# Hobbyists: what is your day (or night) job?



## Beans

I've seen recent comments about people working in marketing, education, or tech, and am wondering what sort of diversity we have here.

EDIT: And partial hobbyists/burgeoning superstars, too!


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## Akarin

I work 50% teaching programming at uni, and the other 50% on music. Will be 100% music from January after 20 years in tech.


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## Loïc D

I’m IT consultant & PM, expert in buildings management solutions. 
I’m based in Paris, my customers are multinational companies & institutions.


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## blackzeroaudio

Supply chain and logistics for about 13 years. 

Making 0% income from music currently but hoping to change that. lol.


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## Trash Panda

Senior account manager for a hotel software company.


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## doctoremmet

Assistant-professor IT auditing University of Groningen


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## Beans

doctoremmet said:


> Assistant-professor IT auditing University of Groningen



Well, that place sure looks stunning.


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## Peros

Art director for a communication and events company.
we also recently created a sound branding department


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## Beans

I am in software product management. This is a return to my old career after a multi-year hiatus (said hiatus began due to a near breakdown from stress!).


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## doctoremmet

Beans said:


> Well, that place sure looks stunning.


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## easyrider

Teacher of Film and Media- Just quit and I leave on the 18th December.


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## emilio_n

I was working on IT half of my working life but for a strange twist, I become a Spanish teacher at the university here in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, I am running my photography business for 10 years.

I studied piano on my teens, so music has been my hobby always. Who knows if in the future could be my part-time job. I discovered that anything is possible if you are able to work hard on it.


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## Owen Smith

I'm a registered nurse and worked in HIV care for about 6 years with undocumented immigrants in the US. I'm currently studying for my PhD in nursing at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. My other jobs are as husband and father to 3 year-old-twin boys. Composition and library acquisition is somewhat of an addiction for me (I'm working on it lol), but also serves as emotional therapy


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## Bluemount Score

Audio-visual media designer working in Osnabrück, Germany

Would like to go a little more into the audio part of it as currently it's mostly film, but generally, I'm quite happy


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## Markrs

I have been a UX designer for 20 years (the job title has changed a bit a various times), with breaks for doing a MEd in psychology, High School teaching (IT) and 3 years of a PhD in HCI/psychology. I now work in Cirencester which is in the Cotswolds.


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## pixelcrave

I'm a user experience designer, primarily designing applications for health care.

I only play piano / keyboard (though not classically trained), and have only gotten into this fun world of composing with VIs earlier this year due to the pandemic 'work from home' shift. Hence my stumbling upon this wonderful forum!


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## Beans

pixelcrave said:


> I'm a user experience designer, primarily designing applications for health care.



Oh, goodness... health care. Data privacy is necessary in society, no doubt, but it's a very special source of irritation when developing software applications for health care.


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## Ben

This is a very interesting thread! I'm amazed by the amount of people who are/were working/worked in IT jobs.

I studied computer science and parallel to it worked part-time as software dev (full stack) in the business travel management; in the free time I started playing around with sample libraries and soon after I joined this forum.
Last year in August/September I switched to VSL - and now I'm working as software engineer, but doing a lot of other interesting and exciting things as well


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## Fry777

I see quite a lot of IT people here, nice  I used to work in IT too, now I'm an airline pilot

Where are all the dentists and lawyers by the way ?


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## Beans

Fry777 said:


> Where are all the dentists and lawyers by the way ?



Less likely to be able to multi-task during their work day, in many cases! Most of my time at VI-C is when I'm half-listening to a work call.


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## GtrString

Been working as an associate professor at uni in organization studies 50% and rest of the time on music. I have a communications degree and phd training.

In 2021, I will give it a shot with 100% music, and will be looking to switch part time gig to teach film scoring to young film students.

There is a ton of guitar playing lawyers, btw.


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## Jerry Growl

I work in a sheet music specialist shop in the cozy town of Leuven and as secondary occupation I'm self-employed in music production (somewhere between hobby and pro at this point, i.e. an excuse for buying more hobby necessities... especially 2020 has all the looks of it. I'm quite sure next year will be better for everyone).

On top of that I've recently become a father (3 months and growing like cabbage as they say here)


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## pumago

Industrial Engineer working in Sales, Finance and Innovation. Music brings the joy that my work does not


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## Scalms

Scientist here, working on a cure for you know what  music is my outlet


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## rmak

Occupational therapist for 5 years. My most recent job was a hand therapist full time. I plan to work 32 hrs a week in home health to try to put more time in music.


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## fourier

Acoustical engineer here - working with acoustics, environmental noise and vibration.


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## Jeremy Spencer

I'm a Power Engineer/HVAC mechanic. I also tour around Canada in a KISS tribute band.


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## Kartus

IT application manager 60%


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## cloudbuster

Medical engineer, biophysicist, semi-retired.


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## JohnG

Pretty interesting crowd!

I'm a part-time astronaut, doctor, and policeman. IN MY MIND!


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## Zero&One

Jeremy Spencer said:


> I'm a Power Engineer/HVAC mechanic. I also tour around Canada in a KISS tribute band.



My friend was the original Ace in the UK 'Dressed to Kill' tribute band. Some fun nights we had!

Work in IT. I also hate working in IT.
Better than getting shot at in my previous armed forces role. Sometimes.


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## fretti

Really interesting thread!

My main job (so far) is in (Investment) Banking.
Apart from that I spend most time doing music or with baking


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## doctoremmet

fretti said:


> Really interesting thread!
> 
> My main job (so far) is in (Investment) Banking.
> Apart from that I spend most time doing music or with baking


Investment banking. I have worked on a dealing room two decades ago. Now, when I read these words, I’m always reminded of Bonfire Of The Vanities and Liar’s Poker and books like that


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## Knomes

I am a Ph.D. student in physics. I will discuss my dissertation on the 18th of December. Then I will try to do a research post-doc!


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## CDNmusic

Airline Executive in Canada for the last 10 years, change an aircraft cockpit for a desk to stay close to family. 

With 2 little ones at home music has taken a back seat even as a hobby but I'm getting back at it.


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## fretti

doctoremmet said:


> Investment banking. I have worked on a dealing room two decades ago. Now, when I read these words, I’m always reminded of Bonfire Of The Vanities and Liar’s Poker and books like that


Back in the "Golden Days", must have been a great experience I can imagine  
Haven't read the Tom Wolfe book tbh, but just added it to my Christmas Wishlist


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## Markrs

Knomes said:


> I am a Ph.D. student in physics. I will discuss my dissertation on the 18th of December. Then I will try to do a research post-doc!


Good luck with the viva voce!


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## Scamper

Lots of tech jobs around here.
I'm about to finish my bachelors in computer science, possibly going into the field of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. Luckily, cs leaves the option to combine tech and music applications, so that might be a good middle ground for later.


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## doctoremmet

Knomes said:


> I am a Ph.D. student in physics. I will discuss my dissertation on the 18th of December. Then I will try to do a research post-doc!


That is AWESOME!


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## Polkasound

I'm the chief lunar cartographer at Rand McNally. I'm the guy responsible for making sure all of the moon's road maps are up-to-date.


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## doctoremmet

fretti said:


> Back in the "Golden Days", must have been a great experience I can imagine
> Haven't read the Tom Wolfe book tbh, but just added it to my Christmas Wishlist


Talk about old IT systems, jeez. I recall a particularly slow trading day. We would play “rugby” on the floor with a fake toy ball. By accident it hit the keyboard of our so called TSA terminal (that was connected to Euronext via a direct X25 data line, pre-internet days, and it wasn’t Euronext yet haha). No password protection. Not even named users. Just a direct IBM MVS mainframe terminal connected to the Amsterdam stock exchange. The ball hit the keyboard. And miraculously we had bought a HUGE position. A BLOCK of warrants. Management made us close the position because we weren’t allowed to keep it on our book overnight. We took a huge hit. Had we kept it for two days, it would have returned a decent profit. Those were the days. Only 25 years ago really.


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## ptram

I design musical instruments. I'm here to do something totally different than in my daily job!

Paolo


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## Paulogic

I'm an engineer (Civil Engineer as they call it over here) but I was foremost interested in
computers. I started early at 14 with the Texas 99-4A computer and so on.
So the last 15 years I have been an independent IT guy, consulting, installing and supporting
mixed network systems Win/Mac,...


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## cloudbuster

doctoremmet said:


> Assistant-professor IT auditing University of Groningen


Hi ex-neighbor, I used to live close to Leer for some years and spent many a weekend in Groningen, go figure


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## Zero&One

Polkasound said:


> I'm the guy responsible for making sure all of the moon's road maps are up-to-date.



Thanks, I get lost there all the time!


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## doctoremmet

cloudbuster said:


> Hi ex-neighbor, I used to live close to Leer for some years and spent many a weekend in Groningen, go figure


Ah yes! I have been to Leer, Bremen, Oldenburg many many times. Love that whole region. Hamburg is one of my favourite cities in the world. @Waywyn is from there I think.


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## mybadmemory

I’m leading the design team for a couple of products that are part of the ecosystem around a pretty large game engine.

Before that I worked for various other game developers, publishers and tech companies, as well as ran a design agency, for 15 years.

Logic, sample libraries, composing and old video game music is my way of relaxing.


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## awaey

I lost my job last january and stacked with lockdown not finding job . now I am doing van delivery driver on day time , writing music on night time,,,


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## doctoremmet

awaey said:


> I lost my job last january and stacked with lockdown not finding job . now I am doing van delivery driver on day time , writing music on night time,,,


Sorry to hear. I hope 2021 will be a much better year for you ❤


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## awaey

doctoremmet said:


> Sorry to hear. I hope 2021 will be a much better year for you ❤


Thanks


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## Ivan M.

Computer "science" degree here, now I do ios programming. At work they call me consultant  Pays well, but still looking for a way out of IT


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## rgames

I'm an astrobiologist. I spend my days waiting for the phone to ring.

Nah not really. But I did know someone who's mother worked at NASA and did, in fact, have exactly that job title. So if you ever think you're having a hard time achieving anything as a musician just remember that there's an astrobiologist out there fighting waaaay longer odds than you.

rgames


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## pixelcrave

Ivan M. said:


> Computer "science" degree here, now I do ios programming. At work they call me consultant  Pays well, but still looking for a way out of IT



O hey, another Ivan M (that's also my last initial)  Sounds like a similar situation too — having a computer-related day job to fund this hobby! Cheers!


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## ghobii

Graphic design/multimedia/video for large omnichannel commerce company. I've also worked for R&D in the toy industry building prototypes.


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## hessproject

I'm a software engineer at {ultra large shopping website}. Nice for now because it funds my nagging plugin addiction and my return to school, but I'm working to move closer to a 50/50 split with music and tech freelancing


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## Michel Simons

Jerry Growl said:


> I work in a sheet music specialist shop in the cozy town of Leuven and as secondary occupation I'm self-employed in music production (somewhere between hobby and pro at this point, i.e. an excuse for buying more hobby necessities... especially 2020 has all the looks of it. I'm quite sure next year will be better for everyone).
> 
> On top of that I've recently become a father (3 months and growing like cabbage as they say here)



I have been in Leuven god knows how long ago when I was studying psychology in Leiden. Beautiful town. And I believe it has the oldest Dutch speaking university.


