XPRTNovice   Judges ⚖️

Music teachers, in my opinion, have one of the lowest hourly wages in the professional world. They are incredibly undervalued by the educational systems, yet they put in more after-hours support than anyone else in the entire school. One of my best friends went to be a music teacher; after working like a dog in college, taking 25 credits a semester, he now makes just over $30,000 a year and probably works 12-15 hours a day, weekends, summers, and whatever. I almost never see him because he is utterly consumed with what he's doing, AND he has to supplement his income by gigging on the nights. My father in law is almost 60 and is getting paid right at about the poverty line as a music teacher. That being said, music teachers have always, to me, seemed as though they wouldn't trade it for the world. And teaching for a school is much more of a raw deal (financially) than private lessons. I've been teaching private lessons on and off for about 10 years now from whatever place I could find in my home. I would have maybe 3-5 students at any one time, limit it to 1-2 nights a week to not make myself crazy, and charge $40/hour. For me it was an outstanding source of extra income, but there is serious upkeep issues, especially when you teach in a foreign country and your students (as children of military parents) are constantly transferring. I've stopped teaching since I come back to the US mostly because of the opportunity cost. I might make $120 in one evening, but I've now lost 3 hours of composition time. I don't want to be a private lesson instructor forever; I want to quit my day job and be cool and famous Good post, Amy. It's definitely a viable source of income that a lot of people ignore, but it's one that's reserved for instrumentalists like you and I. Someone who is incredibly brilliant at a DAW (UNlike me) doesn't have that option.

I noticed this in one of the other threads about what people liked about different FFs, and I think it's really interesting to see what different people value in different games. I could ask a dozen people that question and there not be a single modicum of commonality in all of them. I wouldn't have ever thought to even bring up what Brandon just said. I just think it's interesting

Seconded. Not to continually draw parallels to writing, but I got one of my manuscripts in front of Brandon Sanderson's agent through participation in a conference, not by him noticing stuff I'd already published. Now he's looking at me as a potential client, even though he didn't take that manuscript. Going to one writing conference last August was probably the biggest boost to my writing career - but it was also a big boost because I had already done the aforementioned ladder-climbing by publishing for low pay.

good job bro, thanx Anyway, that's kind of like saying that a game that reflects Jersey Shore isn't bad because it reflects a microcosm of American culture. Plenty of shit comes out of Japan that isn't all kawaii or whatever.

I could have said this instead.

My only hope is that they'll stop driving the series into the ground with their J-Pop crap, ridiculous storylines, awful voice actors, and anything that looks, sounds, or smells anything like Snow from XIII. I want my old FF back.

Oh, absolutely; maybe I wasn't clear. I will always switch the midi cable out for the Arius when I need very sensitive and realistic touch, if I am sequencing piano, for example. If it had a mod wheel, I might even just keep the Arius. But the features aren't meant for composition, you know? Feel is not as important to me when I'm doing one-hand composition that I intend to quantize and clean up later, which is why I'm seeking a controller. If I'm thinking about this the wrong way, I'd love some course correction.

It does, and that's why I'm considering it, though I like the 49 key version for space's sake, and it brings down the cost. I'm really irritated by the fact that I have to buy a separate pedal for it though. Like I was irritated when I opened my N64 and found that I had to buy an extra cable because my old-ass TV didn't have RCA.

I remember that job, and I remember thinking "Man, I'm not working for $2.00 an hour!" But I also think that people put too much stock in bottom-line price. I'm a budding author on the side, and my first sales to magazines were in the realm of $5-$20 per story - and that story took me a long time to write. I was writing for pennies on the hour, but now when I talk to agents and they ask me where I've been published, I can list over 15 magazines - some of which paid me over $100 per story, now that I built up my cred - and that lets them know you're a professional who is working hard to climb the ladder. So, I'd do a high-profile job for free if I knew it was going to get me more business, you know?

So, here's what I'm using right now: 1. Yamaha Arius Digital Keyboard: Not intended to be a controller, but it happens to have a MIDI output. Nice because the keys feel real (I am a piano player) and I can get really exact velocity out of it. It also has sustain pedals. No mod wheel, no other functions. 2. Moog little phatty: Using a little phatty as a MIDI controller is like using a Ferrari as a taxi. Also, it has no pedal, is awkward on my desk, and I prefer 4-5 octaves to 3. I've been browsing the older threads on MIDI controllers and found the Axiom 49 and the Emu Xboard 49 as recommendations, but those threads are a couple of years old. I basically need something simple with a mod wheel and a pedal...but I also am still knew at controlling and sequencing, so I'm not 100% sure what other features I'm missing out on that are really nice to have. I don't do a lot of techno/electronica/chiptune stuff so I'm mostly looking for something that is a composing aid.

After some somewhat heated discussions that have occurred in the Recruit and Collaborate thread, I thought this would be an appropriate place to launch a discussion and repository of information, anecdotes, and advice regarding music (in any form) as a money-making venture. When someone posts a job offer in the R&C thread, I think we look kind of bad as a community when idiots like me post uninformed opinions, or when people start to make personal attacks on each other. Music + Money + OCR = Arguments, it seems. The solution is to get informed, start a discussion, and learn from each other as well as provide more professional resources from elsewhere. I'd love to hear the success stories and failure stories from the pros we have here as well as the struggles of newbs like me. I also think this is a place where we can expect potential business partners to NOT look and see us muddling through, whereas if we make a big stink talking about stuff INSIDE their thread, they obviously know where our experience is. I am definitely not against people jumping in the R&C thread and calling out a bad deal, though. That's protecting each other. So let's hear it. And please keep it civil and respect each other. This thread is about being stronger as musicians through smart business choices, not tearing each other down for having different opinions.

Many Halcy returns.

I will. In other health-related news, I soaked and roasted my own raw almonds to leech the phytic acid out. They are AMAZING. I actually did the same thing with self-collected acorns last fall, though I don't recommend it. Or, at least, I don't recommend accidentally burning the f@$% out of them and trying to salvage them.

No, I was not whole-30ing the last time I was off the meds; it was pre Born Again. However, I've been trying to wean myself off the meds while on whole 30 to try and give my body room to heal. It's not easy, though, man.

I'm inclined to agree with you regarding safflower oil not destroying my immune system, especially since I don't have a lot of biological responses (other than the allergies) that suggest my immune system is weird. So, it's plausible to think that there wasn't much damage for me to heal with this diet anyway. Regarding the removal of meds; I've tried on several occasions. In one instance, I stopped taking 1 of the 2 of them for 3 months, and only took the other one once every other day. the last time I went completely off of them it was for 7 days so that I could get tested, and that really, really sucked. The time I was off it before that I literally was giving my wife instructions on what pills to force me to take if my throat closed in the middle of the night. West TX in a 100-year-old house with a cat in it is NOT the place to be for allergies. Like I said, I'm getting allergy shots weekly that should help me get off the meds, though. Thanks for the article, it's a good read.

So, a little bit of a Whole30 update. Since I was expressing some frustrations with the lack of results over the last 3.5 weeks, I realized that I have unwittingly been including seed oils in my diet. Before you say it's totally invalidated (and it may very well be) the consumption wasn't that crazy. Maybe a handful or two of vegetable chips in the evening that had safflower or some other seed oil as an ingredient. My wife and I thought these were a Whole30 approved snack, and we were wrong. Whoops. But other than that, I've been 100% virtuous. Friday, I'm stopping a day early because I'm going to a BBQ and I'm tired of this bull in a social setting, but I plan on continuing a 80/20 lifestyle.

Congrats TC!

I thought maybe you were greedy

Quote of the day

Expertly Novice is the state at which I consistently feel my skills are sitting...I always said I was an expert among the novices, but a novice among the experts.

Yep...aaahhh...they're talking about me. *sticks thumbs in belt loops and struts* Looks cool tho

It looks great Pirate Crab; I hope you're happy with it. Ignore people who think that because they're behind a computer they can abandon all tact.

Ack, I got annihilated. Congrats to all the winners and runner ups.

Level up! 1-week of work=studio remodel. Also added an oud to my family.

As I said, I'm not a font of experience. That's what I'd been told I should charge by some other people, and it appears I've been mislead. You (Dan) and I have never talked, but if you have as much professional experience as you seem to say, I'd love to talk to you about it and learn. As I've expressed, I'm new; I've had 2 music clients in my life. Both of them loved what I did, but both of them paid me not so much for it. Both of them also touted me as amazing and advertised for me. However, in the example you provided, you ended up not getting the job, so I'm not sure how your position helped you, there. You made zero dollars instead of $2.50 an hour, and your name didn't get out there in the credits. How does this advance your career? I absolutely understand the idea that musicians need to sort of band together and not undercut each other...but it's basic supply/demand economics as well as someone saying "I could either make $7 an hour, or I could make $0 an hour. I'll take the $7." It might be sad, but it's also true.