Getting pulled out of "retirement." Working musicians, your input please.

[daneford]

Ladies and Gents, your assistance please.

I've been a musician since I was a kid, and spent my 20s gigging, recording, and doing the occasional session or contract gig. As my 20s came to a close, I found myself married, family expanding, and working a corporate gig. I havent done anything serious in 5 years.

I got a call a few days ago from an old musical partner wanting to hire me for some session work he's producing. It's paid work at a great studio used by the likes of the Decembrists, Shins, Peter Buck, and others. I take it as a huge complement.

The chops aren't gone, but they have atrophied somewhat. The nerves that come from inactivity are definitely there. That brings me to my question. Do the working musicians here have any suggestions for things I might incorporate into my practice regime? I've got 3 weeks of woodshedding to do.

The material is a mix of blues, rock, soul, probably a bit of twang, and a strong female vocal.

I think my main guitar for the project will be my Silo Special, as well as a new (to me) EBMM I've got incoming.

Sorry for the length, and thanks in advance.

 

[JayDawg]

I'm in a similar boat. I worked pretty much full time until I moved to a small town in Colorado in 03'. It was supposed to be a temporary move but turned into a long term move. Last year I was approached by a company in the industry about working full time for them and have been doing so since then. I have had to shake off the rust so to speak but everything has come back very naturally and now even different doors are opening that never had before. Just go at your own pace and have fun with it. That's what I have done and it really re-ignited a fire in me that had kind of dimmed out because I thought I would never be doing work again due to also now having a wife and kids and different career but things amazingly changed almost overnight for me.

 

[DrKev]

I'm constantly shaking off the rust. I was busy gigging until 2009 and I've been mostly teaching to pay the rent since then. I still get recording and gigging work but finding the time to get my chops up to a level that *I'm* happy with (i.e. where it used to be) is tough.

The first thing I will say is this - make the time to learn the material well or pull out early. If somebody else is paying the studio time make sure your sh** is together or you're wasting their time and money. It's their recording, not them paying for yours. If you said no from the get-go, they would find somebody else because you are not the only guitar payer in the world. If they need to do that, let them know as ASAP.

Your chops may not be what they used to be but if you prepare the material so that you are comfortable with the song structures and don't need to constantly look at the charts you'll do fine. i.e. Don't worry that your chops are not what they used to be because you do still have chops!

Don't assume you can practice in the "holes" between your existing work/family obligations because most people don't/can't. Life is never so predictable. Look at your schedule for the next few weeks and write in your practice time as another obligation, equal to work. Be realistic. Don't try to schedule more than you can really do but try to stick what to you can do.

"Hey Kev, want to grab a beer tonight?"
"No, I have to practice guitar for the recording coming up".

"Hey Kev, can you work an extra shift on Friday?"
"No, I have to practice guitar for the recording coming up".

"Hey Kev, can you look after Julia's kids on Saturday afternoon?"
"No, I have to practice guitar for the recording coming up".

"Hey Kev, can you swing buy Alfie's and get Ice Cream and Corn and pick up my dress from my dry cleaners so I can go drinking wit the guys?"
"No, I have to practice guitar for the recording coming up".

Make a list of all the songs, do a list of effects and pickup/amp settings for each part as necessary. Record your parts when you practice and be honest when you listen back to how hard you suck and WHERE you suck. Spend more time practising those things and less time worrying about the parts you play well already.

On harmonically tricky sections that you may need to solo/improvise over, write the chord-scale relationships on your charts where necessary and practice the transitions so you don't need to memorise absolutely everything.

Spend some time practising with a metronome. Don't assuming your timing chops have survived even if you can wail over any chord progression.

And then be positive, stay focussed, and have fun in the studio.

 

[daneford]

I'm in a similar boat. I worked pretty much full time until I moved to a small town in Colorado in 03'. It was supposed to be a temporary move but turned into a long term move. Last year I was approached by a company in the industry about working full time for them and have been doing so since then. I have had to shake off the rust so to speak but everything has come back very naturally and now even different doors are opening that never had before. Just go at your own pace and have fun with it. That's what I have done and it really re-ignited a fire in me that had kind of dimmed out because I thought I would never be doing work again due to also now having a wife and kids and different career but things amazingly changed almost overnight for me.

