Life of a Musician

[zephonic]

[Old No7]

We can fix that!

 

Just do a menu dive and change the upside-down square wave into a "Saw Up" wave -- and things will get better!

 

Oh wait...

 

- It's a Roland

 

- Changing waves is hidden on page 133 of 432

 

- The user manual was written in some form of gibberish

 

- I tried the instructions as written, but it didn't work as expected

 

Old No7

[JamPro]

I can honestly say this does not reflect my experience: my musical life skipped the "gifted kid" stage, and started with the "disappointing burn-out". 

[mate stubb]

That's me, just delete "with a home studio."

[stoken6]

I took the path I recommend to my kids, and anyone else who will listen:

- Stage one: kid shows a modicum of talent and interest

- Stage two: young adult gets a "sensible" job, and retains music as a hobby

- Stage three: older adult is able to enjoy music without the stress of worrying where his next mortgage repayment is coming from

 

Summed up as "don't follow your dream".

 

Cheers, Mike.

[zephonic]

10 minutes ago, stoken6 said:

 

- Stage three: older adult is able to enjoy music without the stress of worrying where his next mortgage repayment is coming from

 

on behalf of all musicians: “What is a mortgage?”

[GovernorSilver]

I skipped the gifted kid step, on account of not being born gifted

[Docbop]

I kind of started as  the weird guy who had a tape recorder and would tape my friends gigs and do sound.   So I was playing and recording and that led to a lot music things going multiple directions.  Which is great for having a tons of stories to tell, but not for "making it" in any one path.   Even my right turn into computers came from working in the music school, but at least that paid better in the years to follow.  But I alway found my way back to music in some form, music is where my heart is. 

[analogika]

Oh. I thought it would be this painful graphic: 

[Iconoclast]

I define stage 3

[David Emm]

Does that count the magical (& unrealistic) studio that's been in my head since I was still pinning Moog pamphlets to my bedroom walls? The one that would have been a maintenance nightmare or featured Star Trek-y gear that didn't yet exist?

 

Not getting that dreamy mutant instrument designed by Homer Simpson is a WIN!

[zephonic]

1 hour ago, analogika said:

Oh. I thought it would be this painful graphic: 

 

 

I think “practice” and “thinking about practice” are reversed

[Docbop]

12 minutes ago, zephonic said:

 

 

I think “practice” and “thinking about practice” are reversed

 

From what I've seen of young players I change it to....   thinking about practice and noodling for hours and calling practice. 

[K K]

[Docbop]

37 minutes ago, Dave Ferris said:

When it gets to this stage, it highly sucks. Highly blessed that portion of my life is in my rear view mirror. Looking back, I often wonder how I did what I did for all those decades.

 

 

Reminds me of Jazz guitar legend Joe Pass.   He started playing guitar for enjoyment but his father pressured him all the time to play and for friends and family.  His father always telling him to play more, meaning more fills and faster being a good son he did.   Eventually Pass got tired of the pressure from his dad to play and left home.   Pass got typically low paying jobs because he didn't know how to do anything but play guitar so he went back to playing.   Year went by he tried to stop playing and thought moving to West Coast would help.  Again no skills he ended up back play guitar again.   Then he turned to drugs and stopped playing and strung out.   He eventually ended up in Synanon rehab center in Santa Monica.   Synanon had a big band, back when I was into surfing we would go down to the Synanon building and you could see big band rehearse.    Synanon counselor convinced Pass getting clean and playing because he wanted was his best way out.   Pass got clean, played in the Synanon band, and when he left other helped him get work playing on TV shows and that led to studio work.   Joe got back into Jazz and the rest is history.   

[16251]

My secret - not peaking to early. 

[sherry]

The BEST quote I've heard is from (Of all people) the retired violinist David Ragsdale of the band Kansas.  He was asked by a fan of his, who was also a violinist, telling David that he always wanted to be a professional musician, but instead received a degree in some other field and how wasn't sure he made the right decision.  David said to him, "Do you own a home?" and the fan said, "Yes."  David said, "you made the right decision."

