studio bassist?

[funkadelickbass]

what does it take to become one?
what kind of schooling do I need?

I can read music and i play vary well for my age and experience...well thats what i've been told at least, i rarly get to play around other bassist that know more than smoke on the water or that on song from grease...summer nights i think. I am into all music...every night when i sign off i sit with my bass and play along with the late show bands and even some commercials…I am liking some of the McD’s ones right now. To define me I am a bass nerd to the bone and if I could I’d play bass all day and all night…one day I tried and my gf got mad…not really tho she just thought I need to get out of my basement and see some sunlight. But my dream has always been to play bass as my livelihood and do it to the day I die…I’ve been playing five years and since I learned the 12 bar blues in those first lessons at my school I was hooked. My Dad isn’t exactly supportive of this but I really don’t care cause music is what makes me happy.

Please if there are any studio bassist or even someone that is a freelance bassist that plays for whoever and when ever any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanx

Andrew

[Esquillama]

Hey Andrew.
Welcome to TalkBass! There's a thread over in Misc. that deals
with this exact question. Here's a link:
Advice for aspiring Studio Players or anyone that wants to "Go Pro"

Enjoy, and best of luck!

[tplyons]

How long have you been playing?

Impeccable sight reading and improvisation is a necessity for this, as well as being easy to deal with.

They'd rather hire someone who works with them instead of argues, no matter how well you play.

[jwl]

consistancy. in your professionalism and more importantly, in your playing. this to me is the single most important aspect of being a studio bassist. imho. peace, jeff

[jady]

+1 on all the posts so far.

Professionalism, attitude, consistancy, and quickness to pick things up will get you SO much farther than chops.

People don't want a bass virtuoso as a session player, they want someone solid, dependable and quick on the uptake. Learn to lay down solid lines the first time!!!!

And sight read as much as you possably can. I played with a big band leader for 10 years and I would get song arrangements scribbled down on cocktail napkins half the time. It was frustrating at the time but now I thank him for his half assed charts cuz it made me a much better reader. When your in front of 1000 people and dont have a full chart in front of you, you learn to adapt FAST!!!!!

Schooling can help a lot (I went to a CSU for 3 years) but experience is what really counts. It's on the job schooling you know.

and just a note, I have been gigging professionally for 15 years now and my dad still doesnt think of it as a real job, just get used to it. He is wrong, You know it, I know it, my wife knows it, all the TBers know it, thats good enough for me.

Good luck, John

[Woodchuck]

Not to p in the puchbowl, but more than all of those things, you need connections.

[cosmicevan]

more than connections, you need to advertise in your area and all sorts of publications. but that's only once you can take the job. the most important thing is being able to sight read and to read charts extremely well. try getting your hands on as much sheet music as you can, practice every second, and when you get to the point where you can play any piece of music that's put in front of you, get your name out there in every way possible. figure out your rates, get in touch with local studios and ideally you'll get a call, do a good job and start developing a reputation.

[jady]

Originally Posted by Woodchuck

Not to p in the puchbowl, but more than all of those things, you need connections.

True true true, but the connections will come if your reputation is good. go to some local studios, give them your phone # and a recording of some of your playing. After many years of netwoking and building a good reputation, word will get out about you.

funkadelicbass........Your young and just starting out, You've got to pay your dues. It's actually a really cool place to be. You have your whole career ahead of you, thats pretty exciting....

If you groove solid, they will come...........


Woodchuck.........I havent had any punch yet without a little pee in it

[Dave Martin]

Originally Posted by jady

True true true, but the connections will come if your reputation is good.

But you don't get a reputation without people knowing about you - in other words, connections.

[invader3k]

Also, you live in Milwaukee. While it's a nice city with some cool bands (I'm from southern Wisconsin myself), it doesn't have a huge recording scene. Not a lot of record companies in the area, just a few indie labels. You may have to relocate eventually if you seriously want to pursue a career as a session bassist.

[funkadelickbass]

thanx for all the replies
i looked at the other thread too...both helped a lot

As for the reading chart thing...I can read music vary well and I have enough music theory in me to hold my own in most cases...I'd assume...my directors at school is stuck on making us learn as much as the collage guys he plays with. My only problem with charts for bass is that I can't read them as fast as I can read charts with brass instruments. But since he finally let me play bass at school for jazz band last year (he used to have one of our piano players play it with their left hand ) I have been gaining speed with my reading and my chops have been growing as well.
the reason i started this thread was actually cause i kinda started to get my name out about two weeks ago. I say kinda cuz all I did was go in for an audition for a church/rock band and the guitarist wanted to know if I'd do fill in work for him and his acoustic sets. unfortunately i had to decline because my band has a gig the night he needed me.

Originally Posted by jady

and just a note, I have been gigging professionally for 15 years now and my dad still doesnt think of it as a real job, just get used to it. He is wrong, You know it, I know it, my wife knows it, all the TBers know it, thats good enough for me.

thanx dude its good knowing that I am not the only one...tho i did know that but you know what I mean...
my gf actually has similar dreams but she’s a flute player and wants to be a composer...she already has one piece under her belt that she wrote for her MYSO group...for those who might not know MYSO is the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and is insanely hard to get in...i had the chance to get in on euphonium a long time ago but my dad wanted me to focus on my grades first.


thanx again
Andrew

[JimmyM]

I hate to break it to everyone, but the studio musician business is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Every producer has their own favorite musicians and use them exclusively, and it's almost always someone who has been around for years. And thanks to advances in home recording and programming, there is less call than ever for studio bassists.

