In the city of Boston, Massachusetts, there must be, between Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, Longy School of Music, music majors at Boston College, Boston University, M.I.T., Harvard University, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts, Tufts University etc., and etc., at least 10,000 music majors of various sorts. This represents more then the entire population of professional musicians in the US at this time. Now start adding in all the other schools in the US!The Wisdom of Bill Conti
(In case you don't know, Conti is a film composer, most noted for the first few Rocky films)
Many decades ago, I heard Conti say, "You are what you do. If you drive a cab five days a week, and play music on the week-end, you are not a musician, you are a cab driver who plays music". I found the refreshing honesty, a challenge. Us baby boomers enshrined the idea that you can be whatever you want to be, if you just wish it hard enough or had enough money to help others agree with you. The magic act of saying something three times making it true (which our 40th president didn't invent) was practised all over, like children, "I am a ballet dancer, I am a ballet dancer, I am a ballet dancer." This is where the right-wing Ayn Rand selfishness reached over and kissed the left wing self-realization nuts, firmly on the lips, with Walt Disney sprinkling pixie dust on the wedding. In this world where wanabees out numbered actual artists by great measure, whole industries grew up to feed the perpetuating lies. Bill Conti's clear eyed honesty, which is also the route to motivation if one wants to "become" something, requires practice. They don't have those "practice rooms" at today's music schools. There is several orders of magnitude more people teaching composition, today, then make a living at it. Making a living means that the money you are paid as commission, and subsequent royalties on sales and performance of the music, is enough to pay your mortgage/rent, your groceries, your health, home and car insurance etc. Whenever I bring this up, all sorts of teachers who imagine themselves composers/musicians get bent out of shape, after all, who am I to say what they are? How dare I measure things in such a capitalistic way? But I wonder, what is wrong with being a teacher, what is the ego-investment in a label that would make an otherwise intelligent person go all tinker bell? Are they embarrassed that at a late age, they still aspire to become something different from what they are? Charles Ives was an amateur, does that make him any worse? Then again, I sure wish that nincompoop sax player, Alan Greenspan, had been foolish enough to try to keep on making music his living. Anyway, one is free to self-label, and what other people think is their business.
I don't mean to propose a change, nor to put an end to this curious academic fairyland, anymore then I would want to put an end to Societies of Poodle Skirt Wearers, although they are, both, endangered by their own anachronisms. Someday, a generation or two from now, after the 103rd dissertation on Hildegard Von Bingen's left eyebrow and the note Bb has been excepted, someone will turn off the light and close the door, and walk off into that brave new world where they might have to confront the existence of themselves amongst many living and breathing humans who are immersed in a musical behavior much more measurable, understandable and pertinent simply by the fact that it exists concurrently.
When I was in Boston music schools, during the early seventies, I was lucky enough to maintain a professional life that consisted of some long stints at local night clubs. The usual six month gig consisted of five-six nights a week, and sometimes a matinee on Sunday. Each night was usually five sets between 9pm-2am, forty minutes on and twenty off. That meant three hours of actual playing with a group in front of an audience, and this, many times after an hour or two practice at home. To paraphrase, the muscular strength this gave to my... hands, and by this I mean both strength and muscle knowledge, made all the difference (added to the great teacher's pointers at NEC). These opportunities were already anachronisms then, they don't exist anymore, a "musician" proudly talks about his "gig" where he goes and plays for an hour a week, for less money then would cover his half-price drinks and transportation (and if he were like me, his strings). If I was Berklee, I would reopen ten bars on that stretch of Mass Ave. that was hot in the fifties (south of Gainsborough etc.) and make the students play a similar schedule, no cover charge, cheap drinks and cutting contests attracting all sorts to the excitement. Of course, ten bars could only suffice for, say, seventy musicians, and Berklee is training 3,500!. As long as I am kind of ranting, I just thought I'd say something about all the idiots about these days, who would think nothing of spending $15.00 for a martini, and yet could not fathom paying a "cover" charge (to pay musicians). Oh that's right, drinking kills, smoking kills, don't go out without a helmet and a liability lawyer attached. See, it is not just "classical" music that is going down the tubes in live performance! Greg Sandow seemed to think I was nuts when I suggested this, but I still bet it is accurate: one symphony orchestra, take the BSO, means there are more musicians, people who make a living playing music in the classical music field of Boston, then all the other musical genres in Boston, combined.
