Take some computer science courses. Learn to be a book keeper .... or a plumber ...... or an electrician .... the health care industry is growing fast .... they need qualified nurses very bad and people will always get sick at some point ......

I say do anything else besides music or recording for a carreer .... The music business is dying so fast .... It's almost impossible to make anything out of it any longer with the rare exception.

Kurt Foster wrote: Take some computer science courses. Learn to be a book keeper .... or a plumber ...... or an electrician .... the health care industry is growing fast .... they need qualified nurses very bad and people will always get sick at some point ......

I say do anything else besides music or recording for a carreer .... The music business is dying so fast .... It's almost impossible to make anything out of it any longer with the rare exception.

Hmm... well I'm a good day dreamer.... what's the starting salary for a professional day dreamer?? Hehe... :?

Dreamers

Remember without effort dreams never come true. Never listen to the naysayers. If people did, Star Wars would never have been made. The car would not be here ect. If alought of people say you can't do something your probably on the right track. Back to learning. You have to learn, but set a goal of what you really want to do. Want to record music dive in head first. Learn everything you can, ask questions and all the money you save not going to college put it toward a studio. Paul McCartney never learned how to read music nor Eddie VanHalen. The point is if you really love something you will just do it no matter what the obstacles. That is just my opinion though.http://www.jamjunction.com

yeah, mate go for it 100%
the world is a sad place without imagination... (maybee kurt is as well, sorry no offense!! just wonder how something like that can come out of his mouth??? not dreaming?, not doing music?, not recording?, no imagination??? giving up? he? i do not understand? only because it is very, very difficult and ultra hard and rare to make a good living out of it our days? doing it for the money? he? i feel sick, sorry!)

try to get as much practise as you possibly can, rather than theory (it's not a bad thing to know a lot from "books" but practise and experimentation is more valuable IMHO) a little side job next to studies in a studio or live production company can get you on the track... e.g. AND FORGET ABOUT ANY KIND OF SECURITY - SET ALL YOUR ENERGY TOWARDS IT AND YOU WILL MAKE IT - EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU REALLY WANT TO - AND IF YOU ARE PREPARED TO CROSS THE VALLEY ON THE WAY TO THE TOP!!! 'NOUGH SAID!

even if you go for audio its great to have something to back up on. if all else fails, something you can say 'hey i can do this' and get a job easily. a business degree in general would be a good option and would definitely benefit in many ways. or any sort of certification. anything that would make an alternative career path.

oh my god, where am i??
preparing backup? doing something else? security for an unhappy life doing sh^t he?
NO - damn spend everything you have your last drop of blood your last penny, sell your granny, or whatever, you want it?, you want to be the best? (you have to be outstanding in order to really make it!) so focus with everything you possibly have to give, damn american (ughh - sorry!) "life style" a house, car, five TVs, microwave, f(*k it, eat beans and toast and spend the last penny on a mic or a CD to make a recording or an instrument to create music, NEVER EVER think different, your mind is the most powerfull weapon you have!!! and it will determine your GOAL (or better said the achievment of what you really want to do!!!) DO MUSIC!! unless you want a 9 to 5 sitting in an office... YOUR CHOICE!

sorry guys that what has been said here is getting so deep into me that i have to add one,

for me the main reason why the recording / music industrie is going down is because there are to many people like you guys out there who are thinking that way... the mind is the pass... the way you THINK the way it will BE!

hi axel, i want you to meet someone, this is reality.

i would tell anyone, regardless of what their dream is, to have a backup plan, even if it involves being a janitor.

what if your ear drums get blown out to hell somehow? what if you get an illness that makes you go deaf? there goes your music career (unless youre a badass that can still play deaf). you NEVER KNOW! it never hurts to explore other interests, which will more than likely complement your music career. as i say, im studying web design in school, but the rest of the time im working on music. you know what? web design can help in many ways in ANY entertainment field.

i say go for it, just be aware that stuff can happen and decide what you will do if something goes wrong.

i am standing pretty solid within REALITY,
my living / daily bread is made from music,
yepp, i don't disagree with that e.g. in your case it helps to have a job like webdesign...

