 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-04-14 23:41
A couple of recent threads got a few oboists coming out of the closet and admitting to their engineer inclinations!
I'm also impressed at nurses, veterinarians, educators (non-musical), mechanics, builder/renovators and pretty much anything else where you have devote a minimum number of years training to perfect a professional type of employment. Let me call us people "prof-types"
I am curious to know:
1. Who is/was a prof-type among players of the oboe persuasion?
2. Which is your strongest passion, prof-life or music?
3. Which is your main occupation, music (including music ed) or prof-life?
4. If you are earning a living as a prof-type, do you in any way regret not having gone the way of music?
5. If yes, why did you not pursue music?
6. If no, (you're obviously still putting great efforts in mastering this difficult instrument), how are you happy with your prof-type life?
.... do feel free to comment any other relevant way!
Thanks!
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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Author: hautbois francais
Date: 2011-04-15 00:19
1. Professional type ? Meaning the standard doctor, lawyer, engineer ? Then engineer.....
2. Strongest passion: Professional life while I was at it, music when I could get involved...........in retirement, music is one of my passions.
3. Main occupation, that is self explanatory, work rakes in bucks to enable one to have a nice retirement.
4. Didnt regret the Professional life, it enabled me to do what I want to do today. If I went the music route, I'd be poor as a church mouse, working my butt off and living from hand to mouth. Economics.......
5. N.A.
6. For the most part, I was happy working. I was involved in a startup that went public and it enabled me to retire comfortably. Now, I can pursue my music without ever having to worry about where the next pay check is coming from. I can do things with my music for the sheer joy and fun of it and even for no monies involved. This is the joy of living !
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2011-04-15 02:38
1. OK, well I originally trained to be an English Lit. Professor, and taught at the U. of Minnesota and City College of San Francisco. Also a church-mouse poor professional choice.
2. Music is my passion. I hated teaching English actually more than I hated playing the clarinet (which I genuinely disliked, but it was music, so I liked it enough to do it. I have spent a lot of my life doing things I don't like. It's a Midwestern Lutheran disease).
I love hymnology, conducting, and oboe playing.
3. I switched careers midstream, and became a music minister. Also not a good way to make money, but it was a good gig.
4. The only reason I regret not doing music as a first career is the "what ifs". By and large, I suspect that if I had majored in music in the first place, and gone through the whole auditioning rat race, I would have ended up hating music as much as I ended up hating poetry and novels and essays after English Lit. grad school.
5. I did not pursue music as a career because my parents were paying my tuition and they were very much against my doing it.
6. Well, I was very happy after I switched careers and became a music minister. Before that, not so much.
I wish I had come to grips with my essential musician-ness earlier, and had taken steps to get a much more systematic musical training. I have something like 120 graduate and undergraduate music credits, but they are all in theory and musicology. I'm way behind the curve on performance training.
Susan
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2011-04-15 02:41
I went with Nursing instead of music for two reasons:
1. My folks indirectly made it clear that the Arts was no way to support oneself. Which was kind of too bad, because my younger brother was a superb flutest with song-writing inclinations, and ended up becoming a respiratory therapist...
2. I was heading into 'charity' work overseas, sense of calling, and considered nursing the best 'tool' for this -- but I ended up teaching music and drama most of my years in the Middle East and Africa!
When I returned from overseas, my health faltered, but I had to work to support my kids, so I went back to nursing UNTIL I simply 'crashed'. (I do love hospice and community nursing, though.)
My professional life went by the wayside along with my health.
HOWEVER, I somehow managed to keep playing the oboe (and several other instruments) and with the encouragement of Real Professionals,
I have decided, since Music = Therapy, to break into music as a mid-life career change.
And it's already OBVIOUS to the Real Scientists out there that I am not nearly as interested in micrometer readings as I am in carving that dang-blasted piece of bamboo into something that makes beautiful music...
I'm not NEARLY as competent a player as many who post on this board, but I'm in a small enough town that the competition isn't fierce. I hope.
Wish me luck!
GoodWinds
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Author: huboboe
Date: 2011-04-15 04:36
I'm not an engineer. I started college with that intention but was playing in 6 local orchestras and never had time to do homework. Decided to call a spade a spade and learn music.
I played my first pro gig when I was still in high school in 1958, so I've been at it a while. Not having a first line job I did a lot of other stuff to make a living; one such was learning instrument repair, which led to learning machining so as to make better tools than were available, which led to a job in a tool and die shop where two of my colleagues, a clarinetist and an oboist, worked. We made wire cut dies for electronic components and spent a lot of skull sweat on designing clever ways to do impossible things.
Anyway that was what got me into gouger design. We can all list the things we don't like about our gougers; my thought was, 'Whadd'ya gonna do about it?' The machine I've been describing on the BB is the result.
