How Much Do Session Drummers Charge?
If you are reading this article, you are probably considering hiring a session drummer, but you are trying to understand: what should I expect to pay a session drummer? And more importantly, what value does a session drummer offer my music?
The History of Session Drumming
Session drummers, or studio drummers, have been around since the birth of the modern music industry. Old school session drummers like Hal Blaine played on thousands of songs for artists like The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, The Mamas and The Papas, and hundreds more.
Here’s how the process worked back then:
The artist or the artist’s management would book out a big commercial studio, usually in LA or New York, for thousands of dollars. Session musicians would also get booked for the session for thousands of dollars to read charts and perform takes at an extremely high level. A top session drummer like Hal Blaine could expect to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from sessions and royalties, eventually becoming a millionaire.
Changes in the industry
When piracy hit the music industry in the 2000’s, budgets were hit hard and the music industry all but crumbled. With the advent of streaming, the music industry is growing, but the amount artists earn from recorded music is still a fraction of what it was when buying physical albums was the norm.
These days, it’s rare for session drummers to make royalties from music they’ve played on. Today, royalties (also referred to as “producer points”) usually only go to the producer, artist, and label.
Most session drummers now make a set amount per song, or per day. Some will have a different (more affordable) price for independently funded projects, and a (higher) price for projects that are being financially backed by a label. What are these prices? It depends on the drummer and what they are providing.
THE Different Kinds of Sessions
The role of a session drummer has changed a lot over the years. Let’s take a look at what used to be expected of a session drummer compared to what’s expected today:
Traditional Drum sessions
Back in the day, session drummers, and session musicians in general, were extremely specialized. They wouldn’t set up mics, or even setup and tune their own drums. Those roles were relegated to the recording engineer, and the drum tech. Their sole job was to show up to the commercial studio facility and perform the charted out musical arrangement as precisely as possible. These sessions offer specific benefits and drawbacks.
Benefits:
Highly specialized people for every job can result in a higher quality sound
These sessions were usually in person, allowing the artist to see the process and make suggestions during tracking
Lots of high quality gear options are usually available in commercial spaces from mics to preamps, to drums and cymbals
In person sessions offer the ability to do live tracking. Live tracking allows musicians to lock in with each other and establish solid group time in a way that piecing together performances can’t.
Drawbacks:
Traditional drum sessions are very expensive. You are paying for: the studio time, an engineer, the drummer, and sometimes additional costs like cartage, a drum tech, etc.
While you can make changes on the fly if you are there in person, once the session is over, if you want something done differently that can’t be achieved through editing, you’ll have to book another session.
Today, musicians still get booked for these kinds of high budget in person sessions at commercial studios, but projects with budgets big enough for traditional in person sessions are getting less common, and even some artists that can afford to do things this way are preferring a different approach.
The Modern REmote Drum Session
Many artists have access to affordable recording gear and can make demos of their songs from their bedroom. Even high level artists like Billie Eillish, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift are making songs without booking time in big commercial studios. In these kinds of situations, many artists opt for remote collaboration with session musicians, producers, and engineers.
In these kinds of sessions, the artist, producer, or label sends the drummer a song file with directions and/or charts to help guide the drummer’s performance. The drummer is then playing the role of drum tech, studio owner, recording engineer, and session drummer.
A remote session can be done completely on the drummers own time, or some drummers can host video calls with studio quality audio with the client to get in the moment feedback.
Pricing
So what about pricing? Pricing can vary widely between $5 a song to $500, or $300 a day to $5,000+ a day. As a general rule, you will spend more money tracking drums on your songs using the traditional session method than the remote session method.
Traditional Drum Session Pricing
In a traditional drum recording session you are usually paying an hourly or day rate. In addition to paying your drummer you have to factor in:
1) The studio day rate ($300+ a day)
2) The engineer’s day rate ($300+ a day)
3) The session drummer’s day rate ($200+ a day)
4) Any gear rental, cartage, or drum tech fees
5) Travel to and from the studio
Modern Remote Drum Session Pricing
In a modern remote session, since you are usually dealing with one person (the remote session drummer) you have a very clear price (usually a per song price). A remote drum session for one song can range from $5 to $500 a song. This is a huge range, and there are a huge range of remote drum recording options online today. Here’s a few things that effect price:
1) Experience
There are marketplaces with novice drummers offering drum tracking for next to nothing, but in the vast majority of these cases, the gear, playing, and communication will be very low quality.
2) The Gear
The more someone has invested in their gear, the more justified they will feel to charge a higher price per song. Also, some drummers are only going to offer unprocessed stems, while others will send mixed stems.
3) The Credits
The more major credits a player has, the more likely they will be to charge a premium for their services
4) Revisions
Some players offer the ability to ask for changes after they send their first take. Some offer a certain amount, some offer unlimited revisions, some charge for revisions, some don’t offer revisions at all.
5) Editing
Some session drummers will edit their tracks to be perfectly aligned with the grid, others will send unedited takes.
6) Overdubs
Some drummers offer percussion overdubs and sample enhancement (mixing in samples to help give the mixing engineer more control over different parts of the kit).
7) Project
A drummer might charge a different price for label backed projects than they do for independent projects. Other factors might also play a role like: charging more if the song wasn’t recorded to a click, charging more for longer songs, or charging more to travel to and record in a commercial space.
Closing Thoughts
If you are considering adding real drums to your song(s), make sure you consider all the variables that go into getting a great drum performance and recording. Are you looking for a collaborator that is ready to explore and find the perfect approach and sound for each song? Or are you looking for a world renown drummer that will add credibility to your song, but might not be the most flexible or responsive? Are you looking for the cheapest option? Or do you want to make sure your song reaches its full potential? Make sure you are honest with yourself about your goals and desires for your song, and that you consider all the options in order to find the best option for your music.