Start your career as a cruise ship musician or guest performer today with this comprehensive list of cruise ship talent agencies. Perform, see the world – and get paid to do it.

100+ contacts for only $9.99

The Power Of a Good Contact List

When I first came to New York City looking for a job on Broadway, I made an excel spreadsheet of every musician in the scene. I listed their names, positions and email addresses and I contacted every one of them. Three years later I’m performing as the Associate Conductor for my third Broadway show.

Persistence, mixed with a good contacts list, pays off in this business. If I were going to pursue any gig in the musician industry, I would definitely approach it in a similar way.

Frequent Questions

I’m often asked two questions by the readers of the Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Musician:

1. How can I get a job on a cruise ship?
2. Are there any talent agencies outside of the U.S. and Canada?

The answer to the first is: Musicians are hired for cruise ship gigs either through a talent agency or directly through the cruise line. I wrote an article about it here.

I never used to know the answer to the second question – so I decided to find out.

The List

What I came up with is a spreadsheet of over 100+ talent agencies in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand that hire musicians for jobs on cruise ships.

The list includes:

• Company names
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Fax numbers
• URLs
• Email addresses
• And most importantly: directions on how to apply

The big, North American agencies that I usually suggest are on the list – Proship, Landau, Oceanbound – but there are also smaller companies like Jiggy Piggy (US), Parker Entertainments (UK), Double T’s International Entertainment (Aus) and dozens of others.

We’re going to sell the list here on MusicianWages.com for $9.99. The money will go toward maintenance and hosting of the website.

Start a New Career Today

If you’re interested in getting a gig as a showband musician, string quartet, party band, guest entertainer or any other musician position – this list is the best way to jump start your hustle for new career opportunities. Take advantage of the head start I’ve built for you and download this directory today.

Proship Entertainment is the world’s largest agency for cruise ship musicians. They administer over 1,000 musician jobs a year, including exclusive positions with Cunard, Crystal, Regent Seven Seas, P&O Australia, and Compagnie Des Iles du Ponant. Their head office in Montreal, Quebec employs 21 employees and administers a list of nearly 50,000 musician candidates.

We asked Daniel Thibault, Founder and CEO of Proship Entertainment, if he could give our readers some advice on applying for a job through his agency. Read Daniel’s guestblog below to find out how you can rise to the top of Proship’s list.

With over twenty employees dedicated to creating career opportunities for outstanding individuals, I decided to ask our staff what they would recommend. Here are their thoughts:

1. Be open, clear and honest. By telling the whole truth about your musical abilities, your musical experience, your medical condition and your legal situation, your agent can guide you towards a position and a cruise line where you can be successfully approved. Omitting to tell us about a change in the band line-up, your ‘realistic’ song list, pre-existing medical conditions, use of medication, or a DUI record can have you refused from a line for life. A good agent can work with some of your musical, medical and legal limitations, but he or she needs to know what the reality is to be effective.
2. Play conservatively and ‘in-the pocket’. Cruise lines cater to broad passenger demographics and therefore the entertainment offerings are within a conservative musical spectrum. Forget about playing original material on a demo or breaking into wild improvisations or playing material on the fringe of global musical production.
3. Listen to your agent’s instructions carefully. Your agent understands clearly what each client requires; often this knowledge comes from years of interacting with cruise line representatives. Do not underestimate your recruiter’s requests for repertoire, new videos or other promotional material, as these are the tools required to sell you to the client.
4. Be quick and deliver on time. Timing is everything. Jobs come and go at a fast pace so every discussion is timely, even if the proposed job is a year ahead. When promising your agent certain material on certain dates, be sure to deliver the goods on time as part of the recruiter’s evaluation of you will be your sense of urgency.
5. Dress the part. Remember you are applying to be part of the entertainment on a luxury cruise vessel, where passengers might wear tuxedos a couple of nights a week. Grand ballroom, Captain’s cocktails, white glove service are the norm onboard cruise ships. Even if you are applying as a party band, you have to look clean and sharp and that goes for the audition as well. There is no second chance to make a good first impression.
6. Think quality. Send good quality videos, photos, demo recordings. This doesn’t mean to overproduce your videos with overdubs and expensive camera work. Your agent will prefer hear your ‘live sound’, but hear it well and see you well even with a stationary camera.
7. Prepare yourself for an audition. Make sure you are warmed-up, in tune, well rested, on top of your form musically and dress the part. Do not underestimate the standard of reading and musical ability required to work on ships, thinking that “sight reading” means you will get an hour to look at the chart or it means just reading chords or guitar tabs.
8. Be available. Regular cruise contracts range from 3.5 months to yearlong employment with pre-planned vacation. If you are only available for a couple of weeks, take a cruise vacation as a passenger. Occasionally shorter contracts occur with short notice, however those are usually reserved for experienced individuals.
9. Be open. A cruise ship gig is like no other you’ve ever experienced in the past. Going on a cruise is an adventure in an un-real environment. None of the land life parameters exists at sea, such as buying groceries, washing dishes, cleaning your house, driving to the gig. You are at sea and ultimately your boss is a captain, so it’s very different. Avoid having a preconceived idea about what ship life and applying for such position will be like. This is not a “paid vacation”.
10. Don’t pay any fees upfront. Either for application and/or coaching and/or auditioning, don’t pay anything to anyone, period. Once you get approved for a job, then you will have to pay for a physical examination, passport and visas, but only then. There are many scams out there, so be careful. Some will sell you a book that gives you our agency’s phone number. Use a reputable agency with decades of experience in the industry, preferably one that will not charge you a commission or fee during your employment.

If you have any other question regarding cruise ship employment for entertainers, feel free to contact myself or any of my colleagues. We are here to help.

David is collecting research on the topic and needs current and former cruise ship musicians to fill out two short surveys he’s created. If you’ve worked on a cruise ship, can you help him out?

