el-guapo
Hi all,
I'm looking for a little guidance about getting into session work.
I am based in Cape Town and really want to know (a) if there is any meaningful market for session guitarists here, and (b) any pointers on getting myself out there as available.
As to the second point in particular: would you recommend simply contacting every studio, big or small, and saying "I'm here"? Presumably people would want to hear a portfolio of recordings, but I can imagine being on the receiving end of that and thinking "ok, this sounds great, but I don't know if this guy sat down and recorded these in one take or spent a year tweaking them". Any recommendations in this regard? Also, would you recommend a single medley-type track of snippets covering different styles or a different approach?
I think I am fairly well informed about what is expected of a session guitarist, but ANY other pointers or nuggets of advice would be greatly appreciated.
Stoffeltoo
Good post El Guapo. To be honest I have no idea but will be watching the responses closely.
peterleroux
I don't have any specific tips , but I have noticed a few things about my friends who make a living in music (sessions, show bands, cruise ship bands etc)
- being professional- showing up on time, gear well maintained, getting on well with the other musos- is important
- taking any and all work on offer, being available to work weird shifts etc, is important too
- at least in the beginning, most of them supplement performance work with teaching. If the gigging takes off, they normally make a plan to pass heir students off to another teacher.
Arno-West
Sorry to say this mate, but in my experience the days of the "Session" Guitarist (as in being phoned and booked by various studios to come do a session) are long gone.
There are maybe 2 or 3 guys in JHB that can still lay claim to be session players (Mauritz Lotz for example) and the only reason they can still do it is because they've been around since the 80's and have become an institution.
Most studios have extremely capable guitarists either working there or being the actual owners, so there is no need to call in session players.
Drummers, bassists and keyboard/piano players are more in demand than guitarists when it comes to session stuff.
Shibbibilybob
Most of the guys I know who make money out of session work, are guys who run studios (not even big ones even, things in their houses to record themselves)
They mostly write jingles and tunes for advertising.
A fair deal of the Cape Town professional musicians I know do this. Many of them play in busy bands as well, and they are all phenomenally good. Most of them have Bmus degrees and play several instruments, in addition to knowing their way around syths and studio stuff.
One of my mates makes music for computer games. full time. lucky mofo.
If this interest you, then look out for Super Friendship Arcade on facebook. It's a whole lot of folks who make indi games either as a hobby, and some for a living. They organise pretty frequent jams (where groups get together for a day and make games together) and kinda exhibition evenings, where people can come play the games and arcades they have made. All people, whether making games or not, are welcome at these events. If you wanna get into game music then that's how I'd do it. There are a few game dev houses in Cape Town, and some of them look like very nice places to work.
Guitarstar
Hi - I dont log in to this site often but just read your post with interest. I too wanted to try my hand at session work in CT, having moved here over a year ago from overseas. As I play classical, jazz, rock, folk, fusion styes to professional standard, I thought I might easily find demand.
I quickly assembled a mini network (through existing contacts) of studio owners, composers, well known band members and a couple of top gigging musicians, all in CT.
The feedback I got, which is consistent with what has already been said in this thread, is that session work is pretty much dead in CT. For simple guitar parts when needed, someone working in the studio can normally do it; to rub salt in the wound, they often do it on cheap guitars that I wouldn't touch, as they have the recording technology to make anything sound good. There is little demand for guitarists who can play complex parts. Furthermore, pretty much all the musicians here seem to teach - and rates are extremely low (compared to what I was used to overseas).
Like someone else said, there are quite a few musicians who are making money writing jingles and film music for libraries. That is where the multi instrumentalists score and of course, if you can play keyboards to reasonable standard, it helps. Funnily enough, it was amongst this community that I found the most hope for a guitarist, on the basis that the available recording software, whilst able to replicate a full orchestra, can't yet reliably imitate the sounds and nuances of a guitar.
But generally, it has forced me to rethink completely what I will do in CT and it is not likely to be music ?
Malkav
My boss gets hired to do sessions a lot and it's basically because he's just really old friends with a guy who owns a big recording studio, you would have heard him on Outsurance adverts etc. It pays well when it's a big client like that but nowhere near enough or frequently enough to make a living, hence why he's my boss and not a session guitar player ?
Echoing the opening sentiments, session work is pretty much dead everywhere in the world, to get any foothold in the dying industry that it is would require an insane amount of work and the financial gain most likely won't justify it.
Guitarstar
Chad Adam Browne - hope you don't mind me asking, what does your boss do when he's not playing guitar ?
Malkav
Guitarstar wrote:
Chad Adam Browne - hope you don't mind me asking, what does your boss do when he's not playing guitar ?
He's the manager at Feedback, which is a local distribution agency that handles the import of FMIC products ?
=
He's a pretty reasonable guitar player too ?
V8
Chad Adam Browne wrote:
He's a pretty reasonable guitar player too ?
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
