#Schubird

[soyouwanttobeamusicmajor]

hi, i'm a freshman in high school and i've been thinking about doing music education in college, the only problem is i've been playing electric bass for over a year now and cello for about a semester, i really like cello and would probably go in for it as my primary instrument (also colleges don't usually accept electric bass as a choice). but do you think i have enough time to get good enough to pass an audition for any colleges? i'm scared i started too late.

Hey anonymous! 

Being a band/orchestra director is a huge (YUGE!) responsibility and is definitely not for everyone. I’m glad you’re considering a future in this career very early on :) ! 

I could see why you would think playing the electric bass would be a problem, and you are correct, most school will only accept auditions on the double bass (unless you are auditioning for a jazz program that is). Cello is definitely a difficult instrument to master, as are most stringed instruments, however there is no doubt that if someone really wanted to learn cello enough to go to state university on it in only 3 years, it can be done!   

You could also consider learning the double bass as you are already familiar with the layout of an electric bass. The learning curve is large to be sure, but you know the essentials already!  

Best! 

-D.Ramos

[velthomerr]

yeah that's fair

[the-greatgabby]

@schubird sos pls fix my sleeping schedule

[soyouwanttobeamusicmajor]

I'm starting my undergrad for music ed next year and I just got an email saying that my school requires all music ed majors to have a digital video recording device - does anyone have a camera that they like for recording music that's inexpensive or maybe higher quality and worth its price tag? Thank you!

Hey Cleffs, if your case I would high recommend going for an affordable digital camcorder (usually in the 50-200 price range, even cheaper if used) and purchasing a separate digital audio recorder such as the Zoom H4 or any other high quality portable audio recorder that has a build in mic as well as pre-amps. 

A majority of digital video recorders have mediocre at best audio quality, and is that aspect not as important as your visual performance and technique?

There are hundreds of camcorder models I am sure you can find one that fits your needs and budget. Just be weary that many off-brand camcorder you may find for cheap (50-100 range) may not last you as long as you’d like.

As for Digital Audio recorder, here are my recommendations

If you’re looking for extra budget, the Zoom h1 is your boi.

It has a pretty decent quality and range, be warned though, there are no inputs other than an 8th inch, so if you ever wanted to upgrade microphones, you would have to buy an entirely different device. Similarly Tascam’s DR05 does the same thing but might also be a bit newer, I’m not entirely sure

Next on the list would be the zoom h2n. 

This is similar to the h1 in the sense that it doesn’t have any inputs other than the 1/8th inch meaning upgrades are impossible. That being said this microphone has a much bigger diaphragm and is much more suitable for recording in performance settings. 

This next one hits the sweet spot for me.

The zoom h4n. This is what I personally use for sound design and recording my performances. It has two channel stereo inputs and supports all microphones you might want to upgrade to (assuming they use quarter inch,XLR, or phantom powered XLR, which means no USB microphones)

Similarly, tascams DR-40 is the direct competitor to this microphone, and also 20 or so dollars cheaper! 

Anyways! It’s hard to go wrong with the camcorders, especially since usually they will be mounted to a tripod to record your performances, practice, and auditions. Equally as important, if not more, is the audio capture. 

Hope I was able to help!

-DRamos

[soyouwanttobeamusicmajor]

As a music major do you think it's beneficial to take summer classes?

YES YES AND YES! 

Especially if you are enrolled in public university where GEs are mandated! 

It is always a great idea to knock GEs out of the way during the summer as it gives you more time during the semester to work on your performance!

Even if they are not GEs there are so many great things you can be learning during the summer than will help you in your music career! 

Learning Italian, French,German, or Russian! Great if you’re a vocalist who wants to understand what they’re saying! 

Composing clinics: Great for anyone who wants to compose but just needs the incentive to.

Private lessons… DUH.

So many more! Just remember, its usually cheaper to take your GE’s during the summer at community college, typically these credits can be transferred over to your university.

Best!

