Session Guitarist for Film Composers

JOEL SCHWARTZ

REMOTE RECORDING

Remote Guitar Recording

for
SCREEN COMPOSERS

Guitars, Mandolins, Slide, and Banjo

How a remote session works

1

COMPLETE QUOTE REQUEST FORM

To get the process started, the first step is to send me a note using the form below. Tell me a little bit about the project and yourself as a composer to start the conversation. We will cover the creative vision, instrumentation, scheduling, and budget. Email, Video chat, and phone calls are great options to get things started.

2

SEND ME YOUR MUSIC

Upload stems to a file-sharing service of your choice. If you have notated charts or lead sheets, feel free to send, but that is not a requirement. I’m more than happy to come up with parts and in fact, that’s my strength.

3

LISTEN

After the session is complete, I will send you a stereo mix of your track with the new parts added. I use Filepass (a streamlined, timestamped revision software), if you have any notes or changes

4

DOWNLOAD YOUR TRACKS

Once everything sounds good, you send the remaining balance (e-transfer or credit card), download your tracks, and mix them into your session. Start a project now!

Portfolio

Film/TV

00:00

[Ac. GTR, Mandolins, Resonator, Slide Gtr] Anne with an E, "Tree Perspective", (Ari Posner/Amin Bhatia) 00:00
[Ac. GTR, Mandolins, Resonator] Anne with an E, "My Friend Cole", (Ari Posner/Amin Bhatia) 00:00
[Mandolins, Ac. GTR, Resonator] Anne with an E, "Picking up a Girl", (Ari Posner/Amin Bhatia) 00:00
[E. GTRs] Northern Rescue, "Lucky Penny" (Ari Posner) 00:00
[E. Gtrs + FX] Northern Rescue, "Mom's Journal" (Ari Posner) 00:00
[Ac. Gtr, Mandolins, Resonator] Anne with an E, "Matthew and Anne", (Ari Posner/Amin Bhatia) 00:00
[Ac. Gtr, Elec Gtr] Northern Rescue, "Pillow FIght", (Joel Schwartz/Ari Posner) 00:00
[Resonator] Anne with an E, "Mission of Magnitude", (Ari Posner/Amin Bhatia) 00:00

Albums

00:00

[Electric slide guitar solo, mandolin, tenor banjo] (Adrian Nation) 00:00
[Electric Guitar] (Birds of Chicago) 00:00
[Electric Slide Guitar Solo] (Birds of Chicago) 00:00
[Electric Guitar, Resonator Guitar] (Shawna Caspi) 00:00
[Dobro, electric guitar, electric slide guitar] (Desiree Dorion) 00:00
[Electric Guitar] (Lydia Persaud) 00:00

Video

Live

Here are some live music videos. I’m highlighting these because they have an atmospheric sound, a sparse approach, and a variety of textures that might be of interest to composers.

1. Slide guitar (Andrea Koziol, Bill Brennan)

3. Acoustic (guitars, mandolin, resonator)

2. Electric guitar (Birds of Chicago)

4. National Resonator (Aviva Chernick)

Workshop

This live streamed seminar for the Screen Composers Guild of Canada provides an in-depth look at my remote recording workflow covering

How I got into remote recording (2:40)
The importance of clear communication (6:50)
Live recording session (13:20)
File delivery (28:00)
Q&A (33:33)

Some of the benefits of remote recording...

PROFESSIONAL HI-FI RECORDING

This is a professional-grade studio for recording commercial-level tracks. Joel’s boutique studio is filled with awesome hand-picked gear ready to enhance your work. The space features high-end equipment from some of the top brands: microphones include Neumann, DPA, and Royer, preamps by BAE, GRACE, and RME, and converters by Burl and Dangerous Audio. The studio has a live room as well as a recording booth to capture different acoustic environments.

TIME TO EXPERIMENT

Working remotely leaves a lot of room to get creative. Most studio sessions move really fast: there are tight budgets and everyone is on the clock. Joel loves recording live, but it leaves little room for experimentation or extensive multi-instrumental overdubs. When working remotely, Joel selects the perfect guitar parts, mic placement, EQ settings, and FX chain without worrying about the clock. If a track needs some extra overdubs on acoustic guitar, mandolin, or electric baritone, Joel will do that.

SAVE MONEY

Recording in the traditional way can be quite expensive. A big studio, an engineer, a producer, and musicians all cost a lot and a good chunk of time has to be relegated for setup. By working with Joel directly, you get: a trusted professional guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, an experienced audio engineer, and a professional recording studio.

ACCESS TO A TON OF GEAR

When Joel goes to a traditional session, he has to make some decisions about what gear he’s going to bring. If he’s playing on only one tune, chances are he’s not going to bring twenty + instruments, several amps, his favorite mics, and rackmount preamps. By working with Joel remotely, your project has access to all the gear in his professional studio, whether it’s one tune, or a full album.

NO GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES

Perhaps the most obvious advantage to tracking remotely is still being able to collaborate even if everyone is in different cities. Let’s bridge the gap and book a session now!

Studio and Gear

Boutique studio ready to enhance your work.