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## doctoremmet

Michel Simons said:


> And I believe it has the oldest Dutch speaking university.


Absolutely correct!


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## Beans

hessproject said:


> I'm a software engineer at {ultra large shopping website}.



Gross. I'll add eCommerce to my list of things I hate developing. With that said, the last time I worked on proper store software was in the earlier 2000s.

Maybe I don't like software product management, come to think of it.

EDIT: I received a private message wondering why I always seem to "have an opinion on every type of software." It sounds more snarky than I think was intended. Or maybe not; I know I can be opinionated in an annoying manner.

Easy answer: I've worked for two large companies that serve multiple industries. About 3/4 of my past ~20 years have been in product management. My current company kills projects fairly often, which means teams shift over to new areas all the time.


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## PatrickS

Now retired after a long career in television production and program sales. Came back into music composition about a year ago and really enjoying the huge advances in VI instruments. I am based near the North Yorkshire Dales. I enjoy a wide range of musical genres and am just getting into synth based compositions via Omnisphere and Elysion


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## NekujaK

Instructional designer for a global enterprise software company. But I also have a side business producing music/lyric videos for artists, plus occasional paid composing and mixing jobs.

In the next year or two, hoping to shift the balance more to the video/music side of things.


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## Ran Zhou

Postdoc in Biology. Working on translating your DNA code to listenable music... 
Seriously, I'm spending half of my day on writing scripts to parse files, and half day on coming up with stories about genome evolution and genetics while hovering vi-controls.


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## hessproject

Beans said:


> Gross. I'll add eCommerce to my list of things I hate developing. With that said, the last time I worked on proper store software was in the earlier 2000s.
> 
> Maybe I don't like software product management, come to think of it.
> 
> EDIT: I received a private message wondering why I always seem to "have an opinion on every type of software." It sounds more snarky than I think was intended. Or maybe not; I know I can be opinionated in an annoying manner.
> 
> Easy answer: I've worked for two large companies that serve multiple industries. About 3/4 of my past ~20 years have been in product management. My current company kills projects fairly often, which means teams shift over to new areas all the time.



Yeah, I don't work on the retail site itself, but the B2B and cloud offerings of said company. It's really not a bad gig, work is relatively easy and pay is comfortable, looks good on a resume, etc. But it's hardly stimulating and not really what I'd like to be doing for my entire life. But like you said, maybe that's just software as a whole..


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## Beans

hessproject said:


> Yeah, I don't work on the retail site itself, but the B2B and cloud offerings of said company. It's really not a bad gig, work is relatively easy and pay is comfortable, looks good on a resume, etc. But it's hardly stimulating and not really what I'd like to be doing for my entire life. But like you said, maybe that's just software as a whole..



It wasn't meant to put down the industry in which you work, by the way (in case it felt like it). It was written in the same context as my prior comment on healthcare software, which I shouldn't expect anyone to have read and remembered. It's that it can get complicated as heck really fast. It's difficult software to develop!


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## KarlHeinz

Really amazing and great thread idea Beans .

I am working in a small (5 people) regional planning office (associated to the communal authority and working in their assignment but working independently from it) and apart from doing all the in-house technical stuff for pc, network and so on (withou knowing anything about it really ) my main part is the geographic information system, collecting and evaluating all kind of digital geographic data, making some maps and so on.


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## twincities

live (touring) sound engineer. this year has been a bit of a professional bummer to say the least


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## hessproject

Beans said:


> It wasn't meant to put down the industry in which you work, by the way (in case it felt like it). It was written in the same context as my prior comment on healthcare software, which I shouldn't expect anyone to have read and remembered. It's that it can get complicated as heck really fast. It's difficult software to develop!



Oh no, I didn't take it that way, no worries. Plus, if anyone is putting down the industry I work in, it's usually me haha. But I don't mean to derail the thread..


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## MarcusD

55% Manual work loading Vans. The other 45% is all music related. Slowly getting there.. Little by little, as they say.


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## MichaelVakili

Sadly I am working as bartender in restaurant - hopefully I will work as music producer or audio engineer in the near future : (


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## Marcus Millfield

IT too. I mainly do technical consultancy, but am senior sysadmin at the moment. Mainly at financials. 14 years at the same financial now. Did a bit of PM, but politics and me don't mingle.

I did apply for Conservatory when I was younger, but didn't go through with it because, well, young and stupid, and there was no money in that sector (and still isn't). Worst decision ever. Still doing music all the time though.


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## dflood

I’m a retired horticulturist that specialized in greenhouse crops and automated control systems for plant production. Music and woodworking have been lifelong hobbies and on occasion they converge when I build an instrument. Over the years I have also dabbled with song writing, performing, recording, and doing live sound for music events. Virtual instruments, and the generosity of VI Control members have helped to broaden my musical horizons immeasurably, and for that I would like to thank you all.


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## kleotessard

Hi!
I am a software developer in a digital signage company.
I develop Java and .Net applications (server side).
Java programming in Java and .Net is super cool. But my job is not that cool. I need to find the courage to escape but programming is the only thing I know 😅.

I don't make money with my music, but I like to compose and produce.
Also i'm not good at promoting my music so I doubt I'll ever make money. But I like to share with others so it's already great if someone listen to my mysic.


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## JLKooistra

IT / sw engineer / system integrations / last 10+ years in Healthcare / HL7, currently in Digital Pathology. Mostly (tele) working with teams all over Europe, India, Australia.


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## eakwarren

Bachelors degree in Film and Digital Media led to a first career in post production (NLE, DVD authoring, etc.) 

That morphed into building high-end computers for TV stations and studios during the desktop video editing revolution.

That morphed into a career in IT support, system/business analyst, PM. Bounced from tax IT to healthcare IT.

Went back to grad school for a masters in Technical Communication. Still in healthcare, but now as a regulatory infosec compliance auditor.

Married with 5 kiddos ranging from 21-7, and very active in church. All that said, the five minutes to myself yesterday were spent relaxing by practicing voice leading 4 part writing in Muse Score. Such a strange existence!


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## tf-drone

Freelance engineer / consultant and one person company here. After work, mostly too tired to do more than noodling on my many vst synths :(


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## Beans

kleotessard said:


> I develop Java and .Net applications (server side).



Java *and* .NET? That sure is handy! Getting some of our Java engineers to learn C# and vice versa is like pulling teeth from a boar.


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## marius_dm

Sorry to pile on. Software engineer in the automotive industry here, mostly .NET and some Java but really anything goes.

I have always found interesting the relationship between musical interests and STEM oriented interests


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## I like music

All you software engineers, and IT professionals. I appreciate you all very much, and salute you.

Sincerely,
A Software salesperson (the nice kind)

PS recently had the epiphany that I'd like to move into sales within the music industry, rather than marketing/analytics software, which is what I do right now. However, I don't know the industry at all so not sure how much the music industry relies on sales professionals or not.


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## Marcus Millfield

I like music said:


> Sincerely,
> A Software salesperson (the nice kind)



Wow! Never seen one in the wild before!

Just kidding... Well...


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## Eric George

I worked 10 years as a Software Engineer at a software company known for their OS and Office software and then 16 years (and currently) continuing to write software at a company thats known for making software that supports creative work as well as providing a popular portable document file format. Lots of started music projects on the side - hardly any finished though...


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## I like music

Marcus Millfield said:


> Wow! Never seen one in the wild before!
> 
> Just kidding... Well...


Like a rare and volatile Pokemon, haha.


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## Jomo

Another tech (ex-tech). Currently running a car and a food website.


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## bill5

I.T. for an education firm also retired USAF (Reserves). Dumbass I shoulda stayed in full time and I'd be getting one sweet retirement package now.


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## teclark7

GtrString said:


> There is a ton of guitar playing lawyers, btw.


Well here’s the first one to admit it: I am an Intellectual Property and Technology lawyer predominantly with high tech industry clients such as IT and biotech. And yes, I play acoustic guitar (having played guitar and sung for 25 years at church until recently). Between a full time job as a lawyer and husband and father of 3 children, the music is definitely a part time hobby for the moment but hoping to have more time when my youngest finishes high school in a couple of years.

As an aside, I have been working from home for 6 months now during COVID lockdown. i recently moved my desk in my study and I now have my two guitars hanging on the wall behind me in the background. It has created some interesting discussions during some calls with clients I have had on Teams or Zoom. Perhaps i will need to bring the guitar in when I return to the office although it conjures up slightly disturbing images in my mind of David Brent from the UK’s The Office.


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## BlakStatus

I'm a SEO Manager at a multi service marketing firm.


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## ptram

MarcusD said:


> 55% Manual work loading Vans. The other 45% is all music related. Slowly getting there.. Little by little, as they say.


If you are a percussionist, loading vans is part of the music job!

Paolo


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## MarcusD

ptram said:


> If you are a percussionist, loading vans is part of the music job!
> 
> Paolo



There's only a small element of truth to that.. Most percussionists are lazy 😆 Unfortunately for me, when I used play events the drummers would spend more time watching the guitarist (me) carry their shit to the van. The most they took would be sticks, drum stool and some cymbals. 😂


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## sundrowned

Wow so many tech and IT professionals. 

Aaaand here's another one. I work for a technology company in the legal industry. And in my free time noodle about composing and play clarinet and drums.


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## David Cuny

IT guy working at the state level.

It's not really surprising that there are a bunch of IT people making music with IT tools, is it? 

I've played and sang in church choirs for years, but have never been in a band. I don't think I've ever had anyone other than me play or sing on any of my projects.

My son plays bass as a hobby. He's IT competent, but focuses almost exclusively on recording "real" musical instruments instead of VSTis. He and his friends form a loose collaboration of bands.

My brother-in-law is an anesthesiologist, and his hobby is bass (although he's quite good on drums and lead guitar as well). He's excellent with computers, and records and mixes his group's music digitally. No VSTis for him, either.

Not a statistically valid sample size, but there seems to be a pattern here...


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## Arbee

Ben said:


> This is a very interesting thread! I'm amazed by the amount of people who are/were working/worked in IT jobs.
> 
> I studied computer science and parallel to it worked part-time as software dev (full stack) in the business travel management; in the free time I started playing around with sample libraries and soon after I joined this forum.
> Last year in August/September I switched to VSL - and now I'm working as software engineer, but doing a lot of other interesting and exciting things as well


I believe this phenomenon is quite well known to vocational professionals. When I wanted a lifestyle change from 14 years of pro music, I consulted a vocational firm who advised that my years in music would serve me really well as a software developer. So I jumped, and after taking out the dux award from my business software course I concluded they were right as I absolutely loved it. I started as a junior developer at 35 and had a very fortunate career through to national and international IT executive roles in more recent years (now semi-retired). At the time, they also discussed that the competitive trait of professional sports folk can make them similarly suited to sales roles.

This is one of a few articles I found floating around on the topic for anyone interested https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/musicians-programmers-michael-drapkin.

And of course, when I rediscovered music a few years ago, my interim background in technology was an absolute godsend.


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## proxima

I'm an economist. My research is in international trade and macroeconomics.


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## bill5

proxima said:


> I'm an economist. My research is in international trade and macroeconomics.


So should I ditch my Healthcare mutual fund for some international stuff?


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## BlackDorito

Beans said:


> Java *and* .NET? That sure is handy! Getting some of our Java engineers to learn C# and vice versa is like pulling teeth from a boar.


