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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
OT: Help me think outside the box
OT: Help me think outside the box
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STME58
1853 posts
Oct 09, 2016
10:17 AM
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After nearly 30 years of working for the same company as a Mechanical Engineer doing mechanism design, the company is downsizing the plant in San Diego and my position here is gone. My situation is such that I don't really think I can leave the area. My former company is providing good support for me in a job search by hiring a consultant that is expert in these things. The job market for people with my training and experience here in San Diego is strong so I am not too worried about finding a position. But I want to take the opportunity this shake up provides to look at options I might not have otherwise considered.
So here is why I am posting this to my online musical friends here at MBH. I love music, and it would be cool to have a job in the field, but I am not going to make a living as a performer. As a mechanical engineer, I immediately think of a job with a manufacturer of instruments who might need a design or manufacturing process engineer. I thought some of you who know the industry, might have some ideas of where a person with my skill set might be used.
I expect some of you will say to avoid the music industry like the plague :-). I'm open to listening to ideas and experiences in that direction also.
Last Edited by STME58 on Oct 09, 2016 10:17 AM
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JustFuya
975 posts
Oct 09, 2016
3:49 PM
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The only way I can see making a decent living from musical instrument manufacturing would be to become an entrepreneur. In that case it would probably be best to steer clear of harmonica business just from a market standpoint.
.... snipped a risk filled path ....
Last Edited by JustFuya on Oct 09, 2016 7:28 PM
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mlefree
778 posts
Oct 10, 2016
9:27 AM
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I feel your anxiety, Steve. Something very much like this happened to me.
I have noticed a growing opportunity in a music-related area that could benefit from some mechanical expertise. It isn't in manufacturing, though. It is in live outdoor performance.
There is a regional company that is performing a service for small live concerts. They have a trailer that they tow in that turns into a live performance stage, complete with integrated lighting and sound systems. It's a pretty cool thing and very convenient and cost effective for small time promoters. I have friend who promotes such concerts and this mobile stage saves him money because he doesn't have to buy and build his own stage, plus he can get in and out of the venue much quicker than if he tried to do it himself, what with having to pay to rent the space and compensate a small army of workers to actually set things up and tear them down again.
The problem is that the trailer and associated lighting and sound systems are Rube Goldberg affairs, held together with bubble gum and baling wire. The set-up and tear-down processes still require a small crew. I reckon someone with mechanical savvy could design and build a trailer that could almost set itself up and tear it down.
For example, the side of the trailer opens up to reveal the stage and act as both an awning and a place to hang the lighting. The crew has to manually hang the lighting and then take it down again. Then they physically unload the speakers and place them on the ground. I could envision some sort of collapsible platforms with the speakers attached that could unfold like wings from their traveling position inside the trailer and project out to either side. The lighting could be pre-wired and mounted to everything is ready to go when trailer side is raised. This could be ultimately even be motorized but if it was just all tightly integrated but manually operated, the number of people required to set it up could be minimized, saving on personnel costs.
I think it could be a real money maker for some enterprising engineer type. There are couple of significant side benefits for the people who staff the trailer. They get to meet and hang with the musicians and they get the best seats in the house. In San Diego such an operation could run year round. In less temperate areas it would be seasonal, but that could be a very good thing as well. It would be a gas grokking the lighting and sound technologies and designing the rig. Once it is designed and built it would be a nice cash cow for the owner and could represent a nice semi-retirement opportunity. You could even travel with it but I bet you'd have plenty of business right there in Southern California. If you don't have the financial wherewithal, a nice tidy little business plan could spell your idea out and be easily understood and attractive to local banks or investors.
Anyway, it's a thought I had at a couple of concerts that used this trailer set up this summer. I see stuff like this done half way and can't help but go into a little mental exercise figuring out how to do it better. Then you happened to ask... 8^)
Michelle
BTW, when this happened to me I lived in Ann Arbor. My career trajectory was such that I could have easily gone to work for one of the x-ray manufacturers but they are all located in places where I don't care to live. So I scuttled my medical imaging career and moved to an idyllic mountain valley where we'd vacationed when I was a kid and set up an in-home graphics/web site business. It was a big decision and bigger adjustment but I'd do it again without a moment's hesitation.
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SilverWing Leather - Custom leather creations for musicians and other eccentrics.
Last Edited by mlefree on Oct 10, 2016 9:41 AM
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nacoran
9254 posts
Oct 10, 2016
11:06 AM
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I still haven't won the lottery yet, so I won't be founding and hiring techs for my dream harp company. :(
That said, there are some companies doing neat things with harps. Brendan Power and Jim Antaki (Turboharp) are both doing a lot of really cutting edge inventionating, (Actually, Winslow had his discreet reed harp too), as well as the guys who are doing a lot of precision stuff customizing harps.
With 3D printing and the internet some things like that might not even require relocating. There are starting to be some guys making wooden and corian harp covers (and Turbolids), but there don't seem to be as many options as there are for combs (and I haven't seen any aftermarket metal covers).
And no one, to my knowledge, is making reeds outside of the big companies.
There are also some guys out there who design entirely new classes of musical instruments. I don't have the skill, but I always thought it would be neat to design an ocarina with the layout of a harmonica so us harp players could get our ocarina on, and I've got an idea on how to use magnets on a slide whistle to make it a higher quality instrument. There are lots of projects around the edge too. There is, I think, a lot of room for improvement in harp racks and mic stands for harps. I saw that video the other day of Deak Harp playing in front of Ozzy Osbourne, and it sounded awesome, but you could see the duct tape on Deak's rack rig and I immediately thought someone could design something better looking than that. (No offense Deak, and again, the playing was amazing!)
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Nate
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JustFuya
977 posts
Oct 10, 2016
11:48 AM
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After a little thought I remembered dealing with at least 2 different companies that produce musical equipment:
Gallien-Kruger in San Jose/Campbell
E-MU in Scott's Valley/Santa Cruz
Each one had a laid back atmosphere with happy & friendly employees. A fair amount of the staff were musicians. G-K had a fridge full of beer for employees and visitors.
Gaming is also a big industry and one of the most demanding. IGT comes to mind. I didn't notice a lot of happy faces there but I didn't get the grand tour either.
Regardless of where the American company does its manufacturing they generally design in the US.
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shakeylee
584 posts
Oct 10, 2016
11:52 AM
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If I hit the lottery,I would open the hering factory for you ??
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www.shakeylee.com
Last Edited by shakeylee on Oct 14, 2016 8:47 PM
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Goldbrick
1647 posts
Oct 10, 2016
8:54 PM
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Taylor guitars are made in El Cajon
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STME58
1855 posts
Oct 11, 2016
11:35 AM
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Thank you for you replies.You responses got me thinking that one thing I think I need to do is to make sure my contact with whoever I hire on with, allows me to do cunsulting on the side.
Goldbrick, I have toured Taylor a few times and they are on my radar. They don't have any posted opening right now. I am going to work with the transition consultant that was hired by my company to help me to find the best way to approach prospective employers.
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