The Life of a Musician ~ Take 123

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Gandalfe

Only a dedicated musician would take $20,000 in instruments in his $500 car, 50 miles one way to make $20. ~ Anon

JaAGlogoThe holiday season is upon us and for most musicians this is a busy time. I am an amateur musician who plays with four groups right now, one that I run, and I have only three gigs from now through New Years. And that is by choice, having decided to take a break from another of many other musical performances I have done in the past.

But I got another of those interesting offers that really gives me pause. It was an offer to do another holiday show, this time as part of a 4 piece combo. Taking a least 16 hours, not counting traffic, the gig would run over 8 days with the pay check  of $100. I would be soloing on sax, clarinet, flute, and oboe for $6.25 an hour, in a high stress (because as musicians, you can’t make a mistake). Minus my cost for gas (30 miles one way), reeds, and food, my net return, best case, would be a negative $20!

SaxOneDon’t get me wrong, I have done more for less, including donating my time. And I have schlepped a record five different instruments to one long-running show. My returns from that show was 4 free tickets to the show. And this was from a theater that runs many shows a year. We won’t mention my soprano sax that got ruined when someone knocked it over during a break or the damage to Suzy’s alto sax by a sub who dropped it when he forgot to close the case before picking it up.

I recently met a very fine musician who after college was trying to make a go of the life as a professional musician in New York. He gave up and is back in Seattle living in his mother’s home. He does lessons for Music Works, thank goodness for those guys. He is struggling to make a living by giving lessons, writing original music, teaching at Music Works, and playing gigs around town. He recently did a sub gig with a professional quality band and got $20 for the night!

Having run a band, I often filled the band with stellar players who tried the life of a professional musician and then went back to college to get a degree for a job that would pay more regularly. It is nice to eat three times a day. Getting a decent soloing sub for my band is not hard because we are a non-profit with little to no pay for the musicians. But when I bring in a quality soloist, we try to pay them extremely well.

This year I decided to do my first New Year gig with this band. Everyone gets $75 for a three hour gig with one 2 hour practice. Yeah, we can afford Christmas this year …

Posted in Band Management, Big Band, Guides, Music, My World | 2 Comments

The Perfect Clarinet

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Gandalfe

If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be. ~ Yogi Berra

DSCF3613I have spent a lot of time helping family and friends find the perfect instrument within the constraints of their budgets. New musicians, young musicians, adult newbies and returning musicians all need a good or better instrument. On occasion I have even wowed the jaded professional who thought they’d never buy another instrument. I wowed them with a stellar instrument that they thought they could never afford and one which completed their stable of doubles (instruments besides your primary that you are called upon to play).

B18Today I’m writing you about a clarinet deal that might be the best you’ll ever see for your little musician, your friend or you returning to music. But first I want to talk about why making do with an inferior, cheap, poorly working instrument just doesn’t make sense. This is a medium-long article but it just could make the difference between success and failure and in the long run, save you a lot of money.

I don’t recommend renting an instrument after the first year of music. Often, for the price of a year of rental, you could own this instrument. The Buffet B18 below will play better, helping you move through the levels of learning faster and at the same time bring you much joy as you start to make some beautiful music. If you are using an old student model instrument, you might be fighting key work design problems, suspect intonation challenges, and damaged instrument travesties. I lament at the number of musicians who just gave up because their instrument let them down.

Quinn the Eskimo Vintage Horns has purchased a limited lot of Buffet B18 Bb soprano clarinets. The B18 clarinet is manufactured with a silver-plated finish and metal body rings, in keeping with the Buffet Crampon clarinet line design. The use of silver instead of nickel is an upgrade usually only found on high priced instruments. This clarinet is remarkably well-balanced and carries its power lightly, with a tone that is very close to that of the wood. As it is made of ABS resin, it is stable and unlike wood is not prone to cracking. It is the kind of instrument that could serve you for your whole life.

Quinn the Eskimo Vintage Horns is offering three lines of this instrument for your consideration.

