

No matter what capacity a session musician is working in, it’s common for gigs to start small and grow towards bigger gigs like touring, so it’s important to keep that in mind when you’re hiring session musicians, or looking to become a session musician yourself. It’s common for a studio band to double as the touring band because the studio band is typically well-rehearsed in the material an artist will be touring with. The name says it all here, a touring band is a band or ensemble of musicians who tour with a project to provide backing music at various live gigs. In cases like this, several session musicians are assembled to form an entire group to accompany a project.īacking bands are also commonly a touring band as well, which brings us to our next type of session musician… Touring band or player Backing band or playerĪ backing band typically refers to a band or player hired to play and record on an entire studio album or project. Studio players in this context are an extension of booked studio time and provide backing instrumentation for musicians renting studio time who don’t otherwise have a band to record parts they’ve written.įor example, a solo vocalist may rent studio time and work with the studio band to compose and record instrumentation around compositions the vocalist has written. To put it simply, working with session musicians is not only convenient, it’s essential to keep the collaborative and human essence of musical exchange alive-a component of music that provides the heartbeat to your craft.Ī studio band or player refers to session musicians that work through an established studio setting or studio-based network. But finding, and working with, session players has never been easier with online musician networks and gig platforms. There was probably a time when the idea of hiring a session musician seemed too time-consuming or complicated, especially when you’re trying to hit a deadline.
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Sure, you could download a sample pack or plugin that can get you close to what you’re dreaming of, but working with session players unlocks creative and collaborative potential that’s difficult to match.

Wanna see what an upright bass would sound like on your boom bap beat? There’s a session musician for that as well.

Wanna know what it’s like to have a string section on your track? There’s session musicians for that.

Session musicians open a whole world of possibilities for your music. These advances have opened up new avenues for session musicians and redefined the role sessions musicians play across varying projects. However, remote recording and collaboration tools, and networking platforms have allowed session musicians to connect and work in new ways.Ĭollaborating remotely or providing material to hip-hop production or electronic projects that can be re- sampled later, are just a couple of the new ways session musicians are gigging today. Traditionally, session musicians join a band or project in the studio or in a live setting. Familiarity with many styles and approaches.What a session musician does on a specific project is determined by factors like: In other cases an entire backing band may be hired to provide instrumentation across an entire album or play on a tour over several months. The role of a session musician varies based on the project they are hired for.įor example, a session musician might provide a short guitar solo on one song.
