[Dixielandjazz] PRO - drums

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Absolutely true and if you have a good drummer he is worth his weight in
gold but there's the catch.  There are so few guys like him around.  They
tend to cluster around the guys that they like or will give them a lot of
gigs.  Here they have a bad habit that's not exclusive to drummers in that
they won't play with certain other musicians or want too much money or they
would rather do whatever.  I guess my attitude is go practice in your
basement because I don't have time for it.

As I said before, computers keep getting better and computerized music keeps
getting better.  A former student of mine was an
outstanding drummer before switching to piano so he knows drumming.  He uses
a drum machine and he programs that thing to where you just about can't
tell.  He uses a very good sound system too so it sounds good.

I guess all things considered if I can't have a good drummer I would rather
have a good machine.   It makes a difference but if the difference is
between playing the job without a drummer or not playing the gig at all then
my desire to have a drummer evaporates.

I play a large number of gigs without a rhythm section at all.  Am I to be a
purist and not work those jobs and drop back to 10 or 15% of the gigs I play
now?

The question is, if a $300 job comes in do I take my big band and pay
everyone $30 or $35 and not make enough to cover expenses or do I hire a
couple of horn players and pay them $75 and make $150 for myself or better
still go out as a duo and pay $100 to my sideman and take $200 for myself?
I could tell the client I need $500 for the gig and he could tell me
goodbye.

I guess I consider drummers, piano players and bass men to be
expendable just as they have always considered me.  For the last 50 years
when a gig came to my piano playing friends and the money wasn't really good
they didn't call me but worked it as a trio or duo.  Technology has reversed
that.  Technology is that 500 lb gorilla in the room.  It's getting hard to
ignore.

I don't believe that I have put out of business a single rhythm player or
taken any gigs from them (well maybe the bad ones) but rather created better
paying jobs for myself and other horn players that didn't exist before.

The customer is making the choices here.  I charge anywhere between $40 and
$65 more to play than keyboard players doing singles charge and am right in
the ball park for other duo groups but I do them as a single.  Since I am
generally higher in price than my competition I can only conclude that they
like what I am doing and they could care less about the "canned" nature of
it all.

Like every musician, I love a good rhythm section that cooks and I play
better too but I'm not about to go out of business either.  I feel that I am
doing something that others can emulate, in no matter what size town or how
crappy the market is for music, and be successful with it.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marek Boym" <marekboym at gmail.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>;
<Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 4:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz]PRO - drums


