carbonite, most consumers haven't gotten into it yet. They will soon enough as Microsoft has just announced that it's Office suite is now available for free as long as you use it in the cloud.

Now a company called Indaba has developed a way of recording multitrack audio and collaborating with other users in the cloud using their application. This wouldn't have been possible a few years ago due to the speed of just about all areas involved in the process, but Indaba says it's made breakthroughs in several key areas (improved audio quality, real-time effects, offline mode, and non-destructive editing) by switching from running on Flash, which hampered some audio features, to Sun’s new JavaFX platform.

I'm still not sure that it's fast enough for professional use (although I've not tried it yet), but if there's an idea that's capable of destroying the Pro Tools stranglehold on the music industry, this is it.

Indaba follows the "freemium" model, in that its basic version is free, a $5 per month fee gives you more control over effects, access to additional loop libraries, and more room to store songs and tracks, and a $25 per month fee offers unlimited session storage, unlimited private sessions, and other features required by full-time session musicians and other heavy collaborators.

Here's a video that explains Indaba's features.

Mixed Bag

Here's some short comments on several Monday news items:

As predicted, LiveNation has extended their "all-in Wednesdays" to seats other than only the cheapest lawn seats. Last week the concert promoter offered a $29.95 all-in price (including parking, service charges and even refreshments) and it was a smashing success. LiveNation will offer a $49.95 all-in deal on all amphitheater concert reserved seats on Wednesday July 15th.

• Prediction: Watch this deal expand to other nights and other seats as people respond in a big way as the contents of their wallets continue to shrink. Other promoters will follow their lead as well.

Perez Hilton recently signed a deal with Warner Bros. for his own label. This is another case of people peripherally connected with the music business believing they're actually IN the music business, or have any talent other than being able to tap their toes when listening to music.

• Prediction: Perez will soon discover that being a label head is a lot harder than it looks. Also watch for his credibility to wane (even more so) now that he's part of the establishment he so loves to take to task.

Michael Jackson sold 8 million CDs in the last 14 days!! There hasn't been a period like that in the music business in a long, long time. That 8 million does not include digital sales either.

• Prediction: Although sales are now beginning to wane a bit, look for them to stay strong at least in the near term as MJ's estate troubles keep him in the news and as Sony catches up with CD back orders.

How Are You Playing It?

Here's a video excerpt from the DVD that goes with my book How To Make Your Band Sound Great. It's all about a short but key phrase that every pro musician uses frequently - "How Are You Playing It?"

When a part that you're playing doesn't sound right, ask your band members - "How are you playing it?" In no time you'll discover any phrasing, timing or articulation differences between what you're playing and everyone else.

New Online Royalty Rates Keeps Internet Radio In Business

A new agreement between Internet broadcasters and the online royalty collection agency SoundExchange has finally been struck, with no one totally happy about it but everyone willing to accept it. SoundExchange represents the artists and record labels in much the same way that ASCAP and BMI represents publishers and songwriters.

Online radio stations had cried that they'd go out of business if they didn't get an alternative to the higher royalty rates imposed in 2007 by the Copyright Royalty Board. While they no longer claim that today, they are wincing a bit at the deal.

The previous rate structure started at 0.08 cent per song per listener retroactively to 2006, and rose to 0.19 cent by 2010 which stations claimed would cause them to go under.

Under the new rate scheme larger online services earning more than $1.25 million in revenue must pay whichever is higher; either 25% of gross revenue or 0.093 cent per listener per song. The rates rise each year until they hit 0.14 cent per listener per song by 2015. Webcasters taking in less than $1.25 million per year pay a lower rate; either 7% of expenses or a percentage of revenue starting this year at 12% for the first $250,000.

Subscription services (where people pay a monthly fee to hear music online) must pay rates starting at 0.15 cent per song per subscriber this year, rising to 0.25 cent by 2015.

Online services have an alternative to the new deal by sticking with the Copyright Royalty Board rates, or negotiating rates separately with individual artists and labels, something that I'm sure no one wants to do. Some services like Pandora (who claims they will stream over a billion hours of music this year) will now impose limits on their free users as a result of the ruling to keep their royalty payments in check.