The surveys are on David’s website. They’ll take about 25 minutes to complete. If you’re currently on a ship and have limited access to the internet, then why are you reading this? I kid, I kid – if you have limited access, contact David through his site and ask him to send you a PDF of the survey. You can carrier-pigeon it back to him at your next port-of-call.

Please spread the word to your fellow and former shipmates.

As discussed in my previous post, most cruise lines have an orchestra (aka Show Band) on board.  This 5-10 piece band plays the production shows, headliner shows and big band or top 40 sets on board.  Electric bass, drums, guitar, keys, sax, trombone & trumpet are the most common instrumentation.  The most important requirement in securing one of these jobs is your sight reading ability.

No matter what instrument you play, you’ll need to schedule and pass an audition prior to working on board a cruise ship.  Each company has their own audition process, however; here is the industry standard:

Scheduling an Audition

Regardless of the cruise line, the first step is scheduling an audition.  In order to do so, you’ll need to provide your basic contact information (name, address, phone, email, instrument, age, citizenship, availability).  Often, this can be done by filling out an online form.

You will also need to attach your resume/performance bio.  Key things to include: related educational background (ex. major in bass performance), commercial/professional experience (ex. wedding band, studio work), big band/jazz band experience, most recent sight reading experience.

Because sight reading is such a huge part of the audition (and ultimately the contract), your resume should show off this ability.  If your gut tells you that your sight reading isn’t quite up to par, I strongly recommend practicing first THEN auditioning.  Although auditions are free, its better to start a relationship strong, confident and on a good note than vice-versa.

Phone Conference

Once your information has been received, you’ll be contacted to discuss your background and the details of the job.  We like to talk with each musician and go through the job details (contract length, pay, cabin, etc.) before scheduling an audition.  This ensures that you understand and are ok with the job specifics if/when hired.  Again, better to audition for something you can actually do than vis versa.

The Audition

There are three types of auditions: Phone, Video & Live.

*Phone Audition – Email Access, Printer, Phone (land line preferred), Instrument

We’ll coordinate a specific time for the audition. (ex. 3PM EST).  You’ll receive an email 30 minutes prior to the audition (ex. 2:30PM EST). Upon receipt, you’ll print out these charts and have them ready to go.  You’ll receive a phone call at the scheduled time (ex. 3PM EST) and you’ll be asked to sight read/play the printed charts over the phone.

*Video Audition – CD Player, Digital Video Camera, Instrument

We’ll mail you a sealed envelope with sheet music and CD enclosed.  You video record yourself opening the packet and sight reading the charts along with the CD.  Often, we ask you to do a second take after 30 minutes of rehearsal.  You then post the video footage online (www.youtube.com) or mail us music back along with your DVD.

*Live Audition – Instrument

We hold live auditions at Universities around the USA (East Coast, Midwest, West Coast).  You’ll have a specific audition time and place to audition.  At the live audition, we simply ask you to sight read a selection of music for us along with a CD or click track.

The audition type is usually assigned to you depending on your geographical location, availability to do a contract and what openings are available.  Each audition type focus on your sight reading (charts and notation).  Most of the orchestra positions on ships require big band/jazz band experience.  Therefore, reading chord progressions and being able to improvise are definitely a plus!

The Offer

Passing the audition is the hard part.  Once that’s accomplished, its just a matter of finding an opening that matches your availability.  Because most contracts are 3-6 months in length, the more open your availability; the better your chance of landing a job.  We get calls all the time asking for 1-2 week contracts.  While these are sometimes possible, they go to the “re-hires” or musicians that have already successfully completed a contract.  These fill-in contracts also come with 24-48 hours notice.  They are often a result of an unexpected opening.  Bottom line, if you want to work as an orchestra musician on board a cruise ship, the more open your schedule the better.

The Gig

Orchestra contracts are a great way to play music professionally, see the world and get paid for it!  As an orchestra musician, you’ll play production shows, headliner shows and big band or top 40 sets on board.  You’ll mostly perform at night and have an opportunity to get of the ship in several ports of call.  Room/Food/Travel are all covered, so definitely a good opportunity to save money.

I hope this entry helped you to understand orchestra contracts on board 5-Star Cruise Ships and how to go about auditioning for them.  Feel free to call/email/post any questions.

Show Band Musicians

Most lines have an orchestra (aka Show Band) on board.  This 5-10 piece band plays the production shows, headliner shows and big band or top 40 sets on board.  Bass, drums, guitar, keys, sax, trombone & trumpet are the most common instrumentation.

The most important requirement in landing one of these jobs is strong sight reading ability (both jazz charts & notation).  Working on board a ship as an orchestra musician, you’ll find yourself playing new shows daily in front of thousands, and having little to no time at all to prepare.

In order to assure that you’ll be comfortable in that setting, we want to see/hear you sight read similar charts prior to hiring.  We do live auditions around the country as well as auditions over the phone and via video.

In each case, you’ll be handed several charts and be asked to read them without any preparation.  These charts will range from big band to top 40 to Broadway selections.  Depending on the audition, you might also be asked to play a jazz head and solo over it in order to get a feel for your improvisational skills.

Needless to say, at the end of an orchestra musician contract, you’re sight reading and chops in general will definitely be strong as ever.

Entertainers

If sight reading isn’t your thing, you can also be hired as an entertainer on board.

Lines hire the following entertainers to perform on their ships:  solo pianist/vocalist (aka Piano Bar Entertainer) , cocktail pianist (aka Intermissionist), solo guitarist/vocalist (aka Pub Guitarist), classical guitarist, duo, standards trio/quartet & party band.  These entertainers perform four to five 45 minute sets a night in lounges on board.

Entertainers must entertain!  You would think this would be a given; however, I’m always surprised at how many people don’t get this concept.  Connecting with guests is key.  Taking requests, sing-a-longs, theme nights, talking to guests before and after sets are all essential in a) being hired and b) being a successful entertainer on board.

In order to be hired as an entertainer on board a ship, you must have the following: promo video, song list, performance history & availability to do a contract.  My next blog entry will talk about the top 10 things we look for in a promo video.