Well lawzy lawzy .. stick with Java then. I work in the Java group of a large company that develops the language, on the business side. Before that I worked for the SoundBlaster people.


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## Rory

proxima said:


> I'm an economist. My research is in international trade and macroeconomics.



Cool. Trade is an interesting subject with, as you know, major ramifications for national and regional economies. I've been a negotiator for a few trade agreements, probably the best known being the one for North America that covers Canada, Mexico and the United States. In the current political environment in the U.S., trade is a political flashpoint. I tend not to raise the subject in casual conversation


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## Rory

As of January 1st, my job is making a film about a neighbourhood in New York called Jackson Heights. I'm not the first. Alfred Hitchcock made a movie in, and about, the neighbourhood called _The Wrong Man_. _Maria Full of Grace_, about cocaine trafficking, was shot partly in Jackson Heights and partly in Colombia. In 2015, Frederick Wiseman, one of the most important American documentary filmmakers, made a film about the neighbourhood called _In Jackson Heights_.

My job is simple, come up with something new to say 

As a piano player, I decided a few months ago to find out what virtual instruments are about. I think that this will stand me in good stead when it comes to the music for this film. However, I don't plan to do the music myself.


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## jafhouse

teclark7 said:


> Well here’s the first one to admit it: I am an Intellectual Property and Technology lawyer predominantly with high tech industry clients such as IT and biotech. And yes, I play acoustic guitar (having played guitar and sung for 25 years at church until recently). Between a full time job as a lawyer and husband and father of 3 children, the music is definitely a part time hobby for the moment but hoping to have more time when my youngest finishes high school in a couple of years.
> 
> As an aside, I have been working from home for 6 months now during COVID lockdown. i recently moved my desk in my study and I now have my two guitars hanging on the wall behind me in the background. It has created some interesting discussions during some calls with clients I have had on Teams or Zoom. Perhaps i will need to bring the guitar in when I return to the office although it conjures up slightly disturbing images in my mind of David Brent from the UK’s The Office.


I am a Director of IT. I have spent many of days with you IPT lawyer's Delightful bunch!!

Told my wife that I was going to change my profession to music and become a score writer!
Her response ... "that's really nice dumb$$$, how are you going to make money?"


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## Symfoniq

Tech.


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## darcvision

last year i graduated as a IT Engineer. Couldn't find a job because Covid and lack of skills, almost gave up, but i still doing composing job for games and get small earning from that. Recently, i just got a job helping my brother running online shop 9-5, pay isn't bad but sometimes its pretty exhausting. 

sometimes its hard to balancing between normal job and composing job because after working, feels like really tired and i cant focus composing music.


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## proxima

Rory said:


> Cool. Trade is an interesting subject with, as you know, major ramifications for national and regional economies. I've been a negotiator for a few trade agreements, probably the best known being *the one* for North America that covers Canada, Mexico and the United States. In the current political environment in the U.S., trade is a political flashpoint. I tend not to raise the subject in casual conversation


Which one?


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## Ben E

I design and manufacture speed equipment for motorcycle drag racing engines.


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## CT

Well sir, I step in front of cars and sue the drivers.


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## FinalWorld

Project Engineer for a company that designs products for power/distribution


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## thomasjdev

IT Director for education retail company. Hired as a sys admin two days after I graduated and now 16+ years with the same company. Hopefully my one and only job... Unless of course I get a call from Hans that he needs my help on his next score


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## Rory

proxima said:


> Which one?



There are a lot of people, including in North America, for whom NAFTA/USMCA are meaningless acronyms


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## ScarletJerry

Director of Instructional Technology at a K-12 Public School district, but I was a part time church organist when I was a young, struggling teacher. Now, I make more money but don't have any time to make music, especially since being responsible for technology in a school system during the era of COVID and eLearning. Making passive income from my first Christmas album, but no other music income. Hoping that will change with retirement someday!


----------



## pondinthestream

so many interesting careers here - with money comes great spending, hence VI-control 

I am retired - best job I have ever had. 
I was an academic, PhD in non-clinical Psychiatry. I worked in research then the usual academic teaching stuff - I consider academia a job of last resort.
On the side I wrote reviews for a national art journal for about 20 years - that job I enjoyed
RealTime — Australia
And I did sound design / music for myself and visual artists as well. I still do that but the paid gigs are only occasional, which suits the retired me just fine. Next job is a piece to accompany an artist in this show The National 2021 :: Art Gallery NSW so you can see it is very much part time as far as income goes - but not as far as actually making sound is concerned


----------



## kleotessard

Beans said:


> Java *and* .NET? That sure is handy! Getting some of our Java engineers to learn C# and vice versa is like pulling teeth from a boar.


😂 🤣
I know!

Computer programming, music and painting are really important part of my life. I have had a deformity of my spine since I was a kid so I couldn't play sports or all the cool things other kids could do. Computer programming, music, painting, reading books, cooking and sewing where my main activities. 

I started programming in a hospital in 1985 (I was 11). I had a french computer (Thomson T07/70). I learn so many languages (Microsoft Basic, Logo, Forth, Motoroal 6809 Assembler). 
My mother bought me an Atari ST in 1989, I learnt GFA Basic, Omikron Basic, (Borland?) Pure C, Motorola 68k Assembler. I also made a lot of demos an music programming.

When I was a student I learnt Prolog, C++, Intel Assembler, Sparc Assembler, Java, Caml, Eiffel, Ada and a lot of "obscure" programming languages just for fun.

My first job was to debug a huge awful application in Visual Basic. And later I learnt Php, Python and C#.
I really prefered Java but Oracle made prefer .NET these days.
I never was in the "Java vs .Net" war the two plateforms are really cool 👍.

I saw the Atari ST vs Amiga war. Now I see the Java vs .Net war, the PC vs Apple war and the Android vs iOS 🤣.
I wouldn't dare talk about the same things in music 😂.
Bring the popcorn 🤣


----------



## bill5

kleotessard said:


> When I was a student I learnt Prolog, C++, Intel Assembler, Sparc Assembler, Java, Caml, Eiffel, *Ada *


So you were military then? Or a defense contractor? Tragic either way.


----------



## muk

I am orchestra personnel manager and deputy director of the orchestra at a leading opera house in Europe. Which is great, because I really got to know the inner workings of an orchestra, and I get to hear orchestral rehearsals and live music very often.


----------



## Hywel

I recently retired from the medical profession (a General Practitioner in the UK) though I have not let my registration lapse just in case there is a need because of the Covid situation.
I've always loved music and have written bits and pieces throughout my life. I learnt piano, violin and clarinet as a child, though piano is the only one I still play. I built a modular synth from a kit in school and took it away to college with me, I no longer have that unfortunately.
Laterly, I have been writing songs with the help of a Canadian lyricist and trying my best to produce them to "broadcast standard". I have discovered, amongst other things, that my mixing skills are underwhelming, so have decided to focus on improving in this area. Then, I've no doubt, I will find that my mastering skills will need some love...


----------



## kleotessard

bill5 said:


> So you were military then? Or a defense contractor? Tragic either way.


No I learnt most of this languages only by curiosity. 😊

ADA had some interesting concepts for security but I believe in people so I think you can do anything in any programming language.

In all of my jobs I didn't work on military, banking or insurance business application. This closed many doors.
In my current job I work on multimedia content managing applications and content displaying applications. Sometime for banks and insurances but I won't work on things that hurts their customers.

Many interesting opportunities lost but I think I wouldn't be able to live working for things that hurt people. May be I'm stupid but ...


----------



## Tatu

Hmm..


----------



## Nate Johnson

Amazing how many of our contributors here are in IT. Well, maybe that's not surprising, given the nature of the music tech we all geek out about. 

I, however, am not in IT. Not even close. I manage an independently owned hardware store which I've worked at for 21 years. I also manage the property its housed in (office buildings). And I play book keeper for my super successful wife (freelance photography 10+ years). My newest and favoritest job though, is DAD. My son, Julian, is almost a year and half old and is the most amazing creature to ever grace this planet .

90~ minutes a day starting @4am is devoted to music. Although its technically a hobby, the rate at which I compose/produce/involve other people is growing exponentially. I prefer to stay on the artist side of music creation, although I'd be lying if I wasn't tempted by (somehow) getting into music production for media. You know, for money. Ha.


----------



## StillLife

I am a teacher of Dutch Language and World Literature at secundary school level and a teacher educator at applied sciences university. Love both jobs, if only they'd left me with more time for my hobby / hobbies...


----------



## doctoremmet

StillLife said:


> I am a teacher of Dutch Language and World Literature


❤
You are doing *very important work*, for which I thank you on behalf of what’s still left of society. I am reading a great book about Frans Kellendonk, a writer that deserves more attention.


----------



## GCT

I work as a Chartered Tax Adviser in London. My job is to ensure that clients pay the correct amount of tax and do battle on their behalf with UK HM Revenue and Customs where appropriate. 

However, I do have a musical background having studied music up to graduate level.

Currently I sing in a choir., (for whom I have in the past written a few short pieces which they have performed). However at the moment we have to put up with Zoom rehearsals. Looking forward to COVID vaccine being rolled out in the UK so we can get together again in person.

Finally, I spend far too much time on this forum when I should be composing!


----------



## awaey

Why all Hobbyists in this thread not writing and share a short pieces of music we have to compare with those composer that have a full time music job ? I am sure there is a lot good professional Hobbyists composer here ..


----------



## tf-drone

kleotessard said:


> My mother bought me an Atari ST in 1989, I learnt GFA Basic, Omikron Basic, (Borland?) Pure C, Motorola 68k Assembler.


Yes, Omikron Basic was clumsy, but GFA Basic was awesome. I wrote a simple analog sequencer emulation for the late Tim Conrardy, and a "Midi Sequence Generator" with a a lot of algorithmic and probabilistic stuff.


----------



## StillLife

doctoremmet said:


> ❤
> You are doing *very important work*, for which I thank you on behalf of what’s still left of society. I am reading a great book about Frans Kellendonk, a writer that deserves more attention.


Thank you, dr Emmet. Yes, Kellendonk does deserve more attention. Highly regarded though among literary scholars.


----------



## d.healey

I make sample libraries and videos


----------



## StillLife

awaey said:


> Why all Hobbyists in this thread not writing and share a short pieces of music we have to compare with those composer that have a full time music job ? I am sure there is a lot good professional Hobbyists composer here ..


Good idea! Here's an rather old one of mine, I concentrated on the composition, not as much on the mix.
Luister naar The Cover-Up van BlackTMinister op #SoundCloud https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/6UnC


----------



## wblaze

I'm a video editor at a University, creating online courses and promo videos to support them. The 9-5 schedule gives me some time to make music outside of work. The work itself relies more on craft than art, so I can save some creative energy for myself. There's also the opportunity to slip my tracks into an occasional video.


----------



## Pixelpoet1985

I'm a media/graphic designer from Germany. Although I work in an agency for digital communication, my main focus (i.e. the area I'm most comfortable with) is on print design. 

Music has always been my hobby. I'm a self-taught guitar and piano player, and started with my first library purchase in 2018. Quite some time, but haven't composed that much, still learning.


----------



## AndyP

Also here a reference to IT. For 25 years in advertising and marketing. 
Head of digital transformation & development.

