Theres not much to say about this video. I have always loved Travis Barker and his playing, and this video shows him doing a session for pop artist Avril Lavigne. He was one of my biggest influences early on so enjoy!
Travis Barker Avril Lavigne Session
Before I discuss the function of a studio/session musician, I must give a brief description of the profession. Before I moved to LA to be a professional musician, I had no idea what a “studio drummer” actually did, I just knew I wanted to be one someday. Having done some session work now, I have an understanding of what the purpose of a studio musician is. A studio musician is an individual who plays a given instrument (or multiple instruments) typically very well, and gets called to record on lots of different projects. Someone who does sessions for a living can get called to record on just about anything, including various artists records, television commercials, and movie soundtracks. In fact, most of the major commercial artists that are getting massive radio play, and touring on a major level, have session players on their records. A big misconception among people is the idea that major artists have original band members that they write, record, and tour with. This is not to say that this doesn’t still happen, (however rarely) but The reality is that the artists producer(s) will hire session musicians to record on the record, and then a completely different person (usually the musical director aka “MD”) will put together a touring band for the artist.
The one thing that I was always confused about in terms of session work is how the session player knows or learns the material before the job. I came to find out that (at least with the work that I’v done) most of the time, you will not know the material before showing up to the studio. The usual scenario is me walking into the studio and setting up my gear, going into the control room and listening to the song once or twice, charting it if need be, and then immediately going and recording it. This obviously requires the ability to more or less learn a song in one or two “passes,” and then record it right after having not practiced it or worked out any parts before hand. Usually the producer will provide some guidance as to where he/she wants the song to go before and/or during recording. This sounds intimidating; however, it doesn’t always play out this way. I have also done session work where I received the tracks or charts in advance, and had time to prepare parts, work with a band, practice the grooves etc…
This all brings me to one of my favorite drummers ever, (there are a few of those haha) Steve Gadd. He is basically the father of modern session drumming, and is flat out one of the greatest drummers (if not the greatest) of all time. His pocket is infinitely deep, and his feel and sound behind the kit will be forever renowned. His resume is a mile long and includes names like Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Eric Clapton, and tons of others. Below I have posted a few videos of Steve Gadd playing a some different styles, and some of his own famous grooves. Enjoy!
Famous Groove From Paul Simon’s 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
One of Steve’s Innovative Paradiddle Grooves
Steve Playing Swing
Famous Crazy Army Drum Solo
I have a few drummers that I often look to for inspiration, and one of those guys is Matt Chamberlain. He is one of a few guys that do obscene amounts of session/studio work, and get called for major artist recordings on a regular basis. Some of the other notable drummers in this fairly small group are of course Josh Freese, Abe laboriel Jr., Kenny Aronoff, and Joey Waronker. Matt Chamberlain was one of my biggest inspirations in terms of using more dark, complex cymbal and snare tones. His sound is typically very earthy, and I believe that he pioneered some of the greatest drum sounds and ideas in modern, mainstream music. His resume is huge and you can learn more about him at www.mattchamberlain.com. He endorses Craviotto drums, and Istanbul Agop cymbals, both of which are typically associated with dry, earthy tones. As I have said before, I love finding videos of my favorite session drummers in the studio. The video below is of Matt Chamberlain laying down the drum tracks for an artist named George Stanford in the song “Big Drop.”
Matt Chamberlain Laying Down Drum Tracks
The following listening example is from The Wallflowers’ 1996 record “Bringing Down the Horse” for which Matt won a grammy for his work. Notice in this song entitled “One Headlight,” Matt never plays a traditional fill or even one crash cymbal.
Matt Chamberlain is arguably one of the greatest, and most musical drummers of our time. If you want to know more about him, go ahead and visit his website (linked above.) I’m sure I will be posting more of his videos in the future so check back for more!
As I have said before, Josh Freese is one of my favorite drummers of all time. My true passion is recording, so I love finding videos of my favorite session guys in the studio. In the video below, Josh Freese is recording for the band Evanescence. You will see him interacting with the producer, and doing multiple takes of the same song. The song is called “Imaginary,” and below the video I have put the finished recording of the song from the record so you can hear the difference between the live sound of the drums, and the finished, produced tones. In the video, notice the consistency of the overall sound, and especially the snare drum. Enjoy!
Here is the finished recording of the song.
