# If you hadn't become a musician what job would you see yourself doing?



## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

Also, if you already do something else than music as your *main* job, would you care to mention it?

Thanks!

Guy


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## germancomponist (Apr 16, 2010)

Yeah, I am also a text writer and producer for radio advertising and I am a ghost.


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## SvK (Apr 16, 2010)

1) Film Director

2) Investigative Journalism...Getting Nixon kicked out of office..That sort of thing.

SvK


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## madbulk (Apr 16, 2010)

Chef


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## Ed (Apr 16, 2010)

Prostitute reviewer.


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## dinerdog (Apr 16, 2010)

It was always between music and photography. Music won by a tiny bit.

You can see some of my old pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinerdog/

Sadly, photography even as a hobby takes too much time away from music, so I don't even do that much anymore. Full time job getting music work these days.


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## midphase (Apr 16, 2010)

No doubt I'd be an attorney. Probably the type that takes on cases that nobody else would touch.


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## JJP (Apr 16, 2010)

I probably would have gone into science. Probably something to do with physics or astronomy. I wonder if I owe a debt to society because I chose music. :?


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

midphase @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> No doubt I'd be an attorney. Probably the type that takes on cases that nobody else would touch.



Don't you have 2b smart for this? :wink:


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## zareone (Apr 16, 2010)

I'm a web developer (but I'm not a musician, just a wannabe :D)


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## zareone (Apr 16, 2010)

Ed @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Prostitute reviewer.



Usually, a job is something you get paid for doing, not something you pay for. 
I think you're talking about another type of job (blow one o=< ).

Just kidding! :D


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## nikolas (Apr 16, 2010)

When I was really young I wanted to be a school (not high) teacher. Instead I became a father... hmmm...


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## madbulk (Apr 16, 2010)

don't gotta be smart for that.


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## Dynamitec (Apr 16, 2010)

A job where I earn a lot of money :mrgreen:


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

When I was very young, I remember wanting to become a professional hockey player, until I realized one day I'd be way too good for the NHL. :?


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## Hannes_F (Apr 16, 2010)

Besides music I have a second diploma in physics. I happened to understand mathematics very easily, so physics was not that difficult for me and after the exam I spent ten years doing fundamental research during the week and gigging on weekends. At some point I decided it was enough and it was about time to finally become a full time musician. Still have a small lectureship though, but that takes only two weeks a year.

Since when I was a student I have been also earning money with performing as a magician, being a photographer, doing lithography and DJing. All of that I am still doing now and then (except lithography).

Hmm ... now that I think of it I also earned some money with giving dance lessons. Oh well.


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## Aaron Sapp (Apr 16, 2010)

Storm Chasing.


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

When I moved the first time in an apartment, I found myself without a piano and bored to death, so I developed new skills, and for a while I was thinking of doing this more professionally, such as carpenter, I had built all the furniture in my house and some for others. Later I had my own professional little belgium chocolate factory in my basement, when I first had a house. I had enough clients to keep me busy, it was a lot of fun, I just recently sold all my chocolate equipment. I had also developed a huge passion for landscaping. My backyard had become a sort of attraction in my home town, I even won 1st prize for a landscaping contest. I had the tallest hollyhock recoded unofficially, it was taller than the electric cable going to my house, maybe it liked music. No more time for all this stuff now, but I think I would of found other things to do than music.


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## lux (Apr 16, 2010)

Ed @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Prostitute reviewer.



you still owe me a lot of money for that.


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## Waywyn (Apr 16, 2010)

Astrophysicist/Cosmologist

.. oh and I could also see myself doing archery professionally, which is my hobby already.


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## Hannes_F (Apr 16, 2010)

Guy Bacos @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Later I had my own little belgium chocolate factory in my basement, when I first had a house. I had enough clients to keep me busy, it was a lot of fun.



Very nice. Reminds me of the online enterprise I once had, part of it was development of electronic devices, part of it was selling. I guess I just wanted to know whether I could do that sort of job ... financially it was very successful but it ate my life. After three years I decided I should only do in my life what makes really sense ... and began tinker around with samples ... haha ...


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

Waywyn @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> oh and I could also see myself doing archery professionally, which is my hobby already.



I'd love to do that at some point. Not professionally.


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## Waywyn (Apr 16, 2010)

Guy Bacos @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Waywyn @ Fri Apr 16 said:
> 
> 
> > oh and I could also see myself doing archery professionally, which is my hobby already.
> ...



I can really recommend it!!