To live from music was actually always my dream, but difficult to realize. Many good competitors and too few jobs. I did that when I was young for a few years and then decided to go the other way.


----------



## InLight-Tone

I worked as an IT manager at a large Natural Foods Coop for over 15 years but always dreamed of being nomadic staring through the windows at FREEDOM. Started a ton of online businesses with my wife, whereby some things took off, and off we went. Been living fulltime in an RV for over 5 years, migrating with the seasons staying in T-Shirt and Shorts weather the year round.


----------



## erodred

I am working in the engineering field for a construction and manufacturing improvement company. 

Took some piano lessons as an adult and stumbled upon someone making my favourite soundtrack songs out of midi in a DAW.


----------



## THW

I’m a congressional affairs guy in the US. I work in federal appropriations for disaster relief and emergency management.

I started my music journey on the violin, picked up guitar along the way, and have been on and off with music production. Over the past year got very invested in this hobby and haven taken a couple classes. I truly love it!


----------



## kleotessard

tf-drone said:


> Yes, Omikron Basic was clumsy, but GFA Basic was awesome. I wrote a simple analog sequencer emulation for the late Tim Conrardy, and a "Midi Sequence Generator" with a a lot of algorithmic and probabilistic stuff.


Yes *GFA Basic *(music from heaven and divine light in the sky 🤣) was really awesome. I still like this language. I made a lot of stuff with it.
I couldn't have Deluxe Paint from the amiga so I made my own version with GFA Basic and Devpack Assembler. I need to search on my old PC disk to see if I can found the last versions. Silly me I worked on this old stuff with an emulator. 🤣
I gave my old Atari 520 STE (ehanced with 4Mb of memory) to a friend last year. A cool working computer bought in 1989. 😭 But I wasn't using it and my friend really wanted this precious!


----------



## tf-drone

Hi,


awaey said:


> Why all Hobbyists in this thread not writing and share a short pieces of music we have to compare with those composer that have a full time music job ? I am sure there is a lot good professional Hobbyists composer here ..


unfortunately, I have very few short pieces of music. My albums are on bandcamp:
ambient / Berlin school: https://matucana.bandcamp.com/
drones: https://tf-drone.bandcamp.com/


----------



## Michael Antrum

GCT said:


> .... and do battle on their behalf with UK HM Revenue and Customs where appropriate. ...



You sir, are my hero.....


----------



## MusiquedeReve

Divorce/family law attorney

Attorney jokes always welcome


----------



## kleotessard

awaey said:


> Why all Hobbyists in this thread not writing and share a short pieces of music we have to compare with those composer that have a full time music job ? I am sure there is a lot good professional Hobbyists composer here ..


Hi!

I think these 4 tracks sums up what I love to do! I'm not a pro so please protect your ears 🤣.

An old composition I reworked :


And two recent ones :





And my favorite baby :


----------



## BlackDorito

David Cuny said:


> I've played and sang in church choirs for years


Excellent way to get away from the screen and make music in a social setting. Another way, which I've been doing for many years: join an handbell choir at your local church. Doesn't require much skill or hours of practice and it's a lot of fun music-making with others.


----------



## tack

Another tick under the IT list. Technical Director for a company you've heard of, working in the infrastructure operations team to deploy and manage services for our customers. Often the day job encroaches mercilessly into my free time so I don't have as many opportunities as I'd like to spend on this hobby, but I enjoy it so it's hard to complain.


----------



## chillbot

This is a really fun thread I enjoyed reading it.

I got lucky in music but I'm a hobby chef. I imagine maybe there is a parallel thread like this somewhere in a chef forum. Hi, I'm chillbot... my day job is writing music (lame) but my passion is cooking!!


----------



## Robo Rivard

I do design work for animated series. People die of COVID, and I draw talking animals.








Robert Rivard






robertrivard.myportfolio.com


----------



## JyTy

O wow, love how many techies are in here! It kinda makes sense as VIs require at least a bit of programming skills to work with 

I’m a senior full-stack web engineer here as well. Been on this since the days when websites were made out of tables and Internet Explorer was our worst nightmare (some of you might know what I’m talking about 😂). Now leading dev teams for a big world wide publisher...

But my life was always heavily infused with music ever since I put that Van Halen I CD on as a kid... a life lasting love was born that was made even stronger when I started getting into Hans Zimmer’s work and all of the other amazing and beautiful music you composers around here are creating 

Did a lot of giging and even some session work as a guitarist through the years, even got to a point when I as able to make a living out of it... but the life was a bit to nomadic for my taste (and I didn’t enjoy playing live nearly as Much as I love to make music, write songs, compose...), so I reverted back to tech and made a good career out of it...

But music is still one of my favourite things on the planet and I still put a lot of weekly hours into it so slowly looking for a way back into the game in some shape or form


----------



## Rossy

Beans said:


> I've seen recent comments about people working in marketing, education, or tech, and am wondering what sort of diversity we have here.
> 
> EDIT: And partial hobbyists/burgeoning superstars, too!


Im a store manager for a supplement company.......and I hate my job but composing keeps me sane


----------



## Scalms

The connection between IT and music is so peculiar and interesting. I’m not in IT, but I’ve always been interested in scripting and will eventually get my feet wet in that area. I guess that’s why I love this VST hobby so much, because it’s where music and tech intersect.


----------



## goonman

This is such a refreshing departure from the usual...There are actual people with real lives here. I'm a station manager for a Major Airlines. Traffic is a bit slow nowadays as you can imagine. Music has been a hobby and passion most of my life. I've also done (and still do, just not as often) recording engineering/mixing professionally for the past 30 years. Still loving it...


----------



## chillbot

Scalms said:


> The connection between IT and music is so peculiar and interesting.


IT and *computer* music though, right? Makes sense. Not that people here don't do a lot of acoustic music but we are heavily skewed towards Kontakt and DAWs.


----------



## visiblenoise

Another software engineer here. It's far from my favorite thing but it's quite tolerable, even if it does siphon my soul into nothingness


----------



## dflood

Ben E said:


> I design and manufacture speed equipment for motorcycle drag racing engines.


Wow Ben, your compositions, arrangements, and videos seem well beyond the hobby level! I’m blown away by the great stuff you post here.


----------



## bill5

Scalms said:


> The connection between IT and music is so peculiar and interesting. I’m not in IT, but I’ve always been interested in scripting and will eventually get my feet wet in that area. I guess that’s why I love this VST hobby so much, because it’s where music and tech intersect.


Ironic, that's the part I hate about it  I'd pay big bucks for there to be an "easy button" instead of having to learn about recording, mixing etc techniques. Just let me play and have it sound good when it plays back.


----------



## bill5

chillbot said:


> IT and *computer* music though, right?


??


----------



## dzilizzi

I'm an evil auditor. I tried a number of more creative fields before going back to school to get an accounting degree. There are a lot of studies that show a connection between math and music. I've been a singer all my life and have had lessons over the years. My last teacher got me started on ProTools and writing my own songs. Which eventually lead me here. 

What's funny though is I almost went into IT, but my local college had a better accounting program than IT at that time. It's probably opposite now.


----------



## Frederick

Great thread! Very interesting to see what the other non professionals are doing.

I've been in IT for the last 22 years as a software engineer and architect. Warehouse management and intercompany logistics mostly. I've been working from home for 20 years, so this whole covid thing hasn't changed that much for me.

Before going into IT I studied business economics, I majored in investment theory. When looking for a job in that field I discovered that even analists are spending most of their time pretending and lying. Brrr. So I went for a job where you get to create something.

In between highschool and university I was a self taught oil painter for three an a half years.

I've been into chess in a big way almost all my life - playing strenght about 2150 FIDE.

I have zero talent for playing musical instruments. I've also suffered a major stroke 10 years ago, with a spectacular lucky recovery in just three days. The only lasting damage that is noticeable is that my "keyboard buffer" is broken. My hands won't move accurately to the right keys on the keyboard without me looking at the keys. I also shouldn't be thinking about the next word before typing the previous. Add to that a complete lack of a decent sense of rythm and there you go...

But then there were samples and the possibility to endlessly rework details of the piece...


----------



## LudovicVDP

I'm an equity and FX trader for investment funds. And no, The Wolf of Wall Street doesn't represent my job, even if it says "trader". (for some aspects, it's a pity... That would help for buying sample libraries  )

Interesting post


----------



## Markrs

Frederick said:


> I've been into chess in a big way almost all my life - playing strenght about 2150 FIDE.
> 
> I have zero talent for playing musical instruments. I've also suffered a major stroke 10 years ago, with a spectacular lucky recovery in just three days. The only lasting damage that is noticeable is that my "keyboard buffer" is broken. My hands won't move accurately to the right keys on the keyboard without me looking at the keys. I also shouldn't be thinking about the next word before typing the previous. Add to that a complate lack of a decent sense of rythm and there you go...
> 
> But then there were samples and the possibility to endlessly rework details of the piece...


Wow that is seriously high level of chess playing! I'm with you on no natural talent with musical instruments. I can just about strum a few chords on the guitar.

Glad to hear you recovered quickly from your stroke. I have been very sick before and when I recovered I was very grateful for all the things I had inmy life.


----------



## Ben E

dflood said:


> Wow Ben, your compositions, arrangements, and videos seem well beyond the hobby level! I’m blown away by the great stuff you post here.



Thank you! But you should see my titanium valve spring retainers for the late model Suzuki GSXR1000 or my slotted cam sprockets for the 2016 Yamaha R1.


----------



## artomatic

Former radiology tech here. Gave that up for music!


----------



## patrick76

I’ve been mulling over a possible career change to my dream job of white collar criminal. If that doesn’t pan out, I’d like to bring back the position of mob guy with a bat, probably aluminum in these modern times, that encourages Union participation.


----------



## doctoremmet

awaey said:


> Hi every one I am Hobbyist composer I wana share one piece of my music, I wrote 3 minute long for the ( flute ,violin ,cello ) I used Sibelius and noteperformer ..that is my work style and how I write it is not a cinematic melody I try to write contemporary style , please give your feedback ,What do you think?


Wrong thread


----------



## awaey

[


doctoremmet said:


> Wrong thread


Why ? Ok where I can post ?


----------



## toomanynotes

I’m I the only one who is not at all suprised with the IT job connection and ‘expensive‘ music hobby? Last time I heard is that Industry is where the money is at..Makes complete sense.


----------



## doctoremmet

awaey said:


> Why


This thread asks a specific question; please refer to the title 

This forum has a very clear structure with a lot of sub-fora; please check it, things are pretty self-explanatory 

Here’s the thread you are looking for:


----------



## doctoremmet

awaey said:


> Ok where I can post ?







__





Member's Compositions & Mockups


Add your URL to a completed composition on your personal music website. Your composition will be reviewed by a community member.




vi-control.net


----------



## awaey

doctoremmet said:


> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Member's Compositions & Mockups
> 
> 
> Add your URL to a completed composition on your personal music website. Your composition will be reviewed by a community member.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> vi-control.net


Thanks


----------



## doctoremmet

awaey said:


> Thanks


Pleasure! I will have a listen later today!


----------



## awaey

doctoremmet said:


> Pleasure! I will have a listen later today!


