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WOW, Thinking about changing my major would like some comments plzz (pg. 2)
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| Sanguis Mortuum |
| quote: | Originally posted by echosystm
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. |
Huh? |
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| Zild |
| the only majors worth paying for are hard sciences (phys/chem), engineering, law, and medicine. So if you're deciding between two majors which don't fall into any of those categories go for it. |
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| Nemesis44 |
Woooah, that's a heavy question. I would also be reluctant to take the advice of someone on a forum when it's such a major life question.
My suggestion is however this:
Sit down and make a visual record of your goals, you would be suprised as to the amount of people who do not plan in their lives and don't ever put anything down on paper. We are far more likely to make a shopping list in more detail than we ever plan anything in our lives.
Write it down, visualise your dream. Then research your prospects keeping in mind that in reality things don't always turn out the way you planned.
You have to make a living somehow and I would recomend finishing what you have started, only because it's good discipline for anything else that you choose to undertake. Remember the music industry holds no guarantees and your time in the spotlight can be gone in the blink of an eye even if you do make it.
I'm not saying be fearful of tomorrow, but make sure you have a get out of jail free card just incase it doesn't go to plan.
Sit down, and write about what you want to do, it can be quite a sobering and inspirational experience at the same time. Remember to make it a positive list not a pro's and cons list. Just make it a list of pros... you will be suprised at how much more motivating that is. Be aware of the cons but don't let them get you down.
And above all else do not base a life changing decision on a totally biased forum. You need to take a good look at your life.
But if it's what you decide you want to do then go for it and live your dream.
cheers
Nem |
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| cryophonik |
I can offer some perspective, but from a directly opposite angle. My first college degree was a BA in music theory. Actually, I spent the first 3.5 years with the blinders on thinking that I was going to go on to become a college-level music theory professor, but then reality set in when I started looking at the job market, which wasn't good, even if I had gone on to get that PhD. In fact, it looked so bad that I decided not to finish my last semester. Six years later, I went back to school to get a BS and subsequently a MS in aquatic biology/toxicology. I finished the coursework that I needed for my music theory degree along the way, but there were still no jobs available (and I finished my music courses with a perfect 4.0!).
The music market is highly competitive - virtually every college in this country has a music department and they are graduating tens of thousands of musicians every year. What percentage of them do you think make a career in music? I don't know the answer, but I do know that it's small. Not to mention the fact that there are just as many, if not more, excellent and accomplished musicians who did NOT go to college competing for many of those jobs. I put myself through school by playing in bands on the college circuit and played with many excellent music majors during that period - some of them still play in bands, but none of them made careers out of music. In fact, every music major that I knew from my many years in college has a nice little diploma that they hang on the wall of their office at their non-music job.
Time for a huge reality check. You are almost done with a degree that you like, are good at, and will most likely be successful with. Finish it. You mention that you can "play any instrument" as a VST. Guess what? That ain't gonna cut it. As a music major, you will need to choose a primary instrument (and a secondary instrument) and be expected to practice and perform constantly. Since you have no formal training, you'll probably be 5-15 years behind the others in your program. You'll still be trying to figure out how to play a locrian scale in G#, while your classmates (i.e., competitors) will be analyzing Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring.'
The final consideration is what 3F05Q and some of the others have already alluded to. Keep your job and your hobbies separate. Once your hobby becomes your job, you likely will lose your passion for it. Finish your degree, take whatever music courses you can along the way, and get your job (or grad degree). Then, take night courses, or piano lessons, online production courses, or whatever interests you musically to improve your skills.
Sorry to be such a wordy naysayer, but good luck in your career and music pursuits! |
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| Project-K |
| If I were you I'd stick with psych and persue music more actively. Yes, it's important to do what you enjoy in life, but it's also important to earn a living, and earning a good wage in turn will give you the comfort and freedom you need to persue your hobbies. If you're not making any money from music (and you probably won't for a long while), then you won't be able to afford all those new toys. Very very few people manage to make a living out of music alone, and still, they only do so because they're involved in many different branches - they own their own labels, run the buisness, they teach, perform, produce, all at the same time. For instance, most jazz musicians I know are very passionate about their music, but they also manage to balance it well with a full time career in a different field. |
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| Zild |
| Just remember. Education is an investment and you want to maximize your return on that investment. |
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| Nemesis44 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zild
Just remember. Education is an investment and you want to maximize your return on that investment. |
Smart words. |
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| phantom limb |
| I see what you guys are going at and it really is the best answer for this sort of conundrum. Music production should be more of a hobby and our work should be our truer calling. We just need to get our minds back on track... We're overwhelmed with too much wishful thinking sometimes! |
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| sm44 |
I was in the exact same situation
I was in the middle of my psyc degree and wanted to do music and dj'ing professionally
But i sorta realised that if things didnt work out i would be stuffed
So i finished my psyc degree, got a crappy retail job and did a 6-month electronic music producers course at SAE. I probably knew a bit of it but there was so much i didnt know
Now ive had my year off, have learnt more than i could ever imagine and am now starting to look for psyc work.
The truth is everyone thinks they are gonna be the next armin or whatever but theres a good chance you wont be
if you wanna do the music major then go for it 100% but make sure you are prepared to be poor and take some job that requires no formal education if you fail |
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| RichieV |
| the stuff they teach you in music school will help you learn classical music. Unless you plan to do something to do with classical music , why even bother . |
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| Nightshift |
| quote: | Originally posted by richg101
if you are gonna make it in the music industry you will make it without an education in it. |
+1
You do not need music education to make it in the music industry. Artists such as Nitrous Oxide don't even know how to play any instruments and never took any musical classes (at least in the beginning i'm not so sure about the present day) but my point is that in music such as trance there is very minimal you need to know about music to be honest considering that generally theres only a minimum of 3 melodies in a trance track (hook, main lead, pads). The rest of it really is how creative you get in your arrangement and sound design to keep the listener intruiged. A college music class won't teach you that. All you need to know is scales and different types of chord progressions and u can learn those from damn near any website for free. The rest is just having the determination and perseverence to experiment with trial and error with your own music while learning from your mistakes and experiences along the way.
| quote: | Originally posted by Fledz
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. |
+2 |
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| Project-K |
| quote: | Originally posted by RichieV
the stuff they teach you in music school will help you learn classical music. Unless you plan to do something to do with classical music , why even bother . |
Have you ever been in a music program? They teach a lot more than classical music. Sure you won't much that deals with niche genres like EDM but there's definately a lot there you can use. |
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