Back to Basics

So far this week has thankfully been a little easier going with rehearsals being the main act of activity, giving me time to get back home and grab a few essentials for the up and coming weeks in college. The fact that I’m back home has also given me the time and space I need to catch up on my practice and seeing as I have full access to an acoustic drum kit (compared to the un-inspiring electric kit in the flat) time is not being wasted.
Talks with a fellow student at college really opened up my thoughts on the whole practicing regime and how time spent should be more disciplined. I remember countless times when I’ve sat down for a few hours of practice and its been wasted by bad habits of playing along to my favourite songs and soloing with my preferred grooves which is great, but doesn’t help in the making of an all round better musician.
With this in mind I have composed an 80-minute regime that covers all the areas that I need to work on such as chart reading, time keeping, jazz and co-ordination. I hope that running through this regime every morning will soon see improvement in my playing and strengthen me on my weaknesses.
In these up and coming weeks I am also thinking about going back to basics on both my trombone and violin playing for these last two years without an instrumental instructor has taking its toll on my technique. Over this time period habits like bad posture, intonation and articulation have crept in and so I feel that going back to scales, arpeggios and positioning in both bowing and slide will gradually make me a stronger player.
College this week has went as usual with jazz studies continuing in first study class and band work consisting of rehearsals through our chosen Beatle covers.
In graded unit this week our guest speaker was lecturer and session musician Pete Honeymoon who talked about his career in Scotland, leaving us with some great advice in terms of working in the studio with a producer and with Musical Directors. Key points of the talk were features that Pete recognised to be the most important in becoming established as a session artist such as stylistic versatility, confidence, mental strength and situational awareness. The talk also made me think about the professionalism and quality of my instrument (or should I say the lack of) and so, next on the list for investment is a new drum kit.
I have also been lucky enough this week to be asked to play on a degree project for 3rd year bassist Jamie Rosie. I have played with Jamie many a time and feel that the project would be a good challenge. The repertoire that he is hoping to perform is very complex and rhythmically challenging with songs from such artists as Rush, Victor Wooten and Stanton Moore.

Although the week has been quiet there is never enough time in the world for practice or catching up on college work and so with that in mind it’s back to studies in an attempt to expand my practical musicianship and musical knowledge.

Busy Busy

Second week back in Perth and already I’m beginning to feel the strain as the workload begins to pile up. It has been hard to find a balance between my academic studies and instrumentation practice however, I have been able to regime myself between the two.
A new world was opened up to me this week in drum class as my tutor began teaching me the basics of Jazz drumming. I have always been passionate about the style but have never known were to start in terms of playing it or its history and so an introduction showed me the many ways I could explore and develop the style on my own. It is a shame that the college does not delve into the realms of jazz as part of the course as people who consider becoming session players like myself could extremely benefit from it. For the time being however I believe that listening and playing the style as much as possible is the best way for me to learn the concept.
Other highlights this week in college took place in graded unit class, which consisted of a talk from Musical Director Fiona McKenzie given her story and experience from working in the music business.
She was very passionate about music and her career and talked about the highs and lows she went through to be “living the dream” in her ideal profession.
The talk really helped to inspire me to my aspirations of becoming a session musician and always to keep passionate and to aim high, for as the businessman W. Clement Stone once said, “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”
In other news this week recording began on my band from outside of college with the main objective being 3 drum tracks solidly put down onto the mix. With a full day of college however and an empty stomach this was to prove a little more exhausting and challenging than I had first thought it to be. It also made me notice a few bad habits I had picked up over the summer holidays such as not paying attention to the click track and “less is more” sometimes. In the end I managed to get all three tracks down in the time we had with a slight drawback in the period I hoped it would take. It taught me a valuable lesson that you should always be at the top of your game before going into a session and that its better to play less and asked to play more than to be told to take it down a level due to overplaying.
This Thursday gone I did my first slot in “That Bar” as an improviser of both trombone and drum over a DJ with Felix the saxophone player. This was a paid gig and had potential of becoming a regular slot so I did not want to disappoint when it came to playing. Throughout the night I swapped from drums and trombone but by the end it was mainly trombone orientated, as that was what Felix preferred. Improvisation has never been my strong point and so I did struggle a little, but there was only one way for me to learn and that’s to keep it going and with a little help from Felix I learned how to approach it better as the night went on.
By the end of the evening I would like to think that I had made some progress as I was asked back for the following and so I look forward to playing again in the same venue next week.
This week has been a lot more eventful and tiresome than I had first anticipated however, with all this comes recognition – a key factor that I have to work on all year if I am to reach my goal as a session musician.

First Week back in Perth

The new term year has begun and so far settling back into Perth and college life has been easy and untroublesome. It has been great to get back into contact with the many musicians and friends I met from last year and already a great deal of potential in terms of gigs, shows, bands and projects have sprouted from the ground.
One of the first calls to come my way came from a local saxophonist called Felix "The Sax Cat" who last year had been ever so helpful in getting me into perth's music scene with offers of many a gig for both my trombone and Kit playing. He asked if I could possibly do an up and coming show that was to be held in the AK Bell Library on Saturday night which I gladly accepted and so after one rehearsal on the Wednesday night I was told to meet with him at the Library for six o'clock .
The show was for an up and coming singer/songwriter "Don Nicolson" who was promoting his album and had asked a few local bands to help him out.
The venue itself was very intimate, in a sort of mini cinema setting which seemed to have been chosen well for the showcase. I knew straight away that I would have be aware of my dynamics for in such a small venue a trombone could be a very overpowering instrument, and a duff note would stick out a mile.
The three songs we played however went down well and seeing as I had never played with the full band I felt I managed to play my part well and keep in sync with the band. The only letdown of the night though was the number of people that turned up. Whether this was due to high priced ticket sales or lack of advertising, I’m not sure but everyone still seemed to have a good night with all the bands and artists praised significantly.
After the show Felix talked to me about joining a possible regular slot playing with him at Perth's local club “That Bar” which would consist of me improvising over the top of a DJ on drums and trombone for a few hours every Thursday night. He filled me in on the details and mentioned how next week would be a trial to see if I was capable of the slot. I decided to accept his offer and although I feel that improvisation is not my strongest point as a musician, the experience I will receive from doing such a gig will greatly help in my aim to become an all round better player, even if I don’t get asked to come back. At the moment however I’m just trying to keep positive and prepare myself to what extent I can.
This week I have also been in talks with a friend from college to start up a weekly Scottish/Irish traditional session. This is one project that I’m really looking forward to as over the last few years my fiddle has been neglected due to my busy schedule with drums and trombone. It also seems a genre that the college and Perth’s local music scene is lacking and so a traditional band could be a potentially good move towards gigging or even busking in the city centre. It however is still in the early stages and will be a while before a decent repertoire will be ready for the public’s ears.
Even in the first week back in Perth I already feel that I have managed to get myself back into the music scene and am hoping with this year that I will be able to keep busy with all three instruments, making me as diverse a musician as possible for hiring, however I will have to make sure not to over do it so that I can keep up with the ever stacking up college work that is coming my way.