 . I am at work ,when I go back midnight..I do ..many thank


----------



## J-M

My day "job" (according to the lecturers at my Uni) is to study English and hope that I'm lucky enough to land a job at the local supermarket. They are so supportive.

PS: The amount of IT guys here is astounding. I salute you, I took a course in programming and couldn't understand a damn thing. :D


----------



## Loïc D

toomanynotes said:


> I’m I the only one who is not at all suprised with the IT job connection and ‘expensive‘ music hobby? Last time I heard is that Industry is where the money is at..Makes complete sense.


Not at all, that makes sense.
While lawyers & dentists will likely buy expensive instruments (guitars, piano, etc), IT folks will be more comfortable with softwares and the likes. Hence, no surprise at all.
Plus, I suspect some of us went the composition road through early music softwares (mod trackers, demo scene, cracked Notator, etc)


----------



## Crowe

Software Developer, still.

I don't much like my job so I'll quit when it becomes financially feasible.

Was an IT consultant before that and a Marketer before that.


----------



## Craig Duke

While I was getting my Music Comp degree from the U of Miami in the mid to late 70s, I was asked to work on a research project to develop early digital synthesizers (Ken Pohlmann). I learned Z80 assembly language in the School of Music, then took a few digital design and a FORTRAN course in the engineering and comp sci departments. I soon learned that I enjoyed engineering. After my senior year, I returned home to get an electrical engineering degree at U of Wisconsin. During my first job at Boeing, I switched from electrical engineering to software engineering because of the dramatic expansion in the use of SW in aerospace systems. I worked in aerospace and telecommunications for my entire career and retired a few years ago. I was fortunate having the opportunities I was presented with and lucky with the choices I made.


----------



## stigc56

I have been working as a musical director, arranger, composer and pianist all my life. Now the corona has stopped that. Hopefully just for a while. Now preparing application material for a Master in music. "Always look on then bright side of life"!


----------



## doctoremmet

stigc56 said:


> "Always look on then bright side of life"!


That’s a very good way to deal with life’s challenges. Can be hard sometimes, truth be told.


----------



## jneebz

I work 30 hours/week as an orthopedic physical therapist and about 20 hours in music/mixing business. It’s a nice balance for me and I’m blessed to really enjoy both jobs. I tried full time music for a few years and it was very unsatisfying and unhealthy for me. I have great respect for those who can pull off a full-time career in music, for sure. It’s a jungle.


----------



## BassClef

College... then 3 years teaching High School Band... then 3 years in retail distribution... then 30 years in trucking management... now retired for 10 years!


----------



## Alex Fraser

Markrs said:


> I have been a UX designer for 20 years (the job title has changed a bit a various times), with breaks for doing a MEd in psychology, High School teaching (IT) and 3 years of a PhD in HCI/psychology. I now work in Cirencester which is in the Cotswolds.


I used to work in Cirencester! Small world..


----------



## ElakeDave

Worked in software development my whole adult life. Now I'm the Head of Software Development at a national agency. Not as fun as being an actual developer, but pays the bills and the occasional sample library.


----------



## asherpope

Lots of people have 'real' jobs here! I gave up a lifetime of shit kicking jobs (unskilled labour etc) to attempt to do music full time a year ago, and so far it's going...ok ish


----------



## AllanH

Another IT guy 😊 I have spent the last 10 years in operations as IT director of mid-sized school district. Prior to that, I worked in R&D on everything from operating systems, real-time systems to applications. Back eons ago I earned an MSEE and a PhD in mathematics. I have always played instruments and written music. I find writing music even more creative than programming and it is one of the ways I “reset” at the end of day.


----------



## fourier

I don't know if this is of relevance here, but as part of my job I'm also a member of the Norwegian standardization comittee for Acoustics, and our national standard for acoustic quality for music rehearsal rooms and spaces is in the final stages of becoming an international standard, ISO/DIS 23591. The Norwegian standard, NS 8178, has been a go to standard for many countries across the globe, including Australia, China, Brasil and European countries.

I am not allowed to share the full draft, but you can find the informative sections here - https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:23591:dis:ed-1:v1:en. I've not been part of the international working party, but from what I understand one key challenge has been to find a compromise between what is technically feasible to achieve and what is desireable for the different performers. 

If this type of topic is of any general interest on this forum, I can always make a post when it's finally published.


----------



## Mr Frodo

I'm a freelance editor and proofreader, and I generally edit non-fiction books on all kinds of subjects, including music production. For now, my goal of writing soundtracks for a living is only a dream, but one day... _One day..._


----------



## macavalon

I am a software engineer/manager. studied piano/music as a teen...but with the advent of home computers/programming(80s/90s) that led my career choice.


----------



## Batrawi

Banking Compliance here...
My future dream job: Legato Quality Assurance.


----------



## dzilizzi

Batrawi said:


> My future dream job: Legato Quality Assurance.


You will never be happy......


----------



## Batrawi

dzilizzi said:


> You will never be happy......


at least I'll die trying to put an end to this community's misery..


----------



## Henrik B. Jensen

Batrawi said:


> Banking Compliance here...
> My future dream job: Legato Quality Assurance.


Sounds more like a transition job!


----------



## Peter Satera

Really interesting to see many in IT and teaching. I'm more of a hobbyist but I do produce commercial audio work intermittently.

I'm a University Lecturer of Computer Animation / Art (Scotland,UK) permanent position. Ranging from Concept art, VFX, Animation, Game Development, etc. I've been in the industry for quite some time prior to this position as an Artist, primarily as a Principle Vehicle Artist where I made the vehicles for Fast and Furious, Need for Speed, on PC and consoles,etc. I was usually asked to turn my hand at anything needed. I considered applying for Rockstar North or Axis Animation when we were all laid off but the lecturing position was more secure at the time.

I've been freelancing animation and art since early 2000's, and still doing it today, which is usually based around Architectural Visualisation or construction so it's quite nice to have one creativity fuel another financially.

Per request:



I also write demos for 8Dio. <3



I really love making music, and I have had some opportunities to jump on board with a few publishers but the problem is getting the time against huge workloads and a baby boy, who drooled in my keyboard modwheel and now it can't draw smooth curves.


----------



## JohnG

teclark7 said:


> Perhaps i will need to bring the guitar in when I return to the office although it conjures up slightly disturbing images in my mind of David Brent from the UK’s The Office.



Maybe you're right? Remember that music video? [shudders]

I actually think you might be on to something. People sometimes behave a bit nicer when they view others as whole people, with interests outside of making and spending money.


----------



## ALittleNightMusic

Yet another techie here. Pros and cons. Great era to be in tech. The plush lifestyle it provides means it is highly unlikely to leave it all and go for broke trying to make it in music. Which if you look at a lot of creatives that made it, it was their only option and they couldn’t do anything else so they had to make it work. Also, my techie mind biases towards tinkering (or reading the various VI threads about legato scripting) instead of actually making much music - trying to change that.


----------



## bill5

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Yet another techie here. Pros and cons. Great era to be in tech.


That's been true since the 80s. But it has its drawbacks for some; frankly the attitudes and cultural mindset in general is one I detest in the extreme. Maybe I've just been unlucky that way, can't say.


----------



## Jeremy Gillam

I pay my bills doing photo retouching for architecture and interiors photography.


----------



## PaulieDC

Microsoft Visual Studio/SharePoint Developer and SQL Server Database Admin for a semiconductor manufacturer in Arizona. I do have a side business as a photographer but getting away from that anymore.


----------



## PaulieDC

Jeremy Gillam said:


> I pay my bills doing photo retouching for architecture and interiors photography.


THAT I wouldn't mind doing on the side instead of SHOOTING.


----------



## Greeno

MichaelVakili said:


> Sadly I am working as bartender in restaurant - hopefully I will work as music producer or audio engineer in the near future : (


nothing wrong with being a bartender, ( good to see someone has a kidn of normal job here) some people love bar work. There needs to be more respect in society for all types of jobs, there has been too much describing of some roles as ' unskilled' such as delivery driver, bar staff, supermarket workers, cleaners etc but as we have seen in this pandemic, they are the ones that helped to keep the country going. I have so much respect for my delivery drivers, postmen etc they are defo getting an xmas envelope stuffed with cash!


----------



## Greeno

Alex Fraser said:


> I used to work in Cirencester! Small world..


I live in Bristol just down the rd, hello both


----------



## I like music

PaulieDC said:


> Microsoft Visual StudiO/SharePoint Developer and SQL Server Database Admin for a semiconductor manufacturer in Arizona. I do have a side business as a photographer but getting away from that anymore.



And you're a good laptop-modifier. The one you sold me is going nice and strong!


----------



## I like music

Greeno said:


> nothing wrong with being a bartender, ( good to see someone has a kidn of normal job here) some people love bar work. There needs to be more respect in society for all types of jobs, there has been too much describing of some roles as ' unskilled' such as delivery driver, bar staff, supermarket workers, cleaners etc but as we have seen in this pandemic, they are the ones that helped to keep the country going. I have so much respect for my delivery drivers, postmen etc they are defo getting an xmas envelope stuffed with cash!



150%

I was at a pretty good university, and almost got caught up in 'status chasing' fuckery that everyone else was going for, where people made their jobs the centre of their lives. Not because they enjoyed them, but to feel better than others. This was genuinely a thing.

The natural outcome of this was that there was a lot of snobbery around 'so what do you do then?' and judging people based on what they _did_!

I moved out of London and got away from all that (though I still work for tech startups as a sales guy, just remotely now). It is nice to be able to step back and evaluate what makes you happy. In most cases, a job's just a job. It doesn't make one better or worse. 

And yes, I think people are now more aware of all those 'hidden' jobs that people do that allow us to continue living our comfortable lives. Postmen/women, bin collection etc. Without them, we'd fall apart within 3-4 days.

That said, it won't be long until we forget them again. That's the sad part.


----------



## Markrs

Greeno said:


> I live in Bristol just down the rd, hello both


I think there is a few of us around the Bristol area. Be good to think about a meet up post Covid world


----------



## Greeno

Markrs said:


> I think there is a few of us around the Bristol area. Be good to think about a meet up post Covid world


that'd be cool! did you see the Bristol Keys piano sample pack that was recorded in St Mary Redcliffe Church? https://sample-genie.com/product/bristol-keys-piano-sampling-pack-for-drum-bass/ 
check the video, it can be used for any music really. Lovely stuff!

I should say 'what I do', I work at a university supporting research funding bids.


----------



## Greeno

I like music said:


> 150%
> 
> I was at a pretty good university, and almost got caught up in 'status chasing' fuckery that everyone else was going for, where people made their jobs the centre of their lives. Not because they enjoyed them, but to feel better than others. This was genuinely a thing.
> 
> The natural outcome of this was that there was a lot of snobbery around 'so what do you do then?' and judging people based on what they _did_!
> 
> I moved out of London and got away from all that (though I still work for tech startups as a sales guy, just remotely now). It is nice to be able to step back and evaluate what makes you happy. In most cases, a job's just a job. It doesn't make one better or worse.
> 
> And yes, I think people are now more aware of all those 'hidden' jobs that people do that allow us to continue living our comfortable lives. Postmen/women, bin collection etc. Without them, we'd fall apart within 3-4 days.
> 
> That said, it won't be long until we forget them again. That's the sad part.



this is it, its interesting to hear what some people do for a job but it is in no way defining of a person, its an old way of limiting people and keeping that classification in society. We are all much more than job titles! I tell you what it would be even more interesting if people listed one interest/hobby that they might thing others would find curious/funny/fascinating/weird..


