Choosing the Musicians
Will
Griffin
These are decisions usually made by the producer and/or the session leader, however, if you are paying for the session, you have final say. It is wise to get to know who your players are, whether you are the financial sponsor of your session or not.
It is best to listen to other albums, where the musician also played. You may wish to find a musician who has worked for an artist, who's style has influenced your own voice, playing and/or writing. If you do not own any albums that the musician has played, you may find that "buy before you try" works here, in that you get to hear this musician to get a very good idea then how you can communicate to them, what sound, feel and groove you are looking to capture.
Through our affiliation with Amazon.com, we have listed and linked the albums and the hit records the members of the Studio Musicians' Network have played, so that you can listen to clips, where the musician is playing, and then to buy the CD on-line, so that you have it to listen to to learn the musician's sound & style, before you hire the musician, or certainly before you meet them in the studio. For this same purpose, we are providing e-mail links to our musicians, so that you can also get to know them more personally, which you'll find will help them and you feel more comfortable, when it is time to record your project.
If you wish for your song or performance to get radio airplay or any serious consideration as a professional work product, you MUST hire musicians who are members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM).
There is no substitute or short-cut to recording quality projects. If you want your song or your performance showcased to its best, you need to hire seasoned and experienced union studio musicians. If you do not, you will quickly and unfortunately find that although it felt and sounded good they day of the session and a few days later, that this wasn't the time for everybody getting their first experiences in the recording studio.
If you want to be taken seriously as a professional in the music industry, you need to hire, work with and associate with others who are professionals in the music industry. These musicians have many years of experience to provide the highest quality and their experiences have caused them to have a very expanded network of other professionals in the music industry.