Tag Archives: advice

Health, Resources

Huh? You May Already Have Hearing Loss

Following a recent live music event, I interviewed a longtime musician who joked that his years of gigging have made it more difficult to carry on a normal conversation. I patiently repeated my questions, trying to speak in an abnormally loud voice. When I asked if he’d ever considered using musicians’ earplugs the man laughed at the absurdity of such an idea. Unfortunately, hearing loss really is no laughing matter, especially for musicians.

The auditory system is one of the body’s most delicate sensory systems, and when you are frequently exposed to excessive sound levels, the system can be easily damaged. Though many people associate musician hearing loss with rockers (20% of whom have some hearing loss according to one Norwegian Institutt for Klinisk Medisin study), any type of musician is at risk. Often, only when noticeable hearing loss has already occurred, do musicians take the problem seriously.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) sets guidelines for the maximum time you can safely be exposed to various sound pressures measured in decibels (dB). Below is a table with approximate ranges of safe exposure for various instruments.

Hearing Loss chart

CLICK TO ENLARGE

As you can see from the table, the dangers are real and occur with a wide range of instruments and genres of music. Following are some tips to reduce the danger of hearing loss.

  •   Purchase and wear musicians’ earplugs. They are superior to traditional earplugs because they offer “flat” attenuation, while traditional earplugs tend to filter more sound from higher frequencies, resulting in a muffled sound.
  •   As you can see from the table, each instrument has a wide volume range. When possible, practice more softly, or play your electrified instrument “unplugged.”
  •   To reduce your overall exposure to sound, take precautions in your daily life. Avoid any environment where you need to raise your voice to be heard. Wear earplugs or earmuffs when mowing the lawn or operating other loud machinery, and turn down the volume on your television and iPod.
  •   During rehearsals take frequent, 15-minute silence breaks.
  •   When you have a break during your gig, take a moment to step outside and give your ears a rest.
  •   Spread out so you are not being blasted by the musician next to you. Also, move away from on-stage monitors and amplifiers.

For more information on musician hearing loss and additional tips visit House Research Institute at www.hei.org or Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers (HEAR) at www.hearnet.com.

International Musician

Preparing For a Gig: 3 Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Thanks to Gig Salad for sharing some wisdom on three lessons learned the hard way when it comes to a gig. You can read the original article here. 

So you’ve landed a gig. Awesome! Maybe it’s your first one, or maybe you’ve been at it for years. Either way, there are few things to remember when preparing to head off into the gig unknown. Our resident musicians and booking agents, Joey and Devin, put their heads together and came up with some lessons they learned the hard way. Now you don’t have to! (We’ll keep the lessons anonymous so as not to embarrass the contributors.)

#1: I Forgot to Sign a Contract & Get a Deposit

Sometimes in the midst of booking a gig, the most important part can be forgotten. You show up, do your thing…and then the excuses start. Maybe someone forgot the checkbook, or someone else was supposed to pay you. Bottom line is, you don’t get paid. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a contract or a deposit, there’s not much you can do. So we can’t stress enough: Get those in order before the gig. To help you avoid performing for free, we offer a handy booking tool to take care of all of that for you. One more thing you don’t have to worry about!

#2: My String Broke During the Show

Equipment malfunction is always a risk at performances. You know it, we know it. So to avoid stopping the show altogether, make sure you have some backups on hand. Whether this is strings, batteries, cables, extension cords, or clown noses, it’s always better to be over-prepared than under. Don’t assume that the venue or client will provide the things you may need. Make yourself accountable for everything. Use a checklist to make sure you have everything you need for each gig.

#3: I Drank A Protein Shake Before the Show

We can’t help but laugh a little at this “lesson learned” but it does have some truth behind it. Think ahead to how long you’ll be in the spotlight, and plan accordingly. You may not get a bathroom break for awhile! Read your contract carefully and check out when and where to load in, start time, breaks, end time, etc. Nothing is more miserable than being physically uncomfortable during a gig! So plan ahead, don’t drink a gallon of lemonade beforehand, put on deodorant (thanks, Devin!), and you should be fine.

Happy Gigging!

Traveling Musician

Avoid Border-Crossing Gear Glitches with an ATA Carnet

by Anya Craig, Membership Services Administrator, Canadian Federation of Musicians

It’s the stuff of nightmares for the travelling musician: you’re headed out of the country for a big show, your precious instrument in hand, but when you get to the border, you’re gruffly told that you can’t bring your gear across—not without a bunch of hassle and some hefty fees, if at all!