----------



## I like music

Greeno said:


> this is it, its interesting to hear what some people do for a job but it is in no way defining of a person, its an old way of limiting people and keeping that classification in society. We are all much more than job titles! I tell you what it would be even more interesting if people listed one interest/hobby that they might thing others would find curious/funny/fascinating/weird..



Aye! I do like this thread because it seems that people here are genuinely interested (and non-judgy) in what others do for a living. 

But in my social interactions, when meeting new people, I try not to go down that work rabbithole. I guess it can be an interesting thing to know about someone (you might have similar jobs, or they might tell you interesting things). But, as you said, when it becomes a classification thing, then I have a problem with it.

In any case, it was interesting to see how many devs/IT professionals are on here.


----------



## Alex Niedt

I work in Research & Development in the tech segment at Disney, focused on conceptual metadata for D+ right now.

Also make demo content for Orchestral Tools. Aside from that, I just make music for sheer enjoyment with no financial expectations attached, which is exactly how I prefer it. The more I involve money, pressure, expectations, etc. in music, the less interested I am in creating it. Realized this when I was making a living mixing, too. I don't want my passions to become work. When they do, I make changes.


----------



## JT

Working as a music copyist has paid most of my bills. I used to do a lot of jingle sessions in Chicago, now I primarily work in music publishing. And now I actually get to sleep on a normal schedule.


----------



## Markrs

Greeno said:


> that'd be cool! did you see the Bristol Keys piano sample pack that was recorded in St Mary Redcliffe Church? https://sample-genie.com/product/bristol-keys-piano-sampling-pack-for-drum-bass/
> check the video, it can be used for any music really. Lovely stuff!
> 
> I should say 'what I do', I work at a university supporting research funding bids.


I missed that I will check it out, thanks @Greeno


----------



## ptram

Gene Pool said:


> What kind?


Electronic keyboards, digital pianos.

Paolo


----------



## Rasmus Hartvig

I'm one of the IT guys who got away. I have a computer science degree and used to program website backends, but managed to reach escape velocity 10 years ago. Since then I've been doing music and sound for games (and sometimes implementation, so I still have some programming in my life)

But I have to agree with the people who have mentioned that money, pressure, expectations and deadlines have made me miss making music only for its own sake. The upside is: I used to never finish anything, ever. Deadlines have a neat way of making that problem evaporate.


----------



## PaulieDC

I like music said:


> And you're a good laptop-modifier. The one you sold me is going nice and strong!


Great!


----------



## Jordan D Smith

I’m a senior front end web developer for a marketing agency based here in Nashville.

Earlier this year, just under a six month span, I became a first time father and a first time home owner. So, I’ve struggled to find time for my hobbies and honestly have let it slip a bit these days. Ha


----------



## I like music

Jordan D Smith said:


> I’m a senior front end web developer for a marketing agency based here in Nashville.
> 
> Earlier this year, just under a six month span, I became a first time father and a first time home owner. So, I’ve struggled to find time for my hobbies and honestly have let it slip a bit these days. Ha



Nothing like having kids to help put the breaks on musical output.

Well sell our product to agencies. I believe we may even work with one or two in Nashville.


----------



## mopsiflopsi

Jordan D Smith said:


> Earlier this year, just under a six month span, I became a first time father and a first time home owner.



Wow, congrats! I've got a couple of those (kids) myself. Hardest work ever but also the most rewarding.


Game developer here. I needed a hobby that is different my day job, so gaming has been replaced with music these days. As a bonus I'm excited about the prospect of scoring my own games.


----------



## David Cuny

I like music said:


> Nothing like having kids to help put the [brakes] on musical output.


If you have enough, you can form a band you can write for.

Or a string trio.


----------



## mopsiflopsi

David Cuny said:


> If you have enough, you can form a band you can write for.
> 
> Or a string trio.



They harmonize really well with smallest violins.


----------



## Reid Rosefelt

I was a movie publicist in New York City for over 45 years. I founded and ran two boutique PR firms, and did a lot of production publicity. For the last 20 years or so I've made my living writing publicity materials. I turned in my last Woody Allen film notes, for RIFKIN'S FESTIVAL, in May and then retired. 

As a publicist, I've worked on hundreds of films, with people like Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodovar, Agnes Varda, Ang Lee, Werner Herzog, Andrei Tarkovsky, Errol Morris, David Mamet, Peter Weir, Robert Redford, Francis Coppola, etc. 

Oh, and I wrote and directed a film about a singing frog named Tiger that starred Thomas Jay Ryan and the late Adrienne Shelly.


----------



## shponglefan

Former IT professional and graphics designer turned corporate finance manager.

Not the most exciting of current careers but it pays the bills (and for all those lovely sample libraries!).


----------



## tebling

Alex Niedt said:


> The more I involve money, pressure, expectations, etc. in music, the less interested I am in creating it. Realized this when I was making a living mixing, too. I don't want my passions to become work. When they do, I make changes.



I felt this way as well after dipping my toes into composing game soundtracks for profit. Another passion is visual effects, and I was very fortunate later on to have entered that space as well. I was expecting a similar feeling of burnout there eventually, but to my amazement (even though the hours were long) I never really did. So it's not always a maxim.


----------



## styledelk

I’m a COO and product management wrangler at a startup currently. Have worked in software development, product management, and IT in some way since I was a young teen (now 40). But enrolled at Thinkspace in September.
Not sure if this is a career or hobby, but mostly enjoying the challenge and broadening my focus more, and fulfilling a dream that the poor version of me couldn’t do, and instead just went to work right away.


----------



## jononotbono

I’m living the dream. Or I should say, still living in my dreamland whilst grinding away trying to get somewhere in music. 😂


----------



## Greeno

Has anyone else got a relatively 'normal' job ?? like...not an IT specialist, a consultant, manager, director ' industry professional' or whatever...I'm just curious.

Are there any trades people, any cleaners, any delivery drivers, shop workers or general admin peeps?


----------



## Markrs

That's is an interesting question. I wonder if you asked this question on KVR or gearslutz how different the responses would be?

I also wonder about the gender and ethnicity spread that is in this and other music forums. Music is universal, but at time it does feel male centric, though with most using pseudonyms it is hard to tell. Ethnicity his harder to gage, as most of the music here is of America/European in nature, so those into other styles of music theory might not gravitate to this forum.


----------



## styledelk

Also... this hobby is expensive.


----------



## mopsiflopsi

Markrs said:


> That's is an interesting question. I wonder if you asked this question on KVR or gearslutz how different the responses would be?
> 
> I also wonder about the gender and ethnicity spread that is in this and other music forums. Music is universal, but at time it does feel male centric, though with most using pseudonyms it is hard to tell. Ethnicity his harder to gage, as most of the music here is of America/European in nature, so those into other styles of music theory might not gravitate to this forum.



Yes I have noticed the male skew too, which was initially surprising to me. Given the over-representation of IT and software, however, it’s less surprising now as these fields are not famous for welcoming women. Could also have something to do with purchasing power and disposable income disparity.


----------



## Mark Stothard

General manager of a casino. 
I was heavily into IT and studied and got my Microsoft certified professional certificate.


----------



## Beans

Greeno said:


> Has anyone else got a relatively 'normal' job ?? like...not an IT specialist, a consultant, manager, director ' industry professional' or whatever...I'm just curious.
> 
> Are there any trades people, any cleaners, any delivery drivers, shop workers or general admin peeps?


A guy down the street plays a mean piano and clarinet, and over the past few years I've gotten him into our world. He's probably got a dozen piano VIs, but he's also got BBCSO Core and I think Komplete 12. He's a (hair) stylist by trade.

He doesn't visit any forums, but I send him links to whatever people here are drooling over on the piano scene. Despite having a job outside of music and/or tech, he's fairly musically inclined, being on the board of a local theatre.


----------



## shadowsoflight

I'll add something a little bit different: geophysicist turned well planner turned data scientist/engineer/analyst for a major international energy company. Apparently, a professional layoff dodger too: I have made it through about 6 rounds of layoffs in my 8 years there.

The specific type of geophysical data I specialize in is seismic data, which has a lot of overlap with audio analysis. Through university I learned/did the math for both convolution and frequency analysis of a signal (via FFT). I love telling my geoscientist friends that a convolver is a useful musical tool!

Most importantly, I'm a husband and father (adding baby number two very soon...).


----------



## Markrs

shadowsoflight said:


> I'll add something a little bit different: geophysicist turned well planner turned data scientist/engineer/analyst for a major international energy company. Apparently, a professional layoff dodger too: I have made it through about 6 rounds of layoffs in my 8 years there.
> 
> The specific type of geophysical data I specialize in is seismic data, which has a lot of overlap with audio analysis. Through university I learned/did the math for both convolution and frequency analysis of a signal (via FFT). I love telling my geoscientist friends that a convolver is a useful musical tool!
> 
> Most importantly, I'm a husband and father (adding baby number two very soon...).


Not surprised you have avoided layoffs as data scientist are massively in demand, and have been for a number of years now. Sounds a very cool job


----------



## fourier

shadowsoflight said:


> I'll add something a little bit different: geophysicist turned well planner turned data scientist/engineer/analyst for a major international energy company. Apparently, a professional layoff dodger too: I have made it through about 6 rounds of layoffs in my 8 years there.
> 
> The specific type of geophysical data I specialize in is seismic data, which has a lot of overlap with audio analysis. Through university I learned/did the math for both convolution and frequency analysis of a signal (via FFT). I love telling my geoscientist friends that a convolver is a useful musical tool!
> 
> Most importantly, I'm a husband and father (adding baby number two very soon...).


My dad is a geophysicist that wrote his thesis on seismic data for earthquake prediction with NORSAR back in the 70s, and he ditched the research job to become a high school teacher. 

All the best on the upcoming baby #2!


----------



## mussnig

I am a postdoc in mathematics, currently spending 1 year abroad at the University of Florence. Not too long ago, I also worked as a middle-/highschool teacher for mathematics and physics.


----------



## doctoremmet

mussnig said:


> I am a postdoc in mathematics, currently spending 1 year abroad at the University of Florence. Not too long ago, I also worked as a middle-/highschool teacher for mathematics and physics.


I am always in awe of what I call REAL scientists. Cool job!


----------



## mussnig

doctoremmet said:


> I am always in awe of what I call REAL scientists. Cool job!


While it may sound cool for some (I am sure there are lots of people who don't like Mathematics ), I am not always convinced that it's really useful. My field of research is rather abstract and theoretical, so real-life applications might occur at some point but maybe there will never be any ...
While working as a teacher, I at least had the feeling that I was actively contributing in some way to society. Now the feeling is more vague - I just hope my research will never be used for any kinds of weapons ...

But of course I shouldn't complain. Nobody forced me to do this and there are lots of nice things and freedoms in such a job.


----------



## doctoremmet

mussnig said:


> While it may sound cool for some (I am sure there are lots of people who don't like Mathematics ), I am not always convinced that it's really useful. My field of research is rather abstract and theoretical, so real-life applications might occur at some point but maybe there will never be any ...
> While working as a teacher, I at least had the feeling that I was actively contributing in some way to society. Now the feeling is more vague - I just hope my research will never be used for any kinds of weapons ...
> 
> But of course I shouldn't complain. Nobody forced me to do this and there are lots of nice things and freedoms in such a job.