Microphones by Neumann, DPA, and Royer

Preamps by BAE, GRACE, and RME

Converters by Burl and Dangerous Audio.

The studio has been acoustically designed and equipped to deliver high fidelity recordings of fretted instruments.

"…aching steel guitar creating an overwhelming moment of cosmic beauty and transcendence.”

Henry Carrigan

No Depression journal of roots music

FAQ

Most frequent questions and answers

DO YOU CHARGE ROYALTIES?

Tracks are 100% royalty free.

DO I NEED TO SEND CHARTS?

You don’t have to, but you can.

If you have specific parts or melodies in mind, feel free to send a notated chart. Lead sheets are great too and can save a bit of time.

However, it’s not necessary and my specialty is coming with complementary parts around your cues.

HOW SHOULD I SEND MY CUES?

Send isolated stems as .wav files
Send an isolated click track and specify BPM, sample rate, and cue name.
Transfer everything as a zip file via dropbox, google drive etc.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Every project has a different scope, schedule, and budget. I help composers achieve great results on pitches, independent films, TV series, and feature length films. Get in touch with your project.

*Some film/TV shows are conducted through the AFM union in which case the fee structure is pre-defined.

I HAVE A QUESTION YOU HAVEN'T ANSWERED

Three ways to get in touch with me:

1) Click the chat bar in the bottom right

2) Send me an email

3) Book a call

Trusting someone with your music is a big deal, and collaborating online can feel a little daunting if you haven’t done it much before.

Some of my clients felt unsure, maybe even a little skeptical at first, BUT what they found in the end is that hiring me really worked for them.

Have a read through the testimonials below to see how they found the experience in the end:

Joel Schwartz became a collaborator on the film I was scoring at the moment when I felt too enclosed in my compositional bubble. He gave me feedback, called me with ideas, and talked me through what he thought could be fun. He turned the work back into play. The opportunity to work with musicians is why I got into this career and Joel is the best of them!

Iva Delic

Screen Composer

"Finding the right musicians to record your work is very much like finding good friends. These are the players who bring out the best in us. They are the people with whom we have a good shorthand because the communication is natural. We trust them because they often share our views on the world, or at least have a very nuanced understanding of the way we think.

In Joel Schwartz I have found a true musical friend...someone I feel like I've known for years. He just gets it. He hears what I'm hearing and finds the best possible parts to help bring my ideas to life. We have worked together on three different TV series including the highly binge watched Netflix hit Anne with an E.

Everything I get back from Joel is super well recorded, extremely tasteful, and always serving the larger picture of my cues which, in turn, are only aiming to serve the story. Super easy to work with, always on time and on budget....I can't recommend Joel enough."

Ari Posner

Screen Composer

"Joel's sensitivity, musicality, and killer chops make him a brilliant collaborator. (He's also a superb human.) With far more than 10,000 hours of experience as a touring artist, composer and producer, Joel's wheelhouse of skills is immense, but his wisdom and ability to communicate are possibly his greatest assets. He's clear and smart and talented, and that's a very, very solid recipe. Joel brings bullseye instincts, huge ears and exacting standards to every project he's involved in...every note is there for a reason, every sound makes perfect sense, and everyone is happy at the end of the session. Work with him and you'll see what I mean."

Andrea Koziol

Artist

"Thankfully we are now at a time in technology where we can hire real players again instead of using sample libraries. Joel is the best “guitar synthesizer” in my studio. For “Anne with an E” I send him a mockup demo and then, like magic, tracks come back that I can just drop into my session. On time. On budget. Thank you Joel !!!"

"I've made four studio albums so far, and the sessions with Joel on my "Forest Fire" recording were my all-time favourites. Joel was not only super-prepared and musically proficient on several instruments, but he came to the session with so many creative ideas. We had a treasure trove of parts to choose from afterwards. It was like getting six session players for the price of one! These were studio sessions of truly joyful music-making, the ease of watching an expert at work. There is a sensitivity to Joel's playing, where he's always listening and serving the song. He's kind and open, as a person and as an artist, and a pleasure to work with."

"As a guitarist, Joel contributes great sounding, technically flawless tracks delivered with tremendous feel, impeccable rhythm and beautiful tone, to songs of all genres."

"I’m so glad I found Joel. He's a world class musician. He has uncanny creative instinct and he’s a true pro - always delivering high quality recordings timely."

"Joel is a one of a kind musician, and he takes great care in his ability to create. His warm, unique approach to music is unmatched. He fills the space and adds layers effortlessly while blending whatever genre he’s working with. Joel’s a great teammate, and I’m proud to play and record alongside him."

"I've worked with Joel on many occasions from having him on tour with me, to working with him in the studio on various projects. Not only is he technically an amazing player but he is immensely creative, and what I would call a "craftsman". The incredible guitars and instruments he has in his arsenal, the way he's recording them with top end mic's and gear, and of course the quality of his playing make him really special."

If you’re ready to get started, book a call

fill out the form below

About Joel

Joel Schwartz is a seasoned session guitarist and multi-instrumentalist specializing in working with composers. With 20 years of experience as a professional musician, he sends instrumental parts from his studio in Toronto, Canada to composers worldwide.