STUDIO WORK - HOW TO SURVIVE (pt. 2 of 2 pts)..... by Carol Kaye (c) 1970 After recording, it is wise to go into the booth to listen to the playback. The booth speakers are usually better than the main studio speakers. You will get an idea of what the engineer is recording. Sometimes the engineer may EQ you (I never had that happen tho, was always able to get the required sound and good clean attack - its important to use some sort of good muting system on your strings too to kill the under- and over-tones). This means he adds more highs or lows electronically to whatever sound he is picking up from your amp (or direct box). This is not needed if your amp is good, has a wide range of highs and lows, and is distortion-free and quiet to start with and your technique is very professional. The studio use of a limiter compresses the bass sound and never sounds good (to me) altho Armin Steiner put slight compression on the LA Motown dates to try to equal the Detroit sound. Occasionally, the Elec. Bass player (was called Fender Bassist back then) is plugged directly from the instrument into the booths amplifier system to be recorded (DI direct in its called, direct box etc.). You hear yourself through your own amp at time of playing (the sound is fed back into it). The bass sound is recorded directly from the instrument, not the amp. Most of the time, this results in a very dead sound. Electric basses have a more resilient sound on the amplifier that is baffled correctly. Your amp sound is different than what a direct sound is -- it has more air. The 1/2 and 1/2 direct and amp way of recording (taking 1/2 of each) is getting more popular. In recording studios, there are a few engineers who convince unaware producers into taking the bass direct even tho the amp produces the sound the arranger wants. I have personally seen many takes ruined at RCA on important dates while the poor conductor/arranger thinks the sound they record is what comes from the amp which he hears in the room and not from the recording booth. This same engineer will then take credit for his bass sound if it sounds good. If it sounds bad (which is usually the case with this particular engineer), the bass player gets the blame and his request for a mike for a better sound is denied by the engineer. This situation is very rare however, and Id say practically every LA engineer is very competent with dedication to their work -- and most engineers loved my bass sound -- we all got along fine. When I first started recording in movie studios, I encountered an entirely different scene than in a recording studio. The engineers had to be educated to the sound of Rock guitars and the Elec. Bass (with our Fuzztones and Gibson Maestro effects box and Echoplexes) and to place their mikes accordingly. Mikes used to be about 15 feet away from the sound source. The studio engineers good-naturedly accepted this new sound after many nerve-shattering experiences of musicians placing their own mikes correctly, checking to see if the cables were plugged in (Im very guilty of that, my mike is NOT PLUGGED IN!). Sometimes you had to loudly convince them that your sound was highly IMPORTANT to the sound for the sound-track, that the arrangers wanted to get, different from the prior string bass acoustic role, etc. I did this on a Quincy Jones date, and told the startled engineers who had been recording that way for decades look, Im hired for this new bass sound and style, and getting a lot of money to come out here and record it -- now if you dont get me on the TV film like they want it, then I have to tell them whats happening with the sound -- and your recording technique is NOT as good as the recording studios where I work every day -- they did it my way. Now, they are very used to the new sounds and have even enjoyed it (I formed some very nice friendships with these older grand guys). Of course music has changed and emanated into different styles of Rock. It is very easy to like arrangements by Elmer Bernstein, Michel LeGrand, Jerry Goldsmith, Hank Mancini, Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, Bob Alcivar, and the rest of the greats who have used funky rock styles incorporated into their genius writings. After 2 to 3 weeks, most of your paychecks come directly to the Union where you personally pay a work dues tax to collect these checks, Uncle Sam gets his share too. As for personality changes as you climb the ladder in this business, here is a little of what you go through. First comes the gratitude feeling -- the feeling that youve made the big-time, a real feat if you came from very humble poor beginnings like I did; then your ego swells up somewhat for a little bit (you settle down soon enough into the daily grind of being a well-paid pro -- then you buy nice clothes, house, impressive car, send the kids through different finishing classes, etc.; do the week-end trips to get away from it all but not too far away -- you must be available constantly; you check with the phone exchange (answering service) continually throughtout every day