Buffet B18 Bb Soprano Clarinet: $499 includes this new clarinet in either a backpack or standard clarinet case. Compare this to the Buffet B12 selling on sale at $700 and you start to see how much you save with this deal.

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Buffet B18 Bb Soprano Clarinet & Accessories: $599 ~ This includes an upgraded mouthpiece, Yamaha metronome, Yamaha tuner, and music stand.

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Select a Selmer HS or a Giggilotti A or B mouthpiece.

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Buffet B18 rental/repair shop 10 pack: $4000 and includes ten new instruments.

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Now is your chance to get a very fine instrument that could help you or your favorite musician move to the next step up the ladder of success.

Posted in Clarinet, Education, Guides, Music, Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Phil Woods – Just the Way You Are

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Gandalfe

One of my many instructors, this is a touching tribute to Phil.

Posted in Music | 2 Comments

RIP Phil Woods

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Gandalfe

“I have no illusions about being a genius musician. I pride myself on being a soldier, a warrior for jazz. I trained a lot of young people, and I’ve learned my lessons well. I’d like to keep the flame burning.” ~ Phil Woods

PhilWoods

A saxophone hero of mine died today. I last saw him in 2007 when he ran a master session in Seattle, a master session full of wonderful stories of his life and guidance for the musician. We talked to him for an hour after the gig. He played my sax. He will be missed and his music will live on forever.

So this is what I’ve been listening to this evening. (Click on the picture below.) He, it, jazz … is so hawt. Play on Phil.

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Posted in Jazz, Saxophone | Tagged | 1 Comment

How Important are You?

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Gandalfe

I’ve seen these two posts on Facebook this week and it kinda struck home. This first one is a data spew that I found fascinating:

ConsiderThis

This next one is from the aspect of space, a place that always makes me feel very small.

Here

It would be easy to think that you are insignificant, unable to make a difference in this world. But I encourage you to push past those feelings. Think instead of this story my father told the Presbyterian faithful in Sigourney, Iowa back in the early 60s.

Imagine you are a spec on huge tapestry. You are such a small thing that from a few feet away you can not even be recognized. But if you make your little part of the tapestry as beautiful and clean as you can, the whole tapestry is better. And if you are lucky, very lucky, your neighbors will see what you are doing and they will make their little parts that much better. Now, suddenly, you have made a bigger impact than had you just ignored the whole idea of improving your little spot in the sun.

Posted in Community, Health and wellness, Lifestyle, My World, Religon | 1 Comment

Henry Ford, Privilege and Gayness

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Gandalfe

Many of us do not comprehend what it means to be part of a minority group. This post was an eye opener for me and bonus, there is a great book recommendation here too.

Mike's avatarRottin' in Denmark

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In 1913, Henry Ford started paying his workers $5 per day, a huge amount for the time and a more than 100% raise from what they were previously earning. It’s seen as a milestone in modern capitalism, the moment when employers realized that workers were also consumers, that raising their wages created a generation that would buy as well as work.

Last week in London I randomly read The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which has a chapter on Ford’s decision and some of the unsightly details of how he rolled it out.

It came with some strings attached. The headline pay was divided into two parts: wages (about $2.40 per day for an unskilled worker) and “profits” (about $2.60 per day). All workers received wages for their work at Highland Park, but they shared in the profits only if they were deemed worthy. Six months’ service was…

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Sax Art du Jour ~ Mark Kazav

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Gandalfe

“Mark Kazav is an artist of distinct style and conceptual integrity. He at once challenges the viewer with vibrant color and bold images. Mark has developed his own personal style which is indeed colorful, visually stimulating and a pleasure to own. Mark paints use a “wet-in-wet” technique, attempting to capture the essence of subject, rather than detailed expression. These paintings are reflective of both his philosophy of life and his personality, employing the use of colors as vibrant as any work of art such masters as Matisse or Van Gogh.” ~ Mark Kazav website

This picture really caught my attention, there is so much happening here, layer upon layer.

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I like the idea of painting with a pallet knife and the colors just pop here.