-DRamos

[velthomerr]

schubird replied to your post “this survey gets you in a raffle to win a 10 day A-parking permit and...”

holy shit thats actually really fucked.

i know and i’m mad about it but at the same time i NEED THAT PARKING PERMIT it’s like 15 minutes closer to class than the student spots, maybe 20-30 if you park in the farthest (but easiest to find student spots in) parking structure

[velthomerr]

omg okay

[soyouwanttobeamusicmajor]

Looking for advice...I just started my third year of my undergraduate music degree, and I'm really struggling. My classes are hard (it's conducting, music history, and recital year), and as much as I'm scared to admit it, I kind of hate it music right now. I've been struggling with the same problems in my primary instrument (piano) since freshman year. I'm miserable in my major, but I'm scared to even think about switching because I don't know who I am if I'm not a musician. Any thoughts/ideas?

Hey, pardon for the insanely late reply, Apparently no one else here logs in more than once a year heh.

I 100% empathize with your situation and I can honestly say by the second year of my collegiate music career I was over it. I may not have a solution for you but I can provide some anecdotes. 

Fact of the matter is, your bachelor’s sets you up to prepare a specialization, however many people go into music not having an end goal or “where do I see myself in 5 years” goal in mind, and this I believe is crucial to having a fulfilling collegiate career. I went to a school as a classical piano major 5 years ago, within a year I hated it and I thought to myself, why am I doing this.

My conclusions:

1. I love music

2. I can’t see myself in any other field

Notice the lack of:

1. I want to be a professional broadway pianist

2. I want to be a touring classical pianist

3. I want to be the best music educator I can possible be

and the more I thought about it, none of these appealed to me, and as much as I loved all these things, it wasn’t something I could foresee myself doing, long term. 

Late my second year of college after soul searching I realized my scene and my passion was music for visual media, and there would be nothing I would love to do more than be in that scene making music for products that I consume all the time anyways. My school had no course for that, so honestly, I got by, I did well enough to pass my classes, not amazing enough to guarantee me a spot in any symphony orchestra or an in house artist position, but I honed my skills to fit exactly what I wanted to do required me to. I put all my eggs in that basket, put every ounce of effort I could into it because.. I wanted to.

So my suggestion:

Narrow down what you want to do, bring it down to one or two things. If you’re an instrumentalist, figure out, where do I want my career to take me.

Hot take: Grades. Don’t. Matter. What you have to show for yourself does. 

If you want to be a Jazz pianist, fuck it, devote yourself to that theory, trap yourself in scales, study and listen to EVERYTHING you can of what YOU want to achieve. MedRen studies, appreciation of music, conducting, while all important in their own right, it isn’t what you’re trying to achieve. 

Conductor? Study EVERY score you get your hands on, learn the way of your favorite conductors. 

You mentioned your a pianist, ask yourself what you want to do with that? Aim to achieve those goals. 

And if at the end of the day you’re reflecting and you think to yourself,

I’m only doing this because I’m not good at anything else, start trying new things. Music will always be with you regardless of whether you pursue it as a career or not, but a fulfilling career will only come if you chase after it. 

I can go on forever about this, but this post is going to be too long, if you wish to talk about this further or if anyone wants to hear more from a pessimistic music major who somehow made it, feel free to reach out to me on twitter ( I swear this isn’t a plug I just don’t check tumblr) @Schubirds 

[the-greatgabby]

i was tagged by @schubird! thanks for tagging me Daniel!!  last movie you watched: Moana. It was a last minute plan with my friend before I went home for Norcal and it was an amazing movie overall. The graphics, characters, and the character development was great :’). I definitely recommend the movie. last song you listened to: Lalalu by Takahiro Sakurai  last book you read: If you want a legit book, then it would be Speaking in a Diverse Society (for my Public speaking class). But if you want a comic, I’ve been reading Killing Stalking. last thing you ate: Homemade fried rice if you could be anywhere right now, where would you be: Somewhere in Japan. It would be nice to adventure somewhere by myself someday. where/when would you time travel to: Spring of my senior year of high school before my New York band trip. Tell myself not to enter that relationship and enjoy the trip.  a fictional character you would hang out with for a day: Yuuri Katsuki LOL. we can hang out and he can teach me how to ice skate! 

I tag @tokii-dokii @tea-music-books @chuuu-u and @shalnarrk :^).

[velthomerr]

schubird replied to your post “this is a cilantro hate blog”

I'm offended

cilantro offends my taste buds. and my nose

[velthomerr]

it's tempting i swore for the first time in like ten years so what's one more to the list

[velthomerr]

schubird replied to your post “.”

Rip in fuckin pieces m8

please look back on my memory with fondness