The Audition

The next 2 posts will be dedicated to the 2 A's: Auditions and Agents.  Again, this will pertain to orchestra musicians, because solo entertainers and bands will have a different process.  This will be dedicated to the first A, the Audition...

During Jonathan Kane's show, a tribute to Sir Elton John

Like almost all music jobs, working on a cruise ship requires an audition.  The reason is simple in that both sides will be investing money before the musician even steps foot onto the ship.  For the cruise line, they will be doing quite a bit of admin work to put the new employee into the computer system and to make sure all of the paperwork is in line.  The cruise line will also be paying for the employee's airfare to join the ship and also for a hotel room for the night before.  In order to allow for delays and small travel issues, the cruise lines generally choose to fly all crewmembers one day before they will sign on the ship and then put them up in a hotel for the night.  I have had 2 instances where I was flown the day of joining, but those are pretty rare.  Once onboard, the employee will be given a long series of trainings onboard so there is quite an initial investment on the company's part.  On the employee's part, they will be getting a background check, filling out a lot of paperwork, and then they have to pay for a pretty intense medical.  Once the musician is on the ship, their health insurance is covered 100%.  Add to that the fact that it is hard to deal with medical emergencies while at sea and you can understand why the cruise line would want to make sure that every employee is healthy and fit for duty.  The medical is very thorough and is a lot more in depth than the traditional annual physical exam.  In addition to a physical examination, the employee will get a chest x-ray, drug screenings, and full blood work.  The medical is valid for 2 years and can be used for multiple contracts.

On stage during a production show with singers and dancers

One kind of unrelated topic is the contract length.  For almost 100% of new hires, the cruise line will assign the musician to a ship for a full 6-8 month contract.  The musician will stay on the same ship for the full contract and then go home for a 6-8 week vacation and then either return to the same ship or go to a different ship for their next contract.  Obviously somebody has to cover the position during those 6-8 weeks during the musician's vacation so there are possibilities to do what is called a "vacation fill."  Usually these opportunities go to musicians who have already proven themselves and have a few contracts under the belts.  Since these contracts are only 6-8 weeks long, the musician must adapt well and be able to learn production shows very quickly.  The length of full contracts scare off a lot of people, but that's just a part of the gig.  Don't expect to get assigned a short, 6-8 week contract right off the bat.  It might be a possibility in the future, but you have to prove yourself to the cruise line first.

Now back to the audition process.  The actual process was kind of strange compared to the many other auditions I have had in my musical career.  For one, an audition to work on a cruise ship is typically done over the phone.  I had never done a sound check on a phone before!  I'm not sure if the auditions have evolved into using Skype or video conferencing yet, but mine was just over a regular phone line.  There are some live auditions offered at different locations, but in order to accommodate more people and also to cut down costs, most auditions are held over the phone.  I was asked to play a lot of different styles just to make sure I was well versed.  Then I was asked to do different transitions between style and appropriately set up the transitions.  For instance, I think I was given 8 bars of bossa nova and then transition into 8 bars of swing.  It went on for a few more styles and more transitions.  Then 8 bars of bossa nova into 8 bars of double time samba.  The reason is that playing on a ship is a very musically diverse job and you can't just play rock or just play jazz.  The next part of the audition was sightreading.  They emailed me 3 charts and then gave me 10 minutes to study them and then they called me back and asked me to play them straight down.  The examples were relevant to playing on a ship as they were 1) a musical theater excerpt (similar to what a musician would play in a production show), 2) an up-tempo swing chart, and 3) a disco/rock chart.  While it's impossible to audition for every possible scenario, I think my audition did a good job at covering the key areas.  It takes being able to play a lot of different styles correctly and also being able to read well.

