Efficiency Through Technology: Digital Music

Second in this series of how technology can improve the efficiency an industry that has been described as a “stagnant service industry that benefit[s] very little, in terms of productivity, from technological innovations” is the use of digital music.  This is decidedly a hot button topic for many involved in that element of the industry, mainly the orchestra’s music librarians.  If you’ve ever been looking for a way to start up …

Read more

Efficiency Through Technology: Paperless Operation

Due to the inherent separation between musicians and staff, most orchestras spend a great deal of resources (financial and time) distributing information to orchestra musicians and maintaining communication.  This occurs in the form of printing reams of paper for mailings, memos, schedules, maps, as well as hours and hours of labor to collate and prepare all of these documents for distribution.  Much of this could (and should) be handled via digital …

Read more

Words To Live By

Recently, I wrote about a wonderful book entitled Joe Maddy of Interlochen. During my recent re-reading, I took the time to find a few good excerpts that I’ll share with everyone from time to time. For those of you unfamiliar with Interlochen, it is the largest summer arts education program in the world. Every professional orchestra across the U.S. has at least a few alumni if not dozens among its members.

Read more

Improved Efficiency Through Technology

I was recently reading an article in the October, 2002 edition of Harmony by Douglas Dempster that talked about Baumol’s Curse.  One part in particular that struck me was this excerpt:  “[Economists] William Baumol and William Bowen considered all “service industries,” (e.g., education and food preparation, as well as the performing arts) as opposed to manufacturing, to be vulnerable to the Curse. They single out the performing arts as the very …

Read more

How To find What You’re Looking For

Recently I’ve received a couple of emails asking why I keep referring to dynamic and static analysis. The simple answer is because I find that overuse of static analysis is one of the root causes for the lack of innovation in the industry.  Here’s a real life example: Orchestra X wants to attract a greater numbers of patrons, especially a younger demographic to replace older patrons.  So one plan involves the …

Read more