Don't believe me? Ask the pros. Will Lee said it himself in Bass Guitar magazine. Carol Kaye says it almost daily on her website. By putting the means to record professionally in the hands of the people, it killed the studio musician industry.

Does that mean you can't make a living being a studio musician? No. But it means that you have a better chance of becoming a multimillionaire than a studio musician. If you want to be a studio musician, I suggest you buy a studio and insist on everyone using you for their sessions.

[CamMcIntyre]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I hate to break it to everyone, but the studio musician business is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Every producer has their own favorite musicians and use them exclusively, and it's almost always someone who has been around for years. And thanks to advances in home recording and programming, there is less call than ever for studio bassists.

Don't believe me? Ask the pros. Will Lee said it himself in Bass Guitar magazine. Carol Kaye says it almost daily on her website. By putting the means to record professionally in the hands of the people, it killed the studio musician industry.

Does that mean you can't make a living being a studio musician? No. But it means that you have a better chance of becoming a multimillionaire than a studio musician. If you want to be a studio musician, I suggest you buy a studio and insist on everyone using you for their sessions.

This concept of having every joe schmuk being able to record their own material is how i've gotten to do a few sessions. These are by no means professional by most standards. The music has been rock, alt country, and folk rock. I'm the top call bassist for 4-5 guys. Granted, i double & to some of these guys, i'm the only upright bassist that they know. To others, we met through other people.

The musical that i'm associated with [And Then Again...] i got the gig in my dorm room of all things. I went to the room next dorm to see if one of my buddies wanted to go down to the cafeteria to get some food & his roommate said "Hey Cam, you play bass right?"

I agree with JimmyM. One of my teachers told me he went from playing 400+ sessions a year back in the day to around 40 or so now. The teacher is a very sick cat & amazing teacher.

However, i think if instead of focusing on trying to break into the established studio scene, you do as i am and focus on the younger generation of studio engineers-the sessions may not be numerous or pay enough to be a sole income-but they can happen. To be blunt-there's a snowball's chance in hell that you or I are going to get called for a session instead of the established cats-the Nathan Easts, the Leland Sklars, Duck Dunns, etc. I'd like to think that we have the chance of becoming the next generations of studio players in the new realm of recording.

take it easy.

[funkadelickbass]

actually i did plan on going to school to become a recording engineer/sound tech. there are a lot of opertunities around here but like you guys said...you gotta know ppl. thankfully i know a few that could hook me up to a few that might be able to help when the time comes.

[IanStephenson]

Originally Posted by funkadelickbass

i had the chance to get in on euphonium a long time ago but my dad wanted me to focus on my grades first.

Hey another Euphonium player! Me to! Or at least I was back in school. I found it great background for moving to bass, as it can move between the bass style parts and the lead parts, so I have a much better sense for melodic bass parts than the average bass player. Plus any classical training will give you all the theory, ensemble playing, and reading experience you need.

Ian

[Rodriguez]

The late great Tito Puente said to me early in my career: "In this business, I'd rather be lucky than good" so, basically ... it's who you know, then what you know. Good luck.

Easy,
R

[funkadelickbass]

Originally Posted by IanStephenson

Hey another Euphonium player! Me to! Or at least I was back in school. I found it great background for moving to bass, as it can move between the bass style parts and the lead parts, so I have a much better sense for melodic bass parts than the average bass player. Plus any classical training will give you all the theory, ensemble playing, and reading experience you need.

Ian

wow i never thought i'd fid one on here...yea i play still kinda but only in my free time cause i am unfortuat and have a music director that only worries about his own image and the "betterment of the band" as he calls it...so basically he hands me an instrument and i learn it in a weeks time so he can give me a new task....not fun but hey it'll pay off if i decide to go into music Ed actually i at one time was a part of a metal band that wanted to go ska/metal...didn't last long but goin from bass to T-bone was fun. i pretty much have a music store as my room with all the instruments i play for school...euphonium, trombone, bugle, corps style trumbet, violin, all my basses, a few guitars, a drum set and my keyboard. thankfully this year i opted to not do band and went into orcestra instead on the double bass. I've had that thing all summer and am still figuring this out...not as similar to bass guitar as i thought, but still every bit as fun.

[jady]

Originally Posted by funkadelickbass

wow i never thought i'd fid one on here....

Actually, you have found two. i was a Euphonium major for three years until I realized that i could never make a living playing it. Bass was always my 2nd instrument until my 3rd year of college and then I took up bass full time (a great move BTW).

Being a studio bassist doesnt just mean playing the huge high profile sessions. There are plenty of indie songwriters, composers, guitarists, pianists, etc recording rock, pop, jazz, avant-garde, country, gospel, etc and they all need a good bassist.

I will make $75-$100 a song averaging 4 songs in a three hour session. You will never pay your morgage with it, but add that to some regular gigs, some local theater, a nice little roster of students and the occasional really sweet gig and you can make a modest living at it. I have done this in Modesto CA for many years. No big connections, no real big breaks, just a consistant groove and a wide variety of places and styles to play.

I am actually pretty famous in about a 20 square mile area, thats a whole lot better than most people get so i consider myself truly blessed.

[trasser]

Read this book and all your questions will be answered: stuido bass master by Keith Roigier

[Crazyeelboy]

Funkadelickbass: OK, so you got the real skinny on the studio bass player career outlook. Traditional session work looks kind of bleak, but keep in mind that with quick changes in technology, the music industry is constantly changing and creating new and different opportunities all the time. So, don't get discouraged and keep an open mind.