Specialty Acts

Some cruise lines hire specialty or variety acts such as comedians, steel pan musicians or a cappella quartets.  The actual job description for these musicians varies, however a promo video is required for all in order to secure employment.

Singers and Dancers

Finally, each cruise ship has their own production cast on board.  This cast is composed of singers and dancers often hired by a separate production company.  The production cast performs Broadway revues, top 40 and classical shows on board and sometimes even have aerialists or flyers included.

These positions are usually secured at live auditions held by the different production companies around the world.

Length of Contracts

No matter what the position, cruise ship musician contracts are generally 3-8 months long in length.  These are continuous contracts where you live on board the ship for the entirety of the contract.  Often food, room, travel and health coverage are included, so there’s definitely an opportunity to save money.  It’s a great way to travel the world, play music and get paid for it!

Thanks for reading and I hope it helped you better understand the different options for working as a musician on board a cruise ship.  Expect another blog entry next month!

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	Song Title	As Made Famous By	Listen
1	Ain’t Too Proud to Beg	Temptations
2	Oh, Boy!	Buddy Holly
3	All Shook Up	Elvis
4	American Pie	Don McLean
5	Drive My Car	Beatles
6	Barbara Ann	Beach Boys
7	Bennie and the Jets	Elton John
8	Blue Suede Shoes	Elvis
9	Blueberry Hill	Fats Domino
10	Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen
11	A Boy Named Sue	Johnny Cash
12	Brown Eyed Girl	Van Morrison
13	Build Me Up Buttercup	The Foundations
14	California Dreamin’	Mamas and the Papas
15	Copacabana (At the Copa)	Barry Manilow
16	Crocodile Rock	Elton John
17	Dancing Queen	Abba
18	December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!)	Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
19	Don’t Stop Believin’	Journey
20	Faithfully	Journey
21	Friends in Low Places	Garth Brooks
22	Glory Days	Bruce Springsteen
23	Good Golly Miss Molly	Little Richard
24	Great Balls of Fire	Jerry Lee Lewis
25	Hang On Sloopy	The McCoys
26	Here I Go Again	Whitesnake
27	Hey Jude	Beatles
28	Hey Ya!	Outkast
29	Hit Me With Your Best Shot	Pat Benetar
30	House of the Rising Sun	The Animals
31	How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)	James Taylor
32	I Feel Good	James Brown
33	You’re the One That I Want	Grease
34	I Love Rock ‘N Roll	Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
35	I Saw Her Standing There	Beatles
36	I Want You to Want Me	Cheap Trick
37	I Will Survive	Gloria Gaynor
38	It’s Not Unusual	Tom Jones
39	Jack and Diane	John Cougar Mellencamp
40	Jailhouse Rock	Elvis
41	Jessie’s Girl	Rick Springfield
42	Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody	Luis Prima/David Lee Roth
43	Kansas City	Wilbert Harrison
44	King of the Road	Roger Miller
45	Kodachrome	Paul Simon
46	La Bamba	Traditional
47	Livin’ on a Prayer	Bon Jovi
48	Love Shack	The B-52s
49	Maggie May	Rod Stewart
50	Me and Bobby McGee	Janis Joplin
51	Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard	Paul Simon
52	Mony Mony	Tommy James and the Shondells
53	Mustang Sally	Wilson Picket
54	My Girl	Temptations
55	Theme from New York, New York	Frank Sinatra / [standard]
56	Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da	Beatles
57	Oh, Pretty Woman	Roy Orbison
58	Only the Good Die Young	Billy Joel
59	Paradise By the Dashboard Light	Meatloaf
60	The Perfect Country and Western Song	David Allan Coe
61	Piano Man	Billy Joel
62	Pour Some Sugar On Me	Def Leppard
63	Proud Mary	Tina Turner / Creedence Clearwater Revival
64	Red, Red Wine	UB40
65	Respect	Aretha Franklin
66	Ring of Fire	Johnny Cash
67	Rock and Roll Music	Chuck Berry
68	Rock Around the Clock	Bill Haley & His Comets
69	Rocky Top	[standard]
70	Sexual Healing	Marvin Gaye
71	Shake a Tail Feather	Blues Brothers/Tina Turner/others
72	Shout	The Isley Brothers
73	(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay	Otis Redding
74	Smells Like Teen Spirit	Nirvana
75	Stand by Me	Ben E. King
76	It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me	Billy Joel
77	Summer Nights	Grease
78	Surfin’ U.S.A.	Beach Boys
79	Suspicious Minds	Elvis
80	Sweet Caroline	Neil Diamond
81	Sweet Child O’ Mine	Guns and Roses
82	Sweet Home Alabama	Lynard Skynard
83	Sweet Home Chicago	[standard] / Blues Brothers
84	Take Me Home, Country Roads	John Denver
85	Takin’ Care of Business	Randy Bachman
86	Thank God I’m a Country Boy	John Denver
87	The Joker	Steve Miller
88	These Boots Are Made for Walking	Nancy Sinatra
89	Time Warp	Rocky Horror Picture Show
90	Tiny Dancer	Elton John
91	Tutti-Frutti	Little Richard
92	Twist and Shout	The Beatles / The Isley Brothers
93	Under the Boardwalk	The Drifters
94	Uptown Girl	Billy Joel
95	Walking On Sunshine	Aly & AJ
96	We’re Not Gonna Take It	Twisted Sister
97	What I Like About You	The Romantics
98	What’s Up?	4 Non Blondes
99	Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On	Jerry Lee Lewis
100	Wooly Bully	Sam the Sam and the Pharoahs
101	Yellow Submarine	Beatles
102	You Give Love a Bad Name	Bon Jovi
103	You Shook Me All Night Long	AC/DC
104	Your Song	Elton John

This article is part 3 of a 3-part series by Nathan Whitney, who spent 6 years working on cruise ships all over the world. Please also visit parts 1 & 2 of this series, which discuss the choice of guitar and amplifier/effects for the gig:

Equipment for the Cruise Ship Guitarist, Part 1
Equipment for the Cruise Ship Guitarist, Part 2

After my last article, I had quite a few questions regarding mulit-effect units vs. individual pedals. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both of these systems. Let me list a few:

Multi-effects

Advantages:

• One unit contains all effects, no extra cables/power needed
• Individual patches can be customized and saved
• If required, it is possible to go direct to the board
• Quick set up/tear down time

Disadvantages:

• If unit breaks, no access to any effects
• Tone’s must be programmed for each room/situation and deep editing of patches on the fly may not be quick
• Quality of individual effects sometimes not equal to that of individual pedal

Individual Pedals

Advantages:

• One pedal = one job = no confusion of that pedals function
• Quality of effects usual fairly high (depending on brand/pedal design)
• Quick set up/tear down time (if mounted on pedal board)
• Easy access to changes, one knob affects one aspect of tone

Disadvantages:

• Can be time consuming when resolving issues (having to trouble-shoot all pedals/patch cords)
• If required to go direct, tone may not be very good.
• Requires individual power supplies to each pedal (can be avoided with the use of a dedicated multi power supply)

Although not a full list of advantages and disadvantages, you can see that each option has their own strengths and weaknesses. No matter which route you choose to take, always, always have a back up plan. It could be as simple as an extra overdrive pedal available to use with an amp in case your multi-effects unit goes down. Or in the case of individual pedals, having extra patch cords and power supplies available.

One pedal that either group could use as a back up is an amp-modeling pedal, such as the SansAmp GT2 or one of SansAmp Character Series pedals, like the Liverpool or Blonde. These pedals emulate an amp type response and could be used to go direct to the PA system, in case a multi-effect unit goes down or an amplifier is not available.

Use what you are comfortable with and within your budget. Always have a backup for your backup plan. As long as you have the basics covered one way or another, most ship gigs are fairly flexible tone wise and you can always build your arsenal of effects and gear while on board the ship if you really need to.

Additional Accessories

A list of some essentials that any professional guitarist should have with them:

Strings – Bring extra. Extra’s for your extra’s. You’re going to use them up at some point so it’s better to have extra left at the end of the contract then to have to search for them when you have time off the ship. Bring a string winder/cutter combination tool as well. Wiping down your strings with a cloth or using a string cleaner, such as GHS Fast Fret, will also help extend the life and sound of your strings.

Picks – While as guitarists we tend to gravitate to one type of pick that fits our playing style, often the easiest (and cheapest) tonal change we can make is by using a different pick. I myself am a religious user of the Dunlop Jazz III picks, but for jazz I would use an even thicker, rounded pick like the Dunlop 208. For funk, R’n’B and faux-acoustic sounds, I use Fender Medium style picks. You can purchase picks by the bag and have the bags last for years.

Capos – While I’ve only used a capo once on a ship gig, you should have one available to you. You never know when someone is going to want to transpose “Honky-Tonk Woman” up a minor third and want the open string licks played exactly the same as the original.

Slides – Slides come in all different shapes and materials. I recommend a metal slide, not for tone so much as for functionality. I broke two glass slides while on one ship (I brought one for backup) then I wised up and purchased two brass slides. Brass gives you a slightly different sound, not that noticeable to anyone in the audience, and if you drop them, they won’t break.

Cables – Instrument cables and the small individual cables that you will use for effect pedals have a habit of breaking at the worst possible moment. Always have at least one instrument cable and a few small pedal patch cables available.

Multi-Head screwdriver and Jeweler’s screwdrivers – You never know when you’re going to need to take your guitar apart. Or adjust your glasses.

Power Strip /Extension Cord – Bring your own to plug your gear into. Make sure it’s a dark color and waterproof. Label it!

Flashlight – Stages can be dark. A small LED type is all you need.

Headphones – As most ships are heading towards in-ear monitoring and many shows you will play use click track, make sure you bring your own headphones. Bring ones that fit well and are not obvious looking (don’t wear your iPod headphones on stage). Make sure to bring an extension for your headphone cable and a few of the various headphone adaptor combinations, as the ship will not usually have extras.

Hearing Protection – Your ears are your greatest assets so protect them! Whether custom molds or the standard foam type, make sure you have them available. You never know when you are going to be the guy positioned directly next to the drummers crash cymbal. If you are using foam earplugs, try to find a bag of the flesh/skin tone color variety (not the florescent green type) so that they blend a little more. As with headphones, you don’t want to be a distraction for the audience. And you would be surprised at what audiences will notice.

Practice amplifier/mp3 player – One of the main complaints of musicians on board ships is the lack of space to practice. As electric guitarists we have an advantage of having an instrument that does not generate a lot of sound. This is great for practicing, as we can go pretty much anywhere available, but at the same time makes it difficult if we are in a noisy environment.

I have been using the Tascam MP-GT1 for the last few years. Not only does it allow me to hear myself, but it also has a built in MP3 player and can slow down (in pitch) and loop MP3’s. It also has a metronome and effects built in. The Korg PX5D Pandora is another similar device. Batteries can be expensive and unreliable, so make sure you have the appropriate power adapter for your unit. If you are still using CD’s, there are units that do the same job, but use audio CD’s rather than MP3 files.

9 volt batteries – Bring a few along.

Footstool – Depending on your practice position and the height at which you wear your guitar strap, I would bring along a footstool for my practice sessions.

Pencils, Erasers, Manuscript, Notepaper – Always bring a pencil to rehearsals. You will need to make notes about the show and there will always be corrections to be made on the score. Make sure your notes are in pencil and ask the act if they would like your notes erased after the show is finished. Manuscript and notepaper is for your own personal use. You never know when a hit song idea will strike or when you need to write down some settings or reminders for yourself.