A graduate of the SF Conservatory, I've subbed a lot in SF Symphony, played a couple of seasons of SF Opera, many seasons of SF Spring Opera, every other orchestra in the SF Bay Area. My 'regular' gig was the now defunct San Jose Symphony where I played for 27 years.
A friend and I founded the Midsummer Mozart Festival, now in it's 36th season...
I've always had a stable of students and I've been teaching oboe at Stanford for 15 years now...
Anyway, I've been around the block a few times and enjoy sharing what I've picked up over the years.
My wife is the high tech professional, brings home a tastier paycheck than mine. I'm the chief cook and bottle washer in our household. I think if I had it to do over again there's not much I would change. Music is the best damn team sport going, and I've played for (and with) some very good teams.
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-04-15 19:55
Robin,
interesting questions, and it'll be nice to get to know our friends out here as they respond.
My resume makes me look like a software engineer/data warehousing tech/business intelligence geek. At least for the last 20 years.
Near the bottom is my Army Band, and conservatory teaching stuff.
A couple music degrees into it, I decided to become a computer programmer for financial reasons, but went for a certification program Vs. another degree. Idea was to get entry level skills, COBOL and such and get a day job. It worked pretty well, and I found the work challenging and a good use of brains. It was even exciting for a while doing gov't contract support for a international drug interdiction program. By then, I'd evolved from computer programmer to Dir of the IT stuff, and split that role as contract administrator doing lots of defensive memo things to fend off spurious audit findings (long story). Anyway, some flying around S. America with the DEA boys and girls and our folks added some danger and definitely some excitement.
I mention all this because once when under threat of attack, all I could think was, "I am an oboe player, what the hell am I doing this for?"
Aviation systems experience via that job eventually led me to Lockheed Martin as a Sr. Software Engineer supporting rocket configuration data. But I left that for IT work in the Yellow Pages chasing $ and then got into data warehousing the past 10 years.
All along I kept oboe going, played with community orchestras, church gigs, and the occasional Oxymora reunion effort.
Never tired of oboe, and now am happy as a clam I can do as much of it as I want, ...well, juggling Oxymora's needs for flute and jazz piano as well.
Life is good.
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Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-04-15 20:59
(preventive damage control here.....)
.... naturally, by "professional type of employment" I don't mean to belittle pro. musicians - QUITE THE CONTRARY - as I know the effort and rocky road to get in the musical profession is far harder than what I had to do in engineering!
I'm happy to read your responses. It puts my own feelings into a broader perspective. In my case, there is a definite regret of not having pursued, especially considering that a founding member of the Arion Ensemble (today Arion Baroque Orchestra) suggested I learn baroque oboe.....
But this regret is more due to the fact that my attitude at the time closed doors for me. To get the job I have in software engineering - to simply survive the university degrees - I had to wittingly reverse those attitudes. So I always wonder.....
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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Author: plclemo
Date: 2011-04-15 21:40
My degree is in electrical engineering. I worked for Martin Marietta Aerospace on the Space Shuttle program and for the US government. Then, I tired of engineering and began teaching science and math to junior high and high school students. I loved that job but brain problems got in the way and after 12 brain surgeries had to quit teaching because my short term memory got blown out. But, all along, I was still playing my clarinet in the church orchestra. That was a long-term memory thing. Then one day, I mentioned to my husband that it seemed like the clarinets were always being given oboe parts. So, in a quick reply, he said "Why don't you learn to play the oboe?" He bought one for me and the rest is history. I've been taking lessons for just about a year now. Not doing too too bad, just a little trouble staying in tune as the embrouchures for clarinet and oboe are very different and after 40 years of clarinet playing, my lips are being slow to learn the new one.
Post Edited (2011-04-15 21:41)
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-04-15 22:50
Paula,
In the event you are in CO, lets try to get together for some oboe fun.
My wife and I both worked at Lockheed Martin in IT following the merger.
I left for $ but she stayed and retired from LM last year.
-Craig
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Author: mjfoboe
Date: 2011-04-15 23:56
I am a licensed clinical social worker in private practice. I specialized working with children and family problems. I am also a retired school administrator. Presently, I am also an adjunct professor of social work.
At the moment I am devoting more and more time to music. I am the president of the board of my orchestra. www.seniorpops.org. This endeavor is a passion. I have not studied music academically. Most if not all of my training is by private teachers. I did not study music in college (although, I did take some courses) because I started late in life, was not musically gifted, and did not have the proper background and experience.
At the moment, I am very happy with my playing and development. I play more chamber music and our orchestra's music director keeps raising the bar for me. At this moment in time I consider myself a competent and skilled player with a good conception of the tone I desire - with my beautiful tuned Marigaux Oboe I have a rich resonant -warm sound which people enjoy.
