My failed music career • Hacker News Board

Re: My failed music career

#41

Post by benboughton1 » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 12:10 PM UTC

rorykoehler wrote: post #23

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.

It is my go to Hendrix album. Great insight. Never thought of it this way.

Re: My failed music career

#42

Post by teddyh » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 12:22 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #36

circlefavshape wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

> One possibility is that touring musicians lose touch with ordinary life, and therefore no longer create anything that people can relate to. Reminds me of an article I read about R.E.M. around the turn of the millennium. The journalist notes that the band members (now all multi-millionaires) now spent their time moving from one posh luxury hotel or perfectly air-conditioned space to another around the world, living…

There is an old observation that as comedians get older and more famous, they all start to tell jokes almost exclusively about airlines and travel.

Re: My failed music career

#43

Post by scottious » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 1:08 PM UTC

codeulike wrote: post #20

This is why the modern mantra of 'never give up' is not actually good unversial advice. Sometimes giving up one target and switching to something else is the smart thing to do.

it's a strange contradiction.

On one hand there's something to be said about persistence and discipline. You can find loads of stories of people sticking through the hard times and being rewarded for it.

On the other hand, there's opportunity cost in sticking with a failing endeavor. I am a hobbyist musician too, I spend a lot of time at the piano but I sometimes think to myself "what if I just used all of that time to advance my career instead?"

The real problem is that you don't know what can happen so we're left making guesses. Maybe the author of the article could have found some niche as a studio musician and had a long and successful career. Maybe calling it quits and changing careers while they're young would unlock a new passion that they're much more successful at.

Re: My failed music career

#44

Post by castillar76 » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

I spent my undergrad years on a music scholarship, while quietly taking computer classes in the background and hanging out in the labs at night instead of the practice rooms. I had talent, but I think even then I subconsciously knew I didn't really want to do it. I got into four out of five of the grad programs I applied to in music--good programs, too!--but I just didn't have the motivation. A summer of interning as a sysadmin and I was lost: I deferred grad school for a year and then never went, and I've been in IT ever since.

The thing it took me a long time (and some therapy) to grasp was that I didn’t fail. I made a positive decision for the direction I wanted my life to go in, and took it. And more importantly, I didn't have to give up music just because I didn't make it my career. I now play multiple instruments and enjoy a much broader array of music than I ever did as a student, playing and singing American traditional, Irish, and folk music with my family and other people. Having let go of feeling obliged to make it a career, I felt free to make it a passion without feeling like I had to succeed. I wish more people felt like they could study music in college in order to make it a wonderful part of their lives, rather than "if I can't be Horowitz, there's no point in continuing with this".

Re: My failed music career

#45

Post by smitty1e » Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 2:36 AM UTC

One wonders if the amount of life satisfaction is negatively correlated with the amount of personal pronoun on offer.

Unless it starts to get awkward, actively cutting back on the "I" and "me" in writing, thought, and conversation seems to put the focus back on the topic.

The degree to which this observation applies to TFA is a matter of opinion, and piling on the author is not the intent.