Stu•d•io Tan
/ˈst(y)o͞odēˌō tan/
noun
1. No, not that Studio Tan;
2. Ironic reference to the total absence of a tan, most often observed on musicians who spend too much time in the studio (studios aren't known for having windows).

It's a noble profession to be sure. Just make sure you're ready to make peace with the idea of being up at all hours, playing with different people all the time, and attracting fewer drunk members of the opposite sex than your on-stage brethren will be offered. But if you manage to follow in the footsteps of studio greats like Will Lee and/or The Wrecking Crew, you'll get paid what you're worth, play every kind of music known to man and die happy.

The question is, how do you get there from here? It ain't easy. Luckily there are books (you know, bound paper covered in words, formerly found in a library, now found in a museum) that can help you crack the code and get in with the cool kids.

One such tome is The Studio Musician’s Handbook (Hal Leonard), an excerpt from which can be found at Discmakers from where we stole the idea for this article.

Of course, you're very busy and don't have time to read the excerpt much less the whole book (reading is highly over rated and probably isn't even taught in schools anymore). So allow us to give you the short, short, short version:

  1. Play good.
  2. Don't be an asshole.

There. That was easy, right? With that little nugget of wisdom you can go on to become a legendary sideman behind the glass. Really, it's not brain surgery.

What's that? You need more details? Ok, then maybe buying the book is a good idea after all. If nothing else, you're supporting a fellow musician so he doesn't have to hustle for gigs as a session player.

Source: Discmakers