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Fiddlestix said
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2.....-o10.shtmlI think you are mixing apples and oranges on this topic.
This can apply to just about any profession, including writer's. It's just a matter of the rate of unemployment and people seeking work.
Above is an article/interview with a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, re: pay scale, musician's waiting for fill in position's etc....
It's a back and forth rat race
You can think of it however you want....thats just politics and thats your right. Add a few limes and peaches too; those in washington know all about how to massage employment figures to produce income and tax estimates.
The fact remains; there are a lot of people who would love a 100000 dollar a year income while playing fiddle all day....but the chances are slim to none of getting a job like that.
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Things that jump to my eyes in that article you linked Fiddlestix:
I think we are making around $79,000, when we used to make $104,000. The benefits went down a little too.... It is for 36 weeks and 4 vacation weeks, so it is about 40
Pretty decent income!
Out of over 120 candidates, five of us made the finals, and three of us got jobs, and the fourth one performs regularly as a substitute player.
Darn hard to qualify for the job though! I wonder how much violin teachers make and if they play at weddings etc on the side? Because playing in a symphony is surely not your average violinist job.
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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I'm moving to California :-)))))))))))))))))
$100,000.00/year is pretty sweet.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
The cost of the parts alone for building a violin run around $250.00 to $300.00, that is not using high quality woods or good strings and fittings. Using good woods, aged spruce and flamed maple, quality ebony and such a violin parts total can run up to $1000.00 or more. I get most of my wood locally from trees being cut down. Then it's years before you can use it. Factories buy in bulk and get the wood cheap.
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joe said
Fiddlestix said
Joe, what do you concider an average violinist ?
And is the $00.30 per hour for the average violin maker in China or the average violinist in a symphony ?
That's a funny question....but Ill try to respond.
For every employed violinist in the symphony there are 160 aspiring violinists that are doing something other than play their fiddle
Are these actual figures you are quoting or are you guess-timating ? If actual numbers can you cite the data source ? 
Are these actual figures i'm quoting or am I just guess-timating ?
I appears evident you didn't take the time to read the article.
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Fiddlestix said
Are these actual figures i'm quoting or am I just guess-timating ?I appears evident you didn't take the time to read the article.
I wasn't referring to the article you posted, I was referring to Joe's figures. He said there is a 1:161 ratio or 161 unemployed violinists to every one employed. I didn't see any such ratio in the article so I am curious as to where that ratio came from.
Otherwise it matters little to me since I don't intend to play the violin for money. I play simply for the love of it.
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Even if I was paid and skilled to do it I couldn't. I'm a single mom and very often the concerts are in the evenings! You need to be single, with no kids or with a spouse that can babysit when you play professionally lol. And no, dragging the kid, making him sit quietly somewhere while he plays on his Nintendo DS gameboy thingie doesn't count! On a positive side, by the time I get skilled enough to play even in a little local orchestra my son will be grown up 
... I'm sure he'll still play on his Nintendo DS though...
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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NoirVelours said
Even if I was paid and skilled to do it I couldn't. I'm a single mom and very often the concerts are in the evenings! You need to be single, with no kids or with a spouse that can babysit when you play professionally lol. And no, dragging the kid, making him sit quietly somewhere while he plays on his Nintendo DS gameboy thingie doesn't count! On a positive side, by the time I get skilled enough to play even in a little local orchestra my son will be grown up
There is probably daytime work that you can do as a musician. For example working as a studio musician. I have a friend who works part time as a studio drummer and he does most of his work by day.
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I think I now understand why all the musicians I know are amatures. Very few people can afford to play professionaly.
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