WOW, Thinking about changing my major would like some comments plzz

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DJ Robby Rox
Longterm Newbie

Registered: Apr 2007
Location: Tiestoland

WOW, Thinking about changing my major would like some comments plzz

My major is psychology and I ALWAYS felt like therapy was what I wanted to do with my life.

UNTILL I decided to take a basic music appreciation 101 class at my UNI.

I was expecting some basic, boring shit I already new (been producing for 3 years) but it turns out my professor is a professional performer, (violinst) does regular schedules event in NY. And knows more about music than anyone I've met in my entire life.

He blew the shit outta my mind today.

To the point where I was thinking (first day of class mind you) "This is the AWESOMEST class I've ever taken in my life. The professor rocks, told us about all these FREE resources we have on campus to learn how to play instruments and what not, no charge, and taught by other professionals like himself.

I couldn't keep my mouth shut for a second. I've honestly never been in a class where it felt like it was a true privelage to be there. This guy has 40 years experience in performing, not composing. But he knows SO MUCH about chords, progressions, and general music theory that he asked me to bring some of my tracks in so the class could listen and analyze the music. I was like "this is so fuckn cool".

I've NEVER had any sort of formal musical training. But today I was seriously thinking "I really want to change my major". I only have 2 semesters left to graduate and was trying to think logically what I could do in the field of music to make a decent earning. (besides teaching).

Problem is, EVERYONE in my family is against it because I have so much experience in psychology (working at psychwards, doing therapy and what not). But I've never been so excited like I was today, just considering all the options I never realized I had to excel in my production skills.

We got into a conversation after class about how he changed his major from psych to music and has never been so happy he made that decision. I mean how cool is it to have a class where all the professor does is play music and you get to anaylze the shit outta it (mostly classical, some other stuff, but still applicable to trance).

My question is, has anyone ever had a pivotal moment like this where they wanted to persue music so bad but at the same time was so afraid they might be making a mistake?

There was other dudes in the class who said they played various instruments, had formal teaching and what not, and I was like "damn, I use vst's and can pretty much play any instrument". And haven't had a single lesson my entire life.

We got into some heavy lingo and it wasnt till than I realized I have this whole foundation of knowledge, this desire to use it, but making trance tracks on FL Studio is the LEAST I can be doing with what I know right now.

I'm just really confused at the moment. The whole class I was leaning forward, interacting, and it just felt so natural to me. Its a basic 101 class but when I went to my later psych classes all I kept thinking about was how awesome this music class is going to be.

So I guess my question is.
How many people actually make livings strictly in the field of music?
What do you do?
It would be a dream to sit in a studio all day just making sounds/melodies and turning them into tracks. But its such a risky thing to approach imo.

Any thoughts or opinions would really be appreciated.

Jan-29-2008 06:04 South Africa

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Zombie0729
Supreme tranceaddict

Registered: Oct 2003
Location: .

jeez dude 2008 is throwing your ass for a loop!

Jan-29-2008 06:36 United States

Elec
Supreme tranceaddict

Registered: Sep 2007
Location: IL

Only 2 semesters left? I'd say finish what you're doing first, or double major.

Jan-29-2008 06:57 Lithuania

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Storyteller
Supreme tracneaddict

Registered: Feb 2005
Location: The Netherlands

Re: WOW, Thinking about changing my major would like some comments plzz

I'm currently doing a school research project on this . Presentations are today so I hope I did well .

quote:
Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox
How many people actually make livings strictly in the field of music?

There are many fields a person can be active in, but virtually no one makes a decent wage with music only. A lot of people that do music have a job that earns well, and spare time or a day or 2 a week (not the weekend) which they use for music production. Also some people have music related jobs on the side like dj-ing and/or running a record label.

quote:

What do you do?

student/dj/producer

quote:

It would be a dream to sit in a studio all day just making sounds/melodies and turning them into tracks. But its such a risky thing to approach imo.

Very. A decent track doesn't earn much more than say $150.
Which means you should either make a LOT of music or get famous.

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Last edited by Storyteller on Jan-29-2008 at 07:15

Jan-29-2008 07:09 Netherlands

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phantom limb
Senior tranceaddict

Registered: Jul 2007
Location: Northeast

Wow! I wish I were in that sort of class. Unfortunately, I took music theory and as a percussionist and rather unambitious individual, things didn't proceed as smoothly as I would have hoped. Plus, the professor was a one-dimensional character, so that didn't promote any real interest in the subject matter either.

