Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My failed music career

newstatesman.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 45 posts

Re: My failed music career

#21

Post by powersnail »

optimalsolver wrote: post #4

Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types. First, let's qualify that statement. Is music, like mathematics, a young person's game? Musicians tend to release their classic albums, i.e. what general consensus agrees is their best work, in their early years, not when they're 40+. Look at the biggest, long-running music acts today, such as The Rollin…

If you look at classical music, many soloists easily performs in their 70s; for most of them, until their bodies become not athletic enough, they do continue to evolve and perform better. Violinists in their forties and fifties are significantly better, more philosophical, than their earlier works.

Even composers are like that. Most continued to put out great work until death.

The thing with popular music, is that it's supposed to be popular, trendy, and just new. Talented composers start putting out innovative works when their are young, and in the eye of the general public, those are more salient, more praise-worthy.

Re: My failed music career

#22

Post by circlefavshape »

optimalsolver wrote: post #4

Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types. First, let's qualify that statement. Is music, like mathematics, a young person's game? Musicians tend to release their classic albums, i.e. what general consensus agrees is their best work, in their early years, not when they're 40+. Look at the biggest, long-running music acts today, such as The Rollin…

One possibility is that touring musicians lose touch with ordinary life, and therefore no longer create anything that people can relate to.

Nick Cave is a counter-example to the above, btw. I think he's just gotten better and better with age

Re: My failed music career

#23

Post by rorykoehler »

optimalsolver wrote: post #4

Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types. First, let's qualify that statement. Is music, like mathematics, a young person's game? Musicians tend to release their classic albums, i.e. what general consensus agrees is their best work, in their early years, not when they're 40+. Look at the biggest, long-running music acts today, such as The Rollin…

I think Jimi Hendrix didn't get a chance to make his best work due to his early passing. His last Band of Gypsys album was a glimpse of what could have been and it was on a whole new level in terms of artistry and craftsmanship.

Re: My failed music career

#24

Post by rorykoehler »

puranjay wrote: post #14
optimalsolver wrote: post #4

Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types. First, let's qualify that statement. Is music, like mathematics, a young person's game? Musicians tend to release their classic albums, i.e. what general consensus agrees is their best work, in their early years, not when they're 40+. Look at the biggest, long-running music acts today, such as The Rollin…

I think you're talking about popular music. Popular music is pretty much defined by youth culture. And to create music that appeals to youth culture, you have to be young yourself. Musically, I don't think you lose your abilities as you get older. In fact, I would say you become even better. The most visible example of this is among movie composers. Morricone was in his late 30s when he scored "The Good, The Bad, The…

Hans Zimmer is a different case. He is basically a curator these days. He has teams of people writing and arranging for him.

Re: My failed music career

#25

Post by bitwize »

fiblye wrote: post #8
optimalsolver wrote: post #4

Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types. First, let's qualify that statement. Is music, like mathematics, a young person's game? Musicians tend to release their classic albums, i.e. what general consensus agrees is their best work, in their early years, not when they're 40+. Look at the biggest, long-running music acts today, such as The Rollin…

Some musicians also refine their style and grow with age. David Bowie's got great music lineup spanning every decade of his career from the 1960s to the day he died. I think people who enjoy his music can easily pick out a definite classic from every decade and everyone has their own favorite period. Tom Waits started out as an okay musician, and he grew into his own sort of music with age. He's known for his grit an…

Some bands do the opposite: have a smash hit, and then they experiment and innovate and come up with new stuff, and it's difficult to have as large an audience as they did when they were cranking out crowd pleasers and floor fillers.

"Weird Al" Yankovic's "crowd pleasers" are his parodies of popular songs, but he and his band have been playing them to a standard of musicianship that only got better with age; and he has also developed more and more original material that is as innovative as it is a fitting pastiche/homage to other artists.

Re: My failed music career

#26

Post by CannisterFlux »

I find it amazing that anyone reaches the level of technical skill required to play a musical instrument while maintaining any kind of artistic drive. I play guitar for fun, and for me to learn anything that sounds any good takes hours of repetition to the point that when I can finally play something to a level that sounds passable, I am so utterly sick of hearing it that I start to dislike most pieces I've learned!

This sentence resonated with me, maybe it's this feeling that keeps someone playing: "There were tricky passages I would dread, notes in the middle of chords I would bluff and hope nobody noticed. But in between attacks of nerves I felt a thrill, and a sense of harmony, when I managed to make the notes sparkle; when my mind, my hands and my ears were all in sync."

Re: My failed music career

#27

Post by coldtea »

optimalsolver wrote: post #4

Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types. First, let's qualify that statement. Is music, like mathematics, a young person's game? Musicians tend to release their classic albums, i.e. what general consensus agrees is their best work, in their early years, not when they're 40+. Look at the biggest, long-running music acts today, such as The Rollin…

>Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types.

Is that pop/rock musicians? If so, that's because pop is a young person's game/interest.

Tons of Jazz, classical, ethnic genre, electronic, OST etc, musicians have produced their best works in their later years...

Re: My failed music career

#28

Post by coldtea »

rorykoehler wrote: post #24
puranjay wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're talking about popular music. Popular music is pretty much defined by youth culture. And to create music that appeals to youth culture, you have to be young yourself. Musically, I don't think you lose your abilities as you get older. In fact, I would say you become even better. The most visible example of this is among movie composers. Morricone was in his late 30s when he scored "The Good, The Bad, The…

Hans Zimmer is a different case. He is basically a curator these days. He has teams of people writing and arranging for him.

Classical musicians also had such teams.

As did painters (often famous classic paintings are prepared by the painters students who work for them and then just finished or merely signed by the painter).

Heck, pop musicians have those. The top-40 is full of professional co-writers and ghost-writers and producer teams (while the "star" gets the songwriting credits).

Re: My failed music career

#29

Post by atomack »

optimalsolver wrote: post #4

Something I've always wondered is why musicians peak so young, especially in comparison with other creative types. First, let's qualify that statement. Is music, like mathematics, a young person's game? Musicians tend to release their classic albums, i.e. what general consensus agrees is their best work, in their early years, not when they're 40+. Look at the biggest, long-running music acts today, such as The Rollin…

I think to some extent they're forced to peak young. I don't believe musicians are actually at their best when they are young and I'd claim recordings of classical artists through their lives supports this.

For classical music, competitions and conservatoires will only take young people and if you don't go through their processes there's no chance of getting auditions for pro gigs.

I wonder if the author is one of those who needs a few more years to understand themselves well enough to perform at the highest level, by which time she'll be to old to pursue music professionally

Re: My failed music career

#30

Post by Rochus »

info781 wrote: post #11

It seems like concert pianist or nothing? There is lots of work for studio players or joining a band. Creativity is king , there is only so much room to play cover tunes many pianists publish on youtube.

> There is lots of work for studio players or joining a band

Unfortunately not. There are more and more musicians, since more and more music colleges are springing up, and fewer and fewer gigs, because it is easier and usually cheaper to hire a DJ, and people are just as satisfied. One could get the impression that today musicians are trained primarily to educate new musicians, a kind of end in itself, as is already known in other non-STEM studies.

Post reply on HN