By the way, I thought I would mention in case anyone cared about my thinly veiled "anonymity" at this blog, as I am a recovering alcoholic/drug addict, and this blog started as mostly a personal purge where I sometimes exposed that fact, I am trying to maintain the traditions of the association that has helped me to stay clean and sober. My name and even my email is available if one wants to look about, carefully.
It was BMO who got me all riled up for the new year, I am hoping to pass it on. If this gets you riled up, say something. Just don't get lazy with a, "there are many papers being published about contemporary music" whine. IT IS NOT TRUE! I have kept a careful eye on the AMS and other outfits, papers and book publishing, contemporary subjects are still a minority.
Ah, why bother, Yanks are just afraid that they will lose the money they have and not get what they think they need, otherwise they would have practised a national strike about this war a long time ago. They can manage that in other countries, even though they have the same fears, here it is, "I can't, I have to go in, it is contractual, but you don't understand, I have a wife and kids, responsibilities, I have a husband and kids, I, I, I, I. aye, aye, aye..... fuck those middle easterners, let 'em die with bombs and bullets that our kids will pay for.
Happy gnu deer, boy, I feel better :-)
I don't mean to propose a change, nor to put an end to this curious academic fairyland, anymore then I would want to put an end to Societies of Poodle Skirt Wearers, although they are, both, endangered by their own anachronisms. Someday, a generation or two from now, after the 103rd dissertation on Hildegard Von Bingen's left eyebrow and the note Bb has been excepted, someone will turn off the light and close the door, and walk off into that brave new world where they might have to confront the existence of themselves amongst many living and breathing humans who are immersed in a musical behavior much more measurable, understandable and pertinent simply by the fact that it exists concurrently.
When I was in Boston music schools, during the early seventies, I was lucky enough to maintain a professional life that consisted of some long stints at local night clubs. The usual six month gig consisted of five-six nights a week, and sometimes a matinee on Sunday. Each night was usually five sets between 9pm-2am, forty minutes on and twenty off. That meant three hours of actual playing with a group in front of an audience, and this, many times after an hour or two practice at home. To paraphrase, the muscular strength this gave to my... hands, and by this I mean both strength and muscle knowledge, made all the difference (added to the great teacher's pointers at NEC). These opportunities were already anachronisms then, they don't exist anymore, a "musician" proudly talks about his "gig" where he goes and plays for an hour a week, for less money then would cover his half-price drinks and transportation (and if he were like me, his strings). If I was Berklee, I would reopen ten bars on that stretch of Mass Ave. that was hot in the fifties (south of Gainsborough etc.) and make the students play a similar schedule, no cover charge, cheap drinks and cutting contests attracting all sorts to the excitement. Of course, ten bars could only suffice for, say, seventy musicians, and Berklee is training 3,500!. As long as I am kind of ranting, I just thought I'd say something about all the idiots about these days, who would think nothing of spending $15.00 for a martini, and yet could not fathom paying a "cover" charge (to pay musicians). Oh that's right, drinking kills, smoking kills, don't go out without a helmet and a liability lawyer attached. See, it is not just "classical" music that is going down the tubes in live performance! Greg Sandow seemed to think I was nuts when I suggested this, but I still bet it is accurate: one symphony orchestra, take the BSO, means there are more musicians, people who make a living playing music in the classical music field of Boston, then all the other musical genres in Boston, combined.
By the way, I thought I would mention in case anyone cared about my thinly veiled "anonymity" at this blog, as I am a recovering alcoholic/drug addict, and this blog started as mostly a personal purge where I sometimes exposed that fact, I am trying to maintain the traditions of the association that has helped me to stay clean and sober. My name and even my email is available if one wants to look about, carefully.
It was BMO who got me all riled up for the new year, I am hoping to pass it on. If this gets you riled up, say something. Just don't get lazy with a, "there are many papers being published about contemporary music" whine. IT IS NOT TRUE! I have kept a careful eye on the AMS and other outfits, papers and book publishing, contemporary subjects are still a minority.