Performing outside of Canada can be a headache; securing work permits and negotiating with purchasers abroad isn’t always a picnic. The last thing a musician needs, after wading through the process, is to be barred from entering your destination country with your gear.

This sort of gear-related border issue is becoming more common, unfortunately, and although veteran border-crossers know to bring a detailed manifest of all their instruments and accessories, some border agents will only accept one kind of gear documentation: the ATA carnet.

The ATA carnet is an internationally recognized customs document that acts as a sort of passport for all your professional tools. It is your best defense against the stickiest of border officers, who are typically trained to assume that anyone entering their country with gear intends to sell it and abscond with the profits. The carnet proves that your instruments and gear are the tools of your trade, and that they will be brought back to Canada with you after your gigs.

The ATA carnet program was established in 1961 by the World Customs Organization, and is accepted in 71 countries worldwide, including the US. Here in Canada, the carnet is issued by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. When you travel with a carnet, your goods are inspected every time you leave or enter a country and you escape the potential hassle of having to pay duties or temporary importation bonds on your professional gear. In some cases, travellers have been denied entry until a valid carnet could be produced.

Getting the carnet is not particularly difficult or time-consuming as long as you are able to provide detailed information about the instruments and gear you intend to travel with. Along with the application, certain fees are required, which are based on the total value of your tools. The Chamber of Commerce asks applicants to allow five business days for processing, but three-day or even same-day service can be had for an extra fee. After the carnet is issued, it must be validated by Canadian customs, which can be done any time prior to your travel date or on the day you cross the border—just be sure to leave home extra early if you choose the latter option. Once you’ve got the carnet, it’s valid for a year. After a year, you will need to reapply.

You may grumble at the prospect of having to fill out yet another application in order to perform outside of Canada. You may wonder if an ATA carnet is really necessary, especially if you’ve taken your gear across borders successfully without one. Your best bet, if you’re planning on travelling across the border, is to call up the foreign port of entry where you intend to enter and ask them what their policy is. Different border stations have different ways of dealing with gear and goods. If the agent you speak to is not clear about their expectations, or if you’re in any doubt, obtaining a carnet is your best option to avoid disappointment. Keep in mind that the border agent you encounter when crossing may not abide by what you were told over the phone by another officer; another agent may insist on a carnet, regardless of what their colleague told you.

However you choose to document your gear when crossing the border, make sure you’re confident in your choice, and err on the side of caution. Doing paperwork and paying fees may be a hassle, but it’s vastly preferable to missing your gigs because it was barred entry, or spending hours at customs tied up in red tape. As a musician, you’ve got better things to do!

If you’re interested in obtaining an ATA carnet for future travel, visit the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Carnet Services site: http://www.chamber.ca/carnet. A list of countries that accept the ATA carnet can be found at: http://www.chamber.ca/carnet/carnet-countries/. To get the contact information for US ports of entry, visit the US Customs and Border Protection site:  http://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports.

Music Business, Resources

Awful Gigs Some AFM Members Have Experienced

Last month I wrote about Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld talking about awful gigs. Jay talked about a bad gig he had done, and Jerry said, “Hey you got paid didn’t you? Don’t complain.” Well, in that respect he’s probably right, but some gigs are definitely worse than others. My e-mail inbox filled up over the past few weeks with your stories about bad gigs. Here are a few examples:

From Alan Thomas of Local 6 (San Francisco, CA): I am sharing my real-life stories about terrible pianos. Fortunately instruments like this are in the minority and most pianos in finer homes are pretty well maintained. But this piano was in a spacious and fine home in a wealthy enclave on the peninsula about 35 miles south of San Francisco. I think I could have actually wrung water from the felts. As I progressed with this gig, more and more keys retreated into the keybed—and didn’t return. My standards turned into minimalist renditions. By the end of the gig I estimated that at least 44 keys or 50% of the keyboard were “down” for the night, slumbering in the keybed.

From Jane Bate of Local 186 (Waterbury, CT): In a community production of Evita, the directors called orchestra members “barbarians” and worse, even though the orchestra was unquestionably the best thing about the production. Things got so bad, that I spent the break between acts dress rehearsal night in the ladies’ room crying. Opening night, the president of the union was there to prevent a walkout by the orchestra personnel. We made it through the performances­—and the orchestra played brilliantly­—but I knew I wanted nothing to do with the group again. Here’s the coda: The following season, that theater group put on The Boyfriend, a piece of musical fluff. The review was headlined something like, “Great Costumes Make Up for Poor Music.” There is a God!