[SamuelBLupowitz]

2 minutes ago, sherry said:

The BEST quote I've heard is from (Of all people) the retired violinist David Ragsdale of the band Kansas.  He was asked by a fan of his, who was also a violinist, telling David that he always wanted to be a professional musician, but instead received a degree in some other field and how wasn't sure he made the right decision.  David said to him, "Do you own a home?" and the fan said, "Yes."  David said, "you made the right decision."

Joke's on us -- now NOBODY can afford to own a home. 

[kpl1228]

16 hours ago, Dave Ferris said:

Took a ten year break because of EXACTLY this. Every stinking weekend, etc etc.

Now I'm getting back in and I'm excited.

 

 

 

[timwat]

5 minutes ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

Joke's on us -- now NOBODY can afford to own a home. 

 

FWIW, I teach a course in Personal Finance that might refute that commonly-held notion.

 

[Docbop]

I think the biggest thing is realizing that only the TOP artists are making the big bucks.    I worked with a lot and around a lot of big name musicians and most of them lived well, but not rich.    As one of the studio guitarist said.... Just because you record for the biggest people in the music business mean you make a lot of money yourself.   

 

The one  that always amazed me talking to him was a really busy studio percussionist who start just playing congas in a rock band.   This guy was a junkie at one point and ended up where he had more money than most the artist he played congas for in the studio.   I was at a session of his and noticed between takes he was always on the telephone, talking to him later he told me he was talking to his financial manager.   He said one thing I learn really early playing in bands was get a good financial manager and especially if you do a lot of drugs like I did.  He got another call from his finance guy and the guys was telling him some houses they could by cheap, cost to fix them up maybe put a pool in then sell and the profit.    This was before the term house flipping and a junkie conga player was worth a fortune by having someone to not only invested his money put the guy on a drug budget so he did over do it.   So learn early to deal with the money side of music and how to make it last or better yet grow it. 

[El Lobo]

A friend was a very successful musician – recorded and toured with Big Names, did commercials and soundtracks, etc. He once told me that if he knew how to do anything else, he would. Me, I'm happy being a weekend warrior for the past 60 years. I had some small amount of fame as a youngster but I made a decision not to try and make a living as a musician. I'm old – 78 – I don't have a studio but I'm playing in 2 regularly gigging bands. I'm good with that. And my house is paid off.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

3 hours ago, timwat said:

 

FWIW, I teach a course in Personal Finance that might refute that commonly-held notion.

 

It's cool, I actually own a home myself. But I'm a lucky one in my generation. Like so many other things about the landscape, it's very different than it was 30 years ago.

[timwat]

Genuinely, congrats, Samuel. It is not a small thing - or an easy one to secure these days. It IS a different landscape than it was 30 years ago, certainly true.

 

And one of my young sax player friends - mid 20's, full-time musician - purchased his first home here in the SF Bay Area a few years ago. He's an example I use in my classes to demonstrate that if a full-time musician in the Bay Area can buy a home, it is possible for many of us to consider the possibilities.

[ProfD]

As I was about to graduate from high school, I told my dad that I wanted to attend Berklee College of Music instead of majoring in engineering.   

 

My dad came from a generation of folks who didn't believe in a music career.  So, his comment to me was, "I'm not trying to take care of a starving musician, stick with engineering".  I know he meant well.🤣

 

Fast forward...the funny part is that my dad would be out in the audience beaming whenever he attended one my gigs.🙄

 

To this day, my dad will ask if I'm still playing music and nothing about engineering.  Bless his heart.😁😎

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

40 minutes ago, ProfD said:

As I was about to graduate from high school, I told my dad that I wanted to attend Berklee College of Music instead of majoring in engineering.   

 

My dad came from a generation of folks who didn't believe in a music career. 

My parents didn't even believe in the notion of choosing a career that you love.  I wanted to be a locomotive engineer....  That was much too "blue collar" for them so they made me go to engineering school.  "Regular" engineering, not trains!  LOL.  If I had told them I wanted to study and play music full time they probably would have disowned me.

[Jose EB5AGV]

My story about music and parents is quite different but I am proud of how it developed... I began playing at 50 (now I am 55), obviously just as a hobby (I am a Telecommunication Engineer and, yes, own a house and have raised four children 😉)

 

But my parents, both 87, attended one of my band gigs at the beginning of this year (it was just my third gig!). They are happy I have found this wonderful new (for me) passion. I thank God for letting them live long enough to watch their son playing live. And, trust me, it was an experience I will never forget 🥰

[analogika]

The last time my dad visited me, my fairly mediocre Blues-Rock band opened for Walter Trout here in Hamburg. I carted out the B3 and Rhodes, only to tear them down after our opening show because Walter's keyboard guy preferred to use his own digital board for the presets. 

