upstairs wrote: ↑March 30th, 2018, 6:39 am
I think a deeper point of wisdom here is that, in the scheme of things, making a record is a big fucking deal.
If you take it seriously and your idea of your record isn't spending 10 minutes layering a few loops on garage band it is; everything is relative.
If you don't have the luxury of worrying about the scheme of things, you're already screwed.
When we recorded "Magic" (from the "post your music" forum) I paid for the session and the "hired gun" from money I saved while working as a welder in a factory. 'luxury' is not the first word that would spring to mind.
Back then, there was no internet, as far as civilians knew. You could cough up the big bucks if you wanted to hire a known musician who had worked on hit records, otherwise, what you had to go on was recommendations, which is what I did. The recommendation came from the engineer, who himself was recommended by an acquaintance who had some success in the business (he had toured in Billy Joel's band).
The 'hired gun' turned out to be Annie Oakley
I looked up what union scale was and paid her that (I don't think she was in the union) and at the end of the 4 hours of lead vocals, harmonies, background vox and a rough mix, I was so blown away that I gave her a hundred dollar tip, which was a lot of money back then (I think union scale was $30/ hr but I can't remember exactly). She had obviously listened to my rough mix with scratch vocal very carefully and crafted her own vocal arrangement
Now, with hosting sites, youtube, etc., there's no "mystery meat"
So, before hiring Saxplayerz, or whomever, I would be able to check out his playing. If I didn't think he was good enough, or if his style of playing didn't fit with what I was trying to accomplish, I wouldn't hire him in the first place.
When you hire musicians, they tend to give it their all because their reputations as musicians is their stock-in-trade and they want to get more work. If you renege and don't pay them,
your
reputation suffers, word gets out, and you have trouble getting good people to work with you, as a certain head of state is currently finding out in his quest for top notch legal help.
My way of doing things is: If I hire a musician I pay union scale or I don't hire the musician.
If I get someone to play a part for "free" through the art of persuasion (or threats or blackmail
) it's not really free, hence the scare quotes.
What's unspoken is that it's potentially a quid pro quo, that is, they can expect me to play a part on their record without charging them for the session -- and they get artist royalties if and when the record makes money, as well as a credit on the record
The main problem with this method is that, with no money exchanging hands, depending on the musician(s) involved and their level of interest and other priorities, it can take a while for them to turn their part(s) in. If they ever do.
When I got Peter Green (tptman from the Womb) to play a flugelhorn solo on one of my songs, for example, just as I was about to ask him to do it, his wife gave birth. D'OH! So I waited a couple of months to ask, and he turned in an absolutely stellar solo, but it took him over a year to turn it in (He works full time, has a part time job playing in a Salsa band, and 3 other kids).
In this case, if I needed it in a more timely manner, I would have had to pay someone. In other cases, musicians have turned in "free" tracks in a week or two. It depends upon whom you're dealing with.
The fall back position if there isn't the money or time for the above is, of course, loops and synths and playing the parts yourself (oh my!)
