General Music Chat

When you 1st join here, the forum asks if you are a "studio musician".. I assumed that meant a professional full-time studio musician. I said "no", although I have recorded in a studio or 2 before. Has anybody else wondered about this question.. ?

When I read this, I understood it to mean if you:

a. record in the studio as a profession, PT or FT, or
b. would be available if someone asked you to record a track in the studio for them.

I supplimented my income by getting on the books in various studios they would call me and for $40.00 dollars an hour I would play whatever they wanted me to. I made some good money too. 4 or 5 sessions a week plus playing Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I was making a living playing music.

The point that J made is great! If you have the chops, working the studios in your area is a great way to supplement your income. I currently charge $35/hr for sessions, and I'm networking with some other studios in my area to get in with them. The studio that I'm working at now is getting at least 1 full production project a month, so the 2-3 hours that I may work on a project there provides an extra $105/month; more than that if there are more production clients that come in. That's nothing to sneeze at.

Thats great PG

Beats playing the local dives for 40-50 bucks a night and putting up with a bunch of drunks.

Hi guys, studio musicians are comparable to freelance artists and engineers. The musician is affiliated with one or several recording studios (ASCAP/BMI) and most of the work that the musician receives is selected by the producer or the project manager that is engineering the album. A majority of studio musician's clients are Solo artist that do not have a band. The producer or the project manager will select from a studio musician roster for which musician will be the best fit for the genre of music. The more versatile the musician the more jobs. When the studio musician is called in for the job, that person is handed materials (sheet music, progression charts, melody lines, performance notes etc.), and they meet with the producer/manager and the rest of the studio musicians. They go over a demo and discuss what NOT to do. For a full LP or EP album, the guitarist signs up for 3 hour blocks. That can be anywhere between $300 to $1000 depending on what contract you have with the studio. If you nail the guitar parts in one take you still get paid for the 3 hour block.... If you cant and the guitar recording goes over, you still get paid the same. Some solo artists can take weeks before they solidify their sounds so you can be in the studio for many days getting paid extra.

I posted yes cuz av been in 1 a few times.

Don't make me brillyunt tho.