DRUMMER CAFE

i hear ya and have been in the same boat myself.

i just remember why i play music.  because its what i love, what i do.  do i want to make a living at it? sure, but thats secondary in the grand scheme of things.  first priority is to simply be making music.  as long as im doing that, thats really all there is to it.  circumstances be damned.  

we all have to reevaluate our priorities as we age because as we age we change.  our personalities change, our lives change, our hairline changes    and all you can do is deal with those changes as they come by reevaluating and keeping your hair short.

Music picks you, you don't pick it.

Worry less, pray more.  You can pick the diety.

You might get lucky but you have to keep plugging and playing and networking.  Measure the little successes and don't set unrealistic goals.  It's a priviledge and luxury to play music, be glad you can play at all.  Not everyone can.  Don't buy into the mtv hype.   Don't let music make you crazy, keep it fun and light but remember you usually give more than you get back. Measure your rewards beyond monetary gain.

Don't be so controlling, just go where it feels right to you.

Controlling the odds - an interesting concept. I can understand why this concerns you. I too am an analytic kind of guy, wanting to use my intellect and sense to help me succeed. It seems like there should be SOME way to kind of figure out this whole business, so that it's not so random and luck-based...

First, the bad news. Drummers are, by nature, sidemen. We accompany somebody else. We are typically employees of somebody else. Even if we are "equal" members of a band, we are only truly equal if we are among the band's primary songwriters. Other than that, we are at the whim of our bandleaders and/or the availabilty of work for accompanists who play our instrument.

That is NOT control.

That is one of the biggest errors I made in preparing myself for my career. I just worried about being a good drummer, ready for any musical situation. But I based this on the assumption that if I was good enough, I would always find the kind of opportunities I wanted. And I've been lucky enough to land a few nice gigs. BUT - the gigs had to become available first, and I could do nothing to influence that fact (despite my occasional temptations to try to break Max Weinberg's arm...  )

Here are my suggestions - not all of which may be possible for you - based on boatloads of hindsight:

1) Study at least SOME business and law courses.
2) Study the music BUSINESS.
3) Master the Internet - learning to design web sites, post music, etc.
4) Write songs, sing, or do both.
5) Lead a band or project.
6) Look at the people who in your eyes have done the best job of controlling their careers. Study them. Read interviews with them. Learn how deeply they've sunken their claws into the BUSINESS of music. Here are a few examples:
Madonna
Jon Bon Jovi
P Diddy (I can't stand him, but can't argue with his success)
John Mellencamp
Frank Zappa (his autobiography is an eye-opener about the music biz - he basically considered himself a failure, and not out of false modesty)
Kenny Rogers (one SMART mofo - wrote a great book about the biz back in the 70's, which I think is out of print)
Pick others as you see fit - not basing your choice on how successful they are, but on how much CONTROL of their success you think they have.

7) Oh, and in the meantime, develop near-virtuosic skill at your instrument. That helps, too. But it's at the bottom of this list for a reason. Without the previous steps, this last one is NO guarantee of success.

Mr Acrolite: only stupid old orchestral chap but in my case only Number Seven applies.

I didn't want to do business management or anything else: I wanted to do orchestral percussion and the route to do that was only Number Seven.

Maybe it was sardonic?  A joke l don't understand?

Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins

And PPS: of course I can't lay down a groove but I'd give anyone on here a bloody good shot in Carnival.
Which I assume doesn't count for a lot?  Clever post and all that, Mr Acrolite, but you disparage what WE do and I think that's wrong.

Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins
(Just a "sideman")

well, in the world of popular music, numbers 1-6 on Mr. A's list will put you in a @$%# fine position to make a succesfull career in the music biz, while #7 alone may or may not do this. this is the bottom line. if you want to make it, drum virtuosity alone is not going to cut it in this day and age. in classical and jazz maybe. just decide where your heart really is and do whatever you have to do. (unfortunately my heart is in a dozen or so places in the music world, so little chance for me to make a real career in music).

and just for the record, a good number of drummers have made fine careers for themselves with far from virtuosic skill. Ringo and Chris Frantz from Talking Heads are the two that come immediately to my mind. Nothing wrong with this. they lay down a good beat, and there's plenty of room for these kinds of players in music.

How have I disparaged you (or whoever "WE" is)?

What are you talking about?

I think, and I guess that almost all of the people here would feel the same way, that playing percussion/drumset well in any capacity is an accomplishment deserving praise. Whether its laying down a mozambique on drumset or playing the timp parts in a Janacek, both require some serious skills. whether or not we are considered sidemen is not an issue. we know how important the drums are even though the average audience member may consider us sidemen.

as for comparing pop/rock/jazz to classical, I don't think anyone here is passing judgement on this. I think there is a science to both fields. and yes, being well rounded is very important in any field. if you are a timpani player, but can't play crash cymbals or tambourine well, you're gonna have trouble making a career in classical music. Likewise, if you're a drumset player but don't know anything about writing songs or leading a band, or don't know anything about the business side of music, you're gonna have a hard time making a career in rock music. I don't see any reason to value one field, one set of skills, over the other.

You're not a sideman? Interesting.

• When the orchestra enters the stage, do you make a separate entrance, like the concertmaster, the conductor, and any guest soloists?
• Do you book the orchestra's engagements?
• Do you choose the musical selections for each concert?
• Do you play what YOU want to play, or do you have to play specific parts written by somebody else?
• In the printed programs for your performances, is your name prominently featured? Or is the percussion section listed rather late in the program, like the Prague Symphony Orchestra does on this list of its personnel?
  

Guess what? You're a sideman. Bernstein isn't. Maezel isn't. Janos Starker isnt. Evelyn Glennie isn't. But you are.

And guess what else? THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

Sideman is NOT a disparaging term. It simply means you are an accompanist, a member of a team, but not its leader. This is NO reflection on one's skill. Buddy Rich was a sideman for years. Vic Firth was a sideman. Vinnie Colaiuta is a sideman 90% of the time. It can take enormous skill.

Like I said, a sideman is an accompanist. I take great pride in being a competent and versatile accompanist - I'd hope you do, too.

The only potentially bad thing about being a sideman is that you often do not have a lot of control over the decisions and destiny of whatever musical organization you're a part of. And this thread is about control. So I posted some suggestions.

Maybe you don't need to know anything other than how to play timpani. The orchestral world is anomalous in that once you get a gig, you've basically got that gig for life. A lot of young orchestral players HATE that fact, as they watch older players who are past their prime doggedly holding on to positions that some younger players might be better qualified for. (This is NOT a personal attack, nor a sweeping generalization. But I'm sure you'll admit that there are some old fogeys in some of the major orchestras who are ready to be put out to pasture.) Throughout the rest of the music business, there are no permanent jobs like that. So it may be hard for you to be objective about what it's like for a young drumset player trying to succeed in the music business, when you've had YOUR gig for 40 years.

So relax. Don't take umbrage at my remarks. And PLEASE try to stay on topic. Telling us how well you play certain timpani parts doesn't really help a young drummer control his odds of success in the music business, does it?

With that in mind, I just checked at www.register.com, and it seems that the following Web addresses are currently available:

www.timpanicafe.com
www.alanwatkinsuk.com
www.allaboutalan.com

Just a thought...

We just began a big promo campaign this week for our band and another fusion artist/band here in town.  I'll let you know how it goes but it basically boils down to:

I hope I get some time in to practice before the gig!

It is all BS, business, marketing, gladhanding, fast talking for just 3 hours of music.

Amazing this biz.  I'll let you all know how it goes.