The Entrepreneurial Musician: David Vining of Mountain Peak Music

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David is one of the people in the music business I look up to. While at the height of the brass profession he overcame dystonia by completely reevaluating how he approached and even conceived of his playing.

He also started the very successful Mountain Peak Music publishing company. I loved hearing his approach to the publishing business and how it applies to all of us in the music business.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Finding a core customer base
• The advantage of "drilling down" to cater to a specific niche
• Not assuming different customer bases have the same needs
• How his battle with dystonia taught him to not always approach problems in a linear and traditional manner
• Creating an environment where people can create their own improvement rather than follow step-by-step instructions
• How critical communication skills are to all entrepreneurs

A big thanks to David for joining me on this episode! I learned a lot!

Are You Invisible?

"If you don't have a website you are invisible."

-David Cutler of The Savvy Musician

This has never been more true than it is today. In the cluttered world that is the music business, you must have a website to maximize your chances of getting noticed.

By the principal hiring a new band director.

By the management company looking for new talent.

By the presenter looking to book an act for next season.

Consider your website your storefront. It needs to look nice, be functional, and convey a clear message about who you are and what you offer.

Are you invisible?

T'ang Quartet with Albert Tiu: Monday YouTube Fix

I am lucky to call the four gentlemen in the T'ang Quartet longtime friends dating back to their time as faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute over a decade ago.

I was able to visit them in Singapore seven different times as a member of Boston Brass. One of those trips included a concert with them which was my single favorite concert I played with Boston Brass in 14 years.

They are joined in this clip by the fantastic pianist Albert Tiu to perform his arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's hauntingly beautiful Oblivion.

Enjoy!

This is an excerpt from "Concert for Hope", a charity concert in aid of the victims of the 2004 Tsunami, held in Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore. Arrangement by Albert Tiu.

Intentional Practice Sessions

"A schedule defends from chaos and whim."

–Annie Dillard

I have had a great deal of success over the years as the result of scheduling my practice sessions.

To be clear, I don't mean how long they are to be. I find that when my primary goal is to practice for one hour instead of improving specific musical passages, I get bored easily.

By scheduling a practice I mean two things: when the session will start and what will be accomplished.

I encourage all of my students to never end a practice session without going on the record with yourself about exactly when your next practice session will begin.

You can always reschedule. But it is a lot harder to skip a practice session that I've already scheduled (even with just myself!) than one I haven't.

And never begin a practice session without having a very clear idea of what you are planning to accomplish. (Hint: "Make Mozart's Third Horn Concerto better" is not a clear idea!)

I will choose four measures in this piece, three pages in this book, and a page of this solo and will put them in a stack on my music stand. I then don't get up until those goals are accomplished.

If you've never scheduled your practice sessions and planned specifically what you are trying to achieve in each one then I challenge you to try it.

You will be impressed by the results in a short amount of time.

The Brass Junkies: Carol Jantsch

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Carol is quite possibly my favorite tuba soloist in the world today and the Principal Tuba of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

She has done all of the work on the technical side of things which enables her artistry to shine through in everything she does. I saw her perform a solo with the Philadelphia Orchestra back in March and it was stunning.

Her story is a fascinating one. She went from the middle of her undergraduate degree to playing in one of the best orchestras in the world.

It was an honor to have her as a guest on The Brass Junkies!

Breaking Down Productivity

"Productivity is never an accident. It's always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort."

-Paul Meyer

I love this quote. It beautifully breaks down productivity into three parts.

Commitment to Excellence

Being truly productive isn't about just getting things done. It's about doing an excellent job at whatever we set out to accomplish.

This means a commitment to excellence, not just to results.

Intelligent Planning

Having a bad plan is a lot better than having no plan. But an intelligent, thoughtful plan is imperative to being productive.

Focused Effort

Productivity has absolutely nothing to do with looking busy. We all know someone (ourselves?) who feels they are being productive as long as they are working hard.

If the effort is not focused, chances are we are not be very productive.

Derek Sivers: Monday YouTube Fix

Here is a very short (barely over 3 minutes) and very interesting video by Derek Sivers on why you should keep your mouth shut when you establish a new goal rather than telling everyone about it.

(He talks more about it here in this short blog post.)

I'm a big fan of videos less than 5 minutes long that make you think about something for a really long time.

Enjoy!

http://www.ted.com After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone -- but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.

Slow Down

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."

-Mohandas Gandhi

The best advice I ever got for the practice room: Slow down.
The best advice I ever got for being a parent: Slow down.
The best advice I ever got for life in general: Slow down.

And I freely admit that those two little words sure don't come naturally to this tuba player.

The Entrepreneurial Musician: Jeff Conner of Boston Brass

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Jeff Conner was my colleague in Boston Brass for 14 years. He is the only original founding member that remains in the group today. In this interview he talks about how they went from a college group playing small gigs around the Boston area to an internationally touring, full time ensemble.

Topics that Jeff touches on:

• How he got a powerful Boston businessman to financially support Boston Brass
• The importance of having mentors that inspire you
• Perseverance being a key to success
• Not being afraid of the word no
• Networking being a longterm process
• Why developing your own brand is essential

Jeff also talks about the book he wrote with John Laverty, The Porfolio Musician, in which they detail the careers of over 40 different musicians.

I have learned a lot from Jeff's approach to the business and I'm really happy that he joined me for this interview.

Links:

The Portfolio Musician: Case Studies in Success
Boston Brass

Networking Isn't About Instant Gratification

"Networking isn't about instant gratification. It is about fostering relationships over a career."

-Jeff Conner of Boston Brass from Episode 7 of The Entrepreneurial Musician

Networking is just like learning a really difficult recital program. It takes a plan and it takes having the discipline to execute that plan over the long haul.

A lot of musicians are good at networking. Not many are great.

That is an easy point of differentiation for anyone in the business who is willing to put in the effort.