Session work

[MadMark5]

hey janek,

hope all is well. I've been lucky enough to be asked by a few singer/songwriter's to play on thier respective recordings. I took a gig playing in a singer/songwriter's live band about 9 months ago, and it has opened up this opportunity. one artist has the bass parts already written for the bass, while another wants me to get together with him and go over the songs he plans to record and rework the bass lines. this is my first attempt at a session type enviroment, and I was curious what your approach to these 2 different types of sessions would be?
I was asked to do these sessions based on my live playing and my interpretation of the basslines for the act I play with,( I did not play on his recordings, they were done before I joined the live act) and he allows me great freedom to improv where I see fit. I certainly want to try and nail these sessions, but I don't want to tread on someone's work either.
I guess I'm worried if I stay too quiet with any input, I won't be giving the artist who has his basslines pre written the kind of bass he had envisioned on his record when he saw me play live.
sorry if this is confusing, any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. thanks


mark

[janekbass]

Mark,

finding that balance of being able to give input and being able to sit back and play the part without embelishing it comes only from experience.

Each situation and each artist are unique, and what makes a great studio musician is the ability to read that person and figure out what it is they're looking for.

With the artist who has the bass lines written out I would suggest this:

unless he or she is a bass player, there are going to be certain things that might not work so well on the instrument. Lots of bass lines get written at the piano in the wrong range, with intervals that don't sit as well on the instrument etc... so you'll find that when you get the groove happening in the studio or in the rehearsal with the drummer you'll be able to move things around slightly and use the writtten part as a guide.

for the artist that wants to work on the bass lines with you it's actually not too much different. When you're constructing them, think abotu the song. Know the words of the song, the emotion of the music, and try to be as supportive as possible, and at times melodic if there's space for it in the music.

just as long as you're relaxed, open, easy going and use your ears and be musical on the session you'll be fine.

Easy,

Janek

[MadMark5]

appreciate the insight!


mark