violinists want more money

[tubacdk]

what do you all think of this?

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2 ... 68-ap.html

I agree with the music director.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

What the fiddlers don't say, is that they have at least 7 other people helping them with their part.

I think that fiddle part deserves double pay!. (Then I think that pay needs to be split 8 ways!)

[Leland]

I'd hate to be a member of that orchestra right now. Talk about hate & discontent!

[docpugh]

If they don't like it, they can find a job elsewhere. For each one of them, I'm sure there are three other violinists who'd love a paying orchestra job.

[Adam C.]

You'll never hear me complain about tuba player's pay in a large ensemble.

[BVD Press]

Maybe all of us Tuba players should get paid by how much we sit and count (or read).

[RossK]

I think the low brass players in that orchestra should file their own suit in which they demand to be paid more because of their higher decibel (dB) output.

If more notes => more music (as the violinists argue), then it must follow that more volume => more music, right?

RK

[BVD Press]

That's what I think too. Everybody should get payed by the volume of sound they produce. Brass and precussion would get payed the most.[/quote]

Or the conductor!

[docpugh]

I think there's a very complex formula involved...but with some minor modifications, I think we come out better then the concert master/mistress.

YES! I think we're on to something here.

[MileMarkerZero]

Violinists in a German orchestra are suing for a pay raise on the grounds that they play many more notes per concert than their colleagues do

My heart bleeds.

[sinfonian]

This is article that appeared in Chicago Tribune March 26th on this Subject:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... etempo-hed



By Howard Reich
Tribune arts critic

March 26, 2004

News reports this week that string players in Germany have sued to be paid more than their colleagues because they "play more notes" inspires us to propose a new pay structure for American orchestral musicians. Rather than the tired old union formula of salaries based upon years of service, musicians heretofore should be paid per note, a much more democratic approach, based on the following formula*:

64th note: 1 cent; this is basically the most fleeting and insignificant note.

32nd note: 1.01 cents; it's hardly different from the 64th note.

16th note: 1.02 cents.

8th note: 1.5 cents; it's slow enough that you actually can hear the thing.

Quarter note: 2 cents, and not a penny more.

Half note: 1 cent; because it's half as easy to play as a quarter.

Whole note: .5 cent; easier still.

Fortissimo: Loud notes earn a .5 multiplier, because they require some effort.

Pianissimo: Soft notes take a negative .5 multiplier; they require less effort and no one hears them anyway.

Staccato: Crisply articulated short notes merit no additional compensation.

Legato: Doesn't matter how you phrase them, notes are notes.

Two notes at once: Played concurrently, paid concurrently. No extra monetary value.

Chords: Ditto.

Rests: Count toward vacation time.
*Musicians are responsible for counting the notes they play. This is an honor system, so remember, mistakes do not count. Follow the score as directed and we won't have to levy fines for playing sharp or flat.


Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune