My failed music career
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My failed music career
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Re: My failed music career
#2Performing 'serious' music -- the physical expression of (an often well-known body of) notes and their interrelationships -- is not only highly technical, but also highly artistic.
The technical - given enough attention, the right physiology, the right brain-wiring - really has to be finished ... completely 'automated'. Missing or wrong notes ... I was reading yesterday that Tom Robbins sometimes spent the whole day writing one or two sentences ... that kind of fanaticism required.
The artistic, on the other hand, is much more subjective, and demands much of the performer's attention. And then, Worse yet, there's the game. There are 'standards' of 'musicianship' ... vaguer still, but people 'know it when they hear it'. 'Maverick' interpretations won't cut it with conventional listeners. Etc. etc. Being well-established in the conventional repertoire might be defined as 'literate' enough to allow occasional 'peccadillos'.
That kind of 'career' is only one of many ... there's improv, jazz, pleasuring (in lounges, at home), composing, teaching. To fail at feeding utterly conventional (however learn-ed) expectations doesn't have to be the end.
Re: My failed music career
#3> As children, we do not understand that the things we love do not belong only to us. Then, I was not prepared to relinquish music to anyone else’s ownership. Now, I have finally loosened my grip.
Re: My failed music career
#4Something 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 Rolling Stones. No one is going to their concerts to hear their latest material. They want to hear Jumpin' Jack Flash (released ~1968).
The early deaths of legends like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain etc. are tragic, sure, but does anyone really believe these guys would have put out their best work at 40? The people lamenting wasted potential are perhaps misunderstanding how musical creativity works.
In contrast, writers tend to put out their best work after their formative years. If you think of your favorite writer, I'm willing to bet their magnum opus wasn't released before 30.
Why is this? What accounts for the difference?
Re: My failed music career
#5Something 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 wonder if it's the industry itself. Maybe you need to have sex appeal so that the main record purchasing generation (18-24) would buy your stuff?
Re: My failed music career
#6Something 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…
Critical mass of the audience, most likely. Early to mid 20s overlaps when people are most willing and able to form their musical and artistic identities as consumers of content.
It's pretty rare to see people older than their mid 20s hanging out in new/hot venues with the latest artists trying to build a following and living/breathing their craft. There's only so many years you can pull it off both as a member of the audience and a creator.
A few years ago I was a minor artist (more a hanger-on than anything) in the EDM scene of a major city for that back when it was the hot thing, and was around a few folks that made it. It couldn't have happened for people in their late 20s or older. That particular grind requires of fueling 18-22 year-olds appetite for drugs, alcohol, and rhythm from Thursday through Sunday, every week of the year. When you factor in the reality of rent and other costs of living, dueling roles as promoter, party goer, content creator, and performer, it really is not sustainable unless you're the azimuth of your craft and an age where you can balance those costs against your future.
Re: My failed music career
#7Something 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…
It’s not something inherent to music or musical creativity. Classical music follows the same pattern as writing, with the greatest work produced mid to late career. Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Bach, take your pick. So it’s probably just explained by the youth culture around popular music and bands, as other commenters mention.
Re: My failed music career
#8Something 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 and grime, and it's much more profound in his later work than his earliest stuff. A song about being a worn out old drunk on the side of the road hits harder when you hear it from a rugged middle-aged man than a young 20-something.
With these two, Bowie constantly updated his image and tried new things. Tom Waits simply advanced the atmosphere he built up in his earlier work. I think a lot of other popular musicians put more energy and liveliness into their earlier works and can't keep up with it as they get older, or they end up following some music trend that they think will get them pop success instead of just doing their own music.
Virtually every indie band does the latter as they start to get fame, and it often turns off their old fans immensely when they see them become just another soulless pop band.
Re: My failed music career
#9Something 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…
Could this be due to the earlier albums being made without big record companies pushing into a certain direction "for marketing purposes"?
The most prominent example in the metal world of this is Volbeat and to a lesser extent Metallica. The first few albums were generally well received by music fans, while both bands slowly changed their style over the years to accommodate more mainstream audiences, leading to a drop in quality.
Counter-examples are bands like Trivium and Tool, which also have evolved musically over the years but not specifically in a direction to please a larger audience, they just kept making music they like for the sake of music.
Re: My failed music career
#10Something 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…
Could this be due to the earlier albums being made without big record companies pushing into a certain direction "for marketing purposes"? The most prominent example in the metal world of this is Volbeat and to a lesser extent Metallica. The first few albums were generally well received by music fans, while both bands slowly changed their style over the years to accommodate more mainstream audiences, leading to a dro…
> Counter-examples are bands like Trivium and Tool, which also have evolved musically over the years but not specifically in a direction to please a larger audience, they just kept making music they like for the sake of music.
Another counter-example is Radiohead, which almost got gripped by the music industry marketing and managed to spectacularly break out of it after OK Computer and the following albums.
They broke off the image that labels wanted to push them into and sell with Pablo Honey which would have been a shame.