Okay, the actual shooting is fun, but generally bow shooting is all about focus. If you don't focus clearly enough you don't shoot well. I also see it as a good training for music ... I get distracted real fast in general, so it's some kind of exercise for me to train that a bit more


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

Yeah, I know a bit about this. In fact for a while I was into zen technique using a japanese bow I had bought for this exercise. You probably know all about this (Archery and zen). Never quite was able to pull the string to the max and just be conscious of my breathing etc.. it didn't take long my arm was shaking, but the concept I found fascinating.


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## C M Dess (Apr 16, 2010)

Astronaut. :mrgreen:


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## chimuelo (Apr 16, 2010)

I was an awesome Wisk Broom at one time.


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## StrangeCat (Apr 16, 2010)

Modeling
Dancer
or Stripper.

two of those I have done.


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## midphase (Apr 16, 2010)

Guy Bacos @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> midphase @ Fri Apr 16 said:
> 
> 
> > No doubt I'd be an attorney. Probably the type that takes on cases that nobody else would touch.
> ...




Nah...just nuts.


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## midphase (Apr 16, 2010)

"Later I had my own professional little belgium chocolate factory in my basement, when I first had a house. I had enough clients to keep me busy, it was a lot of fun, I just recently sold all my chocolate equipment."

Can you tell me more about this? What is all involved? I'm actually kinda curious, I brew my own beer, but if I could also make chocolate...I'd never leave the house!


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## Justus (Apr 16, 2010)

Nice thread, Guy!


OK, as a child/teen I also wanted to be

1. nature documentary filmmaker

2. Disney animator


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## Nick Batzdorf (Apr 16, 2010)

Conservative talk radio host.


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## John DeBorde (Apr 16, 2010)

Astronomer/astrophysicist or marine biologist.

and actually now that I've had a garden for a few years, becoming a farmer has started to look appealing. : )

Curious how many of us mentioned astrophysics or something related. I wonder if our brains are wired similarly to theirs. (or maybe we just like spacing out /\~O - thankyou! I'll be here all week. Try the veal...)


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## C M Dess (Apr 16, 2010)

John DeBorde @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> I wonder if our brains are wired similarly to theirs.



Not in my case, I'm just left-handed. But I have a relentless thirst for practical information to serve in the betterment of our future and conditioning within our environment. Lately. It gives me a splitting headache sometimes. 

Here's one for you:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... c81d1c2a30


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## Hannes_F (Apr 16, 2010)

dinerdog @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> It was always between music and photography. Music won by a tiny bit.
> 
> You can see some of my old pics here:
> 
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinerdog/



Very good.


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

midphase @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> "Later I had my own professional little belgium chocolate factory in my basement, when I first had a house. I had enough clients to keep me busy, it was a lot of fun, I just recently sold all my chocolate equipment."
> 
> Can you tell me more about this? What is all involved? I'm actually kinda curious, I brew my own beer, but if I could also make chocolate...I'd never leave the house!



Making belgium chocolate is not that simple but if you have the passion for it then it's a great hobby. The first thing to understand is you are dealing with *tempered* chocolate.
The fundamental step is to be able to melt the chocolate from big blocs, temper the chocolate and pour it in the molds. 

Here is how you temper:

The chocolate must be melted *slowly*, I had a special big machine for this, but it can be done in a double broiler as well.

Once the chocolate is completely melted, it must be brought back to 32%, I believe for dark chocolate and 29% for milk chocolate, I already forgot! To raise the temperature you add bits of chocolate which will instantly melt but at the same time will have a chemical effect on the chocolate, all this while mixing. Once it reaches the 32%, and this is very important, half a degree too much and your chocolate will whitened and have spots when hardened. The good thing is you could start over with the same ruined chocolate, it's just you didn't temper it properly. So at 32%, you are ready to pour it in the mold, if the chocolate is well tempered it will hardened in minutes at room temperature. NEVER, refrigerate it. A good chocolate will be very shiny and hard as soon as it is removed from its mold.

There are specialized stores for machines from $500.00 for a small tempering machine, good for a hobby, to more professional machines which can be pricy, but then it does a lot of the work for you like controls the temperature, mixes for you etc They are easily found on the net.

Then you need molds, there are professional molds and soft plastic ones. The professionals last for ever but the soft plastic tend to wear easily, but then are very affordable and great to start. At the end I had about 500 molds I gave away when selling my tempering chocolate machine.

The best place to make chocolate at room temperature, a basement is ideal, especially for it to harden. I also used a wine seller to cool chocolate, it went faster and the temperature is still excellent, as long as you don't refrigerate. 

If you do all the steps right it's a real pleasure but it can be very messy as well, it depends how you work. If you have a nice kitchen your wife might not be crazy about doing it in her kitchen. 

