 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: LeOpus1190s
Date: 2004-05-20 03:10
I as a clarinetist and a musician am constantly listening to classical music, thinking about music, performing and practicing. It isn't just work, or school for me. It's my way of life. It's what I identify myself as before anything else in this world.
Yet my friend, a very talented violinist, says that playing the violin is just his job. He says that it isn't any different than coming home from the office and forgetting about what you did at work. When he's not playing you could never tell he is a musician.
I guess it is just hard for me to comprehend music as just being work. it is my way of life, my passion. I'm not the only person that feels this way right?
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-05-20 03:34
It's partially this that led me to double-major. I'm currently a double major in computer science and music composition. For me, they form a perfect balance. Whenever I'm too caught up in a computer project and in trying to find the answer, I find solace in music. Conversely, whenever I am overloaded in music, or can't stand to write another note on the page, I have the consistency and regularity of computer science to turn to.
I think this is perhaps the source of my dislike for overly cerebral music, and music that is based entirely on an equation or a stochastic process or serial matrix. It's not even so much a matter of whether or not I like the sound. To me, music is my escape from that world.
With this balance, I'm in the rare situation that I am able to consider neither as "work," unless I become overloaded in one area. I think it works on a similar concept as my room during finals: Whenever I have a tough exam coming up or paper due, I'll find any excuse to clean my room which, when I have plenty of time, becomes a mess. Having something to fall back on when the madness of one world engrosses you is very important to me. It also (hopefully) keeps me from ever considering something my "job."
On a side note, my room is SPOTLESS at the moment.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-05-20 03:40
Hi, LeOpus -
It's been my experience among people I've met in the music field, a very small portion of the field I might hasten to add, you're not the only one who feels as you do. Neither is your friend the only one who feels as he does.
Personally, I feel that there's more to life than just one topic and I'm also quite pleased that everyone's not just like me
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2004-05-20 04:01
On some days music IS just a job. A bloody hard job that is not overly well paid. There must be some intangible that keeps us in the industry otherwise we would go and do something that requires less hours and pays better; this wouldn't be hard to achieve.
Music is the only job where you practice work before you go, for nothing!
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-05-20 04:07
As a veteran, since the age of 16, of hundreds (thousands?) of gigs in every shape and form, some that were musically challenging, some that were musically rewarding, and a large percentage that were strictly workmanlike, it is still just a profession.
I've also had my share of "gigs from hell". That is when the paycheck at the end of the night was the only inspiration to finish.
However, the true sign of a professional is to always try to give 100%.
Is it difficult work? Is it a difficult job? Only if you do it correctly...GBK
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2004-05-20 15:17
Yeah, sometimes it is just WORK. You just have to decide whether or not the work is worth doing for the compensation you receive, emotional or financial.
I was for five years the full-time director of a large church program (pipe organ, mixed choir, men's chorus, women's chorus, two rock bands, various other instrumental ensembles, handbell choirs, and a graded children's program). I quit because it became unsustainably tiresome grinding out new music for three services week in and week out, dealing with the hordes of volunteers necessary to run such a program, while being chronically under-funded and under-compensated.
I don't miss the gruelling schedule, nor do I miss the intense personnel issues. I DO miss the exhilaration of a performance well-executed, and I do miss the unique opportunity the position provided to really make a difference in the lives of the musicians and the congregation I led. In the final analysis, I've never had a job that I LIKED better. And I do believe that good jobs in virtually every field often require extreme work.
But I think that for me the low pay was the "real" issue. I was working too hard for what I was getting out of it -- especially in financial terms.
Is music still my passion? Is a fundamental part of my identity still based upon being a musician? For sure. But I for sure don't want to do it for a living under the conditions that I experienced.
Susan
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-05-20 17:26
I will certainly 2cd the wise words said above by Mark and GBK. I have been playing as a professional orchestral player for over 15 years and must say it can and does become tiresome and monotonous at times. One of the greatest challenges is just simply dealing with the usual hum drum conducting which comes along with the job.
Then there is the fatigue factor which figures prominently. Laat night I performed Beethoven 5th and Rimsky's Scheherazade for 3 evening concerts in 3 different cities!
Monday night, tuesday and Wednesday...talk about chop building...or breaking depending on which way you like to butter the bread!
All of the concerts got done quite late as there was a contemporary piece on the program as well which was a commission...(final chord was struck at 10.36 pm)
As to whether or not I had a particular favorite performance I always find I play better the more I play.(ie. as each concert goes by>)
On top of this I teach during the day so today I will probably be a bit tough for my students to handle.
Tired and zonked out..
David Dow
Post Edited (2004-05-20 17:30)
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2004-05-20 18:15
Anything pleasureable can become a grind when you make a living at it. See this for more details: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282856/combined
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2004-05-20 18:54
I would say that the closer your profession is to your talents and interests, the better off you'll be.
Ron Jr.
Post Edited (2006-03-06 16:17)
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Author: ken
Date: 2004-05-21 00:52
I played clarinet for a living for 24 years in an active duty U.S. military band. During those glory days, whenever I became bored or unsettled with my unassuming lot in life I got myself a minimum wage, part-time job at a pizza joint and/or cleaning banks. After a week of working for employers who could care less I can double tongue and blow double Cs ... cranking out pizzas, taking phone orders, scrubbing pots and pans until 2:30 a.m. … or being the only living soul in a 50,000 sq ft office building cleaning toilets, emptying garbage cans and moping floors … I inevitably return to my senses and realize how indeed fortunate I was to been blessed with a musical talent and more, actually "work" at keeping a "job" playing the clarinet. v/r Ken
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