This brings us to the end of this series. I hope it has been informative and helped in making the transition from ship to shore easier. Above all, remember to bring your positive attitude and your willingness to learn. Cruise ship gigs are a great experience that will push you as a musician and in other non-musical ways. Keep that smile on your face and enjoy your time at sea!

This article is part 2 of a series by Nathan Whitney, who spent 6 years working on cruise ships all over the world.  Please also visit part 1 of this series, which discusses the choice of guitar to bring on a cruise gig:

Equipment for the Cruise Ship Guitarist, Part 1
Equipment for the Cruise Ship Guitarist, Part 3

Welcome back to part two of this series. I hope the information about guitars was helpful. Thanks for all your of your kind comments and thoughtful emails.

In this article I’m going to begin to layout the basics of which amplifiers you’re likely to come across when you join a ship, as well as some of the effects that I found to be useful.

Amplifiers

Cruise ships do provide a backline (amps) for the rhythm section.  I have seen everything from a full-blown Marshall stack to a Peavey practice amplifier. While we have to be open and willing to work with whatever is provided, there are a few standard amps that seem to be on ships.

Though as guitar players the consensus (however subjective that may be) seems to be that tube amplifiers are the best tonally, you will usually find a solid-state amplifier on board. In my experience, these amps are popular on cruise ships as they are usually low maintenance and lightweight, which the technical staff is thankful for. Solid-state amps also tend to cost less, so if one breaks or needs to be off-loaded the ship for repair, they are easier to replace.

An industry standard in the solid-state arena is the Roland Jazz Chorus 120 (JC 120). This amplifier has an excellent clean channel with an equalizer that is fairly responsive and will allow you to tailor the amp to the venue.  Though the JC 120 is a two-channel amplifier (clean and overdrive/distortion) I have found that it is better to depend on external effects for overdrive, as the built in overdrive is somewhat lacking.  I’ve also seen a few different Peavey 1×12 (One twelve inch speaker) style amplifiers on ships and found that Peavey’s are reliable amplifiers. The recent technology advances that Peavey has released (“TransTube”) have greatly increased the tonal quality of these solid-state amplifiers.

The Fender Twin Reverb is a tube amplifier that I have had the pleasure of using on some ships.  This amplifier has a great clean channel and excellent reverb.  Something to remember with tube amps is that you will often find that the tone improves as the tubes warm up. So for optimal tone, I would make sure that before a show or rehearsal, you give the amp a bit of time to do just that. And  be aware not to touch those glowing embers of tone good-ness, lest you want to find yourself in the infirmary with 1st degree tube burns.

Digital modeling amplifiers, by manufacturers like Line 6 and Vox, can be found on ships.  Some of these digital amplifiers even include a tube preamp section to add some sought after “warmth” to the equation. These amplifiers are especially interesting as they often have built in digital effects that can be switched on and off with a dedicated foot controller during performance. Foot controllers, for any amplifier on board, have a habit of being abused and misplaced, so do not depend on having one. This all being said, I have found that the best use of a ships amplifier is to find the settings for one good clean tone and then to build off of that tone with effect pedals.

Effect Pedals

For the non guitar players reading this article, effect pedals are those multi colored, tone shaping/modifying boxes that you’ll see a guitar player step on and off through out a performance.  Effect pedals (“stomp boxes”) come in all shapes and sizes, from individual pedals that do only one thing, to giant multi-effect boards that contain nearly ever effect known to man. There are many ways to use effects, but there are definitely a few basics that every cruise ship guitarist (or any guitarist) should have in their equipment arsenal.

Here is a list of some of the stomp boxes that I would bring on a contract:

Tuner – A tuner, while not an “effect”, is essential to your rig.  I would recommend a pedal style tuner such as the Boss TU-2 or Korg Pitchblack.  These pedals will mute your output for silent tuning.  You could also use a “hand held” tuner like the Boss TU-12 if it is connected to volume pedal that has a tuner output, or an a/b switch that will send your signal only to the tuner. You will find that unplugging your guitar from the amplifier to tune is not only time consuming but can also result in loud pops when reconnecting to the amp.  Be aware, some volume pedals do not interact well when a tuner is attached to their “Tuner” output (strange isn’t it?). You will have to test and see if there is a tonal difference when using this set up.

Wah – Though use of a wah pedal may be infrequent during your contract, I would always recommend having one available so that when you’re playing a show of disco classics, you’ll fit right in.  Wah’s can also be used as tonal shaping devices if set in one position, or swept slowly from top to bottom of it’s tonal spectrum.

Overdrive/Distortion/Clean Boost – For various styles of rhythm and lead guitar you will need an overdrive. Please note there is a tonal and gain difference between an overdrive and distortion. Overdrive pedals tend to be lower gain, with more pronounced mid range, while distortion pedals are higher gain and tend to have a more scooped mid range.

While possible to use just one overdrive, I would recommend bringing two.  Start with a common overdrive such as the Ibanez TS-9, TS-808,  Boss SD-1 or Boss BD-2 and then either add a second overdrive (same or different as the first, but with different settings) or a distortion like the classic Boss DS-1 or an Ibanez SD-9 for your higher gain tones. One way to use your second overdrive is with the gain turned down and volume turned up as a clean boost.  This would allow you to increase the gain of your main overdrive or boost the volume of your main overdrive, depending on the order in which you use them.

Indpendent clean boost pedals, such as the Keeley Katana or BBE Bosta Grande, are great options as your second “gain” pedal. Another overdrive option are pedals like the Fulltone Fulldrive or Z.Vex Box of Rock, which have an overdrive sound and a semi or completely independent clean boost.

With so many gain pedal options available today that it can be overwhelming to find one that is right for you and your playing style.  Take your time, do some research online, listen to sound samples and take them for test drives, if possible, at your local music store before you get on the ship.