Ah, why bother, Yanks are just afraid that they will lose the money they have and not get what they think they need, otherwise they would have practised a national strike about this war a long time ago. They can manage that in other countries, even though they have the same fears, here it is, "I can't, I have to go in, it is contractual, but you don't understand, I have a wife and kids, responsibilities, I have a husband and kids, I, I, I, I. aye, aye, aye..... fuck those middle easterners, let 'em die with bombs and bullets that our kids will pay for.
Happy gnu deer, boy, I feel better :-)
4 comments:
Happy New Year to you too. I don't think that Conti was right. What you make the money that you live on is not what you are. I believe that what you "are" is what you do when you aren't thinking of money.
If you make money from the income from investments, are you an investment? If you live on somebody else's income (like a spouse who has a job that pays the bills so that you--or I--can do what we "do") does that make a person who practices and performs less of a musician?
Elaine, I think that the factor in Conti's statement is more about time and attention, then money, so that in the case of the investment and supported person examples you mention, one could be a musician. But if the supported person needed to spend a hard eight hours or more, managing household and child rearing, like most feminists, I would call that a job. Or if the investor had to spend eight hours down at the brokerage buying and selling, then he is a trader. My fellow practicers of music, being honorable, I imagine that if they have to work at something else, that they bring the diligence and attention to the work that their employers might suppose they are paying for. Most humans, outside of an extreme rarity, after a hard days work, do not match the time and energy in their other interests. So, simply put, you are what you do. Your muscle experience, your mental processes, are what they are. It isn't a matter of philosophical debate, or a matter of aesthetic or social judgment, it is simply an honest measure of time and attention. Outside of a lucky few, most people spend the largest share of their energies on that which provides their sustenance.
Just as in practicing, where an essential tool is the honesty to call oneself on what one can do better, so in our lives, having the honesty to know who we are, not as we dreamed we are, argued or hoped we are, or what we said three times for magic, we are, helps to make decision making more accurate.
Would you want a heart surgeon who teaches Monday through Friday but takes jobs nights and weekends, or the one who operates daily? Talent is important, experience is also important. I have lived in the commercial world for a long time, in a town where self promotion is out of control. I have become pretty cynical, I don’t care what you say you are, show me what you are, and that is what you have been doing. If you were hiring a chef for your five-hundred guest wedding, would you hire your friend who makes delicious dinners for four whenever you come over, or someone who has run many a successful commercial kitchen and has a list of satisfied customers from affairs of the same size or larger? One is a chef, the other is a person who likes to cook.
Calling a spade a spade, but then I’m not opinionated ;-)
For a while, long ago, I used to have regular work bolstering the clarinet section of a local university concert band playing at their once-a-year graduation ceremonies. (I said regular work, not frequent.) As I sat there watching the students receive their diplomas I couldn't help but think to myself "These kids are going out into the real world to complete with me for work."
Although hardly any of the grads of that particular school were likely to become composers or clarinetists or music engravers, they were all going out to compete with someone. A percentage of them had probably trained for something really practical and were deciding between 6-figure salary offers. Most of them, however, were probably pursuing some inner passion which made them feel good but held scant opportunities for full time employment.
It would only be a matter of one or two decades before those passionate under-employed students woke up, looked in the mirror and wondered "who am I really, anyway? And what do I have to say to the world?"
To question your own identity is a heavy burden. We are told our identity is identical to many things besides what we do for a living. There's "You are what you eat." "You are what you drive." And lots more. Zappa fans get "You Are What You Is" as a trivial bonus.
And if You Actually Are a whatever pays your mortgage (like a composer, a surgeon or the president) simply getting paid for it doesn't mean you're a good composer, surgeon or president. It might just mean you're a good-enough composer, surgeon or president with a winning smile and a positive people-oriented personality. Or even a really lousy, really lucky one born into a family of composers, surgeons or presidents.
And here's where a person's self-image starts to control what they see in the mirror. America has a hugely positive self-image - we are the good people. Our parents told us. We tell each other that. We tell ourselves that. We take pride in doing good things at home and around the world. We get to decide the definition of "good" of course. We get to ignore reality in the process.
