Reality check — How much can you earn?

Home Forums Commentary Reality check — How much can you earn?

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 36 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #25113 Reply
    Mr. Baker
    Guest

    Let’s put it another way.

    How much do you want to earn and what are you prepared to do for it? Certainly, there is more than one way of baking a cake.

    For example:

    1. You can chuck a load of cheap ingredients into a cake tin, stick it in the oven for an unspecified amount of time on no particular heat and hope that something tasty comes out at the end. You can keep doing this for a few years even though no-one seems to be enjoying your cake. In fact, one or two relatives have become quite ill after ingesting a slice of your recent Lemon Drizzle offering. Still, it tasted good to you so that’s what matters. Nevertheless, you keep baking simply because you are confident that one day, you are gonna bake that killer cake that someone is gonna go wild about! Maybe it will be a three-layered jam and cream sponge. You just know you can do it! Anyone can bake a cake after all. I mean, you read it on the internet so it must be true.

    2. You can download some recipes off the internet and then set about trying to bake as many cakes in a day as is possible. It’s about quantity right? And how can thousands of cakes not make you rich right? So….you are gonna do this every day of the week. For a few years. Some cakes might turn out OK, but with that amount of cooking for an inexperienced chef, chances are that your cakes are not going to improve in quality because you are using the same recipe over and over again. What’s more, the recipe wasn’t particularly good to start with. And, because you are committed to producing several batches of cakes a day, it is important to use cheap, ready-made ingredients that facilitate a quicker cooking process. Eventually, you have so many cakes you have to store them in the outside toilet. OK, for a while back there when you first started the family seeeeemed to be enjoying them but then again they only had 2 of your chocolate chilli brownies before mumsy got the trots. After that, you start feeding your creations to the dog who seemed to enjoy them (well, I mean he didn’t die or anything) but it did give him excessive flatulence, so that was no longer a viable option. You put it out for the birds only to discover a dead pigeon on your front lawn one Friday morning. So, temporary storage is the only answer. You can’t throw them away because you have alot of cakes which you made. And you are rightly proud of your quick creations. You knew that outside toilet would come in handy right? But maaaan…space is getting short in there. Maybe there’s room in the attic…

    3. You can go to catering college. You can learn all about ingredients. Raisins. Flour. Eggs. Sugar. Vanilla….etc.. You can analyse how these ingredients react with one another. You work hard and listen to your teacher, a Master Baker…a true ‘artist in sponge’ with many years of experience. You watch the way he manipulates that whisk. It reminds you of when you saw Ashkenazy playing the cadenza in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.2. Such dexterity. Such a command of an instrument. You learn about temperature, moisture. How to prepare. Who are the best suppliers. Where do you obtain the best ingredients. What is the best equipment. You start making you own jam from fruit you picked from locally sourced produce…

    You aren’t bothered about money. It isn’t about the money. It’s about the cakes. You just want to bake the bestest, most tastiest cake in the whole world to make mumsy, daddy and all your friends and relatives proud so that when they eventually taste your cake, you can smile that knowing smile in the knowledge that you earnt their respect because your cake tastes delicious and it was YOUR recipe.

    You have worked hard. You have the knowledge. You have the skills. You are…

    …ready to bake.

    You are…

    …a Master Baker my Son.

    #25114 Reply
    ENW1
    Guest

    It’s cute. I get the analogy but what’s the point of this article?

    #25115 Reply
    MichaelL
    Participant

    It’s cute. I get the analogy but what’s the point of this article?

    Snarky troll making a play on words as a general put-down of “lesser” (in his mind) composers.

    You are…

    …a Master Baker my Son.

    Which is, of course, ironic in and of itself.

    Art should delete the post.

    #25117 Reply
    MaxPower
    Participant

    Yes I think the implication from Mr. Baker is that you cannot produce quality work at an efficient rate. That post looks like it took ages to write. The time would probably have been better spent in the studio.

    #25118 Reply
    Advice
    Guest

    All reading this did was make me hungry. 😛

    #25121 Reply
    Alan
    Participant

    Please don’t delete it Art. I wrote three awesome tracks in the time it took Mr. Baker to write that, 🙂
    Honestly, it was an enjoyable read Mr Baker. English major?
    Cheers

    #25123 Reply
    MaxPower
    Participant

    I wrote three hundred and twelve. They’re in the outside toilet.

    #25124 Reply
    Michael Nickolas
    Participant

    You have worked hard. You have the knowledge. You have the skills. You are…

    …ready to bake.

    You have the knowledge. You have the skills. You are…

    …still poor as $hit.

    #31953 Reply
    Essie
    Guest

    This was such an enjoyable morning read. I’m hungry both literally and metaphorically.
    For the folks that offered such great advice in 2016, I’m curious to know where you are today and how things are looking. Did you all keep at it? Are you living off your music?

    Cheers to all of you.
    Essie

    #31971 Reply
    BEATSLINGER
    Participant

    I really enjoyed reading this!!

    “Mumsy & Diddy haven’t gotten The Trots, or Severe Winds from My Cakes in a few years now”..

    #31990 Reply
    LAwriter
    Participant

    I’m curious to know where you are today and how things are looking.

    I didn’t post in 2016, but I will make a comment. WOW how things have changed in less than 3 years!!!! If it was only so easy now…. The numbers it takes to make it, the amount of work needed to get a track competitive in today’s market and the amount it takes to live / survive…..these have all gone up exponentially from my perspective.

    And yet…..somehow I still keep making it. And I still keep pursuing it. I think I need psychological help. 🙂

    #31991 Reply
    Art Munson
    Keymaster

    I think I need psychological help. ?

    OMG, don’t we all! LOL!

    #32477 Reply
    De Beauville
    Participant

    This was my first read in my first hour as a subscriber and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be,

    #32478 Reply
    BEATSLINGER
    Participant

    This was my first read in my first hour as a subscriber and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be,

    Takes a little bit to learn the play-field. But “The Lessons, and Real Gems that get dropped here are invaluable!!”

    Because of being a part of MLR, I no longer am looking for Libraries & Catalogs. I found out “what the libraries were looking for, when they were looking for it; and how to “effectively” submit work to them.

    Biggest of them all. I “continually” find out “where it’s really poppin’, and who are running music Cemeteries!!”

    I cannot express this enough. “Take your time, and read EVERY Library Review in “Access Music Libraries!!”

    #32483 Reply
    De Beauville
    Participant

    Thanks for the positive words Beatslinger – good to hear persistence and toil yield results. I’ve been composing for years but never released due to the imposter syndrome. Those days are done brother. I’m on the hunt.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 36 total)
Reply To: Reply #25117 in Reality check — How much can you earn?
Your information:





X

Forgot Password?

Join Us