Overall, I must say I'm in a similar predicament choosing between music production and my major, biology. I really enjoy both, but from what I understand, my major will be the better bet. As long as I stay focused and perform reasonably well, then I have a guaranteed source of income as opposed to doing music production, which you're not guaranteed success unless you are damn talented and know how to market yourself.

I assume that it's just some sort of immaturity that catches up to you and puts you into this whirlwind of confusion, when the answer is rather simple. It's nice to hear that someone else is in a similar sort of standstill. I still have serious doubts about my pursuits in biology, but I can't seem to come up with any better solution. I, too, would appreciate if anyone has some sort of experience in this matter and what resulted from your decisions.

Jan-29-2008 07:11 United States

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Darkarbiter
Psysnob

Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Melbourne

Well read J00fs blogs... he talks about that a lot. Basically what he said is production makes your dj(or live set) name bigger... djing(or live sets) is where the money is.

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Jan-29-2008 07:14 Australia

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echosystm
super wow maker

Registered: Jul 2004
Location:

you cant expect your hobby to be your livelihood. it is important to enjoy what you do, or at least not hate it, but keep things in perspective.

i could have gone to uni and done computer science. it would have been fun, but i would just be another washed up programmer, when i reach my mid 30s, with absolutely no job prospects left in an industry that left me behind when i was 25.

my 2c

___________________

quote:
Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox
I've never had a problem with FLs tech support till this day. (I've actually never used it till this day)

quote:
Originally posted by floyd741
i think echosystm is a pretty cool guy. eh pwns robby rox and doesn't afraid of anything.

Jan-29-2008 08:17 Australia

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richg101
1010101010101010101010101

Registered: Apr 2005
Location: a universal nation

quote:
Originally posted by echosystm
you cant expect your hobby to be your livelihood. it is important to enjoy what you do, or at least not hate it, but keep things in perspective.

i could have gone to uni and done computer science. it would have been fun, but i would just be another washed up programmer, when i reach my mid 30s, with absolutely no job prospects left in an industry that left me behind when i was 25.

my 2c

+1.

if you are gonna make it in the music industry you will make it without an education in it. learn a money making profession and do music as a hobby. you will need a good salary to afford everything you need to produce on a money making level anyway. if you are gonna be successful it will come naturally.

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Jan-29-2008 09:05 England

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3F05Q
is a horrible artist name

Registered: Sep 2006
Location: Seattle . . . . . Skill Level: Mediocre At Best Clothing: Sometimes

2 Semesters left? No brainer... finish that degree, if only for the piece of paper!

I was pre-med and hated it. My dad always said 'do what you love and the money will come.' I switched to physics after two years and absolutely loved it! But... my timing was a bit better than yours. Finish your schooling ASAP.

Don't mix your hobby with your bill-paying job. There's a risk that you might start to hate your hobby.

I wanted to do something with cars or music, my biggest passions. I had an opportunity at Toyota in southern california, and an opportunity at a studio in Seattle. I decided to keep those as my hobbies. More recently I lucked out and I'm now working with an amazing speaker designer, and I consider it 'audio' and not music . It's not paying the bills, yet, so tutoring physics will have to do.

Point? Get that piece of paper, and make paying the bills your career priority. That way, you can fund your hobby and it will potentially grow. As you become more involved in it, you may see larger opportunities open up!

Jan-29-2008 09:35 United States

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RichieV
Supreme tranceaddict

Registered: Aug 2003
Location:

remember that music students generally aren't allowed to take the music appreciation classes because they are too easy. THe fact that you were blown away, well i would say keep doing music as a hobby but i would definately stick with what you have going on.

I went to school for music and you can learn everything they teach you on your own if you are truelly motivated.

Jan-29-2008 10:05 United States

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Fanki Dzanki
tranceaddict in training

Registered: Nov 2007
Location: Monte Carlo, Monaco

quote:
Originally posted by RichieV
...you can learn everything they teach you on your own if you are truelly motivated.

True... True...

Jan-29-2008 12:21 Macedonia

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Fledz
Banned

Registered: Sep 2006
Location: London UK

Dude, the way I see it is you can rake in the cash as a psychologist which can help you build a wicked studio and help you with producing. Then if it happens it happens and if not, who cares? You had fun and still have the great job to continue on with.

DJing and producing pays the bills for only a minute amount of people. Don't give up on school. It's a clique but education is damn important.

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