Posted in Art, Saxophone | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pricing your Band ~ A Lesson in Economics

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Gandalfe

My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. ~ Steve Jobs

I have been running the Microsoft Jumpin’ Jive Orchestra for approaching 12 years. Three to four times a year I get a call from potential customers who, upon hearing the price, respond with, “But you did (names the one charity gig we do a year) for free.” More often than not, this kind of customer wanders off when they hear our price.

The cost to our own band members to play a free gig can be high. For example, consider these costs:

1. $100 to $200 for 20 musicians to drive to gig and pay for parking.
2. $50 to $200 for subs to cover the folks who can’t make it.

And that is the least it costs us as musicians. For our last gig the band shelled out $250 just to play for a gig that paid $400.

If you look at the picture below, can see the stand fronts that my wife created for us. These have to be redone every two years because they wear out with hundreds of uses.

MJJOFront

So I’ve created some rules that I use to price my band. Remember, we don’t get paid, only the subs do. But I have been to enough horrible gigs that I have priced some at extraordinarily high prices because, well to be frank, we don’t want to do those kind of gigs.

    • If you want us to play what amounts to 2 hours of music over a 5 hour period, that costs the same as 5 hours.
    • If you want us to play more than 2 hours, the rate doubles.
    • If you want us to play outside on a hot day, even if we’re in a tent, the rate triples.
    • If you want us to play past mid-night, the rate doubles.
    • If you want us to play on a holiday, the rate doubles.

16585138769_f7d474a29b_zAm I the only one who schedules a band like this? Thank goodness we have day jobs. Thank goodness that this band is a taxable non-profit venture. There is no money in this, we play for the love of the music. And if there is any serious money, we have in the past donated them to various charities.

More reading: Here is an example of how another group of bands are booked.

Posted in Band, Band Management, FAQ, Guides, My World, Quote | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Music Notation Software Update 2015

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Gandalfe

Saw this article and wanted to put it in my reading file. The bottom line:

Upgrade bottom line:

SIBELIUS

  • If you use Sibelius 7, I think that’s a good version to stick with for now. (that’s the version I use for most of my work.)
  • If you use Sibelius 7.5, that’s fine too. (This version added some small new features, but it also changed the file format, so it’s annoying to share files with people working in earlier versions.)
  • If you use Sibelius 6, that’s a little tougher call. It’s acceptable to work in, but there are some limitations and it’s now several versions back. I would recommend moving on from that version before long.
  • If you use any version prior to 6, I would recommend you upgrade to 7 or 7.5 before you get trapped in the version 8 licensing scheme. But act quickly, you’ll need to buy 7/7.5 from a retailer who has existing stock since Sibelius is no longer selling those versions.

FINALE

  • Finale 2014d is pretty stable and it’s the version I tend to use for most projects. But opening old files in new versions of Finale can cause problems, or in some cases it won’t even work. Finale’s free NotePad is surprisingly the best choice for opening old Finale files and allows for simple editing.
  • If you use a version of Finale prior to ver. 2012, it’s time to upgrade.
    Notation software is absolutely essential for virtually anyone who needs to write down a musical idea. I have about 70,000 music files on my computer, and I’d estimate 2/3 of them are in Sibelius format, the rest in Finale and SCORE format. I don’t foresee abandoning Sibelius or Finale any time in the future, and I am reasonably confident the programs will remain functional and useful, even if they don’t add any significant new features or fix the glaring problems that remain. Perhaps Steinberg’s entry into this market will shake things up and force some serious competition among all of the programs. Despite all of the grim news here, I remain optimistic and hopeful.

Read more: http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/to-upgrade-or-not-to-upgrade-a-notation-software-update/

Posted in FAQ, Guides, Music | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Belgium Sax Note

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Gandalfe

Gotta luv a saxophone loving country. And why not the country that brought us the creator of the sax. Antoine-Joseph “Adolphe” Sax was a Belgian musical instrument designer and musician who played the flute and clarinet, and is well known for having invented the saxophone. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba.

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SaxNote

Posted in Saxophone | Tagged , | 1 Comment