A photo backstage with the 9-piece orchestra

As soon as I finished my audition we discussed my background and experience and at the end I was offered a position on a specific ship starting on a specific date.  For those people who plan to audition for a cruise line, just remember that you may not start right after you complete your audition.  But then again, a friend of mine auditioned on trumpet and had less than a week to get everything together and join a ship.  In my case, my audition was in early June and they offered me a position starting at the end of August.  The reason is that for orchestra members, there is only one position each on the ship.  Meaning only one lead trumpet, one drummer, one guitar, etc. in the orchestra.  Unless somebody gets fired during their contract (it does happen, unfortunately), the office has to wait for somebody's contract to end in order to put another musician there.  There are other factors the office has to consider as well, such as whether a musician wants to return to the same ship (the general rule is that a musician can finish their contract, take a vacation, and then as long as they are in good standing can choose to return to the same ship) or if the shows and demands of a specific ship are good for the musician (if the ship has production shows that require heavy doubling for woodwinds, putting a weak doubler wouldn't be a good choice).  My recommendation for those who audition is don't be picky for your first ship if you want the job.  Some musicians try to demand a certain itinerary right from the start and it will give the office a bad first impression.  Remember your main priority is work.

The audition for a cruise line is like any other audition.  Before the audition even starts, make sure you are prepared and that you show yourself in the best possible light.  If you have an audition scheduled, don't schedule anything else that day.  Even if it is over the phone, it is very serious and will mean the difference in getting the gig or not.  Pick a time when you know there won't be any background noise and you won't have any distractions happening.  Give the office a landline number to call if possible so you aren't worrying about your cellphone signal, especially if you are in a basement of place with a weak signal.  Make sure your internet connection is strong as you will be receiving sightreading material through your email.

One of the benefits: my wife and me visiting the pyramids!

On the personal side, be respectful and courteous to the person auditioning you. As the economy continues to struggle along and land gigs are harder to come by, there are more and more musicians heading to ships as they offer regular paychecks and come with lots of other benefits (traveling the world, time to practice your instrument, meeting lots of people.  This means there is more competition out there and you want to give them a reason to hire you.  As with nearly every other gig, people want to work with others that are easy to work with and respectful, even if they are slightly less talented.  A cruise ship is a very closed environment (think, how far away can you get from a person), so the office knows how important it is to hire people that will work well with the other musicians.  The person auditioning you has most likely been a Musical Director on a ship before so they know the demands of the job, meaning they are probably imagining you playing onboard during your audition.  If you make a mistake, continue going and don't let it affect you.  Some musicians have a tendency to stop and apologize for their mistake during an audition.  But keep on going, you can't stop because of a mistake in the middle of the show.

One more recommendation is to always be honest with the people auditioning you.  You might be able to pull one over on them, but you will pay for it in the end.  I have seen musicians onboard who might have "fudged" their resume a bit or told a white lie during the audition process and then they might get put into a bad situation and struggle once they start the job.  For example, if you play trumpet, be honest with your range and experience.  If you are not a legit lead player, don't offer yourself as a lead player because it will come back to bite you once you sign on.  Better to be honest from the start.  If you play tenor and struggle with your clarinet doubles, better to be honest.  I worked on a ship where the tenor player had to double on clarinet and play the entire opening solo to "Rhapsody in Blue."  Imagine trying to pull that off if you play clarinet at an elementary level.  We had one tenor player that had to be moved to another ship because he couldn't play it; not a great impression with the office for future contracts.  Just remember, honesty is the best policy.


Well, that covers the basics of the audition process.  It may vary depending on the cruise line and whether the audition if for the cruise line or for an agency.  And that brings me to the next post, which will cover the next A: Agents.

Requirements of an Orchestra Musician

In my last post, I covered some basics about the musicians in the ship's orchestra.  This post will be my top requirements/attributes in order to be successful as a member of the group.

The Requirements.  I often get asked what it would take to work as a musician in the orchestra.  There are some specifics for each instrument that I will get into for later posts, but this is a general overview for all musicians in the orchestra.  This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but just a broad starting point.  I have to also say that this list goes beyond the obvious of playing your specific instrument (and doubles for woodwind players) at a professional level with professional tone and be able to play the necessary ranges.

