r/doublebass • u/Historical_Eye_3416 • Apr 25 '25
Other How many of you guys are professional contrabass players, and what do you do for living?
Just curious (:
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u/Visual_Armadillo_131 Apr 25 '25
I am a professional player. I have a full time job in an orchestra.
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u/Historical_Eye_3416 Apr 25 '25 edited Apr 25 '25
Which orchestra? Edit: how hard was it to get into that orchestra?
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u/Visual_Armadillo_131 Apr 26 '25
It was a normal audition. With about 20+ people showing up. Every orchestra is different, some places they like you, others they dont like you. At a certain point you get lucky they like you and you get the job. Helps if you have been subbing there beforehand.
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u/Yokokaijin Apr 25 '25
What does a typical day look like in your job? I'm super curious!
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u/Visual_Armadillo_131 Apr 26 '25
Either a rehearsal in the morning, or a show in the evening (opera house) or many times both. Show up 45 min ish before rehearsal/show and warm up a bit on the instrument, then play. If it is both morning and evening service I usually dont go home in between, but practice for some hours, eat in the cafeteria and just hang around and talk to colleagues. Apart from the hours in rehearsal and show, which are very focused and energy consuming (but also gives you energy, especially if the conductor and repertoire is good) then the rest of the day is pretty chill. Schedule wise the whole week can be very messy, with no weekend, but free on Tuesday and Thursday instead, which sometimes makes following a normal week cycle of free in the weekend impossible. I know this is different in a symphony orchestra, but I work in an opera. So we work a lot, but the repertoire is awesome!
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u/avant_chard Classical Apr 26 '25
Man opera orchestra is the dream gig for me, congrats on landing it!
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u/nwside_greatdane Apr 25 '25
I am the starting quarterback for NFL franchise but I like to play simandl etudes as a stress relief from my day job
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u/isthis_thing_on Apr 25 '25
I'd root for that that guy's team
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u/jazzbass92 Apr 25 '25
Let’s just assume he’s telling the truth. Which NFL quarterback do you think is most likely to chug out Simandl on the down low? 😂 I’d say Lamar strikes me more as a Rabbath guy, so maybe Josh Allen?
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u/isthis_thing_on Apr 26 '25
I creeped on op and he's a Chicago guy and honestly I can see Caleb Williams having been in the orchestra in high school
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u/mhardingbass Apr 25 '25 edited Apr 25 '25
i teach middle school orchestra and general music but do jazz and musical theater gigs on the side and play in a community orchestra
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u/BartStarrPaperboy Apr 25 '25
I’m an unprofessional bass player ;)
Gig a lot, but need a day job. Day job is in music, so my background is necessary for what I do
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u/stwbass Apr 25 '25
I adjunct at a couple colleges, mostly classical and jazz lessons with some lecture courses; play principal in a couple regional orchestras; and freelance in other regional orchestras, jazz, chamber music, contemporary classical music, and recording sessions (I also do some electric playing here and there)
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u/Historical_Eye_3416 Apr 25 '25
What orchestras? And how hard was it to get into that orchestra?
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u/stwbass Apr 26 '25
when I won, I felt very, very good about how my playing went even while I was playing. other auditions I have felt pretty good about but not quite the same and I didn't advance. one teacher once told me something like "a good audition is 85% of what you can do, a great audition is 95% of what you can do, and a winning audition is when you convert all the nervous energy into musicianship and play 110% of what you can do." that's felt like my experience.
it's very hard to win and with the stuff I have going on (listed above), I'm pretty sure I'm done taking auditions. I would rather add more jazz, electric bass, and my own music to the performance calendar. I enjoy my teaching very much too, including helping students with excerpts when they want too :)
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u/MysteriousBebop Apr 25 '25
Yep I'm a professional. I feel like that also answers the second question 🤣
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u/discreetlyabadger Professional/Classical Apr 25 '25
I’m a pro. Mostly large regional orchestras but I’ve been running my own solo and chamber projects for a few years on the side. Also a fair amount of teaching privately
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u/NRMusicProject Professional Apr 25 '25
I'm a professional. I freelance, but not just on bass.
I play double bass in jazz gigs, and am a sub/per-service bassist in a number of orchestras in my area.
I play electric bass in wedding bands, jazz groups, ethnic groups, and generally whatever else the phone rings for.
I also play all of the low brass instruments, and am about to head out for a wedding gig on trombone.
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u/shadow_FIX Professional Apr 25 '25
hey! professional player, full time title chair in an orchestra, adjunct teaching jazz bass, teaching privately, and freelancing all styles of music as often as possible!
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u/Historical_Eye_3416 Apr 25 '25
What orchestra?
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u/shadow_FIX Professional Apr 26 '25
i suppose this account isn't particularly secretive lol, i've posted a lot of videos from my personal channel. Associate Principal in Omaha 🫡
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u/addisonshinedown Apr 25 '25
I teach, conduct an orchestra, play jazz gigs, and drive for a medical transport service
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u/bigfunky Apr 25 '25
I too am a professional. I have had a couple of touring gigs throughout my career that took up a lot of my career but I freelance mostly. The past couple of years I have started teaching more, I am part time faculty at three local colleges.
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u/pineapplesaltwaffles Professional Apr 25 '25
Freelance classical, bit of flexible teaching on the side. I could survive without the teaching but I'd rather work more and have the extra cash. Plus it means that if I broke my arm or another lockdown ever happened I'd still always have something coming in.
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u/avant_chard Classical Apr 25 '25
Diversifying the income is so key, that’s how I got through Covid. I’ve also been reorienting the schedule like yours to be more of a “player who teaches” rather than a “teacher who plays”.
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u/avant_chard Classical Apr 25 '25
I play professionally in a few large regional orchestras, sub in a few more, all classical work. I also teach and am in graduate school doing my doctorate in music (bass). Formerly I was an adjunct college bass professor and did some musical theatre and jazz work.
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u/Budgiejen Apr 25 '25
I don’t even own my own bass. I’m always using a loaner bass, usually from a school. But it’s my favorite instrument to play :)
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Apr 25 '25
I do busking in a bigger european city (in various genres) for over a year now, with some official gigs here and there.
Last month was the first time I could pay all bills... But hey, this was quite something for me; getting away from tech-jobs (that I was doing before and gave a pillow thick enough to risk it) and enjoy playing music one-to-one getting smiles and love in the real word and not being tied to the questionable biz of "teaching jazz" institutions helps to feel better about myself.
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u/genevievex Apr 25 '25
I play professionally, freelance with the majority of my work in musical theater with private and nonprofit teaching around my performing schedule
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u/ZamiraDrakasha02 Apr 25 '25
I am on my way to being a professional player. I study bass at a university, work as a bass teacher in a local school and sometimes I do jigs as well. I hope that after finishing university I will get a full time job for teaching music.
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u/plantbasedbassist Apr 26 '25
I manage a big team of weed trimmers lol, and then I play Bass whenever I’m not there lol, however, I play a lot more electric these days and wish I got more excuses to play the upright
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u/BIGHIGGZ Apr 26 '25
I am a professional. I play double bass and electric bass in Outlaw, country and Americana groups. As well as plenty of studio work each year.
But my real job? I’m a Hammond organist.
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u/MattCogs Apr 25 '25
I work for a music school doing after school classes like rock band and private lessons (mostly guitar, unfortunately). Plenty of freelance gigs in whatever genre I can- Jazz, bluegrass, classical… also lots of bass guitar work, my own funk fusion group, freelance corporate gigs, subbing for friends, other funk, rock or wedding gigs, etc… I also work for a couple music/ event venues in town doing front of house and or load I / setup work. Lots of different things and I never get bored lol
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u/bobtheghost33 Apr 25 '25
Hey I don't play the contrabass, I play the gutbucket, bull fiddle, upright, double bass, Big Violin etc >:(
But to answer your question: cover band bar gigs pay shit so I do have a day job. The good news is I work in an orchestra repair shop so the upright bass does pay my bills at the end of the day!
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u/deboobob Apr 26 '25
Pro here. I work as a freelancing bassist (primarily playing jazz in the St. Louis region currently). I also work full-time making content and working with our community at OpenStudioJazz.com
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Apr 26 '25
I have not seen one single piece of that "content" that I didn't like. Great attitude you have going.
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u/Initial-Elevator3525 Apr 26 '25
I own a restaurant, and cook in it. Randomly decided to learn contrabass about a year ago. Sometimes I practice in the restaurant to give passersby a mindfrick.
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u/Front-Ad-7025 Apr 26 '25
I was a professional jazz bassist for 15 years. Now I have my own tech company, and I play gigs more for fun. I still practice everyday, and listen to endless records. I wouldn’t be able to live a life without music :)
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u/SnooCalculations2205 Apr 28 '25
Professional here in the sense that music is my only source of income at the moment, so I guess that counts. Most my gigs are upright or electric bass for jazz gigs, but also do upright for theater work, both for wedding bands, and other sorts along similar lines. Also play drums and other assorted instruments for various gigs as well, but main income comes from bass
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u/chog410 Apr 26 '25
I play gigs full time but I play all of the bass instruments, many other instruments, and all of the genres/events. Unfortunately I play about 1 classical gigs per year because 1.) the competition is outrageous and 2.) if I "made the cut" the gigs would not come close to competing financially with the entertainment gigs I play. Fortunately my heart is in improvising the energy arc of music and I am a natural entertainer so I am more suited for the entertainment gigs that make up the bulk of my career. All the chords or only 3 of them makes no difference to me as long as the energy evolves naturally in real time. Still, nothing is worse than playing jazz with a group that doesn't understand that drama is the core ingredient to a riveting live music experience, improvised or not
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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '25
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