Modulation – Modulation effects are the ones that give you a swooshing or shimmering sound, depending upon which adjective you like to use. Chorus, Phase, Flange, and Univibe type units are in this category. Chorus is a standard sound that can be found on a lot of pop music, but more recently I have been using a Uni-Vibe type pedal to give me my “shimmer and swoosh” at the same time. I would start off with a chorus initially and then build my modulation arsenal from there.

Ambient – Ambient effects include delay and reverb.  I would start off with a delay to add atmosphere as most amps have a reverb effect built in.  I would also recommend a delay that has a “tap” function that allows your delays to line up with the tempo of the song that you are playing.

As with guitars, bring the effects that you feel most comfortable with and are within your budget.  While possible to survive a contract with just an overdrive pedal, but I always found that having the right effect not only enhances the song, but makes the gig more fun. And music is supposed to be fun, isn’t it?

Power

All of your effect pedals require power, whether from a battery or “wal-wart” power supply. While batteries are great and reduce cable clutter, they can wear out at the wrong time and also can be expensive. I have used the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 in the past when I had a lot of pedals, but for cost and convenience, I would suggest the Visual Sound One Spot or Godlyke Power-All. These inexpensive adapters allow you to “daisy chain” all your pedals together from one power source. It is so inexpensive that you should make sure you bring a second, incase your first is misplaced or damaged.

Pedal Boards

The above basic list of pedals should be attached or fitted to your pedal board.  Pedal board you say? That’s right. Whether it’s store bought or home made, I would always recommend a pedal board. Pedal boards allow for easy set up and tear down, reduces wear and tear on your pedals and also (if small enough) can be brought on a plane as a carry-on. Make sure you bring some extra small patch cords (always back up your back up plan) so that if one on your pedal board isn’t working (which will happen, likely more than once), it won’t take you long to get things up and running again.

I hope this article has shed some light in the area of effects and amplifiers.  If you have any questions, please feel free to comment and I’ll do my best to respond.

In the next article of this series I’ll be continuing to expand on some other types of effects, multi-effect pedals, gear and tools I found essential for the ship. Until next time…

This article is part 1 of a series by Nathan Whitney, who spent 6 years working on cruise ships all over the world.  Please also visit part 1 of this series, which discusses the choice of guitar to bring on a cruise gig:

Equipment for the Cruise Ship Guitarist, Part 2
Equipment for the Cruise Ship Guitarist, Part 3

Congratulations! Welcome to the satisfying/un-nerving/enjoyable and hopefully profitable world of cruise ship entertainment. If you’re reading this you’re probably wondering which guitar and equipment you’re expected to bring with you in order to meet all the tonal options that you may be required to fill.  These articles have been written with the showband guitarist in mind.

Part 1: Your Guitar

Looking at the job description supplied to you by an agent and knowing exactly what to bring is quite difficult for guitarist compared to other instruments. As a guitarist, you have to be sure you know what type of job you are showing up for. And then be prepared for every-other possible option.

The basic showband gig requires the guitar player to be able to perform and have the appropriate tones to back up guest entertainer acts as well as play occasional cocktail (aka: jazz/fakebook) sets. Some lines also require the guitarist to perform solo guitar sets (ala Joe Pass or with appropriate backing tracks if you have them) for private parties, cocktail hours and tea times.

The cruise line that I have been employed by for the majority of my contracts has, over the last few years, had the showband playing Top 40 dance sets at various venues through out the ship when not backing up guest entertainers.

In general, the job of showband guitarist requires you to cover the tones of:

• 20’s, 30’s and 40’s swing era
• 50’s rock and country
• 60’s pop, rock and “Motown”
• 70’s funk, soul and disco
• 80’s pop, rock and power ballads
• Occasional acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, banjo and mandolin sounds

Sounds easy enough, right?

Which Guitar Should I Bring?

When choosing your equipment, please take into consideration what you are most comfortable with guitar-wise. 99% of your audience will not have a clue if you are playing a Squier or a Suhr, so know what you like and need, both playing wise and financially.  You’ll want to have an instrument that is set up well and allows you to easily execute the material that is placed in front of you.  Having the skills to set up and maintain an instrument is extremely valuable as well, as your local guitar tech is usually about 250 nautical miles away at any given time.

I have worked on ships for over 6 years and have come up with my opinions after many years of trying different things. The guitar and gear that you bring to the ship allows you to perform the job to the best of your abilities but also helps have fun with the job.

Your main guitar will be an electric and should be able to coax a:

• Single coil sound most associated with a Stratocaster and Telecaster
• Humbucker sound that could be used for rock as well as jazzier type sounds.

With so many guitar options and pick up configurations available it is easy to be a little overwhelmed when trying to decide which guitar to bring. While it is possible to do the gig with nothing but an archtop, you’ll come across a lot of situations where you’ll be wishing you had something more versatile. I have found that a “superstrat” type guitar gives the most options for your tonal palette.

For those not familiar with the term “superstrat”, usually this is in reference to Stratocaster style guitars with the the HSH pickup configuration (humbucker in neck position, single coil in middle position, humbucker in bridge position) originally played by 80’s shredders Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and a multitude of ‘Hair’ metal bands.  The HSH or SSH pickup configutarion has always given me the greatest tonal palette to work with. If the strat body style isn’t your cup of tea, there are many body options available with a similar pickup configuration.

Some examples of how I use these various pickup configurations:

• Neck pickup with the tone control rolled down for a nice mellow “Freddy Green” jazz tone, tone control almost or all the way open for a standard “rock” guitar clean
• Neck + Middle pickup gives you that Hendrix-y sound as well as a pretty standard clean pop type sound perfect for disco and funk.
• Until recently, I was underutilizing my middle pickup. On its own it fits into a neat sonic frequency that sits just nicely when playing a rock/pop Top 40 tune. It also can help emulate an acoustic guitar with some help from your tone controls and your amps EQ.
• Bridge + Middle pickup for a country twang. Palm muting on this setting is great for rock rhythm and some nice Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry type tones can be pulled out of this setting.
• Neck pickup for a slightly more aggressive rhythm guitar tone and with some overdrive/distortion for a head cutting lead tones.

