The Entrepreneurial Musician: Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser

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For the latest episode of The Entrepreneurial Musician Podcast I was honored to have a conversation with one of mentor in the music business, Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser.

Dr. Tim has an energy, a genuineness, and a passion for his craft and life that is contagious.  He is one of the most savvy businessmen and entrepreneurs I've ever met and he shared a lot of his secrets in this interview.  I especially liked his comments about the entrepreneurial skills a young band director needs to have to thrive on the job.

If this one doesn't fire you up, you might be in the wrong business!

These are my quick thoughts from the conversation I had with Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser for Episode 4 of The Entrepreneurial Musician Podcast. Dr. Tim is one of the most inspirational people I've ever met and is one of my heroes in the music business.

Norman Bolter on Orchestral Auditions

"Interesting that the uniform of the orchestra is black and white just like a keyboard. And basically a person is auditioning to be a key on the orchestral keyboard."

-Norman Bolter (former 2nd Trombone of the Boston Symphony)

This is why it so imperative to know the excerpts you are playing backwards and forwards.  The people who win auditions can play a recording of the entire orchestra in their heads.  That includes a number of bars before their excerpt begins and several bars afterwards.

Few people on your committee (if any) will play your instrument.  They will be hearing their "key on the orchestral keyboard" while you are playing.  If what you are playing does not fit with the part they are hearing in their heads you will be sent home.  It is that simple.

Seth Godin: Monday YouTube Fix

"If I fail more than you do I win.  Because built into that is this notion that I get to keep playing.  And if you get to keep playing you get to keep failing and sooner or later you are going to succeed."

-Seth Godin

David Cutler (author of The Savvy Musician) calls Seth Godin "the Steve Jobs of thinking."  I think that's the perfect description of him.  He is the person whom I have most modeled my post-Boston Brass career after and he has absolutely nothing to do with music!

His lessons on the importance of failing until you succeed (which he gets into in this video) are must hear for anyone.

Side Note: His book Linchpin changed my life.  It changed how I approach the tuba, how I approach other people, and how I live my life moment to moment.  More powerful than you can ever imagine.

Enjoy!

Watch more videos at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/ Author Seth Godin shares his views on taking risks, challenging the status quo and starting a business with Bryan Elliott for 'Behind the Brand.'

Jay Friedman on the Relationship of Attacks and Tone Quality

The above quote is from a short and very insightful post on the relationships of attacks and tone quality by Chicago Symphony Principal Trombonist Jay Friedman.

You can find the entire article on his website.

The Brass Junkies: Fredericksburg Brass Institute's Austin Boyer & Buddy Deshler

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Lance and I had the opportunity to sit down with the producers of both The Brass Junkies and The Entrepreneurial Musician, Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of the Fredericksburg Brass Institute.  Austin and Buddy are two of the most driven people in their early 20's that I've ever met. 

In this episode they discuss how they came to successfully launch a brass festival featuring world class soloists while they were still in their early 20's.  They also talk about their roles within the Pedal Note Media Podcast Network and what it's like to constantly be made fun of by Lance and myself.

They are a great example for anyone looking to get their start in the music business so you should check out their episode!

Words of Wisdom from Bud Herseth

"Never practice. Always perform."

-Bud Herseth

Mr. Herseth of course practiced all the time.  But from all of the stories I've heard, he even played the most rudimentary of exercises as if he were performing for a large audience.

The biggest difference between good players and great players is intensity in the practice room.

Photo by regan76, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Ravinia, where Bud Herseth performed for millions of people over the course of his career with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Leonard Bernstein with the Vienna Philharmonic: Monday YouTube Fix

One of the first pieces I ever got to perform in Boston's Symphony Hall was Sibelius Symphony No. 2 with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.  I remember the final section of the last movement almost lifting me out of my chair that Sunday afternoon back in 1991.

Here is a great version of one of my favorite symphonies by Leonard Bernstein leading the Vienna Philharmonic.

Enjoy!

Uploaded by some oane on 2012-12-05.

Heifetz on Practicing, Technical Mastery, and Programing

This quote is taken from a 1919 interview with violin great Jascha Heifetz where he touches on a wide range of very important topics including not practicing too much, developing technical mastery on your instrument, and programming while keeping the audience in mind.

There are about 20 quotes I could pull from the interview to highlight but here's another that I really liked:

“Violin Mastery? To me it means the ability to make the violin a perfectly controlled instrument guided by the skill and intelligence of the artist, to compel it to respond in movement to his every wish. The artist must always be superior to his instrument, it must be his servant, one that he can do with what he will."

You can find the entire interview here.

The Entrepreneurial Musician: Alarm Will Sound's Gavin Chuck & Michael Clayville

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I was very excited to get to interview two people from one of my favorite ensembles for this episode of The Entrepreneurial Musician Podcast! Alarm Will Sound is an enormous force in the music business, both as artists and entrepreneurs.

Alarm Will Sound's Gavin Chuck and Michael Clayville discuss all aspects of the group's cutting edge programming and business model.  They cover everything from their innovative partnerships to how they successfully navigate the music business as a performer-led ensemble.

They also share how they did the almost impossible: they took a college group and turned it into a money-making professional ensemble.  They are both passionate about the arts and share how that passion pervades every decision the ensemble makes.

Navigating The Daily Grind

Let's be honest.  There are some days when we really don't feel like warming up.  When we really don't feel like practicing.  Anyone who denies this is either lying or should be put in a museum.

There are many tricks for navigating this occasional problem.  One that I use is to put on an artist that can do something I can't do on my instrument, of which there are literally thousands.  Could be a tuba player and could be a clarinet player.  I then focus in on exactly what aspect of their playing I can not achieve on my instrument and then simply try to go close the gap in the practice room.

Listening that intensely to someone else's playing helps me to regain focus and identifying what aspect of their playing I specifically want to add to my own playing helps me be motivated enough to get to work.

This is a very quick solution to a common problem that we all encounter from time to time.