Gotcha haha. But your science is way more scientific than my particular academic field, which is part of the economy and business faculty. And we all know economics ain’t science. At least I’m assuming y’all do not really believe that Apple’s stock price is the actual net discounted value of their projected cash flows...


----------



## mussnig

doctoremmet said:


> Gotcha haha. But your science is way more scientific than my particular academic field, which is part of the economy and business faculty. And we all know economics ain’t science. At least I’m assuming y’all do not really believe that Apple’s stock price is the actual net discounted value of their projected cash flows...


Don't underestimate the scientific value of what you are doing! Otherwise there wouldn't be many companies paying top salaries for experts in these things ...


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

Japanese-English translator and supervisory analyst (equity research/fixed income/economics/quants/whatever else they throw at me)

Twenty two years in Japan next month and I still love it here.

I’d love to do library music as a side gig, since music is my passion, but that’s more of a pipe dream I guess.


----------



## mopsiflopsi

mussnig said:


> Don't underestimate the scientific value of what you are doing! Otherwise there wouldn't be many companies paying top salaries for experts in these things ...


Market value and value for humanity are not the same thing. Hitmen get paid good money too! 
Also, never stop an economist from introspection. Wish more of them would be critical of the field’s shortcomings.


----------



## C.R. Rivera

I am retired USN, two decades in History at Ohio State, now teaching History parttime at a local community college. I have done history noises for the last few decades. I do NOT make money, nor, do I want to compete with musicians. Rather, I wanted something for myself and my peers that I alone control and enjoy. I decided that pleasing myself was more important. I have a lot of respect for those who struggle to hone your craft, and, fight the powers, so to speak.


----------



## C.R. Rivera

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Japanese-English translator and supervisory analyst (equity research/fixed income/economics/quants/whatever else they throw at me)
> 
> Twenty two years in Japan next month and I still love it here.
> 
> I’d love to do library music as a side gig, since music is my passion, but that’s more of a pipe dream I guess.


If you get a chance, look up my name and Akiyama Saneyuki (1868-1918)


----------



## Loïc D

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Twenty two years in Japan next month and I still love it here.


Wow great ! Which place ?
I’m totally fond of Japan (to the point I learned the language).


----------



## Cinebient

I might be lonely here....as a hand worker.


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

Loïc D said:


> Wow great ! Which place ?
> I’m totally fond of Japan (to the point I learned the language).


I’m in Tokyo now, but lived up in Utsunomiya for my first eight years.
It’s really cool that you learned Japanese. That’s not easy if you are living outside the country (not easy living in the country either, lol). I still learn new things pretty much daily even though I have been translating professionally since 2002. Definitely a lifelong project!


----------



## Loïc D

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> I’m in Tokyo now, but lived up in Utsunomiya for my first eight years.
> It’s really cool that you learned Japanese. That’s not easy if you are living outside the country (not easy living in the country either, lol). I still learn new things pretty much daily even though I have been translating professionally since 2002. Definitely a lifelong project!


Exactly my feeling. Japan is discovery everyday. You think you know places / people / language / culture / etiquette, and yet there’s always something new on your daily way.
I don’t practice japanese anymore so I forgot a lot. Once in a while I there and I meet friends and also use a bit of japanese with my father-in-law though not our mother language.
I love Tokyo a lot, using my shoes in a lot of places. It’s an incredible city.


----------



## Zero&One

I vote this for thread of 2020 :emoji_medal::emoji_trophy:


----------



## blender505

Full time software developer. My dad got me into programming and my mom taught me piano. I studied computer science when I got to college, but I also got a music composition minor. I actually like it this way quite a bit (music being a hobby that is). I don't think I could make it doing music professionally and I get to write the things I want to write instead of what I'm told to write. Plus, I love my current programming job. I work for a bit of a unicorn start up company in that it has all the perks of a start up, but none of the common downsides.


----------



## C.R. Rivera

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> I’m in Tokyo now, but lived up in Utsunomiya for my first eight years.
> It’s really cool that you learned Japanese. That’s not easy if you are living outside the country (not easy living in the country either, lol). I still learn new things pretty much daily even though I have been translating professionally since 2002. Definitely a lifelong project!


Yes, very very true! And, to boot, I was working often with furigana sources with the NIDS. Oy vay!!


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

C.R. Rivera said:


> Yes, very very true! And, to boot, I was working often with furigana sources with the NIDS. Oy vay!!


Oh man, historical documents are a whole other level. Respect. I find modern Japanese hard enough.


----------



## Trif

Full-time translator.


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow

Trif said:


> Full-time translator.


Nice. What languages do you do?


----------



## Trif

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Nice. What languages do you do?


The Scandinavian ones, English and very occasionally Italian.


----------



## GdT

Pensioner !!!
Retired IT professional. (Very useful skills for music production.) Worked assignemnts in over 65 large corporations and rubbed shoulders with lots of nerds and good few musicians!
And I have seen a good few IT mess ups in my time. As we used to say "To err is human but to really mess up you need a big computer"!
Great to have lots of time and to be able to please myself.


----------



## Maurenon

GdT said:


> Pensioner !!!
> Retired IT professional. (Very useful skills for music production.) Worked assignemnts in over 65 large corporations and rubbed shoulders with lots of nerds and good few musicians!
> And I have seen a good few IT mess ups in my time. As we used to say "To err is human but to really mess up you need a big computer"!
> Great to have lots of time and to be able to please myself.


And now for something completely different....(cue the Monty Python fanfare) Me and my girlfriend run an online business from our home. We sell jewlery and mobile cases mostly through larger marketplace platforms. We decided around 2012 that we'd had enough of the busy city life and that we wanted to quite literally escape to the country. Which we did the following year!  So now we run our business from our early 19th century house located on a small hill overlooking meadows and pastures. A very different life indeed.

To get a little more money (the business goes quite well, but if we were to live off only that income things would be a bit too spartan) I also work with children and adults who has autism/aspberger/adhd/learning disabilities at schools and assisted living homes. This is something I had never done before we left the city, and judging by the response from the children it seems I'm a natural at this kind of job. It's also very rewarding when you see that you're actually reaching a person and that they appreciate what you're trying to do for them.

As a side note, for an online retailer, a pandemic where people are forced to stay indoors isn't exactly bad for business; we've had record sales this christmas!


----------



## Tom_D

Audiologist in a hearing clinic. Hearing tests & hearing aids (pediatric and adult patients)


----------



## davetbass

I do accounting, but a lot of is dealing with the failures of automation, so some similarities, lol!


----------



## evilantal

I'm a data scientist for an insurance company


----------



## Will Wilson

Head of Technology for a global online video platform, also happen to be recruiting a UK based Senior Drupal Developer at the moment if anyone knows of anyone


----------



## Bakhtin

Executive Director of an organisation that provides housing for homeless people.


----------



## Bruhelius

rgames said:


> I'm an astrobiologist. I spend my days waiting for the phone to ring.
> 
> Nah not really. But I did know someone who's mother worked at NASA and did, in fact, have exactly that job title. So if you ever think you're having a hard time achieving anything as a musician just remember that there's an astrobiologist out there fighting waaaay longer odds than you.
> 
> rgames


I thought they found phosphine in Venus' atmosphere...maybe it was a prank call afterall


----------



## Tatiana Gordeeva

Shockingly, I'm a composer  and I love it ... most days!


----------



## erikradbo

Doctor in internal medicine...which currently mostly means Covid-19 24-7.


----------



## shapeshifter00

IT network consultant, but leaning more towards IT security these days. Music is an amazing hobby and satisfied with being a hobbyist


----------



## dade

Ph.D. in computer science, Engineering team Lead and Product Manager in a software company.
Symphonic Metal keyboardist in my spare time


----------



## MusicStudent

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry - Drug Quality, Regulatory and Manufacturing Consultant performing auditing assignments in US


----------



## Greeno

Bakhtin said:


> Executive Director of an organisation that provides housing for homeless people.


Best job I've seen on here, nice one!


----------



## Bakhtin

Greeno said:


> Best job I've seen on here, nice one!


Aw, thanks Greeno!


----------



## Double Helix

Assuming I make it through the summer, this fall will mark my 29th year teaching lit*, rhetoric & composition, and creative writing at the college level. I am also super-dooper lucky to still be able to gig (played three time this last weekend--I think there will be eleven gigs in May).
Therefore, day and night job(s)

*@Bakhtin -- any relation to the famous Russian Formalist Mikhail Bakhtin, he of "binary opposition" fame?


----------



## Bakhtin

Double Helix said:


> Assuming I make it through the summer, this fall will mark my 29th year teaching lit*, rhetoric & composition, and creative writing at the college level. I am also super-dooper lucky to still be able to gig (played three time this last weekend--I think there will be eleven gigs in May).
> Therefore, day and night job(s)
> 
> *@Bakhtin -- any relation to the famous Russian Formalist Mikhail Bakhtin, he of "binary opposition" fame?


no relation, but back in the day he was my favourite literary theorist


----------



## Akora

Electrician here. A pretty fortunate job to have during the pandemic, as we have been swamped with work due to everone being at home and getting all sorts of ideas for improvements and projects.

I walk around humming lots of melodies while working, only to have forgotten it all when I get home.


----------



## AndreBoulard

traditional pencil artist focused in pet portrait, caricature artist and concept art mainly character design. Work about 10 hours a week at the local grocery store and keeping the social connections. Played piano by hear since i was a kid and art. some what well talented opera singer if i want to lol .

supporting family in need of things affiliated with queens of heart and other type of community locally who helps others in need.


----------



## Manfred

I’m a psychotherapist (talk therapy), including music therapy. Spend as much time as I can in my production studio and with my guitars. Hopelessly addicted to music


----------



## andyhy

Great learning about other member's backgrounds. I'm a retired accountant, remarried in 2007 at the age of 59, took early retirement, sold up and relocated to my wife's home country, the Philippines. My story was one among a number featured in the Prince Charles Generation series. Two sons later and under covid lockdown I discovered DAWs and VSTs for the first time. Very much a hobbyist with a limited budget so I buy only what I absolutely need. I'm too old now to consider a music career but I hope that eventually I can collaborate with working composers even if it's only to provide the spark of an idea for their own compositions. Just had my first covid jab so the question now is will it improve my composition skills. It was a Chinese vaccine so maybe I can excel at oriental compositions.


----------



## Markrs

andyhy said:


> Two sons later and under covid lockdown I discovered DAWSs and VSTs for the first time. Very much a hobbyist with a limited budget so I buy only what I absolutely need.


I think like a few of us, on here I consider myself a lockdown newbie to composition, and having this to focus on has really helped get through it, though I have bought way more than I need!


----------



## Evans

Manfred said:


> I’m a psychotherapist (talk therapy), including music therapy. Spend as much time as I can in my production studio and with my guitars. Hopelessly addicted to music


Talk therapy is the best. It's turned out to be the right approach for my daughter. Thank you for what you do.


----------



## BAllen

I'm a wildlife biologist and work for the world's largest conservation organization. I'm currently located in the U.S. (New Jersey).
I got back into music about six months ago after a decade long hiatus. Love this forum!


