Lenny B

A most convivial lunch companion

This ties in rather nicely with the third article I wrote for BGM (published in the punk issue a while ago, re-produced below by presumed kind permission of BGM);

SESSION MUSICIAN ARTICLE

First of all, this article is not about how to become a session musician or what you can expect from being one – there are others far better qualified than I to write about that. What this article is about is some of the main points that should be borne in mind when hiring or performing as a session musician.

Is there an agreement?
There should always be a written agreement – a contract does not need to be in writing to be enforceable (although this is greatly preferred) – a valid contract can arise through verbal agreement or through a course of conduct (such as regular work on the same terms).

If there’s no written agreement, then it becomes very difficult in the event of a dispute to evidence what was agreed, so the best advice is to get it in writing. If you are a member of the Musicians’ Union (www.musiciansunion.org.uk), they have a template session musician agreement that has been negotiated with the BPI (www.bpi.co.uk). However, many musicians these days are not MU members, and many record labels are not BPI members, so there is a great deal of room for variation.


How much and when?
One of the first things to be agreed will be your fee – will the session be for cash, for a royalty/income share or for a mixture of both? Most labels or producers would rather you get a one-off payment with no on-going liabilities, but releasing a record can be expensive, and smaller labels especially may rather pay you little or nothing now, but with the potential of a continuing royalty should the release be successful.

Many session musicians would rather have cash in the hand rather than a potential larger sum in the future, and you may have little or no say at this stage on how future royalties may be calculated and paid to you by the label.

A further point for consideration is whether you’ll require cash on the day or will you be happy to invoice and wait for your money? You should agree this before the session and before you incur any expenses.


Copyright
We’ve previously looked at the difference between copyrights in a song (‘the Publishing Rights’) and the copyrights in a recording of that song (‘the Recording Rights’). We’ll now look at these rights first in the context of a session.

As I’ve written previously, the first owner of copyright in a Recording is the ‘Producer’, who legally is the one who ‘makes arrangements’ for the recording (and is usually understood to be the one paying!), rather than the person in charge of recording the session. In order to release, license or otherwise deal with the Recording unencumbered, the Producer should have from all session musicians confirmation (in writing) that they have no rights in or over the Recordings. This is usually pretty clear – it will be an uncommon situation for a session musician to have any such rights.

Would the session musician have any Publishing Rights based on their contribution to the song? There is a three-stage test;

1. Does the session agreement deal with this? If the agreement states that the session musician waives any interest he may have in the composition or publishing (in return for his fee), then that is generally the end of the matter. If both parties to a contract have agreed this, it will be very difficult for the musician to later claim any such rights.

2. Does the musician play (or re-play) a line which the artist or producer has shown him or asked him to play? If so, then he will not have any rights in the composition as he has not come up with anything original.

3. Has the musician come up with a line in which he made a ‘significant and original contribution as a joint author to a copyright musical work’? If so, then he may be entitled to a share of the Publishing Rights.

In a dispute, questions 1 and 2 above are questions of fact (to be determined by evidence, such as witness statements and cross-examination), whereas question 3 is a matter of opinion. Musicologists will often be called to explain to the judge why the contribution is or isn’t significant enough to be awarded a share of the copyright. Unfortunately, there are no real guidelines as what constitutes ‘a significant and original contribution’, and it will generally be decided on the particular facts of that case, the quality of the evidence and ultimately the judge’s opinion.

In both the fairly recent ‘Bluebells / Young At Heart’ case and the more recent ‘Procol Harum / A Whiter Shade of Pale’ case, it was found that the session musician’s * contribution was significant and original enough for them to be awarded a share of the composition years after the recording session – in the case of A Whiter Shade of Pale, 39 years after! However, the judge awarded for royalties to be paid going forward – there will be no payment for past years before a claim was made. Also, permission has been granted for an appeal in the ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ case, so this may not be the final word on that matter…

PPL and Performance Rights
As well as the copyright in a recording, musicians have rights in their performances which the Producer or label must clear to allow the performances in the recordings to be reproduced or exploited. This should also be clear in any agreement. The organisation PPL (www.ppluk.com) collects licensing money from broadcasters, shops, restaurants and clubs and distributes this to record labels and musicians – including session musicians. This is not a royalty for sales of a recording, it is income generated by the public performance of recordings. Both you and the label need to be members of PPL to receive this income.

Credit
Under fairly recent legislation, performers on a recording now have a right to be credited or identified as a performer. This right can be waived, but if there isn’t a good reasons for you to do so (such as your embarrassment at the quality of the recording, or the label asks you to waive it as it doesn’t want the ‘real’ bass player to know he’s been replaced) I suggest you fight for your credit. If however you are to waive it, make sure you’re properly recompensed for doing so. If people don’t know you’re the bass player, it will be hard for you to get the next session…

* Matthew Fisher - the organist in Procol Harum – was a band member, not a session musician, but as he was un-credited as a writer, this situation makes a good example for this article.

I sometimes stuff a kitchen sponge under the strings

If you're not 100% sure you're going single, are you interested in swapping for a Boss ME-8B +£50?
Cheers

[quote name='wayneyboy' post='475534' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:09 PM']any takers? going to sell as going to get individual pedals for a pedal board and need the space- come with the adaptor[/quote]

Swap for an EHX Bass MicroSynth?


