Response to a Student Question
Hi, Mr. Iles!
I’m a trombone performance major in college, and I heard that you play in a whole bunch of soundtracks in L.A. As a prospective trombone soundtrack performer myself, I’m wondering what your career path looked like to get you to where you are today. Thank you for your time!
Hi! Thanks for the message!
Most freelance/studio players did not follow any kind of set plan to become studio musicians specifically. My goal was always to learn what I needed to learn how to play whatever kinds of music and place myself at the best players playing this music.
My work and my career were very humble at the start. I played a lot of free rehearsals. Took lots of lessons with players and teachers in the area. I auditioned for lots of gigs. Sometimes I’d get picked, but more often NOT.
My goal was to observe and take in as much as I could about how the professional players I admired conducted themselves and what they had going on musically. I would recommend focusing on your musicianship above all. Develop your ears to be able to hear things clearly and play them on your horn or be able to transcribe without the need of an instrument. Experiment with improvisation. That’s a very important skill. The better you hear music, the more enlightened you are as a player. You can have all the chops in the world, but if you don’t play in tune with a great sound, sightread really well, and blend with what’s going on around you, people will not invite you to play. If you do those things consistently, you’ll find lots of opportunities in live and maybe even recording situations.
None of the studio musicians that I work with today are solely studio musicians. Collectively we play in symphony orchestras, jazz bands, contemporary music ensembles, pop groups and touring acts, Broadway shows, casual/wedding bands, chamber music, salsa bands, Persian bands, Dixieland, theme parks. Many of us also teach music, either private lessons or in a school setting. Some of us compose, orchestrate, arrange or transcribe music for income. For most of us, our careers are a much bigger picture than just playing one instrument and hoping to get enough work to live on. The more things that you do well, the more opportunities you will have and the more in demand you will be to play music with good players and that’s really the only “goal” I’ve always had. I never worried about the money or which gigs I was doing or was not doing. It was always more about learning about the music and developing the skills to contribute to whatever musical situation I was in. I’ve been really lucky that way. There really is no specific path unless you want to become a member of a well-paying symphony orchestra or become a college professor. Those are the only music fields I can think of where there’s a specific path you have to follow to be successful. In my kind of freelance career, there are many options and when an opportunity ever comes up, it helps if you have some idea of what you’re getting yourself into.
One last factor I would recommend developing is cultivating personal attributes of someone who people like to hire. It’s best not to be really competitive or controversial in a freelance world. You really have to get along with people (Even if they’re not really crazy about each other!!) like any other job. You don’t have to schmooze people or kiss their butts, but it’s a good idea to understand how the people who are the most influential in your immediate world and how they conduct themselves. If you make the established players sound good when they play they will want to play with you and will invite you to join them.
It’s also really important to be reliable as a person, make sure you have quality gig clothes and that you’re taking care of your grooming, and live by The Golden Rule. Karma in the music business is a real thing. Gossip and trash talk can really hurt the freelance players engaging in it. I had a teacher tell me once, “The best players I know take in more than they put out.” Listening is your most important skill to cultivate both while you’re playing and when you’re not. And it’s a skill worth addressing every day for your whole life! Every one of us can be better listeners, I think!
That’s sort of my overall take on all this stuff. There’s no formula! Just follow the musical gifts that you have and develop new ones as you go along! Be open to opportunities and take a risk once in a while to play music that is fairly new to you, with humility. We all screw up even after we’ve established ourselves in whatever career we have! It’s a constant learning curve and there are always situations or pieces of music that will “get you” !
One more thing about trombone specifically. Make sure you have competency on the bass, trombone and valve instruments. “Doubles” are critical the longer you play In pursuit of a professional career. Maybe pick up the tuba, too, and get comfortable recording yourself at home in Pro Tools or Logic.
Good luck to you!
Alex