Sometimes you have to be a really good reader (or mind-reader)
to make sense of some of the really bad charts.
Good luck to Jake, trying to figure out the lead trumpet chart.

1) Be a good reader.  This group works almost 100% from reading charts and it is one of the, if not the most, important parts of the gig.  Not only to be a good reader, but to be a good sightreader.  As I mentioned before with guest entertainer shows, the orchestra usually has only 60-90 minutes to rehearse a one hour show, so you basically read through it once and you might get the chance to go over some tricky transitions or train wrecks but that's about it.  The production shows are all charted as well and a new musician will get to run it one time straight down before performing it for real in front of the guests.  And there are not usually rehearsals for big band sets, so the musicians must be able to sightread the charts.  The guests don't care that the arrangement of In the Mood in the orchestra's big band book is in a different key than the original, they want the band to read it correctly and make it sound like the song that they know.

Since reading is such an important part of the gig, it's also an important part of the audition process (I will get to more on the audition process in another post).  There are many great players out there who freeze up when you put a chart on the stand.  I'm not saying that those people aren't great musicians, it just means that this isn't the gig for them.  Like most things in life, it's like a giant puzzle and you just have to see where the pieces fit best.  The musicians who have great ears and play well but don't read do have a place, even on a ship, and I will get to that during a later post.

One big band or cocktail set may run through
a variety of different ballroom styles.

2) Have a broad musical knowledge.  I'm not saying you have to be an expert in every single genre, but be able to know the basics about the most common styles.  Because the orchestra sometimes works as a jazz/dance band, it is good to know the basic Latin ballroom styles as well.  While playing in the orchestra, I've had to play samba, bossa nova, cha-cha, rhumba, mambo, songo all in the "Latin" styles as well as all the various sub-jazz genres, classical, country, and also pop/contemporary.  One day you might be playing a tribute to Celine Dion and the next might be Motown, and then the next might be a Latin-style show.  Again, you don't have to be an expert in all, but know a little bit to be able to cover.  It also pays to load up you listening library so you can study if need be.  Be able to play stylistically correct in as many genres as possible, know the correct articulations, the overall feel of the genre, etc.  Some people call it the "jack of all trades, master of none" but it kinds of holds true.

In addition to having a broad background, it is also useful to be able to solo on at least a basic level.  I'm not saying you will have to take 20 choruses of Giant Steps, but at least be able to cover yourself with basic changes.  As a drummer I hate soloing, it's one of my least favorite parts of the gig, and when I am MD I get the magical power not to have to do it.  But there have been times when I had to take an open drum solo in front of over 1,000 in the theater and it was a part of my job and I did it with a smile.  There is nothing worse in a Big Band set when a musician gets called to solo on a chorus and they look like a deer caught in the headlights.  I've worked with some players with more of a classical background that just flat out do not solo.  On some ships you might actually be able to get away with it, but on others you might not last more than a couple of weeks before getting a return ticket home.  Better safe than sorry and soloing is like anything else, it just takes practice.  And with the technology available today, there is no excuse not to be able to practice the skill.  Get some Aebersold play alongs, go on YouTube...

3) Be a team player.  While I mentioned the routine playing venues, sometimes you might have to do something of those.  The Cruise Director is responsible to put together the best entertainment they can for guests and sometimes they will try new things.  I have played sets that I didn't always enjoy playing, but it wasn't my job to question it.  I've played next to the pool while at sea and watched everyone's sheet music fly away.  I've had to sit at the dock next to the ship and play as guests were returning to the ship (even if they never noticed that there was a live band playing).  I guarantee there will be times when the musicians are asked to do something outside of their normal duties and it's usually best to just be a team player, suck it up, and do it.  Sometimes because of busy schedules the musicians might have to have a rehearsal in the morning, or they might have to come back to the ship early and give up some port time.  But in the end, musicians are there to work and there is a job to do.