[quote name='___---___' post='475528' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:05 PM']Bump.

This phaser is f***ing badass!

X[/quote]

I couldn't make it in Camden, but just seeing 'Kings X' has brought back the opening riff from the Gretchen album. That takes me back. 89? 90?

and Footloose - 80's octave pedal excellence

One thing I remember reading from an interview with Tommy Cogbill is that he avoided playing the open E and kept up the octave because the bass line comes out better on the radio that way

not sure how applicable that still is, but it's very noticeable on this tune

Sorry, but you're pretty much all wrong - you can't do it.

There are limited exceptions for infringing copyright and saying "I want to learn it" doesn't unfortunately cover that - you can buy the magazine or book to learn it.

Sorry to be the grump.

Have another

Good - that's been a long-running temptation which i can't afford or justify at the moment.
Pleased for you (and the lucky buyer)

[quote name='2x18' post='377134' date='Jan 11 2009, 08:50 PM']SOLD-- SOLD--- SOLD[/quote]

Welcome Phil, hope you enjoy it here!

I don't actually look through the different forums much, I just click on 'view new posts' to see what's been going on, you'll get quite a feel in no time

(PS - I do have to say though, that this site has cost me more money than the US one though - easier to buy!)

I had a really fun one last night - my third time of depping for a jazz/funk quartet (vox, guitar, drums) at Jazz After Dark in Soho - threw some long-overdue new strings on my Jazz before heading out, was more comfortable with the tunes and the players than I'd been before (some frenetic playing goes on) and it went down really well.

So should be doing once a month with them which is great.

Only downside is it's stupidly late (half 10 to half 2) and the money's pretty poor, but I'm not gigging much at the moment, so this isn't a complaint!

[quote name='2x18' post='353583' date='Dec 13 2008, 02:26 PM']How about my excellent Eden Nemesis 2x10 combo. Its got a xlr d.i. out, a good compressor and very versatile Eq. plus you can even add an extension cabinet if you ever need to
You are welcome to come and try it out with your bass. Im just down the road in Leeds.
Sale thread here

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=32548"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=32548[/url]

Will.[/quote]


I've had half an eye on your thread, looks a smart amp indeed!
(Have a bump)

PM'd

This could possibly involve design rights (registered and/or unregistered), trade marks and copyright, but copyright would only be relevant to your drawings of the designs, not the design itself (i.e the 2-dimensional drawings, not a 3-dimensional headstock).

If you want to PM me the drawings, will happily throw in my tuppence'orth, but you should do some research (or pay someone else to) into what existing similar rights third parties may have before you spend too much money on this.

I like the CMU update [url="http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/daily/index.html"]http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/daily/index.html[/url]

Pretty thorough and nicely irreverent.

Happy to have a look at the T&Cs if you want to PM me

You're not planning on driving to London at some point are you...?

A good manager can be incredibly helpful but they're a very rare breed.

Couple of tips;

1. When discussing a possible appointment, get a (fairly) detailed plan of what they intend to do ('get gigs and big up myspaces' doesn't count)

2. What's their experience / reputation / contacts / successes?

3. Consider a 3-6 month trial period

4. Get a music business lawyer (feel free to PM me)

Someone who is more efficient and organised than you can indeed be very helpful, but that's different from planning a career path and strategy. Consider approaching management companies who you respect, or probably the managers of bands you think have done well / had a good plan - there may be someone more junior in the office who would be willing to take you on but 'under the wing' of the more experienced managers

My tuppence'orth

I had one and it was great - moved from a 4 to 5 shortly after, but was thinking the other day of getting one for my 4 again...

Camden / Central London?

My first bass was one of these in red - bought it in '89 (have I really been playing that long?!?!?)

De-fretted it a couple of years ago as I 'upgraded' and didn't want to get rid of it.

Great basses indeed.

Sounds like some good ideas in there, but my tuppence'orth of ideas and suggestions;

1) Jam it with the drummer - guitarist in the room optional (loop a recording?)

2) The riff implies chords and harmonies - use the bass to make a statement and set down a progression or harmony (roots / inversions)

3) Where the guitar line goes up, bass line goes down

4) Swap instruments with the drummer and play along to 1)

5) Repeat 1).

6) Use pedals (if that's your thang) to add colour - a simple line with tonal movement can be effective

7) Repeat 1)

No need to do them all (obviously), but they may inspire some tangents to explore.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='257426' date='Aug 7 2008, 05:47 PM']I know you said no distortion, but I'm gonna break your rule. Make a synth pedal like this:

Octave -> Fuzz -> Filter

Octave can be whatever tracks well. Fuzz should be something really heavy with a nice top end, like a Maestro Brassmaster or Tonebender clone. For the filter I would go for a low pass Korg MS20 or a DOD 440 clone, controllable by either an expression pedal or taking an envelope signal from the very start of the chain (so it's clean and hasn't been messed with by the octave or fuzz).

Hell, make one of these and I'd buy it off you![/quote]


+1