> Hello Larry,
> The drummer in question - Arele Kaminsky - knows what he is doing!
> Although basically a "bopper and beyond," he is also one of the best
> Dixieland drummers in this country!
> As to the drummer's being necessary, the "Hot Five" had noo drummer,
> and neither had Turk Murphy.
> Personally, I do not like synthesized drums.  I've heard them many
> times, and they sound rather mechanical (but so do many real
> drummers).  A good drummer listens and interacts with the band, and it
> shows in the sound.  This, of course, is a listener's point of view
> (subjective!).
> Cheers
>
> On 12/01/2008, Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis
> <larrys.bands at charter.net> wrote:
>> Marek -- > Ages ago, when synthesizers first appeared, I asked a drummer
>> what he
>> > would do when drums, too, become synthesized.  His answer was: "That
>> > will never happen.  Drumming is not just about rhythm, it's a show."
>> > Cheers
>>
>> People like to watch people play and too many times that's the only
>> person
>> that is moving or doing much in most bands.
>>
>> The bigger question is, are drummers (and piano players and bass players)
>> necessary?  Personally I like a drummer that knows what he is doing
>> but.........  The large majority of drummers today haven't a clue as to
>> different styles or in a lot of cases, different basic beats.  I like to
>> hear guys change off or work with me on a solo but as was said in another
>> thread they just don't listen.  The few that can play are comfortable as
>> bugs with other bands, don't want to do anything different and are
>> generally
>> as independent as a hog on ice.
>>
>> Any businessman needs a consistent and reliable supply of what he is
>> selling.  Musicians are like trying to herd cats.  Over my lifetime I
>> have
>> lost thousands and thousands of dollars because I won't just hire anyone
>> to
>> fill a chair or substitute an accordion for a piano.  Many leaders and
>> bookers will but I just avoid that like the plague.  This attitude came
>> from
>> hiring guys out of the union hall who many times just couldn't cut it.
>>
>> Drummers were a necessary person in all bands and certain attitudes
>> developed that weren't always good.  The same went for other members of
>> the
>> rhythm section.  You need me and I may or may not work for you!  That
>> also
>> includes I may or may not finish the job or even show up.   I had a
>> drummer
>> call me at 5 o'clock one NYEve and want more money.  He announced to me
>> that
>> he was the nephew of the union secretary and I asked him which of his
>> fingers he would like to have broken.  He showed up and did OK but that's
>> BS.  One piano player who announced that he wanted $200 for a gig has
>> never
>> worked for me since.  At that time $50 was the average for a gig.
>> Another
>> walked out in the middle of a job because he didn't feel well.  We both
>> got
>> flu shots that day and I wasn't feeling well either.
>>
>> Today more than 90% of my gigs are played using a computer.  The other
>> 10%
>> is divided between other bands and larger full band gigs that I book.
>>
>> The advantages are obvious, I don't need anyone, it's consistent and I
>> don't
>> have to pay it. I can also control volume which isn't always true of live
>> musicians.  Another thing that I don't have to do is send endless e-mails
>> with maps and directions along with all the telephone calls to book guys
>> and
>> keep them on track and hope someone doesn't have a senior moment.  I
>> don't
>> have to scramble to fill a hole at the last minute because someone died
>> or
>> they are sick.   I also don't have to explain the road map either between
>> each tune.  My backup is an ipod.
>>
>> The computer enables me to compete very vigorously with all other bands
>> and
>> make inroads on the guys doing singles.  This also allows me to book
>> other
>> things that I wouldn't have gotten in the past.  My act is somewhere
>> between
>> a DJ and a live band.  The down side is that it's not as good as a cool
>> rhythm section and I have to physically carry more equipment to do the
>> job.
>> It's a lot easier to just walk in with a horn and play.  I also have to
>> be
>> consistent too,  no more forgetting which chorus I was in or being sloppy
>> with rhythm.  The guys that play with me have to be listeners too because
>> a
>> computer is very unforgiving.
>>
>> Word to the wise - computers are getting better every day.  I have an old
>> laptop that I still have some old software that I was using 10 years ago.
>> The difference is amazing and the technology is improving every day.
>>
>> Would I prefer a rhythm section?  The answer is still yes but if I had to
>> depend on booking rhythm guys and hoping against hope that they might
>> actually rehearse occasionally changes things around a lot.
>>
>> The only thing that makes me successful at this is that the people out
>> there
>> are more interested in the bottom line and so am I.  I want to make as
>> much
>> as possible for my time.  I consistently book at three to eight times
>> more
>> money than I can make with a band in the same venues and do it a whole
>> lot
>> more often.
>>
>> As I said before, this was my plan "B" of a few years ago.  I booked
>> another
>> Mardi Gras gig for the Saturday before Fat Tuesday this morning.  The
>> lady
>> was really excited to know that I would come out as a single during the
>> week
>> for her other events. This is BTW at about $40 more  than singles usually
>> pay.  I told two of my friends about her a few months ago that she was
>> looking for weekend players.  My friends didn't get hired.  One has been
>> a
>> 100% pro musician for 50 years, knows every tune in the book, is a good
>> performer and needs the work. I think a lot of the Senior venues are just
>> getting tired of some guy playing the piano but at the same time can't
>> afford a big group.  That's where I fit in.
>>
>> Let me tell a story from an unrelated business.  Some years ago I shopped
>> at
>> a large hardware store that was big and had tons of stuff.  No matter
>> what
>> job I had to do they always seemed to be out of something I needed.
>> There
>> was a little store called Handyman Hardware who was a lot smaller and
>> always
>> seemed to have what I needed.  They never had lots of anything but the
>> shelves were always stocked.  The secret was one had computerized
>> inventory
>> control and when they sold several items replacements were on a truck
>> immediately.  They didn't have to carry a large inventory that tied up
>> hundreds of thousands of dollars in things that didn't sell.  Now was a
>> pipe
>> fitting or piece of wood more superior from one or the other?  No.  Guess
>> which one is no longer in business?  Today every retail business has
>> computerized inventory control.
>>
>> I think that story is very appropriate to the music business today.  Just
>> like there are people who like to go to some quaint hardware store where
>> the
>> old guy roots through bins to find that widget there are many more who
>> want
>> something different, that's more consistent and always has what you want.
>>
>> I have spawned at least one clone here.  One of the best Dixie trombone
>> players who also happens to be a good singer is now doing singles with a
>> midi keyboard and backgrounds he has played in.  He books himself as a
>> single for $300.  Is it too late to change?  My trombone playing friend
>> is
>> in his late 70's.  My singer is now working as a Duo.  People around me
>> who
>> watch what I am doing change their act if they can.  Am I worried about
>> the
>> competition?  No because I am building up a following and have a class
>> act
>> at the right price.  They will squeeze out the non innovative musicians
>> who
>> think that just being there and playing music is all they have to do.
>>
>> I suppose I have an attitude too.  A few years ago the DJ's kicked the
>> snot
>> out of the band business and me personally.  I'm just kicking back.  I
>> have
>> been in the business for a long time and most of that time have been on
>> the
>> wrong side of the curve and at the mercy of whoever needed a sax player
>> or
>> not.  I don't ever plan on being there again.
>> Larry
>> St. Louis
>>
>>
>>
>