“The Food Network couldn’t spend all day mic’ing a guitar amp. Every time I went into the studio, the engineers would say, ‘Don’t bring your amp’”: Meet Tim Rockmore, the TV and session veteran who’s recorded entire tracks with a Fender headphone amp

After a career playing in Manhattan jingle studios for the likes of Sprite, Sears and Pringles, Tim Rockmore began shopping for session work in Nashville – and quickly realized his demo wasn’t cutting it.

Having worked on TV soundtracks for years, he knew he had to rock less on the instrumental record he made to act as a new showreel. “I’d try not to think about how cool I could be, showing off or overplaying,” he says. “It was more about how I would fit into the song.

“I needed to show people in studios that I could focus on writing and melody, and also demonstrate some skill. There are a lot of instrumental records that get out the window with guitar solos; I had to show that I could come up with harmony parts and that I had different styles.

“I spent a lot of time editing it, walking down the street with my Walkman and going, ‘Okay, that's too much; I’m going to cut it down.’”

The showreel wound up launching Rockmore’s solo career. “One of the producers in Nashville heard it and said, ‘You should put it out as a record,’” Rockmore marvels. That became his 2018 EP, Noodles. “Because of Guitar World I started getting a little attention,” he says.

His new album, Light, is a continuation of Noodles – and it’s his first release actually intended as an instrumental album in its own right. “I’ve always loved instrumental music,” he explains. “I love Joe Satriani and Steve Morse. The EP was demo-centric, but this time I really thought about making an instrumental record.”

Rockmore’s session career began, as many do, with a chance meeting. “I was in a popular band in the late ’90,” he says. “One of our biggest fans is now married to a writer, Arthur Bacon, who gave me my first real session work,” It was an opportunity he had been training for his whole life.

“I had a guitar teacher who was a session musician for CBS. From the beginning, he put me on recording exercises where I’d play and then play back to myself, or jam with him – so I was learning to write parts.”

One of the most important things he’s learned is “to be the fly on the wall” during sessions; he listens to the rest of the process to work out what the lead artist and producer need. “Then you have to come up with an idea really quickly,” he adds. “I’d be that headspace where you always think about the song.”

While the debate over real amps vs digital modelers will never die, Rockmore says in the fast-paced world of TV sessions, the argument was over decades ago. He used the Korg Pandora, a pocket-sized device launched in 1995.

“I used to do stuff for the Food Network, working at a foley studio in downtown Manhattan, and they didn’t have a lot of time. They couldn’t spend all day mic’ing a guitar amp.

“I had a really nice vintage modded Marshall that got the best sound – but every time I went into the studio, the engineers would say, ‘Don’t bring your amp.’ The Pandora saved my life a lot of times.”

On Light, he used the Pandora to track pseudo-bass parts on his guitar. Having got used to the convenience of headphone amps, he also tracked the entirety of I Love Rock with his Fender Mustang Micro.

Creativity is usually more important than sight reading for sessions, he says. “Although I can read charts, the producers I’ve worked with come in and say, ‘I need something to sound punk rock,’ or I need something to sound like so-and-so.’ At that time it was often Green Day.

“You’d do a runthrough, just warming up, and then you’d do another one, and they were like, ‘That's it done.’ If they liked you, you got called back.”

He also realized he needed a way to show the artists and producers what he could do. “How do you do that without being the loudest guy in the room?” His solution: “I’d jam with some of the musicians when there was a little bit of downtime. A writer would be like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could play funk. I’m going to call you on Wednesday.’”

Today, jingles are recorded mostly by songwriter-producers working alone. “I don’t get a lot of calls for jingles and commercials,” Rockmore reports. “I work with local artists and musicians, and I also record tracks remotely like everybody does now. I’m always looking for musicians to partner with and record with, and then I get hired to play on their other music.”

Although the game has changed, he advises young players to develop the same skills he did. “Having your own identity is great – finding your voice, and maybe finding influences that no one’s heard of in a while.

“The most important thing, number one, is that you’ve got to play all the time. How do you do that? You have to have fun.”

• Rockmore’s latest album, Light, is on sale now.