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## Pappaus

After so many interesting jobs, I am here to turn the tide. I was a civil engineer for the city of Philadelphia (Pa, USA) I worked on construction and design of water/sewer lines. I then found that too exciting so I moved to the city controller’s office where I review construction invoices and supervise our office’s construction inspectors. Always into music and got back into the computer music end right before COVID and COVID pushed me into composition as a hobby.


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## chimuelo

Pappaus said:


> After so many interesting jobs, I am here to turn the tide. I was a civil engineer for the city of Philadelphia (Pa, USA) I worked on construction and design of water/sewer lines. I then found that too exciting so I moved to the city controller’s office where I review construction invoices and supervise our office’s construction inspectors. Always into music and got back into the computer music end right before COVID and COVID pushed me into composition as a hobby.


I worked through Local #57 in Philly while gigging nights @ Atlantic City.
So busy I couldn‘t count the money. Used the downtown post office box to stash Postal Money Orders as they were 24/7.

I transferred from Vegas, and nobody told me it was a Black Muslim Labor Union…After my initial fear from checking in at the local (Badlands) where everyone looked at me like I was crazy, I made good friends. Nice that we had 4 prayer breaks per day, and paid religious holidays.

Love Philly, especially 69th Street/Market area, and Upper Darby.
Great memories.

I pulled my pension 3 years ago.
Now I can pick and choose my gigs as opposed to working with aged crooners who’re angry because they’re @ the Orleans in Vegas instead of the strip.


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## Manfred

Evans said:


> Talk therapy is the best. It's turned out to be the right approach for my daughter. Thank you for what you do.


Thank you!


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## wsimpson

Super interesting thread. 20+ years working for large software companies in the Seattle area, now working as a program manager for a Silicon Valley software company. Studied music history and composition in the early 1980s and took advantage of COVID work from home opportunity to get back into it. Like others I don't think I could make a living doing music full time nor do I think I want to. My current plan is to keep learning and do music scores for local short films. Did my first 48 Hour Film Project this summer and am looking forward to doing more projects like that for fun and sanity.


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## gtrwll

I work as an information specialist at our city library’s music and media services. It’s an inspiring place to work in, surrounded by scores, theory books, music, games and films among many other things.


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## zwhita

Another cog in the IT contracting trade here, living comfortably for 17 years in a field of employ known and understood by few, but used and abused by many an organization: *Enterprise Application Integration*


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## Double Helix

Pappaus said:


> I was a civil engineer for the city of *Philadelphia* (Pa, USA) . . .


Is The Spectrum still standing as the giant arena it was fifty years ago, when I saw Santana (*without Carols Santana)?

*Booker T & Priscilla was the opening act. Apparently, Carlos had had an argument with one of the percussionists and had not even flown with everyone else to the gig. A very young (16!) Neal Schon--who'd just been added to the lineup--was roped into attempting all the super-recognizable guitar licks. But despite a couple of miscues, Neal and the band came though like the troupers they were.


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## Architekton

Global business analyst - finding gaps in the markets, trying to understand how to increase revenue and lower the costs of the big international company. Creating dashboards in Tableau/PowerBI, P&Ls, balance sheets, sales analysis, etc etc. Very boring. I would give anything to be 100% of time in music lol.


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## Pincel

At the moment I'm working as a CNC operator in a company that sells and applies ventilated facades on buildings. Couldn't be further from my music passion, but it pays the bills and allows me to invest in gear and stuff needed for what really matters. Definitely hoping and working towards being able to live from something music-related, but it's still gonna take a while for sure... 

It's interesting to see that so many here come from IT related jobs, which I guess makes a lot of sense. If I knew better at the time, I would have probably pursued something like that when I was younger, but my teenage brain didn't care for anything else but music. Oh well.


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## davidson

Hitman and part-time male stripper.


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## bill5

zwhita said:


> Another cog in the IT contracting trade here, living comfortably for 17 years in a field of employ known and understood by few, but used and abused by many an organization: *Enterprise Application Integration*


Whatever that means.


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## LamaRose

Made most of my bread as an Engineer/part-time researcher/advocate for young adults with disabilities... but in reality, I'm just a retired gypsy dropout running a cathouse in an old abandoned, mountain mining town somewhere in NM. I literally made that _left turn in Albuquerque_.


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## bill5

Well you were warned...


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## nanotk

Hello,
I am Concert piano Technician in Vienna, Austria, and also official teacher for the Opusmodus software.


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## Loïc D

davidson said:


> Hitman and part-time male stripper.


On and on, it’s all about guns…


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## Haakond

I am a full-time guitar teacher. I will go down to 60% April next year, to be a part-time composer


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## DANIELE

I'm an engineer working in traffic lights and street lights plus many other smartcity things.


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## widescreen

And another IT guy. 

But my turn into music was a bit more complicated.

In the early 90s I started building PCs for the upcoming market. My highest level was getting top spot in some PC magazines for making specialized audio PCs. Perhaps some of you remember the TerraTec ESW64 XL. If you do not know about it and are a little bit interested in how soundcards and audio interfaces evolved, google it, you will be surprised what was possible in that time.

I cannot conceal that I made that kind of PCs out of personal interest in making music on the computer. My job and my hobbies often had and have intersections.
That time I used Cubase VST, Cakewalk Pro Audio and Samplitude (which was more of a complex audio editor those days). Sound familiar, these names? 

But for some reason I decided in the early 2000s not to go into music but to stay in the IT. I converted from a PC builder to an administrator/engineer/consultant, working for small system house over big German car manufacturer to mid-sized international management consulting firm. Still 100% IT day job and 25% part-time freelancer for dentists and other small customers to pay the bills. Not healthful over a longer time, I will reduce that when my wife has finished her studies.

Always been a big music fan I found something missing 2 years ago. I started learning electric guitar. And just wanted to record some loops. And save them on the PC. I still had no clue what was going on these 20 years in the DAW and VI sector. Then I looked for the current software for audio editing...

Can you imagine how my jaw dropped when I realized WHAT is possible nowadays?  Literally it is still dropped and I cannot get it shut so please forgive me if there's something dripped on the keyboard. 

My learning focus has then moved more towards DAWs, VIs, keyboard/piano and composing. Sorry, guitar. Now you are playing second fiddle (but remain in the orchestra).
My space for samples and video tutorials has grown faster than my skills, but the break-even is now reached I think. The first piece of music is complete and the feeling having reached something like that after 1 year of learning was not comparable to anything before.

Do we know how gifted we all are that we found such a satisfying hobby?
(which could lead to more than that for some of us)


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## Ivan M.

nanotk said:


> Hello,
> I am Concert piano Technician in Vienna, Austria, and also official teacher for the Opusmodus software.


I'm curious, how much maintenance do those pianos require? Do you tune them before each performance, or only before big ones? How often do you change the strings? What happens if one snaps during a performance?


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## Easy Pickens

For most of my adult life I was a professional musician who dabbled in photography, but it's flipped around, and the last several years I've subsidized composing and producing music by being a photographer*

*of sex toys, chiefly. It ain't much, but it's honest work.


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## zwhita

bill5 said:


> Whatever that means.


Think of it as connective tissue between different sections of the organization that works in real-time.


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## Tim_Wells

Great thread. A lot of well educated, skilled folks. No wonder you get such informed opinions here.

For about 15 years I played bars, clubs, and such. Went back to school and became a CPA, but worked mainly in IT. Worked on Accounting Systems, Business Intelligence and later Real Estate Management Systems.


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## I like music

widescreen said:


> Can you imagine how my jaw dropped when I realized WHAT is possible nowadays?  Literally it is still dropped and I cannot get it shut so please forgive me if there's something dripped on the keyboard.


Give it a few months. You'll be complaining about the quality of legato with the rest of us soon enough!

Seriously though, great to hear this, and what a wonderful surprise it must have been for you to stumble back into it and see all the progress!


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## Iskra

Looots of tech people here!
I'm a psychologist and pianist by education, and worked in HR almost all my adult life. Currently I'm the head of HR of a... tech company  
Played a lot live years ago on cover bands and with jazz bands, and started with software-music also years ago with the early trackers (those where really cool at that time). Most of my free time is devoted to play the piano and noodle around with VST's. From time to time I bump into a paid music work, but it's not something I look for actively, tbh. Actually I also enjoy my dayjob a lot, so it's all fine.


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## widescreen

Iskra said:


> Looots of tech people here!
> I'm a psychologist and pianist by education, and worked in HR almost all my adult life. Currently I'm the head of HR of a... tech company
> Played a lot live years ago on cover bands and with jazz bands, and started with software-music also years ago with the early trackers (those where really cool at that time). Most of my free time is devoted to play the piano and noodle around with VST's. From time to time I bump into a paid music work, but it's not something I look for actively, tbh. Actually I also enjoy my dayjob a lot, so it's all fine.


Our head of HR is the leader of our company band called "The Short Pregnants". 😉


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## nanotk

Ivan M. said:


> I'm curious, how much maintenance do those pianos require? Do you tune them before each performance, or only before big ones? How often do you change the strings? What happens if one snaps during a performance?


The pianos are checked before each concert and generally 3 times/Day for concerts. Concert pianos are like Formula 1 .... We don't change the strings, we change the piano (but naturally if we have a string broke, we replace it).


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## Iskra

widescreen said:


> Our head of HR is the leader of our company band called "The Short Pregnants".


Nice!!! 

I'm trying to put together a 'Tango Moderno Band" (Piazzolla style) at the office, as within the last few months we hired an oboist, violist and violinist (developers on their day jobs, obviously) - being in charge of the hiring process I might be biased when someone plays any musical instrument.
We still need a developer or UX designer that doubles as an upright bassist, though.


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## ChrisSiuMusic

So inspiring reading all your occupations; what a diverse community we have here! I'm almost ashamed to say that I've only known music in my life, and have been teaching piano/theory full time for a few years now as my full-time job.


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## DCPImages

Professor in Medicine


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## M. vDiva Fabbiani

Really interesting thread!
I own a video and photography production company based in Switzerland and we mainly work for rock/metal bands here in Europe.


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## Karmand

Musician on the road- some graphics after that -some programming after that - landed in Nashville video editing.


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## vitocorleone123

About 20 years as a UX Designer and User Researcher

This was my first "DAW" in highschool:







I took a break for several years after the Cakewalk 5(?) era as computer music tech was exceeding my finances, time, and skills. Dove back into it about 7 years ago and have been kicking out a couple completed songs (electronic) per year. Now I even have some hardware synths.

I haven't take a music class since grade school. And it probably shows in my music! Ha.

This was my most recent track as of the time I'm writing this, which was sort of not really a full track (I usually have a more traditional structure with 2 choruses, etc.) but it had something to it, so. Maybe I'll get it on Spotify at some point, like I did the prior track. I don't really have a style per se, other than somewhat dark electronic. This one came out darker.


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## R. Naroth

Software Architect, mostly UI.


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## PeterKorcek

Neonatologist working in Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

As I love tech, I started by own small software company (Infantools - medical solutions), been building my own PCs, etc

Music with DAW and VIs has been my hobby since 2013, but after having 2 kids the time I can spend fiddling around with sounds was cut short significantly. Time what is Time! (blind guardian)


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## jvsax

Electronics design engineer, mostly audio/video gear.


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