Klarinet Archive - Posting 000156.txt from 1999/03

From: "Rob Breen" <robert.v.breen@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Clarinets and the Comp. (was FROM LEAKY PIPES TO CLARINET REEDS)
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 10:17:30 -0500

"B. Keplinger" wrote:

> So, I would love to hear from any of you who support your clarinet and
>music habit through work in the computer industry (preferably in the
>software and development end of things, where I foresee myself being in a
>few years).

That would be me. Before I go on about where I am today, a little
background:

Just over 20 years ago I had finished up music degree requirements at
Boston U.
and was killing time driving a cab for a living in my home town of
Hartford, CT,
while waiting to begin a career in military music (more on that in another
post.)
One evening I happened to pick up a passenger for a long ride who worked as
a
data processing recruiter for one of the large insurance companies for
which my
home town is famous. After a few moments of conversation, she commented
that
I sounded a bit more educated than the average cab driver. When I told her
that
I had just earned a degree in music she launched into an aggressive
recruiting
spiel. The key piece of information she offered was that there is a known
carry
over from music skills to computer programming skills. Things like dealing
with
a symbolic language, understanding rhythmic values and, believe it or not,
transposition, transfer very nicely to computer programming. Although
interested,
and flattered, I had to decline her offer of a formal interview because of
my
already signed enlistment papers.

Fast forward five years. Active duty military music was a worthwhile
experience,
but other worldly considerations demanded my presence and attention at
home.
Now I needed a job. Cab driving was fun as a college job, but didn't offer
much
of a realistic future. Checked out various computer crash courses for
career-changers
and settled on a local community college. Absolutely ate up the course
material which
pertained entirely to COBOL based mainframe programming. The stuff was
just
intuitively obvious, and fun to boot. Interactive puzzle solving. Eight
months later,
I began working for that very same insurance company for which my cab
passenger
had been recruiting.

Fast forward another fifteen years. Still at the same company. My career
has
progressed from an applicaition COBOL programming (working on the programs
that run the business) to technical support and database administration
(working
on the platforms that the business programs run on) to software engineering

(installing, maintaining and troubleshooting vendor software). Over time,
anything
gets stale, but overall, I have enjoyed this work immensely. The
interactive
puzzle solving nature of it has been the most exciting. Not unlike
woodshedding
clarinet stuff until you master it. The best of it all has been projects
where I have
been able to use my ingenuity and imagination to develop *tools* to solve
unique
problems. For example, there was a time when database administrators were
getting lots of nasty surprises with databases getting too full too fast.
I designed
and built a system that would automatically monitor database utilization
and
present that information to the DBAs in a convenient on-screen historical
display.
The overloaded database problems went away and I had fun (and got a
bonus!!).

Over all this time, I have not only continued to play clarinet, but have
continued
to improve my skills. After 3 years of full time military playing I joined
the local
Army National Guard band which has given me steady work and steady pay.
Using that as a starting point, I've built a network of contacts up and
down the
ladder of professional music and routinely work in a variety of free lance
situations.
I have no illusions about contending for a full time orchestra job, but for
who I am
and the level at which I can play, a day job in computer programming has
been
an ideal fit. I have the security of an income that supports my family
(Oh, BTW,
a wife, three children and two homes fit into the overall picture as well)
and the
freedom to woodshed my horns and play as many gigs as life will allow.
Best of
all, I still feel both joy and challange in both my day job (programming)
and
my real job (playing clarinet). Something must be right, because the
contractors
keep calling and the mortgage keeps getting paid.

Regards,
Rob

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