What is session Drumming?
A session drummer is a professional freelance drummer whose job is to temporarily play for a variety of different artists, shows/live events, and doesn’t stick with just one band. Although there are drummers who are known to have done a lot of work with specific bands, they are paid per project.
What are the qualifications and experience required to be a session drummer?
In session drumming based on my research looking through the careers of many famous session drummers from the past and modern drummers now, the need to have formal qualifications such as degrees is not as needed, while musical theory degrees could help it is not a very important aspect of the drummers that artists and bands look for. As long as you had skill and experience, they completely overlook degrees you may or may not have. That said getting a degree in drumming could help you in the aspect of it overall increasing your skills and knowledge of drumming.
What knowledge, skills and personal qualities/attributes are needed for success within the profession?
One of the most important aspects of being a session is professionalism. What I mean by this is that, as a session drummer, when you are called in to do work, you will be doing a job for them and will usually have fewer creative aspects to the job. What the band or artists will want from you the most is to have it so you can do everything they want with little to no problems. This requires being skilled enough to play in multiple different genres, tempos, time signatures, etc. The more skilled you are in being able to immediately play along in time to click tracks and play parts that fit the song will save the artist a lot of time. The famous session drummer Steve Gadd, who has played for bands and artists such as Steely Dan, Paul Simon, and Eric Clapton, who are all world-renowned artists, stated that he plays to support the music. This entails playing simple yet effective grooves that don’t overshadow any of the other instruments in the band. This requires experience and expertise, and if you have that, you will have a very strong foundation in finding work in session drumming, but that it is not all that is required to get hired commonly. Even if you have amazing skills as a session drummer, you will also need an almost easy-going and easy to work with personality, as working in bands will take up a lot of time that will be spent directly with them, and the artists will want to have someone that they can spend that time with smoothly. For examples as a session drummer, you will need to be punctual as not to hinder or waste the artist’s time, which they will be paying for.
What are the duties and responsibilities of the profession – what does a typical day’s work involve?
A session drummer’s typical day can be quite unpredictable unless they are under contract with specific companies or artists. Their daily routine should include consistent practice to refine their skills, with practicing at least once a day being essential for improvement. As mentioned earlier, this will significantly increase their chances of getting work in the industry. The goal of practice should be to expand their skills across different genres, boosting their booking opportunities. On days when they are not in the studio, they should focus on searching for work and self-promotion. For example, they could create videos demonstrating their playing to add to their portfolio; these videos can also be shared on various social media platforms, such as Instagram or YouTube. Social media can greatly benefit a social drummer by increasing their visibility to artists seeking drummers. When a session drummer has session work to do, whether with a band live or in studios, work will typically be assigned to them to learn before the session, so this work must be learned and understood to a high level beforehand. When performing at live events, investing in quality gear is important, as many venues, such as pubs or bars, might not provide the equipment needed to achieve the best sound for drummers. This equipment should include items like cymbals or snares, since many venues will not have these available for you. The session drummer will be responsible for setting up their drum equipment at gigs or studio sessions. For smaller gigs where miking up a kit isn’t as common, it will not be something you have to worry about, so you should be confident in setting up and taking down your own kit quickly and efficiently. In studio sessions, where your kit will need to be miked up it will make the drummer look very professional and reliable if they are able to do this by themselves, so they should look into and learn techniques for setting up there kit to give the artists the sounds that they want.
What are the main financial and legal issues that impact on this profession?
Session drumming, unless done at a very high standard, is generally not feasible as a reliable way to make a living. It often comes with many financial challenges and is not recommended as a primary source of income. One of the biggest financial issues with session drumming is its unpredictability and lack of security; there is no guaranteed way to get work for various reasons. One major reason is the intense competition among session musicians in general, not just drummers. This means you will need to work very hard to get noticed by other artists and to stand out among drummers who may have more experience than you. This can significantly impact your earnings, as small-time session work typically pays between £50 and £300 per session. A lot of sessions are considered not to be featured on songs, meaning no matter how many times songs are streamed, and much revenue is made, you will only be paid for the time you’ve put into the session, and usually never any royalties. Credibility is another thing that is a bit of a grey area with session musicians as when it comes to contracts credibility is something that varies heavily. As a session drummer you will want to be credited on songs as it means it will increase your exposure to other artists, but if this is not done although you are still getting paid less people will know about it and you will have to potentially not showcase this work on your portfolio.
