EDITOR’S NOTE: Whether they’re selling handmade crafts, doing consulting after hours, or operating a weekend catering business, side-hustles are meant to provide extra coin beyond what a regular day job pays. For many, it’s a way to turn their passions into profit. In 2017, according to CNN Money, 44 million Americans reported having a side-hustle to either pursue a passion or supplement their income, or both. Here is one in a series of stories from NE Ohio:

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- There’s more to life than one’s career, even if that career is playing in the Cleveland Orchestra.

Cases in point: the several members of the orchestra who, for one reason or another, work second jobs or side-hustles (teaching not included).

Yes, even as they perform on a weekly basis at what many would call a dream job, a handful of players also hold down side gigs ranging from small retail operations to nearly full-time jobs in unrelated fields.

Here are their stories:

Scott Haigh

First assistant principal bass

Musical fulfillment came early for Scott Haigh. Specifically, it came in 1978, when he joined the Cleveland Orchestra at age 24.

Deeper fulfillment came 28 years later, in 2006. In that year, on the advice of a colleague, Haigh took a surprising turn and pursued a real estate license.

“I really needed to get into my own business, something I could control,” Haigh said, referencing his long-term plan for retirement.

Even more surprising than Haigh’s midlife leap into buying and selling homes for Howard Hanna Cleveland Heights? The gift he proved to have for helping people, and the joy he found in the work.

What began as something resembling a hobby quickly developed into a serious and rewarding side-hustle, one that not only generates a welcome stream of revenue but also complements his ongoing musical life.

“I feel like a kid in a candy shop,” Haigh said. “Each gives me a good perspective on the other. It’s pretty cool I get to do this.”

There are times, of course, when the jobs are impossible to balance. When the orchestra’s home, his schedule is predictable and flexible, but when the band hits the road, he’s obliged to work remotely and ask his fellow agents for help.

But the effort is worthwhile, he said. He may not get much sleep, especially during peak months, but the comfort of knowing he’s got a life beyond music is enormous.

Barrick Stees

Assistant principal bassoon

Professional bassoon players have to be good with their hands, and not just in the musical sense.

At the highest level, in addition to performing talent, they also must possess the ability to make their own double reeds, the vibrating heart of their instrument.

Problem is, reed-making is an art unto itself, a labor-intensive process of carving and refining cane in which the tiniest of errors makes a world of sonic difference.

Enter Barrick Stees, the Cleveland Orchestra’s assistant principal bassoonist. For years, he’s been making and selling online high-end tools that allow musicians to make reeds at the highest of standards.

“Some people just can’t fathom what one-one hundredth of an inch does,” Stees said. “That degree of detail is very hard to achieve if you’re just using your hands.”

For Stees, it’s the perfect side-hustle.

Not only is filling retail orders totally flexible and an extension of what he’d be doing anyway, it’s also a much-needed outlet, a pursuit that’s challenging and rewarding in a way that following musical orders isn’t.

“It’s stimulating for me,” Stees said. “It uses a different part of my brain. The stress is low, because there’s no boss, and it allows me to be creative and experiment a little.”

Mark Dumm

First violin section

Little could Cleveland Orchestra violinist Mark Dumm have known 25 years ago that his purchase of a video camera would lead to a viable side-hustle.

That, though, is exactly what happened. Fascinated by technology, Dumm began fiddling with the camera, then designing accessories for it and writing custom computer software. His interest slowly evolved into a long-term part-time job as a one-man video production company.

These days, 20 years later, if you’re looking to make a professional recording of a lecture or other stage performance, Dumm is among the best for the job. His work has been broadcast on television, and he remains the man behind the screen at the Cleveland International Piano Competition.

“It’s a way to bring together a technical field with music,” Dumm said, noting that when it comes to bidding for jobs, especially concerts, “It helps that I know the music. It gives me a foot in the door.”

It also gives him creative autonomy. On stage, his job is primarily to fall in line and realize the vision of the conductor, but his recording work puts him in the driver’s seat. He’s the one designing, building, and using the equipment, and the finished video, like a solo performance, is his and his alone.

“To feel that the product of the work is all yours,” Dumm said, “that’s a satisfying thing.”

Tom Freer

Percussion

Like most great inventions, Freer Percussion was born out of necessity.

Upon his arrival at the Cleveland Orchestra in 1991, percussionist Tom Freer discovered an array of what he called “vintage” and other one-of-a-kind mallets, and felt a need to update or replace them.

Similarly, when he began teaching, he realized the equipment his students needed to keep up was nowhere to be found on the market.

“I remember thinking, ‘Someone needs to make these varieties,’” Freer said. “From there, it just started snowballing.”

After many successful years of licensing his name to other manufacturers, and drawing on his experience reverse-engineering the mallets of his predecessors as a young student, Freer went out on his own in 2012. Today, he’s the proud owner of an international business grossing some $500,000 a year in sales.

He’s now a leading source of mallets and other equipment for orchestral percussionists all over the world.

“I’m kind of surprised at what it’s become,” Freer said. “It’s become really viable, and it’s actually fun. It all works on its own.”

Well, not entirely on its own. Freer’s girlfriend runs the business. He mostly oversees design and other artistic matters.

That, though, is the secret to his success, and what allows him to keep the Cleveland Orchestra his top priority. With day-to-day matters in safe hands, he’s free to practice, teach, and tour, and keep an eye on quality.

“The artistic freedom is unsurpassed,” Freer said. “For me, in my niche market, it’s the only way to go. Details matter. That’s what has enabled all of it.”