The dreaded parade!  My djembe is being blocked from view.
Is my hat on straight?

Sometimes there is a tendency for people on a ship to say "that's not in my contract" or "I didn't go to music school for this."  Well, maybe not, but you took the gig and you also take your salary every 2 weeks without.  Plus when you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean it's not like you can just walk away so easily.  I'll give you an example, on the first ship I worked on there was a weekly parade and it included the musicians from the orchestra.  There was no actual playing, instead the musicians had to dress it very brightly colored costumes and dance around like fools up and down the ship.  I absolutely hated everything about that parade.  But it wasn't my job to question why I was there, my job was to put on the costume and do my job.  Of course I didn't get a bachelor's degree in music to pretend to play in a silly parade, but that wasn't the point.  What got me through those parades was the fact that the guests loved it.  It was one of their first experiences onboard and the ship was family friendly and it was fun seeing the smiles on the faces of the children.

Most of the musicians on my first ship.
I can count at least 9 countries represented off the top of my head.

4) Be open minded.  Musicians playing on ships come from all over the world and in one orchestra I was in, we had 7 different countries represented in the 9 members.  Needless so say, with all of the backgrounds there can be different interpretations and musical ideas on the bandstand.  Ultimately it's up to the Musical Director, but sometimes by being open minded you can resolve little issues without having to involve them.  And remember that you don't always have to be right.  Learning how to "smile and nod" can go a long way.

Being on a ship in general is like a mini, floating United Nations.  It is a melting pot of different religions, cultures, and languages.  On a typical cruise, there will be over 40 nationalities represented in the crew onboard.  There is a tendency not to always understand each other at first.  On my first ship I worked with a lot of Americans onboard so I didn't notice it as much.  But then I went to a ship based in Europe and I worked with more British musicians.  I worked with an MD that would always ask me, "Are you alright?"  In the US you usually only get asked that question if it looks like you are not doing so well.  I kept wondering to myself if I looked sick or something.  I am so grateful to have worked on a ship because it allowed me to experience so many different cultures and I can get a glimpse into many different places around the world without even having to go there.  And my rule for everyone is that you don't always have to like each other, but you must respect each other.  It is nearly impossible to like every single person you work with, especially on a ship with over 800 crew members.  But you are expected to show a basic level of respect.

The ship is active 24 hours a day and rules help keep it safe.

5) Be able to follow rules.  This is not just a music-related requirement.  While being on a luxury cruise ship is not the same as being on a military ship, it is similar in that there are a lot of rules to follow.  For some people, this gets to be a little overbearing, but there is a need for it all.  The reason is almost always for everyone's safety onboard.  It's not your job to decide which rules to follow, it's your job to follow them.  Yes, at times it may seem overbearing, but to work on a ship you must in general be a rule follower and not a rule breaker.

Believe it or not, this goes against the attitudes of a lot of musicians I know, which means this is not a gig for everyone.  No, you cannot wear sandals into the crew mess (dining room).  Yes, you have to wear a uniform when you are in a public area.  And yes, in some ports there might be a curfew for the crew.  It's not your job to determine whether the rules are right or wrong, it is only your job to follow them.  As I said, most of the rules are in place to ensure everyone's safety.  If you happen to be one of those anti-establishment, stick-it-to-the-man kind of people, then working on a ship is definitely not for you.


This by no means includes everything but it gives a general outline.  There is a lot more general and instrument-specific information that will take more posts to go through.  For my next post I will discuss the audition process and the decision of whether or not to get an agent to get employment on a ship.

Starting With the Orchestra

There are several different positions for musicians to work onboard a cruise ship.  Each possibility has it's own unique requirements and performances and it could vary between different cruise lines.  My experience was working as a drummer in the orchestra, playing nightly shows in the theater.

