In 1960 at the age of 65, my grandfather was forced to retire from the New York Philharmonic. From 1930 until 1960 he played first viola under the direction of esteemed conductors such as: Arturo Toscanini (1928-1936), Sir John Barbirolli (1936-1941), Artur Rodzinski (1943-1947), Leopold Stokowski (1949-1950), Dimitri Mitropoulos (1949-1958) and Leonard Bernstein (1958-1969), who made his storied debut in 1943. At 65 years of age, my grandfather Joseph Vieland — who was six years younger then than I am now — was not happy about his mandatory retirement. Neither his pension nor the gold watch he was given by the orchestra — with the engraved bust of Dimitri Mitropoulos on the inside cover — did anything to assuage the anger and hurt he felt for being arbitrarily relieved of his position after 30 years.
In 1960, the year he retired, the average life expectancy in the United States was approximately 69 years of age. My grandfather passed away in 1972 at the age of 77 and was still playing viola almost to the end, albeit without the New York Philharmonic. In 2022, the expected lifespan of an average American male is 77 years of age, which gives me, on average, another five and a half years to keep doing what I do. Hopefully, I can beat the average, because 77 does not seem quite as old to me now as it did back in 1972 when my grandfather “shuffled off this mortal coil.”
The Growth Era
Fortunately, I have not been forcibly retired because, like my grandfather, I enjoy what I do. I grew up around music, and in 1963, after viewing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, I chose my path. By1965, I figured out how to make my grandfather’s reel-to-reel recorder into a crude small public address system and started giving concerts in our living room. My first real sound system, in the late 1960’s, was a Shure Vocal Master, and from there I moved up to Altec Lansing A7 speakers in the 1970’s. During the 1970s I had the opportunity to mix on boards that do not exist anymore, such as Kelsey and Stramp 16-channel consoles. For effects, I would use an Echoplex or a standalone tan Fender spring reverb unit. It was crude but effective, and we thought we were geniuses. In the mid-80’s Yamaha came out with the SPX90 digital reverb unit, which revolutionized my mixes, and when I finally got a chance to use a Lexicon PCM42, I felt like a wizard.
Of course, all this gear had a mandatory retirement age as the newer and better-suited technology replaced it. Some of the pieces, such as the aforementioned PCM42, are now collectors’ items. Some studios like to have a collection of retired analog outboard gear to offer their clients, and every now and then I run across a live engineer with a rack of retired gear that they swear by. These racks might consist of an Eventide H3000 Harmonizer, Lexicon PCM42 and PCM70 with a few dbx160As and Drawmer DS201 noise gates. If these units are working properly and used in the right hands, they will sound fine, but these days, the most requested outboard reverb is the newer Bricasti M7.
Like a Vintage Wine
Even more recent digital gear has been unceremoniously retired, and the once-industry-standard Yamaha PM5D and Avid Profile consoles are now museum pieces. They had their moment of greatness, but were given the gold watch in favor of the newer and more functional consoles of our contemporary era. It’s a natural evolution of how things progress, and while there are some engineers that still request a PM5D or a Profile console for their shows, they too might shortly find themselves on the other end of a gold watch. Pulling a piece of equipment such as an analog effect unit or an older digital console out of retirement is akin to bringing the old maestro out of retirement for a guest appearance to conduct the orchestra. The maestro and the gear are still both viable, but on a limited basis, with the difference being that in retirement, the gear doesn’t have many opportunities open to it. The maestro, on the other hand, can still be active as a teacher, writer, consultant, or in a management role.
While there is an argument that can be made for retirement, there are many reasons one might want to stay employed. One reason could be that while we were having a great time traveling around the world and mixing live shows during our younger years, we failed to put away enough money to actually retire. Another motive could be that we really like what we do and want to keep doing it, which is why mandatory retirement would be upsetting. Unfortunately, age and health do take a toll, and the idea of traveling around on a bus with a bunch of other people tends to lose its appeal, regardless of the enjoyment derived from the job. Fortunately, we have options, and we can choose to retire from one aspect of our job and continue working in another part of the business.
Back in the Saddle, Again
While employed in our new endeavors, we can even make cameo appearances, like the aforementioned maestro, and mix a show if we feel the need. My thought is that our work keeps us feeling young and our experience only makes us better with age. Regrettably, late nights and long tours do take their toll. Physically and emotionally, the things we used to do we don’t do anymore, so either we retire, like an outdated piece of gear, or we reinvent and repurpose ourselves to enjoy the fruits of our labor. The two years of lockdown due to Covid was as close to mandatory retirement as I care to get, and while I did manage to amuse myself during that time, I was chomping at the bit to get back to work.
Sure, it might be nice to retire; spend time playing golf and lie in the sun all day, but I can only last a few minutes in the sun before I get antsy to do something and, besides, I hate golf.