If you ever start doing this, don't be surprised to suddenly see you have so many friends! :D 

This is the basic of it, but of course you could go into chocolates with creamy inside or caramel, praline etc. That's another lesson.


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## midphase (Apr 16, 2010)

Wow, that is actually cool info. I'm going to look into a tempering machine...it really does sound like fun (although potentially dangerous for my diet).


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## requiem_aeternam7 (Apr 16, 2010)

professional Astrologer or porn star.


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 16, 2010)

midphase @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Wow, that is actually cool info. I'm going to look into a tempering machine...it really does sound like fun (although potentially dangerous for my diet).



One more thing, you have see in your area what are the chocolate distributers. When I started, it was extremely difficult to find a distributer who imported *Callebaut* chocolate, which was the brand I wanted, and is one I highly recommend, but there are other great ones as well. Today, these companies are much more open to the general market, if you have a company's name that could be very handy.


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## Daniel James (Apr 16, 2010)

Game Developer.


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## Christian Marcussen (Apr 16, 2010)

Well, since I have degrees in communications, philosophy and theory of science I would most likely do something within these fields. Either applied or research... and it may very well still happen


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## germancomponist (Apr 16, 2010)

Thomas_J @ Sat Apr 17 said:


> Airline pilot. Actually, that dream is still alive. It's not too late.



I would not like their working hours. :mrgreen:


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## scottbuckley (Apr 17, 2010)

I'd be a professional Ten Pin bowler. I was once very good, but a severe tendonitis injury forced me to choose between bowling and music... 

Tragic, I know.

-s


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## Markus S (Apr 17, 2010)

boatman.


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## Waywyn (Apr 17, 2010)

John DeBorde @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Curious how many of us mentioned astrophysics or something related. I wonder if our brains are wired similarly to theirs. (or maybe we just like spacing out /\~O - thankyou! I'll be here all week. Try the veal...)



I can just speak for me personally and from myself about others, but what I experience is, that most musicians are emotional and love art in general. So if you look at Nebulas and all those fantastic Supernovae which brought the elements we are made of, you see the beauty (which you can related to the beauty of music/art) but also its science (which you can relate to harmony and theory).

An emotional picture, a picture of a nebula can make me cry the same as an emotional piece of music.

I think that's generally the reason why lots of composers/musicians are interested in the universe.


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## mixolydian (Apr 17, 2010)

If weather ain't too bad I wanted to be a brick-layer. ... Wait. I _am a brick-layer, even if weather is awefully bad. 

...Composing is a part of my life (even if I'm not a knee-deep experienced or trained musician and without a chance to get into that business), but too see something has build up due to the craftsmans work is also very nice. Unfortunately it's a matter of fact those jobs are often a bad load of physical hard work to do - and at the end of the day you're finished. :mrgreen:

With that said I'll try to believe in my talents and become a professional musician in the next life. If there is one. 




Thomas_J @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Airline pilot. Actually, that dream is still alive. It's not too late.


Good choice. I guess there will be some time to compose with pencil and paper if you're above the clouds, even if you're doing intercontinental flights - how cool is that!? :D




germancomponist @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Thomas_J @ Sat Apr 17 said:
> 
> 
> > Airline pilot. Actually, that dream is still alive. It's not too late.
> ...


The working hours has no meaning if you're in an awefully deep pleasure with what you do. Think about it when you're sitting at your dentist and he's working on a root of your tooth without anesthesia - a minute means a universe. LOL


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## Waywyn (Apr 17, 2010)

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## germancomponist (Apr 17, 2010)

Waywyn @ Sat Apr 17 said:


> mixolydian @ Sat Apr 17 said:
> 
> 
> > The working hours has no meaning if you're in an awefully deep pleasure with what you do. Think about it when you're sitting at your dentist and he's working on a root of your tooth without anesthesia - a minute means a universe. LOL
> ...



I liked it always to work when I want to work. At 6.00 am or 23.00pm .... . As a pilot you have to stand up when they need you. 

"Oh I am sorry sweet lady, I have to work... ." This was and is not my cup of tea! :mrgreen:


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## Narval (Apr 17, 2010)

Yes but then again you'll leave the sweetheart in Stockholm for the sweetheart in Bangcock (or whatever it's spelled :D ), how cool is that? Chicks totally dig pilots! 8) 

If I were not a musician I'd probably have become one. o/~


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## bryla (Apr 17, 2010)

Since I started fairly early as a musician, I can say what career I would have wanted.

I would ever have pursued a career in soccer (was quite good in my early teens as a goalkeeper - was once offered a 2-week training session for AC Milan junior squad), or I would have studied economy or something else with numbers at a university to gain a job sitting by the desk all day.


