Hey! Thanks for asking me to help with this show / cabaret! I’d love to help!
My 2024 minimum is $300 per show, which includes 1 rehearsal and 1 soundcheck call too.
HOWEVER: This assumes that all songs will have specific, written bass parts already provided (in the intended key, with proper formatting, and with chord symbols above). Or, for less complex tunes: at least a lead sheet / chord chart. I cannot insinuate written bass parts from Piano / Vocal scores (PVs) – and I shouldn’t create new scores from those unless officially contracted as an orchestrator or originator of the part.
Consider how essential the exact basslines are to songs such as “Billie Jean”, “Santa Fe”, “Under Pressure”, “Snuff That Girl“, etc. Whole notes don’t cut it, and I don’t want to ever be fishing for groove at a performance.
Too often lately, I’ve ended up transcribing dozens of songs for myself, beyond commensurate pay for a one-off show. Then (for the sake of the gig) I’ve been compelled to share my charts with the other instrumentalists, as they too are struggling with PVs. Bass charts are useful to drummers and guitarists: they have chord symbols, rhythmic hits, and far fewer page turns than PVs. My work ends up being a cornerstone of the band “locking in”. The show goes great, but afterward I feel burnt out, uncredited, and underpaid for the orchestration I’ve put in.
So moving forward, I would like to charge extra for research and copying work:
- $2.90 a song to research / find an existing PDF from my HUGE database of Popular Song and bootleg Musical Theater bass charts. ($0 if I can’t find anything).
For instance: you need a PDF copy of the existing bass part of “Willkommen” or “Mr. Brightside” – I already have both of those in my files. - $5.00 a song if I already have it digitized in Finale but need to transpose it for your show.
For instance: you need “Mr. Brightside” in a different key than the original recording. - $50 a song for me to digitize a PDF into Finale for the purpose of transposition.
For instance: you need me to transpose “Willkommen” to another key. It already exists, but you need it modified. - $100 a song if I need to transcribe the bass part from scratch.
For instance: only the PV, MusicNotes chart, and/or audio recording is available anywhere. (Note: this is below my ‘regular’ rate of transcription).
I’ll approach each song case-by-case. Some songs just need whole notes and color; a simple chart is OK for that. In every case, access to your Finale or XML files is a massive help. I will communicate before commencing any work that incurs fees above my base of $300 / show.
- “Pink Pony Club“, “Zombie“, “At Last” are all great songs – a simple chord chart or PV (with markings & chord symbols) is likely fine.
- “Defying Gravity“, “Don’t Start Now“, “So Much Better” are all examples of great songs with specific basslines in which a chord chart or PV is not adequate.
- Chordify, UltimateGuitar, HTML tab, lyric/chord charts etc. etc. generally don’t cut it.
Last note: IMHO Electric Bass is perfect for most contemporary cabarets at venues such as 54Below and The Green Room 42. If you require Upright Bass for any service, or a double of both instruments, I will bill for cartage (UberXL to & from the Lower East Side) for each service it is required for. Keyboard Bass (I use MainStage) is also an option (ideal for some synth, EDM, and pop tunes) – but it portable enough to not incur any additional cartage.
The Lee Sklar rule (coined by legendary session bassist Leland Sklar):
The Music / The Hang / The Money
^ It’s a great gig if at least 2/3 are compelling!
Each gig is different, and I can totally be flexible on my rates and parameters for each performance. If the people are great (they always are) and the music is cool, I am not so concerned about the pay and (within my control) will work my butt off to ensure your show is as fantastic as it deserves to be. At this point in my career, I just feel like I need to set some boundaries on what I can realistically offer & give!
If it still sounds like I’d be a good fit for your project, I would love to be a part of it and can promise you the very best of my ability, accuracy, groove, and writing. Thanks so much!
~ Dave (updated August 10th, 2024)
p.s. – three last comments to arrangers (sorry to be on my soapbox here):
- Bass charts should almost always include chord symbols.
- When writing slash chords: the lowest bass note goes on the right side. C/G means play a C chord with a G in the bass. I was trained to play a G when I see that chord symbol. It fundamentally changes the nature of the chord. For some weird reason, for the past 2 years I’ve been seeing a lot more charts where the composer writes C/G but actually intends for a C in the bass. It’s really perplexing. I think it *might* be due to Avid’s AI Model for Chord Auto-Complete in Sibelius, but I am not sure.
- Whether in Finale, Sibelius, or otherwise, there should be ONE primary document for a song’s arrangement, with all specific extractable Parts within. This prevents future headaches of amending multiple files, measure numbers not matching, and more. When I see a file called “songtitleBASS.musx”, “songtitleGUITAR.sib”, or “songtitleDRUMS.musicxml” I know something has gone awry.