 

After our show, I wanted to stick around to watch Walter Trout, but my dad headed on home to his hotel. Before he left, he looked at me and said, "You know, as far as making money, career and that goes — your mom and I had rather different hopes from how it's going for you. But having seen you tonight, one thing is absolutely clear: You can't ever do without that." 

I hugged him and told him how important it was to have him see and say that, we both teared up, and he left. 

We talked on the phone a few times after that, but I never saw him again, alive. 

 

He died twenty years ago last month. 

[jazzpiano88]

This is Roy Firestone's memories and comments on Lyle Mays. 

He keys onto the positives and negatives of Life as a Musician as it relates to Lyle.   It is a great read!

 

https://www.lylemays.com/words/royfirestone

 

Copying here:

I want to add a final story on my friend Lyle Mays, who was, in my mind, one of the greatest jazz musicians the world has ever known, and this is about work.

 

His work, but the work of the dedicated artist.

 

No, accomplished artists may not be BETTER than the average person, the ones who gets up at 5 am to battle traffic to get to work, sometimes for a job they despise .

 

The ones who take the subway or the bus every day to sit in a chair or work a switchboard or with a construction crew in blazing heat or in some cold office with lives they never dreamed about or cared much for.

 

Or the folks who plod along in some sort of job to make ends meet, and do it with consistency if not passion.

 

Those people do their best, and try to get through their lives and make do and put something away for when they've had enough of a rat race.

 

This is not without respect to those who try and endure life.. doing something that they'd rather not.

 

I read somewhere that 75% of Americans simply dislike their jobs, but cling to them in many cases because they have to put food on the table or try, and often fail, to put their kids through college.

 

Those people are worthy of respect, if not admiration, but I still find their lives sad and unfulfilling.

I'm talking about great artists, and in this case the story of a great, and I mean GREAT musician.

 

Lyle Mays knew what he wanted to do from the time he was 9 years old.

 

He played piano in church functions and services in his home of a tiny place called Wausaukee, Wisconsin.

 

He was first inspired, as many kids his age were back then, by the Beatles, but he didn't seem to care about the hysteria and the phenomenon..he focused only on the music.

 

The structure, the melodies, and the harmonies.

Quickly though, he gravitated to jazz.

 

He was attracted to people like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, but his real hero was the legendary pianist, Bill Evans.

 

Lyle Mays was interested in a few other things in life.

 

He loved billiards and became quite proficient at it. He loved "angles" and "corners" and he loved to figure out strategies and ways to make shots and beat difficult challenges.

 

He loved basketball and his Green Bay Packers, and math.

 

His family was strict and conservative, and as a teenager, Lyle pulled away from convention and the harsh views his father had.

 

He fell in love with music composition because it freed him, and challenged him to find those "angles"and "corners" he so loved with playing “pool”.

 

When he was a young kid he was sent to camp. This was a jazz camp.

That’s right.

 

There was running and jumping and some swimming, but mostly this was a camp for musicians.

The campers played..less sports and much more music.

 

It was here he had heard about a kid named Pat Metheny, a Lee's Summit, Missouri guitarist and aspiring song writer, who also loved the Beatles, but mostly the same artists Lyle loved.

 

The two became friends, but then when camp ended, the two went home and went on with their lives..though they did stay in touch by mail and an occasional phone call.

 

Lyle would move on to jazz contests and competitions, and he would earn first place in many of them.

 

One night, his hero, the legendary jazz great Bill Evans was in the audience in one of his jazz competitions.

 

After hearing Lyle play, Evans sent Lyle a note. it said simply.

"Lyle Mays...you are going places."

That note meant more to Lyle than almost anything.

 

He carried that message in his head and heart for the rest of his life.

 

Years later, Lyle would attend North Texas State University, one of the great schools for jazz in America, and he got more proficient at composing and playing.

 

Sometimes he would write and play music for 10-12 hours a day.

