Members wombar Posted February 26, 2003 Members Share Posted February 26, 2003 Hi All, I'm looking to finally get drumming for a living having spent the past six months trying to polish up my playing, now I've found an agency that is auditioning for drummers to play on cruise ships. The funny thing is, they dont require sight reading. I can read fairly well, but not straight off the bat, all they said was as long as you're a fast learner then thats all they want. What I really want to know from some of you guys who may have been doing this for a while is what sort of things do they ask you to do on these auditions? I'm guessing that I'll be playing to a click which is no problem, playing along to some music etc. I just want to be prepared so any advice from you guys would be great. Completely off topic, alot of my friends from Uni will wonder why I bothered, I did a degree in Games Simulation & Virtual Reality. Musics the life for me, I'm happiest when I'm playing music so thats the way I'm going. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Liverneck Posted February 27, 2003 Members Share Posted February 27, 2003 The agencies I've gone thru usually want a video tape, 8 x 10 glossy and the package (couple pages telling who u are & what you've done). Going out freelance can give you a good chance at meeting other musicians, but get a group together and you sometimes better your chances. (not always, but sometimes)I've played miami to the caribbean islands, and mainly played calypso, jazz & softer rock. That's what the agency was looking for, so that's what i auditioned with. My advice is to work on many different styles and reading. They will probably throw a sheet up infront of you. Also get a 'fake book' and learn as much as possible. Anyone who says playing a ship isn't working for your money is bull{censored}ting. Can't mingle with the guests, have to keep hidden when not playing (but the food is still good). I've seen guys slowly start to come apart after a few weeks. Some musicians just can't be away for too long, so my advice is to book a shorter contract to test the waters. Traveling and touring is the true test. GL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wombar Posted February 27, 2003 Author Members Share Posted February 27, 2003 Well that could be a small problem. I dont really have anything music wise to show, I've played a few gigs here and there but nothing substantial. I've been at Uni for the past three years and somehow I dont think that they're going to care about my computing degree. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Steve Posted February 27, 2003 Members Share Posted February 27, 2003 I suppose you could get a camcorder and record your playing to some prerecorded music of various styles. My guess is that they'll just want to see if you can play. I've always been interested in the cruise ship thing, but with a wife and kids it's just not in the cards. There was an article in Modern Drummer about this stuff last year I think, so you might want to go check that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Liverneck Posted February 28, 2003 Members Share Posted February 28, 2003 Well, a start would be to get a few musician friends together, set up a cam corder and play a few tunes. Probably a swing tune, rock tune and something else like calypso or a latin tune. Really only need 4 or 5 minutes. Black & White 8x10's are not that expensive (depending where your from). Just of you and not the band. Key is to make it look very professional. Drummers don't generally need a fake book, but it's always a good idea to have one. Knowing when to start and stop is very important if you havent played the song before. Just put together the pic, vid and package and get then out there.Perserverence is key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wombar Posted February 28, 2003 Author Members Share Posted February 28, 2003 Hmmm, this could harder than I thought, this had to be the most un-musical area of the world. I dont know any decent bass players and only maybe one or two half decent guitarists. {censored}e! I actually got an e-mail back from the agency today and they said that I'd also need to take my kit to the audition which again is a small problem, my cars just a little'un, dont think I'm gonna be able to get my bass drum in with the rest of the stuff. I would have thought that they'd have a kit there, oh well. I'm assuming that agencies want a video so they can look at how you play when you're not there and they're trying to pick a drummer from a selection of people? I'm thinking that I may hold off for a while and join a band with some other people to get some more gigging experience. Plus I could probably do with a slightly bigger car to move my kit around in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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