I also compose ................ which is another passion.
Mark
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Author: plclemo
Date: 2011-04-16 14:31
Sorry Craig, I'm in Maryland (2000 miles from Colorado!) But thanks for the invite!!
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2011-04-16 15:23
Well, if you ever do get a chance to spend some time doing oboes with Craig, I highly recommend it.
Craig showed up at my house in Ohio (by invitation, of course!) one day on his way to an Oxymora reunion in Virginia. The visit came about because we had mutual friends, or mutual friends-of-relatives, or something like that. (And this was WAY before Facebook!)
We had a great time all around. We ate good food, drank good wine, talked intensely, and I got hours and hours of "oboe insight" from a master, plus a couple of his reeds that he brought as a "hostess" gift. Wow! It was the beginning of an enjoyable and very constructive relationship.
Susan
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Author: Wes
Date: 2011-04-16 18:33
For me, there was no choice between electrical engineering and music. With good training and some experience in both fields, there were many well paying and interesting jobs in engineering and very little in music, by comparison. From childhood on a farm in ND, I wanted both.
While studying engineering with no money at the U of MN, I played in orchestras, bands, chamber music, and even did a little solo tour. Earl Handlon was my clarinet teacher who was also Robert Marcellus's first teacher. Later, in Los Angeles, I studied with Mitchell Lurie, Ben Kanter, Salvatore Spano, and others. I've continued as a free lance woodwind player in the Los Angeles area for years and also done some teaching.
As an engineer, I've worked in foreign countries some and had a great time. I studied and taught EE also at USC for a while and had a good variety in my work. For example, I've worked on the design of brain tumor detectors, missiles, satellite ground equipment, and spread spectrum high speed modems. The most public task I had was to go to China with president Nixon in 1972 to provide satellite communications for that event.
Actually, I was told that I did/do not have an aggressive personality, the most acceptable ethnic or religion background, family connections, or "old boy network" that could have aided a music career, especially in Los Angeles. No regrets!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-04-16 20:53
Can bears play oboes? Not so good if they're pandas as it'll cost them a fortune in reeds, and bears in general will have trouble with their claws not sealing the peforated fingerplates properly.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2011-04-17 01:34
I was playing in the West Covina Symphony under the baton of Neumi Fischer, and he wanted to introduce me to his LA Phil 'cronies'. I declined, having other plans. Sometimes I wonder what Would Have Happened if I had acccepted....
GoodWinds
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2011-04-17 01:35
You're welcome, Robin Bobbin Stomper Boo. (That certainly dates me...)
GoodWinds
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Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-04-17 01:42
GoodWinds,
I don't know if engineers qualify as "real" scientists because our studies are in "applied" sciences... that is, we take the hard and theoretical research done by science and use it to improve applications in the real world. We do our own empirical research, but it's all with specific goals to make the theory and the measurements and the mathematical models useful to everyone.
Maybe, being a software guy, I am less interested in measurements than mechanical or electrical engineers, but I know from this forum that others agree that measurements are a guideline, not an absolute. The important thing is to be able to get the best out of whatever piece of cane happens to fall in our hands. Because cane is so variable in itself, this can lead to many surprises!
Anyway, you can satisfy your needs with bought, ready-made reeds, right? I think that's a hugely good thing!
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2011-04-17 20:10
no, Robin, I cannot satisfy my needs with bought, ready-made reeds:
I make my own.
I DO order from time to time, just to 'check' on what's out there, and to compare my technique with that of the people who make reeds all the time (I'm sporadic).
I usually find, and this is no criticism of anyone out there making reeds, that I prefer my home-made reeds much more. And I usually find that I have to adjust what I buy anyway.
If players can satisfy their needs with bought reeds, and can afford them, that is terrific. But I enjoy the 'making' process much too much to rely fully on others for my reed supply.
GoodWinds
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Author: Wufus
Date: 2011-04-18 22:23
I am a Chemical Engineer by training, but an oboist/english hornist at heart. I spent 10 or so years working at Eastman Kodak. The rest running a small business in digital imaging.
I was encouraged strongly by my non-musical family not to major in music. I was lucky enough to get world-class training for a few years that gave me the tools to continue playing. I never stopped. I currently play in 5 orchestras and 1 wind symphony in Southern California.
Some would say that this may be the best of both worlds. My struggle has been the fact the I may not be the best oboist I could be because I spent 8 to 12 hours a day doing something other than music, but I may not be the best engineer/businessman I could be because I'm thinking about the oboe and music most of the time.
Grass is always greener!
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2011-04-19 15:18
I can relate heavily to that... I used to sing orchestral excerpts to my patients when I worked nights and they couldn't sleep.
mary RN
GoodWinds
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