for new work calls, they know exactly where you are and what you are doing; long vacations are out for awhile -- someone may take your place. If youre not careful, there will be many new friends to help you spend your money; business managers who may or may not be honest with your dough (all you know then is how to play our instrument well) and on and on. Youll find yourself pressured into spending money where time, not money, is the critical issue. Several guys bought huge diamond rings but I bought a piece of glass at Woolworths for around $3 to show off with (they all admired my ring), that was a bit much. Needless to say - the pressure of being successful is with you, a lot of it is fun but youre forever losing sleep, working too hard, watching the plumber, TV repairman, investment counselor, even your dentist for ripoffs. Its not all that bad but there is a pressure keep up the fast pace. Everyone says it cant happen to them until they find out that the rat-race happens to EVERYONE in this position and many a badly rushed marriage cost many musicians too. One guitarist locked himself in his closet and wouldnt come out to do his scheduled record date so I went and covered for him on guitar. Another was in and out of hospitals. One trombonist irately put down his trombone in its case and told that producer Im rich, and I dont have to take your sh-- at which point the producer laughingly smoothed things over and apologized to him (he continued the date then). One guitarist got so uptight over our spilled coffee cups (paper cups all over the floor) and potato chips on the dirty bare floor (slowly making its way over to him, he was a neatguy), and hed get us really angry at him, the way he kept complaining. This was all solved when I told him say shit once in awhile, loosen up, swear a little. That unleashed a lion with some words then, but at least he was cool after that and turned out to be a fine film composer. Guys on the tedious long Phil Spector dates at Gold Star would draw naked ladies on the wall as Phil would constantly run down the rhythm section for sounds and balances, making the rest of the musicians wait, so they were throwing darts at specific targets. Ed Lustgarten, a fabulous cellist, would stick his head in the cold water fountain at Universal to wake up -- talk about a real wit. Such is the life of the studio musician. If you can stand the fun of getting to work on time, carrying in more than one instrument, find a scarce parking place, playing correctly with feeling when the red light goes on, keeping your cool, putting up with fatigue, boredom, up-tight producers - contractors - arrangers - engineers etc. and putting up with yourself at the same time, then youll do well as a self-disciplined Studio Musician. NOTE: This section on STUDIO WORK - HOW TO SURVIVE was written by yours truly 1969 and has a few edited words or phrases added it it for easier reading. This is what the studio work was like then but sadly, the work has slowed to a trickle these days with films being scored mostly in foreign countries, synthesizers doing the bulk of the work, even the TV shows have a shadow of the huge orchestras that used to be employed and are increasingly are being cut in non-Union home-studios with very few musicians. Dont aim for studio work in LA or even in NY (and Nashville is slowing down too with tons of competition) any more. The competition for the handful of jobs is fierce and living conditions especially on both coasts are terrible. Instead, start something in your own hometown. Itll pay more, you can be a lot more successful, and do more from there. Good Luck, Carol Kaye Also, I said up-tight for the producers, engineers etc. Actually, thats not true after a few dates with them and they get to know you, and you them.... its very relaxed then. But yes sometimes it does get intense. ------------------------------------------------------------------ PS. Its really a shame that not more of our group of studio musicians teach....with their many years of extensive professional experiences, skills, and techniques as well as their ranges of vast differences creativeness and performance values, they could all have shaped up our music education system like never before. All studio musicians paid their dues in 100s if not 1,000s of mostly Jazz and/or big-band or combo gigs, concerts, touring engagements and I do believe that anyone can get up on-stage to play, but not many could be top studio musicians -- unfortunately their experiences are not contributing to the music education system when they should be for the betterment of the entire music biz...but there again, the world knows nothing about studio musicians - even their dedication to professionalism and hard-working ethics as people. I hope were not lost forever to history as musicians who counted. Allotted time is the factor in all of this, time = money. --------------------------------------------------------
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:20:58 +0000
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