The stage before the orchestra performs for a guest entertainer's show.

I will start with an overview for all musicians working onboard.  The usual contract length is between 6 and 7 months long.  Sometimes I get asked how much time off we have in between cruises and the answer is none!  Believe it or not, there are only a few hours between one cruise and the next.  One day you will play a Farewell Show for one cruise and the following evening is a Welcome Aboard show for the next ship full of guests  The musicians work continuous cruises from the day they sign on the ship until their contract ends.  There are good and bad parts to this style of contract.  You don't have to worry about booking gigs each week, it's already done for you and you know exactly how much you will earn from month to month.  But you can imagine the normal life events that you will have to miss by being at sea for 6 to 7 months at a time (weddings, birthdays, etc.).

Now some specific information, and I will start with the orchestra...

A 9-piece orchestra playing on stage.
I'm playing drums but you can't see me.

The Musicians.  This group is made up of musicians who are hired independently from each other.  They are auditioned by the cruise line or an agency to fill a specific spot.  Unless a musician has worked with another musician on a ship on a previous contract, the musicians for the most part do not know each other before their contract together.  In some cruise lines the orchestra will rehearse together on land and then join the ship all together as a group, but for most cruise lines the musicians in the ship's orchestra will come and go at different times.  This can be good and bad.  When you sign on the ship, there might be a pain in the rear musician and they only have one more cruise left on their contract.  Meaning that you only have to put up with them for a short while.  But on the other hand, you might meet a great musician in the orchestra an find out you will only be playing together for a week.  The orchestra is made up of different numbers of musicians depending on ship size and the cruise line.  As you can imagine with budget cuts over the years, what started as full big bands has gone to usually 7 to 9 piece groups.

The orchestra performing during a show, I was the drummer.

The Work.  The work can vary for the orchestra from ship to ship and between cruise lines.  But usually the orchestra will play for a Welcome Aboard Show, a Farewell Show, the production shows, guest entertainer shows, big band sets, and maybe a few cocktail sets.  The larger the ship, usually the more the ship's orchestra sticks to playing inside the theater only.  But for smaller ships and with less musicians onboard, the orchestra may be used in other venues.

For Welcome Aboard and Farewell shows, the orchestra usually plays a feature song and maybe a short play-on for the cruise director and guest entertainers like a juggler and a comedian.  It is usually very routine and the musicians can expect relatively the same from cruise to cruise.

A photo of musicians performing during a production show.
My wife, Anna Fegi, is the featured singer on the left.

Production shows are more elaborate shows involving the singers and dancers on the ship.  Many are Broadway review style shows that include a random assortment of well-known songs from musical theater.  Some shows are more creative, though.  I've played some production shows including one that used more popular music and another one was a Tango show from Argentina.  There was even one that was an a capella show which meant a night off for the orchestra!  Most production shows are done to click track, meaning that the musicians have a metronome sent to their headphones.  The reason for this is because the shows tend to be rather involved with sound, lights, musicians, singers, moving sets, etc.  The average guest cruising onboard doesn't care that it might be the lighting tech's first time to run the show, they want to watch a smooth show and be entertained.  Basically it reduces the chance for mistakes.  Also, if the orchestra is a 9-piece group (alto, tenor, 2 trumpets, trombone, keyboard, guitar, bass, drums), there might be pre-recorded string parts or other orchestral instruments not available on the ship that are played in the house along with the live orchestra.  These tracks are called backing tracks or sweetener tracks and make the orchestra sound fuller and include non-standard instruments.

Here is an example of one of the more poorly written charts.
The result is a lot of wasted time in rehearsal.