When choosing which instrument to bring, make sure you consider the weight/balance of the guitar. Some cruise lines are moving towards having the showband stand for shows and sets.  While this can be a more engaging for the audience, if you are standing anywhere from 3-5 hours with an extremely heavy or imbalanced instrument hanging around your neck, your next trip in port may be to the chiropractor or massage therapist rather than the beach. Make sure you have a guitar that plays comfortably seated or standing and, if possible, bring a strap that is well padded.

Once again, no one in the audience really knows what you’re playing, so pick something that suits the gig, you and your budget.

Bringing a couple of guitars for the contract can be a wise decision. Your second guitar is your back up (always back up and have a back up plan for your back up plan) and can give you more tonal freedom. A strat/tele and a Les Paul will give you the ability to try different things. On some contracts, it would be nice to have a strat and an archtop with humbuckers. Hollow body electrics also offer you a great amount of tonal variation. Your main guitar, and second guitar if you choose to bring one, should reflect you as a guitarist as well as having the sounds to cover a lot of ground.

If you are on a ship that is not porting in North America it can be difficult (ie: possible but expensive) to find strings, picks and patch cords. This difficulty can be exacerbated if you are trying to find an instrument to purchase in case yours needs repairs or is completely out of commission.  On such itineraries, I would highly recommend bringing a second guitar with you. The last thing you need to worry about is trying to get your instrument fixed or purchasing a new one when in an unfamiliar European or Asian port.

You want me to play where?

In addition to having more tonal freedom, in many ship situations over the last few years I have been required to go from a rehearsal in an air-conditioned theater directly to an outdoor deck set in the hot Caribbean sun then immediately back inside to play at another venue.

I’ve also played on the bow of a ship as it was docking in Shanghai, China.
In February.
While it was “gently” raining from an overcast sky.
With all that being said, extreme temperature variations as well as humidity changes can affect the guitar in negative ways.

Besides affecting the action and intonation of your guitar, strings will get dirtier and corrode much quicker. Having a spare guitar to use specifically outside and as back up for your main guitar may save you money and time in the long run if you don’t have to change your strings more than necessary or if your main guitar were damaged due to weather.

As part of your essential guitar items, bring a second strap. Not just in case your original breaks or is lost, but also if you need to replace your first once it has become sweat soaked from playing in the sun for two hours a day and smells quite bad.

Unplugged

An acoustic guitar is a nice addition to your shipboard arsenal, but every extra guitar that you bring is another piece of luggage that you have to pay for when you fly. Some companies are giving musicians baggage stipends, but before you haul your effects rack and 3 guitars to the ship, you’ll want to confirm if you’ll be reimbursed for your expenses.

If you’re on a ship that docks regularly in a major North American port and want to have an acoustic, I would recommend looking into purchasing a well made, good sounding, CHEAP acoustic guitar from a local shop. Bring a sound-hole pickup and you’ll be flying. You’ll find opportunities to sell your acoustic when you leave the ship. You could also donate the guitar to the crew welfare committee or even “pay it forward” by leaving it for the next guitar player.  Buying a second electric as a back up once you reach the ship can also be a more cost effective solution.

As with any job as a musician, you’ll have to be prepared for the unexpected and especially on a ship, you’ll have to make it work. Keep a smile on your face and remind yourself that this is (hopefully) better than flipping burgers. I hope this article has given you an idea of what to expect on the ship and what guitar you may consider brining for the job. Part 2 will be deal with guitar effects and amplifiers.

See you next time!

On a typical cruise, the sea days are the formal days, and we play big band sets. I enjoy playing in a big band, but for this gig, it’s a real drag. The arrangements are godawful, both musically and legibly, and it’s a seven piece big band, and the music is uninspiring at best. Then again, you can’t really expect to play Maria Schneider charts out here, can you?

Musical communication seems to be frowned upon on the ship, so it’s very easy to just sit there and read the notes on the page rather than play around the changes. Some of the charts are so poorly written, however, you have to juggle between the changes and the written notes to actually play something coherent. Sometimes the notes are wrong or handwritten and barely readable, and sometimes the changes are just written on top of other changes, making it a general ink blot. Also, some of the music is so old, the ink has faded over time. Every now and then, they have us do four of these sets in a night. This could very well be considered a musician’s hell. What I have gained, though, is better technical facility on the electric bass, and if someone wants me to read the ink, I can now do it just as second nature as reading changes. While I never had a problem reading, my teachers sort of encouraged me to come up with my own bassline and make the tune my own. It’s easy to forget to play one way when you’re so used to playing another.

For this cruise there’s still only three formal nights. Usually sea days are the formal days. The rest of the sea days are typical shows for us. So we have our rehearsals in the afternoons, and then the two shows. We have lots of time to kill. A bunch of us have been gathering in my cabin, since it’s one of the bigger ones for crew (I had to wait four months for this cabin), and have been watching Heroes. Between that, I have just been playing computer games, arranging, and reading.

At this point in the cruise the end of the contract seems bittersweet. I feel like I have been robbed out of a better experience because my first two months of the contract were so horrible, . It’s gotten better since then, and I feel like I want to stay and get that enjoyable time back. But I want to get off the ship just as much. More, even. When you’re on a ship like this, you feel as if you put your life on hold. All your friends, family, and general living are on land, and you’re living a completely different life while on board. How you act, what you do, and especially the amount you drink. I rarely get drunk, but you will have at least one drink a day, and that’s if you’re keeping it light. But I will miss the ports, the friends, and the lack of bills, of course.