This agreement is a compromise that's good for everyone. The artists and labels get paid and the online broadcast services aren't crippled so much by the rate increase that they can't stay in business. It'll be interesting to see who ultimately gets the bulk of the money - the artist or the label.

Getting more popular all the time, about 42 million Americans tune into online radio each week, which is up from 19 million in 2004, according to the media research companies Arbitron Inc. and Edison Research Inc.

Live Nation Tries Another Promotion

Despite what you hear from the industry, concert attendance is flagging. While no new attendance numbers have been released, it's pretty apparent that the industry is plenty worried, given some of the promotions they're running.

The best example of this is concert promoter LiveNation (never a company known to give breaks to customers), who has just instituted yet another price concession, offering a one-price, all-inclusive ticket for $29.99, one that includes a lawn ticket, parking, all fees, and even a hot dog and soda on Wednesdays at their amphitheaters around the country. This on the heels of their "No service charge Wednesdays" indicates that maybe that promotion wasn't enough to lure customers to the cheap seats, so some additional enticements were required.

There's a lot of fat cats in the industry, not the least are the artists that command high prices that have gone ever higher every year. But those days may be coming to an end as concert-goers begin to watch their pennies. When the face value of a ticket is no longer the real price of that ticket, and you're overcharged at every turn while you're at the show, it's no wonder that music fans no longer run out to see anyone but their absolute favorite artists anymore.

Let's see if the promotion is extended to beyond Wednesdays or to other house seats as the summer goes along.

Oblique Strategies

Ever run into a creative block (sometimes called "writer's block") and don't know what to do? Sometimes you know a song or a part needs something to go to another level but you just can't come up with a suitable idea. It’s easy enough to leave it for the next day when you're fresh, and chances are that a new idea will indeed spring forth. But in those few times when you and everyone else you're working with runs up against a total creative block, there’s always Oblique Strategies.

Oblique Strategies is a set of published cards created by producer Brian Eno and artist Peter Schmidt used to get any kind of artist beyond creative block or even to find a new direction. First published in 1975 and now in its fifth edition, each Strategy card contains a phrase or cryptic remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation.

Here are a few examples (only one phrase per card):
▪ State the problem in words as clearly as possible.
▪ Only one element of each kind.
▪ What would your closest friend do?
▪ What to increase? What to reduce?
▪ Are there sections? Consider transitions.
▪ Try faking it!
▪ Honour the error as a hidden intention.

Oblique Strategies are easy to use. You pick a random card or select on the website and follow its direction no matter how unusual it might seem. Before you know it, your block will be removed.

Try Oblique Strategies online or go the Oblique Strategies website for more info. There's also a handy Oblique Strategies iPhone app available.

Distorted Sound Checklist

It's not uncommon for someone in their home studio to come up against an age-old problem - trying to record something and getting a distorted sound instead of something nice and clean. This sometimes lead to user being baffled and uncertain what to do, but if you think it through you can find the problem in no time.

Here's a checklist to follow the next time this happens. Follow it in this order.

1. Is the cable working correctly? Try a different microphone cable.

2. Is the mic working correctly? Try a different mic as a comparison.

3. Is the mic being overloaded? Try a different mic to see if the signal level from the source is too loud, or move the mic back about 3 feet to see if the distortion goes away.

4. Is the microphone preamp working correctly? Try a different preamp or console channel.

5. Is the microphone preamp being overloaded? Check to see if any overload indicators are lit. Turn the input level of the preamp down or move the mic back 3 feet to see if the distortion goes away. Try a different preamp, console or interface channel to see if the problem is resolved.

6. Is the signal chain after the mic preamp being overloaded? Check to see if any overload indicators are lit on your interface and DAW. Decrease the output control of the preamp or bypass any compressors in the signal chain. Play back the signal from the DAW to make sure it’s clean.

7. Is the monitoring chain working correctly? Is the stereo or control room buss being overloaded? Try a different set of amplifiers and speakers.

These tips and more can be found in the Recording Engineer's Handbook.