What would the potential marketing and promotional aspects of this profession look like?
Online portfolios are a very effective way of marketing and portraying yourself as a session drummer. With videos and descriptions, you can very freely showcase your own experience, skills, and information about yourself that can help sell yourself to artists simply and clearly. The use of a portfolio can successfully visualize your drumming versatility to the artists. This is effective as it can get rid of the process of auditioning, as the majority of what they will need to see will be clearly presented to them. A session drummer can showcase what their unique skills could be and what they’re best at. A session drummer will need to show a lot of professionalism and be seen as the highest level of their ability. another way for a session drummer is to market themselves in person, this could be doing things such as attending jam sessions and gigs, meeting other musicians and broadening your connections will greatly help the session drummer to get booked. Jamming and working with other musicians and meeting the people they know will embed the session drummer into the industry, they will need to be friendly and professional to cause good bonds between themselves and other musicians.
What are the intellectual and personal challenges presented by the profession and how might these be dealt with?
A personal challenge I think you would have to deal with in session drumming is being able to work under pressure. Studio sessions or live events cost time and money for the artists, and the session drummers are also being paid by them as well. This means they will be wanting the session drummer to cause no musical problems and have them be consistently on time and playing their part to suit the song. This adds a lot of pressure to the drummer; if they don’t play their part to a high standard, it can increase the risk of not being paid or losing the chance to be hired again. This is pressure to do with performance during the studio sessions, but there is also a great deal of social pressure that you will have to deal with during these events. Working within a band will require a lot of interaction with the other artists, as you will be spending a lot of time with them. The more likable and easier to work with the session drummer is, the more likely they will be to be hired again. This thought of wanting to bring a good presence to the sessions can be very difficult to deal with for some session drummers, although this aspect will not be as much of a problem for more confident and sociable drummers. One of the things with session drumming is the fact that the career is very unstable, which is due to a variety of reasons, such as very high competition in the market. The fact of not getting work often can be very stressful if it’s the drummer’s only source of income. It will add a lot of pressure on the drummer’s career, as the more work and experience you get, the more likely you are to get more work after that, but it’s very difficult to get the experience first.
What career-progression/development opportunities are available within the profession?
A career development session, drumming can get you into touring work with artists you have worked with. If artists like how the session drummer played during studio sessions, and they want to go on a live tour, there can be a chance that they will ask the drummer to join them on the tour, as they will want a trusted drummer. This is a very positive job for drummers, as it will give them a stable income with weekly wages instead of being paid in one-offs for each session. With a lot of tours, they will usually be seen by a lot more people than at the occasional live gig, especially if they’re recorded as well. This means it will give the drummer a lot of needed exposure to greatly assist them in getting further work, it will add a lot to their portfolio, and give them a lot of viewable experience for artists who need drummers to see. The session drummers’ living situation can be developed from the beginning of their career, as location can play a very big role in session drumming. If a session drummer lives in a very disassociated rural location, far away from places where there is more music being made or happening, it is a wise decision for the drummer to live closer or in areas, for example, London, where there is higher demand for session work. Becoming a session drummer and exposing yourself to the music scene, meeting musicians, and jamming with them is already a development in your career. When it comes to you getting hired for work with these, your own connections can form stronger bonds and potentially lead to being able to become a permanent drummer of a successful band. With lots of artists, especially solo artists, they like to tour with mainly the same musicians, as if they have the same people doing the same performance; it will most likely add a lot more structure and security to the band.
Reference list
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