 

He reconnected with his camp mate Pat Metheny and the two decided to record and play music in some sort of jazz band.

 

Pat attended my alma mater, the University of Miami, but was so gifted on the guitar, the school knew they couldn't teach him much of anything, and offered him a job on the faculty.

Pat was just 18 years old.

 

He turned down the offer and the suntans in Coral Gables, Florida, and decided to work with Lyle.

There’s a lot of stories of music and musicians and small, crummy gigs on the way, but quickly Lyle and Pat became close friends and devoted composers.

 

In the late 1970's they decided on a name for their group.

'The Pat Metheny Group'.

 

Lyle always laughed when he told me, Pat seemed to like that band's title, but Lyle was less about fame and thought they'd come up with another name for the band.

 

They never did.

 

From that point on, the PMG became a world class band with world class players.

 

They'd compose and record on a small label named ECM, but eventually move onto a bigger label with much bigger budgets.

 

The PMG would tour the world, in perhaps the most grueling tours I'd ever heard of.

I'm talking some 250 -275 dates in a year.

 

From Stockholm, to Warsaw, to the Czech Republic, to Tokyo, then back to the United States and then to Brazil, and Argentina...and a hundred other concerts and gigs.

 

It was an unrelenting, demanding and backbreaking schedule.

 

Pat never owned a home, and Lyle never had time for a long term relationship, let alone a wife.

The two young men and the band would rise to superstardom in the jazz world, which is very, very rare and hard to maintain .

 

They played with the greatest artists in the world, from Joni Mitchell, to Ornette Coleman, to Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Haden, and dozens of the finest players the jazz world has ever known.

 

They wrote movie soundtracks and sold millions of albums and all the while kept challenging themselves.

 

But after decades of all of it, Lyle wanted out.

 

He had done very well, and earned acclaim and adoration of fans, but he was tired.

 

Tired of waking up one morning in Morocco, and the next in Prague, and the next day in Osaka, and the next, St. Louis.

 

He stopped playing music entirely and decided to work on computer software and founded his own computer software company for composing and publishing.

 

That’s when I got to know Lyle as a friend..not as a celebrity.

 

I was shocked to hear he stopped playing with no desire to ever play again.

 

No desire to tour, and no interest in ever seeing another review or reading his name in the paper.

 

Lyle moved near me and loved to play pool on Thursday nights and work on his software company, and live a quiet, if not "exciting" life.

 

He just wanted a life that was something simple and manageable. He told me he lost the "love of his life", a woman who tired of his backbreaking touring schedule, and he wanted to try and find his way to a life of normalcy.

 

He was finding it. Then he got sick, and the other night he died.

 

I know that Lyle Mays never regretted for a moment, the playing, and was thrilled to compose and record, and electrified by massive audiences who would cheer and appreciate his music.

 

Once he played before 100,000 fans in a Montreal Jazz Festival.

 

But I think Lyle came to realize his love of music was greater than the business of music, and so he just quit.

 

I always felt it was a shame, that the world was robbed of more from a great artist.

But then I realized one day, that was just MY view.

 

It was HIS life he wanted back.

 

No more tours.

 

No more 5 am wake up to make planes or cars calls in someplace he never heard of..waking up not knowing what city he was in..and not caring anyway.

 

It was all about the music and the art.

 

His job was never 9 to 5.

 

He never had to take a bus to get to an office or construction site.

 

But in a strange way, Lyle Mays wanted quiet, anonymity , something that eluded him for most of his life.

 

His life ended, sadly, too soon, but he left the world the greatest legacy a musician could ever hope to achieve..he left his music.

 

Great music that will be loved and admired for decades, maybe a century.

 

I will miss this man's music.

 

I'll miss the new friendship we had built.

 

But I'll really miss the man.

 

Robbie Robertson of ‘’The Band" once talked of the life of the musician in the film, "The Last Waltz".

He said simply, "It’s an impossible Life".

 

Lyle led a glorious, productive, creative, and acclaimed life, but in the end..it was an "impossible life".

God what a life it was though.

 

And Bill Evans was right, he WAS going places.

 

He went to all of them.

[Cliffk]

Yup, totally relate to that trajectory. Pity nobody will ever hear that one amazing album I’ve got inside me. 😅