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Perhaps Why the Music and the USA is What it is..Today


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textr
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Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 1678

PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jason,
Surely there must be something significant about two trumpet players who actually can discuss something in a civil manner( there must be dark clouds forming in the sky, as in the world is coming to an end, LOL).
Actually I am very close to retiring from the education business and I am planning to do exactly what you are doing ,I am going to start booking my own bands because you are exactly right when you say that there are plenty of gigs out there if one is willing to hustle for them. I plan to have a small(4pc.) dixie band and a trio(jazz) and a wedding variety band ...6 pc.(pop, classic r&r etc). You can cover a lot of ground with those type of groups, but you are right when you say that it takes a lot of time and energy to make it work.
Best of luck to you ......textr
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junkyt
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Joined: 25 Nov 2001
Posts: 696
Location: Seattle

PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

textr wrote:
Jason,
Surely there must be something significant about two trumpet players who actually can discuss something in a civil manner( there must be dark clouds forming in the sky, as in the world is coming to an end, LOL).
Actually I am very close to retiring from the education business and I am planning to do exactly what you are doing ,I am going to start booking my own bands because you are exactly right when you say that there are plenty of gigs out there if one is willing to hustle for them. I plan to have a small(4pc.) dixie band and a trio(jazz) and a wedding variety band ...6 pc.(pop, classic r&r etc). You can cover a lot of ground with those type of groups, but you are right when you say that it takes a lot of time and energy to make it work.
Best of luck to you ......textr


Go get 'em!!
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thomasmarriott
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Joined: 07 Jan 2009
Posts: 198
Location: seattle

PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just want to throw my 2 cents is here - Jason is a friend of mine and a colleague here on the scene in the North West and he is absolutely correct when he says that if you work hard, you can stay busy and be happy.

It IS a rat race, because you have to be your own manager, agent, producer, etc. etc. and deal with the horn as well - no small feat for anyone, but most of us accept that as part of the job. There is a misconception that the "big-name" guys don't do the same thing. Brian Lynch, Ray Vega, Bobby Shew, Randy Brecker, etc. - they don't have huge label contracts, management, etc. They do what we all do which is to take advantage of every opportunity they can and keep their musicianship at a very high level, while dealing with the business too.

There is a common belief among younger musicians that you go to school, maybe grad school and you will magically have a career in music playing your instrument. We all know that isn't true and that there is something more to a career - namely "Paying Dues".

Lots of musicians get into specializing what they do (Classical, Jazz, Lead trumpet, etc.) and that is a very hard way to make a living. Sure you do the stuff that is artistically fulfilling, (and we all have our strengths & weaknesses) but you also have to make a living so you learn all the music you don't like as well so that you can be prepared to step into any musical situation and take charge.

I have the responsibilities of a mortgage, wife, kid, etc. and it's an enormous struggle to just find time to practice, let alone book a tour or try to get that nice festival gig. I have learned that the job of a musician is to take gigs, pure and simple. The more gigs you can take - the more you can bring home (and invest in your next "project"!)

That being said - we can all make our jobs easier by placing the proper value on what it is that we do. We work hard and as Jason pointed out it takes as much time / schooling / internship to be a musician as it does an M.D. Therefore - I encourage all the professional trumpet players and amateurs alike to keep your rates as high as your musical standards. Let's not sell ourselves short - any of us. Even if you think you suck, be competitive with your pricing and don't sell yourself cheap! Being a musician is hard!! And remember - when you do stuff for cheap - you usually get treated cheaply.

Anyway - that's a long rant but I really like the discourse here. Thanks for bringing this up guys and good luck to all of you.
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Capt.Kirk
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Joined: 24 Feb 2009
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 1:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with much of what you said! I would add though that in times now gone by more music was created adn performed locally where ever you lived. Everything was live. If you heard a trumpet playing on a record then you knew their was someone playing a trumpet when it was recorded. I think that the modern music industry has a lot of fault that it can take for sure. First the idea of "lean manufacturing" has taken hold and many places will use a synthesizer to replace real brass and wood wind and string musicians due to cost. Then you have the lack of venue's again because it is a lot cheaper to pipe in music from a service then to have live musicians playing in a store or restaurant or bar.

