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a family member of mine supports himself playing cello in the subway about 3 hours a day five days a week.
by kingkawn 15y ago
a family member of mine supports himself playing cello in the subway about 3 hours a day five days a week.
- barredo 15y agoFor curiosity: Which city?
- kingkawn 15y agonyc, where you can play legally without a permit on the platform for money as long as you do not amplify your sound.
- keithpeter 15y agoWhat does he play? If he supports himself playing classical repertoire then I am extremely impressed.
- kingkawn 15y agohe plays in NYC, mostly improv, often incorporating Bach and other classical works, but always without sheet music. Lately his focus has shifted to more atonal music, which contrary to what I would've thought has dramatically increased the rate at which people give him money. With the rest of his free time he plays in a million different bands (most of whom who he met when they approached him on the subway platform) and smokes himself into a happy stupor.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- wahnfrieden 15y agoWhich station does he play at?
- kingkawn 15y agomostly delancey-essex and bedford ave, though he'll shift every now and again somewhere else.
- nandemo 15y ago> Lately his focus has shifted to more atonal music, which contrary to what I would've thought has dramatically increased the rate at which people give him money. That's surprising. Maybe it works because the regular, tonal fare tends to be filtered away as background music?
- keithpeter 15y agoInteresting theory. Not all atonal music sounds 'harsh' by the way. Berg's opera music is quite jolly in some parts. Suggestion to relative: get a digital sound recorder and capture a few of the improvisations and a couple of the atonal pieces and put them on Soundcloud. Your relative might get (even) more attention.
- kingkawn 15y agoHe made this yesterday. It is not that atonal, but it is still very beautiful. http://soundcloud.com/jacob-cello/ignorant-shit http://soundcloud.com/jacob-cello/ignorant-shit
- libria 15y agoThat's impressive. Violinist Joshua Bell could only garner up $32 during DC's rush hour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc&t=18s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc&t=18s
- kingkawn 15y agoMy brother says that playing in a high traffic place like that is usually less successful than on the platforms, because nobody has to stop. He often plays on the platforms that have trains coming opposite directions on either side, giving him a captive audience for a few minutes at a time.