From Robert Michaels of Local 60-471 (Pittsburgh, PA): I have had many awful gigs including drummers getting drunk, playing too fast, sending texts, drinking beer, yelling into the mic; bass players playing too loud and storming out in the middle of gigs; and getting grief from bar owners because we didn’t bring enough people with us and not getting paid because of it. One time, the band I was in got fired from a gig because a drummer attacked me and cracked my ribs.

The most memorable awful gig happened when we were playing a showcase of my band EXPEN$E’s original material at a local club. The bass player I had at the time liked to show off and toss his bass around his body and catch it. It was cool when it worked right. At the end of one of my songs, when the bass player tossed his bass the strap broke and his bass went flying. Fortunately, no one was in the area where his bass landed.

From Mike Anthony of Local 618 (Albuquerque, NM): One year in July I took off in my new Explorer to play a wedding on my classical guitar in the Tijeras mountains. I reached my destination greeted by a torrential downpour using my four-wheel drive in the mud. I still had to walk about a quarter-mile following signs to the tent. I was quite alone!

No one showed up for a half-hour. Then a large roar of motorcycles delivered a tribe of Hells Angels and their girlfriends. The wedding was delayed for almost an hour and a half while the bride and groom were having a knockdown drag-out fight in their trailer. Meanwhile, I played some classical, as the bride had requested, and a variety including James Taylor. The attendees only wanted to hear Def Leppard. I was definitely intimidated. Finally, the weather cleared and the bride and groom made up and I sat on a tree stump in the hot sun and played their ceremony. By now, I’d been there longer than the time we’d agreed to and frankly had had enough. The bride became angry with me when I told her I really needed to leave. I was thrilled to return to familiar surroundings. I washed my car and really appreciated my friendly home. I never did get paid.

From Paula Hatcher of Local 40-543 (Baltimore, MD): My worst gig was an outdoor wedding under Maryland’s tallest Bing cherry tree. The tree was full of ripe cherries and hundreds of birds eating them. The bride’s parents staged the wedding directly under the tree. My polite concerns were ignored. Halfway through the ceremony, the birds “let fly” and bombed purple poop over everyone, even the wedding cake! As people screamed and ran, the parents shrieked at the musicians to “keep playing!”

From Fred Gosbee of Local 1000 (Nongeographic): Like almost any full-time musicians we have had gigs where there was a poor fit, as in “what were they thinking to hire us?” We are an acoustic duo, Celtic harp, guitar, fiddle, vocals, that has done considerable research on the songs of Robert Burns. On his birthday every Scottish society in the world celebrates with a banquet, recitations of Burns’ poetry, and performances of his songs.

We were hired by such a Scottish society when we were on tour a few years ago. It seemed like a match made in heaven; we would be performing the Burns songs that we love to a knowledgeable and appreciative audience.

I suspected we were in trouble when we saw that there was an open bottle of whiskey on every table in the banquet hall, plus the opening act was an 18-piece bagpipe band (indoors!). 

As part of their scholarship fundraising, the society had a silent auction, which was supposed to close after dinner when we started our set, but there weren’t enough bidders so they held it open for another hour. Potential bidders looked over the items, which were displayed at one side of the banquet hall.

Between the whiskey, the adrenalin jolt that bagpipes always cause, and the chatter at the (not so silent) auction, we were generally ignored. There was one table of folks who stayed and listened so we played to them.

We did get paid and we did get fed, but we both came down with food poisoning.

Yikes. These really are awful. To everyone who wrote in, thank you very much. What’s nice about bad gigs, though, is they make the good ones even better!

Click here to read more awful gigs

On the Cover

Steve Gadd: Secrets for a Successful Freelance Career

Gadd2If there is one drummer you could say has literally kept the beat for “everyone,” that drummer would likely be Steve Gadd, a member of Local 802 (New York City). And when asked about all the different genres of music he’s played, and diverse acts he’s worked with, he approaches the topic very matter-of-factly.

“I’ve been a freelance player my whole life,” he explains. “I love to play music with people who love to play music, so that’s the way I approach it.”

From his earliest days of drumming, Gadd took an eclectic approach to learning. “I listened to a lot of different drummers and copied them—Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Jimmy Cobb, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, and Jack DeJohnette [of Local 802]. To this day, when I hear someone play something I like, I copy them,” he says.

But, while watching, learning, copying, and taking lessons from a lot of different teachers, Gadd was also developing his own style. “The last teacher that I had, John Beck, always encouraged me to do things in a way that felt comfortable for me. I think that’s very important for young people. It’s okay to copy, but they have to find a way to make it feel comfortable for them. That’s what will make the most sense musically.”

However, he explains, becoming a successful session drummer is not just about learning your chops and developing your own style. “You’ve got to be able to fit what you are doing with other people; it’s not about feeling like your way is the only way,” he says. “It’s about making your way work with whoever you are playing with and making the music feel the best you can. It’s a give and take thing.”

Gadd takes on each job with the professionalism of an experienced musician whose focus is keenly on the end product. “For me, before anyone starts talking about the music, I would rather hear the demo or have them play the song; until you hear the song, there is nothing to talk about,” he says quite simply. “I think that listening before talking is important because then you’ve got something you can relate the words to.”

50 Ways to Groove on 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

His humble, patient, and accepting approach to music leaves Gadd’s mind open to try many different possibilities, until everyone is pleased with the result. For example, one of Gadd’s most talked about and well-recognized grooves happens in the intro to Local 802 member Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Gadd explains how he was just noodling when he happened upon it.

“We had been working on that song for a while, and the chorus part fell into place easily, but the first part wasn’t really feeling the way it should and we tried a few different things,” he says. “A lot of times I would stay in the drum booth while Paul and Phil [Ramone] were discussing what they wanted to do and I practiced different things. I was practicing a little military beat and Phil heard it and thought we should try it for the first part of the song. We just sort of stumbled on it by chance.”

Among the other “pinnacle” Gadd recordings are his solo work with Steely Dan on Aja, and recordings he’s done with Local 802 members Chick Corea and Bob James. “I feel very fortunate to have been able to have done what I’ve done with as many people as I’ve been able to play with; on a certain level, they are all special,” he says. “When I go in with everything I’ve got and it has an effect on the industry, I’m proud of it.”

However, Gadd explains that he isn’t one to look back on his accomplishments, however remarkable. He is more affected by when something he’s done has meant something to other people, especially other drummers. “Those are the things that are special to me,” he concludes.

From the early days of his career, Gadd made it a point to not get pigeonholed into one specific genre, but rather to take on new and diverse projects as they came along. “I like variety; I am challenged by that,” he says. “When I first got into recording there were certain things that I wasn’t comfortable with, but I kept trying and I was able to find a comfort level in a lot of different styles.”

Another Gadd key to building your freelance career: be reliable. “When you accept something, you give your word that you are going to do it, if something else comes up that you would have rather done, you have to stick with your word and your honor,” he says. “That is a basic rule. However, business-wise, you can’t afford to say ‘no’ to certain things. If you are a person of your word, then people understand when things happen and you can work it out.”

Have the Right Gadditude

Steve-GaddAnd then there’s attitude. “If you are in the studio and you want people to call you back, a lot of that has to do with your attitude,” he continues. “If you are on the road, you are playing the show, you might be playing for two or three hours, but you are spending the other 20 hours of the day traveling with people. All of that enters into it: how you get along with people, how much of a team player you are, and if people start to get tired and things get dark, shine some light on it because, in the long run, that’s going to affect the music.”

“It’s not just about the playing; it’s about showing up on time, doing your best, and trying to understand what people, like the producer, are verbally trying to get you to do on the instrument. That takes a lot of energy. If you try something and it’s not really the right thing and they want you to try something different, after that happens a couple of times, you can start to get a little paranoid. You have to remember why you are there and remember that the guy who is talking to you about the music is not a drummer, so it’s not easy for him to explain what he wants,” he says. “Just give 110%.”

Throughout his entire career Gadd has had the AFM by his side. “All the guys I work with are in the union,” he says. “I am happily a member and will continue to be. And a testament to that is that I’ve gone through my whole career and not really had any problems. I can’t imagine not being in the union.”

Not living in a big recording center like L.A., these days Gadd, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, is not involved in recording as much as he once was and this has allowed him time to create a few of his own projects. The Steve Gadd Band (with Local 47 members Michael Landau, Larry Goldings, Walt Fowler, and Jimmy Johnson) released its first album, Gadditude, in 2013 and just finished recording its second album, 70 Strong, scheduled for release April 2015. “I’ll be 70, so that’s where that comes from,” he explains.

Gadd has also been putting together his third album as the Gaddabouts with Edie Brickell. “That was her idea and it’s with Pino Palladino [of Local 47] and [Welsh guitarist] Andy Fairweather Low. It’s all Edie’s songs,” he says. Other 2015 projects will have him working with Local 802 member James Taylor during March and April and Eric Clapton later in the year.

Regardless of whether it’s his project or someone else’s, Gadd says his approach is the same. “If I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, then people around me sound good. It’s not about drawing attention to me, it’s about playing in such a way that everything flows and everybody feels comfortable,” he concludes.