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## Leon Willett (Apr 17, 2010)

I would be a professional WoW arena player!


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## JJP (Apr 17, 2010)

John DeBorde @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Curious how many of us mentioned astrophysics or something related. I wonder if our brains are wired similarly to theirs.


Actually there is quite a link between math and music, and that link also exists in the human brain. On a more esoteric level I think both these endeavors are really just different ways of asking the same questions. They are the same questions that religions try to answer.

I love contemplating the cosmos. My wife and I build telescopes and are part of a group that sets them up on the street to allow passersby to look at the wonders over their heads every night. It's amazing how many people don't know that you can see the rings of Saturn or the formation of stars in the Orion nebula with a homemade telescope. And oh the looks on their faces when they realize what they are seeing!

We learned telescope building from the group leader, a noted retired astrophysicist. You should hear the passion with which he talks about music! He even goes so far as to decorate his telescopes with the names of Jimmi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, etc.

In case some of you folks haven't seen this...
http://www.colorpulsemusic.com/sos/WAAC_MPEG1.mpg

which is from the website:
http://www.symphonyofscience.com/

I could ramble on about this stuff for hours. These are the wonders that keep me going.


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## Olias (Apr 17, 2010)

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## Lex (Apr 17, 2010)

...a writer.

aLex


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## midphase (Apr 17, 2010)

Guy Bacos @ Sat Apr 17 said:


> What is a WoW arena player?



World of Warcraft.


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## Leon Willett (Apr 18, 2010)

yep, if you get really good you can get sponsored and compete worldwide events 

since composing seriously, I have no time for WoW anymore :´(


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## midphase (Apr 18, 2010)

Thomas_J @ Fri Apr 16 said:


> Airline pilot. Actually, that dream is still alive. It's not too late.



When I was a little kid I wanted to be a pilot. The job seemed to be so cool and just about the next best thing to being an astronaut. There was all this mystique and lore attached to airline pilots...they were like Jedi knights of the sky.

In the past 2 decades I've seen that lore and prestige completely go away. I think decreasing wages and poor working conditions have brought airline pilots to similar status as Greyhound drivers. It's a shame really, even the flight attendants now all seem overworked and underpaid.


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## Guy Bacos (Apr 18, 2010)

Edit: wrong thread I just wrote in, made no sense on this thread.


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## rgames (Apr 18, 2010)

midphase @ Sun Apr 18 said:


> In the past 2 decades I've seen that lore and prestige completely go away. I think decreasing wages and poor working conditions have brought airline pilots to similar status as Greyhound drivers. It's a shame really, even the flight attendants now all seem overworked and underpaid.



I know this sounds crass, but I've always felt that commercial airline pilots are way overpaid - I think they're getting their due. They're way overpaid because, well, they're pilots. If we could get composers to grow those sorts of egos we'd all be overpaid, too  They *should* have the same status as bus drivers because that's basically all they do. In fact, they do less than bus drivers because modern commercial aircraft are so automated - at least a bus driver actually drives the bus.

And astronauts? Don't get me started on that one - I've been to probably a hundred technical conferences related to aerospace sciences. You know how many times I've seen an astronaut give a paper? Zero. Astronauts are the front men and women for the NASA public relations engine - they have almost no involvement in actual science and engineering.

By the way, astronauts are almost always pilots :lol: 

rgames


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## ChrisAxia (Apr 19, 2010)

Some very interesting alternatives you guys have posted! 

I agree with many that there is a very strong link between science and music. I actually have a degree in Mechanical engineering and a masters in Automotive engineering. I really wanted to design F1 cars! However, I soon realised I just wanted to drive cars very quickly, and not design them, hehehe. A few seasons in motor-sport (saloon car circuit racing) followed and I had some pretty good results. I contemplated racing cars more seriously, but when I got married, I felt I couldn't keep jeopardising my life, which is much easier to do when you don't have anyone depending on you. Interestingly, one of my close friends who studied with me 22 years ago, was in charge of the Toyota F1 car until they quit, and designed the new Lotus F1 car in record time!

Anyway, the passion for music started overtaking the passion for cars. Oh, I just remembered that my physics teacher used to play Viola in the school orchestra in which I played Violin. Did most of the orchestra come from the 'science' classes rather than the arts? Maybe. So, as I'm sure with most people here, music took over my life, and I'm very glad it did. Now, it's a matter of learning to do it better!!

~Chris


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## PasiP (Apr 19, 2010)

I would probably be a Security supervisor and a member of factory fire department in a pulp factory.


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