That's a great story. I'm glad that it's worked out like that for you. It's exciting, to say the least, when life hands you an unexpected opportunity.

 

[daneford]

Dr. Kev, that's awesome advice. All of it. One of the reasons I was asked to take the job was because of the difficulty in finding reliable and capable players. I've got reliable down, and with some work, hopefully the material as well. I'm going to be helping with some of the arranging, so that allows me a bit of latitude. Point taken though, it's not my studio time, it's hers.

You mention recording parts while practicing. Any suggestions for a cheap and effective way of doing so?

 

[lock-ny]

Did anyone mention practice with a metronome or similar such, need to get your timing down if your gonna be in a studio...good luck and have fun!

 

[DrKev]

Dr. Kev, that's awesome advice. All of it. One of the reasons I was asked to take the job was because of the difficulty in finding reliable and capable players. I've got reliable down, and with some work, hopefully the material as well. I'm going to be helping with some of the arranging, so that allows me a bit of latitude. Point taken though, it's not my studio time, it's hers.

If you want to get more sessions, keep that in mind all the time. When you are in the studio, think of it as a job and be as professional and focussed as you can be. The guys/gals that get their parts down good AND fast AND are helpful members of the studio team are the ones that get called back the most.

You mention recording parts while practising. Any suggestions for a cheap and effective way of doing so?

If you have demos of the songs use a DAW to start a project file, with one song on each audio track. Makes it easy to switch to different songs, loop sections, slow down, re-tune if necessary. If you have a USB interface you can easily record your guitar parts on parallel tracks, try ideas out and compare them. (Reaper is a great fully functional DAW that costs only $60. I have a Yamaha THR5 amp that allows me to record direct quickly with a few decent amp models).

But there is a steep learning curve if you don't already know how to do all of that. (And even if you do, all the bells and whistles can be a distraction too). With only three weeks till the recording, don't waste precious time learning it if you can't do it already. You'll get a lot of useful info using the voice recorder on on your cell phone to record what you've been playing.

 

[edhalen]

Kev - just gotta say you're the man. Great posts here.

Steve

 

[QuietSpike]

Did anyone mention timing yet?

Seriously, if your timing is bad, you simply cannot hide from it in a studio.


And I agree with everything the good Dr said. I've had to write parts, and had parts given to me to learn.... and either way, they wanted it done quickly!

 

[DrKev]

Does anyone read any more?

Spend some time practising with a metronome. Don't assuming your timing chops have survived even if you can wail over any chord progression.

 

[QuietSpike]

Does anyone read any more?

Geez... That's why I put the "" there silly.... I was just trying to reiterate!

 

[DrKev]

Round these part hey call me Dr "Miss-the-obvious" Kev.

 

[daneford]

Wait a sec....what's this "timing" thing you guys are on about?

All kidding aside, I've got the usual exercises I can run through to build strength back up. Anything that you folks find especially useful?

 

[MusicMan_Luke]

Dr Kev is damn right. After more 10 years without playing with my main band we decided to do an anniversary-like gig, just for fun. We made a few set-list of the most appreciated songs we wrote, and, ok, let's work! To complicate the thing, I live 300 km from all the other guys...
Re-listening the albums, and live materials, to remember all the structure and extra-break we made on stage. And after only 3 working sessions with the band, it was like we never give up (the live was far better than the working session btw).
During the 10 years, I continued to play guitar, but only for me, in my room, with a small Pod Xt. The last gig I did was for my wedding, 4 years ago...

Work and record your work to heard where are the sh**t.

 

[Rachmaninoff]

Do the working musicians here have any suggestions for things I might incorporate into my practice regime? I've got 3 weeks of woodshedding to do.

Once I heard Billy Gibbons saying: "practice what you like to hear". That's the single most important advice anyone ever gave me. When you practice your favorite songs & styles, you can stay there for hours and hours, and never get bored.