Tom Smith - Posted - 03/12/2013:  03:02:52

I thought about it some more, and I'm wondering if some folks aren't attracted to music not because it utilizes technical ability, but rather the opposite. Kind of like a left brain, right brain balance exercise. I work in electronics, but have no interest in electric guitar or effects pedals, etc. Have you ever noticed that the house in the neighborhood that is most in need of painting belongs to a professional house painter? I know I don't like to take my work home with me...

Banjolicious - Posted - 03/12/2013:  03:05:39

Definitely not a professional level picker, but my degree is in Computer Engineering. I learned a lot of banjo from my uncle who was an Electrical Engineer.

I agree with rgoad that there's a connection between the mathematics and a fascination with music

ltjgcag - Posted - 03/12/2013:  04:35:20

30+ year Mechanical Engineer here.

NickBird - Posted - 03/12/2013:  05:08:40

I have a B.A. in Marine Systems Engineering with a minor in Math and concentration in Naval Architecture. Currently employed in the capacity of "Marine Engineer" i.e. "Overpaid Maintenance Guy." It pays the bills. Anyway, I always thought of music as the connection, or segway, or even gray area between the left and right brain. Banjo just happens to be the particular instrument I'm drawn to...

pluckerdude - Posted - 03/12/2013:  05:52:03

Still working part time as electrical engineer at age 73, but play banjo more than I engineer these days :>)

John Allison - Posted - 03/12/2013:  06:23:25

Graduate Mechanical Engineer although most of my life has been spent in/around the military.

bluejazz - Posted - 03/12/2013:  06:46:41

I'm curious. You ask for pros and accomplished players to contact you.  What difference does a high level of musicianship make for your article? It sounds like the premise is engineering backgrounds and a tendency to gravitate towards the banjo.

Edited by - bluejazz on 03/12/2013 06:48:04

phb - Posted - 03/12/2013:  07:05:58

I got a PhD in microelectronics. I am no tinkerer which is probably why I became a microelectronics engineer and microchip developer - the only use of my hands in that would be to drag a computer mouse around on my desk. For the same reason I don't like to tinker with my banjo. It is set up very well and I like it to stay the way it is. I might add a D tuner to the 4th string at some time in the future but only in order to make it more comfortable to change to Drop-C tuning (and less tinkering). I studied electrical engineering because I wanted to become a sound engineer and ended up in microelectronics by accident. I now work as a patent attorney which makes me tinker even less as all my work is on paper.

Ybanjo - Posted - 03/12/2013:  08:31:31

I'm a retired Electrical Engineer with a degree in Computer Science. Worked my whole life in product design and ended up starting my own company. I didn't start learning the banjo until I retired. Just not enough time. Then I found out that I waited too long.

I think the connection between the banjo and engineering is actually more of a reflection of the connection of music in general and engineering. I'm not sure you can say that there is more of a connection between engineers and the banjo than any other instrument. It would be interesting to see some statistics on this (sorry, still an engineer).

gospelman97 - Posted - 03/12/2013:  09:22:07

I'm not an engineer or a professional picker, but I do have a couple of degrees in Mathematics Education (and took many math courses with engineering majors at NC State).  I know that there is a strong link between people who excel at both math and music.  I would suspect that this relationship would account for so many engineers being great banjo pickers and not so much the interest in tinkering with the instrument or how it is constructed.  Just my opinion anyway.

fivestringbuzz - Posted - 03/12/2013:  14:21:43

I'm a civil engineer, specializing in design for land development.  Learned the banjo while at Georgia Tech...good stress reliever.

smoore - Posted - 03/12/2013:  18:26:42

I have degrees Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, memberships to IEEE, ACM and the Acoustical Society of America. I played for  30 years until cancer 5 years ago left some nerve damage. I was fascinated by both banjo and electronics from my childhood. I don't know much about any link, but I will say that the number of engineers I have run into playing banjo is statistically significant. I don't know if it means anything, but anyone sitting in an electrical engineering classroom will easily notice that left handers are over represented. As a lefty you tend to notice who you can sit next to and not interfere

hockeydudde - Posted - 03/13/2013:  12:53:05

I am a Mechanical Engineering graduate student. I took up the banjo only about a year and a few months ago.  Growing up I was never really involved or interested in music. My interested in music came when I started to delve into it, and realized that it is actually a really cool synthesis of mathematics and art that I had never really seen before. And not like fractal art,  where they use math to create art, but rather art, where your understanding (or at least mine) can be furthered by an understanding of the math behind what has been going on for centuries. 

I chose the banjo because given the tools available to me, I could make the most parts for one, of any stringed instrument that I could think of (also I have always loved the sound of the banjo). Given access to a standard machine shop, one can pretty much make an entire banjo from raw materials. Not really true of a guitar or fiddle. I had tried to play the guitar before, but lost interest. I figured if I made an instrument, I would be far more likely to continue to invest time in it (so far my theory has worked).

-Brian

Danaher - Posted - 03/16/2013:  14:48:29

Found this  article about an upcoming gig by a banjo playing engineer

timespressrecorder.com/article.../ae96.txt

and yes, I am a EE and no, I am not going to fix your TV

aeroweenie - Posted - 03/16/2013:  19:11:49

30+ year aerospace engineer here.  I'm not a pro but have played banjo for almost 40 years.  I also play some guitar and mandolin and dabble with the fiddle.

Jethro Aberdeen - Posted - 03/17/2013:  10:41:42

Over 30 years as a Maintenance Stationary Engineer, been playing banjo for more than 40 years, ( starting to sound old) and tinkered with my first banjo trying to turn it into a "Musthavetone". I'm not sure about the connection thing either, but the combination of difficult and artistic as relates to banjo seems to attract certain kinds of people.

Kevin

Edited by - Jethro Aberdeen on 03/17/2013 10:42:49

khinph - Posted - 03/18/2013:  00:35:24

I am a licensed civil engineer and have been playing the banjo since high school. When my children came along then the banjo went in the closet for fifteen years. For the last 15 years, after the kids became teenagers, I have been playing a lot of banjo and developed some expertise. I am a member of a band that plays a lot during the summer at farmer's markets and such with a few more formal gigs occasionally. After playing together for a while we realized that the band of seven had three engineers in it! I have a number of other engineering friends or acquaintences who play one instrument or another as well. It seems to me that there is something in playing music that attracts those kind of technical minds. I am not one of those banjo players who likes to tinker, however - I like to play!

Keith Halvorson

Tom Paglia - Posted - 03/21/2013:  16:03:55

I am a Ceramic Engineer (Inorganic Chemistry) and engineered ceramics and other materials for over 20 years and now working on the technical management side of engineering. Someday I hope to apply my knowledge of materials to engineer and build the "perfect" banjo......someday........

Tom

Ukeridge - Posted - 03/26/2013:  07:23:44

Hello, engineers and other banjoists. I just want to thank everyone for the contributions they made to this thread and the article. I was not able to quote everyone who contacted me (or who commented here) but all efforts helped me shape the story. Thanks for taking the time to write your detailed responses.

The Engineer's Instrument

Pease note: I had nothing to do with that photo! (Or the phrase "old-time farmer" for that matter).

Thanks again!

--Michael

Edited by - Ukeridge on 03/26/2013 07:24:53

groundhogcow - Posted - 03/26/2013:  09:34:53

Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineer for the last 18 or so years.  Been picking for a little over two years. 

The entire thought reminds me of this story.

escapepod.org/2013/01/31/ep381...nd-jones/

Edited by - groundhogcow on 03/26/2013 09:39:28