but i am made of a different mindset alltogether... i don't fear any risks, i don't spend any time thinking what if... what if i fall down the staircase... run over by a car, if i would be a painter what if if i go blind, sorry to say that but if you have that kind of mind structure than you are simply not a real musician by heart, but probably that's why we have so much sh^t flooding the music market our days, stuff without the emotion of life and death, kids doing hip hop cause it sells, and so on... (hey, i don't say that there is not some good stuff out today, but nothing like it was, i don't want to hang on to the "old times evrything was better romance", said that it is fact that you hardly get anymore those outstanding artist or producers like in the 60's or 70's just a fact IMHO, (just go to concerts in our days bands playing super perfect produced their CD hits up and down, and you wonder why the hell did i not listened to the stuff on my homestereo, no jam session, no spontanious musicianship, rare exeptions excluded!!) people who died for there believes... and did not waisted there energy and talent thinking what to eat tomorow... that's reality for me... if i go deaf, i go deaf...
to be outstanding you have to give all and i mean ALL not doing anything else, compromising kills... kurt is right about that point - it's more and more difficult to get your feets onto the ground with music... that's why it's not a good idea to do it half heartly, and if you do another job / studies then you do it only HALF !!!!!!!!!

just my 2two cents do it full on!!, risks?? LOL

by all respect.

axel wrote: i don't fear any risks, i don't spend any time thinking what if...

...kurt is right about that point - it's more and more difficult to get your feets onto the ground with music... that's why it's not a good idea to do it half heartly, and if you do another job / studies then you do it only HALF !!!!!!!!!

just my 2two cents do it full on!!, risks?? LOL

by all respect.

as for first half of all that, i dont fear risks at all. im taking a huge risk. i could do that poppy metal stuff everyones doing (no offense, i love the stuff!), but its not my thing. im taking a step into a genre i know very little about, because only recently did i find out thats what genre i do well. hell, im not going to fit in much with the mainstream crowd, but im doing it anyway and pushing hard.

and half heartedly? is that why during class im mostly browsing here or osxaudio.com? because you know, reading about or experementing with music 90% of the time im not sleeping is half hearted right? im just getting through school for something other than audio just to get the degree. hell maybe ill do freelance web design when im not working on music, and make a few extra bucks for better equipment? hmm?

if im half heartedly doing this how am i making good contacts in the music business? why am i seeking out other bands to potentially tour with?

i dont take offense to your post, i just think your opinion is foolish.

good points, i did not ment to offense anyone, the only thing that has put me off is the fact that someone instead of utterly encouraging him towards music and the business, trys to make him staying away from it. that's really all... if that's foolish...

i agree with that. if somethings someones passion, its their passion. if people didnt follow after what they really want, everybody would be stuck in supermarkets, cubicles, and crap, and there would be no music industry.

yupp, so the music industrie it is then... so go for it gottaxlearnxallxixcan
that was the initial point, if i remember correctly :D

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Kurt's advise is right on. He didn't say stop recording, stop caring, stop being passionate, he said find a day gig because the industry is virtually dying and he's absolutely right.
I'm a teacher, I have taught 2000+ students in 15 years. They all have dreams and aspirations and desires. The "just want it bad enough" line of thinking is ridiculous fantasy in all of the arts. Everybody LOVES this stuff. That's not enough to survive on in any of them.

Absolutely, you should follow your passions but the notion that you can make a career based on your passion is foolish and short-sighted. What sounds great to a 20 yr old is different than a 30,40,50 yr old and if you're deciding careers isn't that how you should think? Are your passions the same now as they were 10 years ago? Why do you think they'll be the same 10 years from now? If you may want a family some day, do you think you'll want to spend your 3pm-2am shifts with rap and rock star wanna bes instead of helping your spouse raise your children? You decide. If something any person on a forum can say deters you at all, you're better off for it in the long run.

If you have the chops and the gig presents itself, then by all means, jump in with both feet if its what you want to do given the parameters of the gig and knowing the price.

Realize however, the phone doesn't ring because you have a degree on the wall or more talent than someone else in today's world. Sorry if you were led to believe it. Talent is a VERY deep pool in music and recording even though modern pop recordings don't use a large percentage of that talent. 60 tuba players from all over the country audition for one second-tier orchestra position in a small midwestern town. They all have spent at least 4 years in undergrad and graduate music school to become professionals and they are all talented. How many guitarists, drummers, bass players, recording engineers are out there compared to tuba players?
You make the call, but don't do it lightly.

Phil, thanks so much for saying that last part.

As a living, breathing example of a degree-holding (semi-)talented opera singer, you and Kurt are right. Today's business truly isn't about what you know.

Now while my degree doesn't feed me, every single thing that I have learned while training my voice classically has translated wonderfully into things that I use doing voice-over. I guess you could say that it's come full-circle.

It's been this way for everything in my life. I haven't chosen the easy road in anything, and that has translated into many shortcomings on my road to success. But I'm not giving up.

Best regards,