Their is almost no opportunity for kids to go from H.S. to performing for a living and again not much difference for a graduating college trumpet major unless they want to teach because their are too few career's in music and they tend to stay tied up for long periods of time!

I think many of students that might have been the next Dizzy or Wynton or Armstrong just say the heck with it and settle on working a 9-5 job for the rest of their lives instead of even trying. If you do not live in a huge super city their are no opportunities for Jazz or Blues or anything like that!

On top of all of the above the recording industry is for the most about a very commercial and popular sound. They do not take a lot of chances on new sounds and such. So everyone just keeps doing the same old stuff over and over again to make a pay check! I do not think any segment of music has anything new happen to it since the 1980's from then on it has been nothing but more of the same re-done a million times. Even the movie industry anymore seldom has anything new it is the same stuff redone over and over again ever 10-15 years! If your lucky you might see them toss in Pre-Quell!

On top of that you have a bunch of control freaks that do not want to see anything change at all! Look at the crazy stuff we hear on this forum all the time with regard to brand names, college professors and other's in the industry! We have two groups in the music world those that have some form of vested interest in maintaining power and control and those that want to see things move forward. Usually the trumpet elite are the ones that want power and control and do not want things to change and their thinking reflects this it is very static then you have the regular Joe's that played an instrument as kids and maybe in H.S. and college that would like to see more transparency in the industry and see more changes and more forward progress. The ladder usually has no control or ability to affect opinions or anything like that. They can vote with their pocket book and that is about it but you can n ot buy what no one will make! that goes for music, instruments, books etc......The people that have the power to publish books, music and mass produce instruments almost always go for the sure thing which is too not take any chance and just keep doing the same thing over and over again.

When a kid is in school who get's ahead the kid that has the most talent or the kid that does what he or she is told? I can tell you that it is the kid that is the "Yes" sir/ma'am type. So how do you take a person that is used to letting other's think for them and doing what they are told and turn them into a progressive, independent thinking, creative musical machine? You do not do it for the most part since these types have usually had their spirit broken a long time ago. Usually you have to go and find independent artists that where talented enough to get into very good programs but had too many problems with conformity to stay and complete the program or they where the least liked by their teacher etc........ By default convention and conformity are the complete opposite of creativity and they will kill creativity every time. Group think is sucha problem that even in engineering circles new talent has to be brought in regularly from outside a company to freshen things up. Few big innovations are created by corporations or the establishment! It is almost always the guy that people hate or laugh at behind his back working in his basement or his garage that invents the big earth changing technologies! This same things happens in all discipline from science to art and everything in between!

We love to hear stories about these people after they make it but when they are around us trying to make we usually just point at them and laugh! In almost every corporation I have worked for after my first year with a new company I usually was the outside guy that was brought in to projects that had stopped making progress or stalled! My specialty is is my ability to see the big picture and think in unconventional ways to solve complex problems! The same thing that made me good at my job also made me a target. The executives and board member that liked results loved me those that liked to control a process and micro manage things hated me! Their was a 5 year time span where I could not do anything wrong at GM at all I sat on almost every board and committee and had my finger on hundreds of special projects! I only had to step on the wrong toes once though to have my job transfered to Canada!

This is what innovators and agents of change face all the time! The only time agents of change are popular is if those power's at the top happen to fancy them or think it will give them more money or power. If that is not the case it usually takes public out cry along with the publics money not being spent to force a change. So until the public demands more from the music industry they will keep pumping out what they know are sure things! It is only the indie market that really has anything to gain by innovation but they can not market what they cannot find! That is the circular double edged sword!

I truly think that as less and less power and control is set int he hands of teacher's in large institutions and less in the big music industry that we will see more change and progress begin to happen. It will start at the bottom and will work it way up. I think it will take at lest another 20 years though. I could be really wrong but this is a slow changing industry on a whole!
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ChopsGone
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 1:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did someone at GM see this?


http://www.meetup.com/members/4318325/

Don't your hands hurt?
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A.N.A.Mendez
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Joined: 27 Jul 2005
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm tired.
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