If you were brought up musically about creativity, you will feel caged into doing exactly what’s on the ink, even just playing as vanilla as possible on the “jazz” sets. With the old MD, he really just wanted us to play an Abersold style backing during the sets, and would take us off to the side and yell at us for interacting with the soloist. “What if he was going somewhere else?” he would say. He was usually talking about himself, so we were like “what if you were going NOWHERE?” Playing something other than a root on bass in the “jazz” sets would get me a threat to being fired. Playing different basslines while backing some guest entertainers can give some funny looks from them. Since you get used to playing with the same guys over and over again, you tend to learn how far you can go with them. But honestly, with most of the music, you really can’t go very far before it changes the character of the tune. Even trying to play the original Jamerson line on a Motown tune might not work with the arrangement you were given. And that’s just sad.

One thing I am not going to miss is the way crew and staff are treated. Musicians seem to be looked at by everyone except the Cruise Director as a liability, as in someone that will cause trouble if given enough time. On most ships, musicians are staff–which is one step above crew, and one step below the officers. Staff gets more privileges than does crew, but less than officers, naturally. Jealousy can kick in here. For instance, we are allowed to eat in the pizza/pasta bar. It’s not great, but it’s better than the staff mess. Get the right guy serving you, and you can get eyeballed. With casual dining, we have to get permission and have forms signed. Even with those forms signed, they will either outright try to deny serving us, or just pretend they don’t notice us and hope we go away. Same with drinking in guest lounges. The crew serving us are watching for us to make a mistake. If we do, it’s reported right away in hopes our privileges are taken away, and the CD has to go to bat for us. It helps here to tip well when you eat in areas that you are served.

In Lanzarote a few days ago, we had to take a shuttle to get to the city center. Of course, crew had to move back to the back of the bus. We had a few laughs about it, whatever. But on the way back, the only reason I didn’t have trouble is because I happened to get on the shuttle when the person in charge stepped away for a minute and didn’t notice me. I found out that had I not done that, I would have been late to my training, because other crew members had to wait over an hour and a half. They were told they couldn’t board the bus until the guests were on there first. Well, guests kept coming and coming, and before they knew it, they had more than a (double decker) busload of crew that was denied the right to board the bus. They even brought an officer out to warn the crew complaining to not make a scene. Many people were late that day, and I’m sure they were the ones who got in trouble.

There are a few other cases like this, and some of them could have been more serious, like a sick crewmember turned away from the medical facility because he didn’t show up during one of the two hours during the day that crew was allowed treatment.

In any of these instances, if you so much as express your displeasure about it, you will be reprimanded faster than you can say “signed off” and they may take the “privilege” from your whole department. While guests should come first, when it starts showing problems, especially healthwise, something needs to be done. I’m sure a guest wouldn’t mind if an obviously sick crew member were to get treated outside of the allotted hours, or that some crew were waiting for the bus long before those guests were and should be on a first come, first serve basis. And in both of those situations, we’re not in uniform, so as far as the guests know, we’re guests, too.

There are plenty of reasons to not go over the top about it, though. You make some great friends. You see some great ports. I would even love to go back to some of those cities and take a week exploring. Even more. The food off the ship is great. When else would I have said I’ve eaten authentic Greek or Turkish food? Italian is hard to say. I’m Italian-American, and I had to work very hard to get some good dishes in Italy. The pizza in Naples is great, but I’m still partial to New York pizza.

Would I do this gig again? Yes, in the right circumstances. I probably would not do a six month contract again, unless I really needed the money. After seeing the people that made this a career, it makes you think. Many of these guys have something funny about them. It must take a toll being on a boat that much for years, and to have only fleeting relationships. There’s no way to have a steady relationship with anyone, even family. People in your life come and go, and if you are lucky, you will see them again sometime in the future. Most musicians I’ve already met weren’t doing six month contracts any more. They do short ones to kill time between the poor guys who do the six month ones. In this way, you’re not away from home for too long, and it’s a little easier on the mind.

Some of the things that you will want to do as soon as you get off of a contract this long:

1. Sleep

While, yes, you do sleep quite a bit as a musician, the beds are small. Especially for someone like me. There’s no box spring, just a mattress on top of a piece of sheet metal bolted to the bed frame. A bedroom with a window is something to look forward to as well. You’re just going to want one of the best slumbers you’ve had in a while as soon as you get home.

2. Eat some of your favorite foods

You will miss your mom’s dishes. You will miss your favorite local grinds. Some of my favorite foods are the dishes I cook. You can’t cook here. I can’t wait to have a simple American sandwich. Some hot wings. REAL (not tourist-made) pasta dishes. You can find some in the right places in Italy, but it was a big ordeal to look for it. Inevitably, you will sit around with friends on the ship and discuss the first places you’re going to go eat at when you get home. The ship makes an attempt at hamburgers, and instead of hotdogs, you get some weird tasting pig-in-a-blanket. You have to wonder if anyone in the galley has ever had a real hotdog or hamburger. Since San Juan is American, we are going to at least find some American chains we know have good food and stuff our faces. And the entertainment department is looking forward to a real cookout on the beach.

3. Drive

Even if the gas prices suck these days, getting behind the wheel is something I like to do. Besides all else, I’m in control.

4. Internet

I can’t wait to just get on the internet and surf, and leave it on.  Windows hates not being connected; I get notifications like on the hour that there’s a connection problem.  You don’t even realize how much you rely on the net for just general information.  I spend quite a lot less money than most crew members on the ship–usually around $30 a month.  Some go through hundreds in a pay period just to surf around.

5. TAKE A LONG BREAK

Even in college, I didn’t play this much. You need a mental rest. A few days here and there to clear your head to have a clean start musically. The longest break you will have out here is a day, and that’s more than most crew get. Even music that isn’t really deep, I still feel things from performances jumbling around in my head without giving them a chance to get out and let me start playing with that clean slate. Then again, my current roommate said one of his ships gave the musicians three to five days off at a time. That would be a little weird for me there.

I realize in the future, I will be sitting around wherever I am, and missing these experiences. But this isn’t the first time music has taken me around the world, so I can be sure it won’t be the last. The trumpet player has told me about a popular touring brass group he’s a part of and that I am qualified for, provided I can get my brass chops back up. He said the pay is considerably better. Maybe that’s my next adventure.