Our students rank themselves as among the smartest in the world in spite of being very low achievers in the industrialized world by objective standards. My generation (us Boomers) feel we have a right to some sort of personal artistic expression. I wrote a short tune once on this subject. The title: "In America Everyone Is A Great Artist". Everyone I know seems to have some higher spiritual game to play. Even the surgeons and the presidents, I suppose. Mostly it's all bull shit.
The day I woke up and looked in the mirror and realized that I had nothing to say that was any different than the millions of other people with the same general sorts of experiences who all lived in similar relative American luxury was a real bummer of a day.
Ultimately I realized how lucky I was to have stayed somewhat close to my dream. I'm not a real composer because no one pays me for my music or even listens to it much. But I'm still working in the general neighborhood of real composers. That fact in itself is remarkable. And I find time to write my music - which I remind myself constantly I may only keep doing as long as I keep enjoying the writing of it. That still makes me a "composer" even if the earning-a-living thing means I'm a failed one. Your cab-driving composer is the same way.
And as much as I deplore the conformity and over-population of all the university trained student composers flooding the market, I can't begrudge them their own chance to follow their passion. Nor can I begrudge their teachers the chance to stay in the music neighborhood they once were passionate about themselves. If teaching invertible counterpoint to a bunch of snotty kids who think they already know what they need to know gives you a chance to feel good about your particular passion after class, I think we ought to encourage invertible counterpoint classes. Or whatever classes. Or cab driving.
Eventually someone will come along and find a wonderful new way to say something fresh and exciting and important. And the rest of us will all imitate that person and claim to have had the idea first. Then all our wanna-be activities will briefly have meaning.
No, I'm not cynical either.
Dave, some great points.
"The day I woke up and looked in the mirror and realized that I had nothing to say that was any different than the millions of other people with the same general sorts of experiences who all lived in similar relative American luxury was a real bummer of a day."
My day like that also had a liberating quality.
”I'm not a real composer because no one pays me for my music or even listens to it much. But I'm still working in the general neighborhood of real composers.”
The word "real" is a question, maybe not a professional. When defining ourselves in this mercantile society, we tend to mean, when asked, what we do for a "living". But as in my last comment, this usually indicates how the most time is spent. I think many of us try to do our boomer best to "have it all", our cake and eat it to. We justify the day gig but because we want the homes and families the stability allows, but then practice magic speaking when insisting we "are" what we dream of. I would consider this behavior harmless, if I didn't suspect that the practice of self-deception multiplies out to "killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis is alright because it will bring them democracy". It is only a suspicion. You are an amateur composer, which puts you in some mighty good company. If someone asked the lawyer, and he said "a golfer", that deception doesn't mean he is not a wonderful golfer.
I agree, it is about passion. Maybe one of my main beefs with the musicological academics, is their very serious, self-justifying, pompous behavior. I love the passionate papers I read/hear, and seeing the love for the subject in the eyes, these are my kind of people. But the establishment has a thick, hardening coat of 100% B-U-double L BULLSHIT behind it. And I propose this state of affairs is exactly because generations of musicologically passionate people didn't want to drive cabs (I think this about many of the “soft” sciences). In a time when some 10,000 infants a day die from preventable diarrhea, I am not so sure of this expenditure of resources. Perhaps I am calling for a new respect for the amateur, and perhaps a wholesale move to that status for the “discipline”. I would trade all the papers on Bach for one year, to give support to one living musician.
“Eventually someone will come along and find a wonderful new way to say something fresh and exciting and important.”
They exist already, they are doing it already, but are off the radar because a) the establishment has usually already defined what “new”, “fresh”, and “exciting” means, which is that which will support the previous tenants of the “same”, “old”, system, and b), no one is looking. Right now, at this time, there exists a Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, Mahler and Schoenberg AND Hildegard von Bingy Baby, all at the same time, unless you believe a higher deity only sends these great souls to us when we deserve them, or that human brains are devolving. There are more people alive on the planet then during all those times before, put together. The musicological establishment, almost to the woman, is riding the water buffalo of time, facing backwards, not seeing today or tomorrow, but only the past.
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