The Blog-Pimp Your Rider

The Blog: Pre-production

(Live Performance Riders)

"Pimp Your Rider"

When I was working as a free-lancer in the recording studios in NYC, I’d routinely get to the studio du-jour some times hours before the session was to start. I showed up armed with information that I got from my client, who was to arrive shortly before the session would start. This way, I had time to prepare for what was to come so that we could actually start to work once the clock started running. (That ole clock ticked loudly @ $250. per hour!)

But, before all of the above, I made some phone calls (alas, no emails in those days). The purpose of the calls was to get as much information as possible about what was to transpire on day of the session. Well, at the risk of stating the obvious, this can be very important whether you’re doing a recording or a live show. Time is precious, but if you can gather the pertinent information in advance, you are ahead of the game and you can actually be relaxed! Needless to say, this is how it's done in a professional setting.

These days, when I’m preparing to do any gig, I start thinking about it days or sometimes weeks before. There are all those pesky little details like: acoustic guitar: mic or di or both? Drums: 4, 5, 6 piece kit?, 2 snares?, lap-top? Bass: electric bass and/or acoustic bass w/pickup or mic or both. Keyboards: (there are 3 on the input list) 1 player, 2 players, 3 players? Are they all going to be run in stereo? (that’s 6 channels, a good thing to know). Or, does the one keyboard player have a mixer. And so it goes. There are usually dozens of little bits of information about your setup that could fall through the cracks and then bite you, you know where, while the clock is relentlessly running the day of the session or show. So, do your homework and show up to the gig with as much going for you as possible. It’s a much nicer way to work!

P.S. Make a habit out of checking your rider, input list, stage plot, etc, to see if they’re up to date! Once you're at the gig, your options are greatly diminished. ; 0 )