Guest entertainer shows can vary greatly.  They are performed by entertainers who usually only stay onboard the ship for a few days at a time and they travel between ships and cruise lines performing their own show.  The acts can range from tribute groups (Motown acts are very popular as are Beatles groups), vocalists, violinists, instrumentalists, magicians, or more.  They have their own charts and the orchestra will play for them during the show.  It's so important to be a good reader because the rehearsal is usually only one hour to 90 minutes to put together a one hour show.  Some guest entertainers have great charts where everything is clean and the rehearsal gets done early, but then there are others (I won't mention names) where the chart can be full of errors, be written in pencil, or just have lead sheets and most of the rehearsal time is wasted just trying to figure out what is supposed to be played.  David Bentley, a great MD I worked with, once asked a rather old guest entertainer when they would be updating their charts as they were the same ones with the same errors being used for over 20 years.  The guest entertainer actually responded, "How much longer do you think I'll actually be doing this?"  I guess it takes all kinds.  Good guest entertainers will continually update their show and invest in their product.  The guest entertainer shows keep the musicians on their toes and also adds variety to the gig.  Those shows are important to the guests because they add variety to the entertainment they get onboard.

The orchestra playing before a Captain's Cocktail Reception

Big band sets and cocktail sets.  Again this can vary depending on the size of the ship, the cruise line, and also the cruise director.  Big band sets were very popular during the peak popularity of cruising (think mints on the pillows, midnight buffets every night) because that was the music from that generation.  But let's be honest, that generation is not getting any younger and the average age of most the average cruiser is in their 50s or 60s, which would make them born after the Big Band era.  Some Cruise Directors (who schedule all of the ship entertainment) like to stick with tradition and will continue scheduling big band sets for the orchestra, but I have also worked with some cruise directors who prefer to have more up-to-date musical offerings.  But for any events that need a large band, the orchestra is usually the group to cover it.  It may be a cocktail reception for the Captain or a reception for those guests who have cruised many times.


For my next entry, I'll be covering the requirements to be successful as a musician in the orchestra.  While each cruise line holds auditions, sometimes people are still able to slip through the cracks.  I will list what I consider to be the top 5 things in order to be successful as an orchestra musician.

For the most part I have been able to play on very nice equipment on ships.  Here is a 6-piece Yamaha Maple Custom with a nice Zildjian setup.

Introduction

Since this blog is new, I will start with an introduction.  This blog is a bit of a request from people who have been interested in working as a musician on cruise ships.  Working on ships for five years has allowed me to travel to over 40 countries on 5 continents.  I've worked on different ships that range in size from 600 guests up to ships that hold over 4,000.  I have worked as a musician in the orchestra and have also been Musical Director.

When I first started working on cruise ships, I knew absolutely nothing about what it would be like.  I took a cruise with my family twice before but when I was much younger.  Exactly ten years went by from when I took a cruise as a teenager with my parents to the day I signed on as an official crew member.  The only way I could learn was through my own experience and asking a lot of questions.  I knew nobody who had ever worked on a ship before so I didn't know where to even start.  As I gained more experience, I swore I would always do whatever I could to help people who were interested in the job and also people joining a ship for the first time.  After I started working onboard, I have helped friends and friends of friends help understand what is means to be a musician onboard a cruise ship.

I first started in 2008 and the range of comments from family and friends ranged from thinking I was going to live in paradise all the way to thinking I was crazy, they thought it was like joining the circus.  Over the years I've learned it is a combination of both and everything in between.  While you do fall into a routine over time, there is always something a little bit different from cruise to cruise.

My experience is probably like most cruise ship musicians.  I do have some rather unique stories to tell, but that will all come later on, I'm sure.  Some highlights include meeting people from all over the world (including my wife!), performing a wide variety of music, traveling around the world, and also being able to have my family come and visit from time to time.

So I think this is where I will leave it for now.  I will try and hit the big topics first (requirements of the job, how to go about getting hired, what to expect on your first days onboard, etc.) and then get into the smaller details.  I'll make sure to throw in a story or two along the way to keep it entertaining.  But hopefully this will give out free information to those who are interested in working onboard an international cruise ship.