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hey everyone who here has studied music at university? i am considering going home to australia to study after deciding i do not want to continue working in IT. i've always been in to fiddling with bits and pieces of music, and know a bit of music technology stuff and now want to go in to this full time. i'm only just learning piano now, which means i'm going to be pretty far behind everyone else and also might make it hard for me to get in. just looking for comments and any insight or experience anybody has on studying music at a university. i'm not sure exactly what i want to do after, maybe some sort of music composing/producing work. it all sounds a bit vague i know, any comments appreciated. |
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do you mean study composition, or musical theory? |
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well, you can't study the first without the second, I guess, but you can study the second without the first.. I mean, is your study a creative one, or one of analysis? |
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I'm studying music production... its both analytical and composition based. it's great, music 24/7... and everyone's got lloads of enthusiasm for their subject :) |
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both really. i want to compose music, but i also want to understand concepts and technical reasonings behind music. have you, or do you know anyone thats studied music at uni? i'm curious to know how did you/they find it, and where did it lead, etc... |
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well all my tutors did. lol.... so if u study it, you can err... teach it! |
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mylittlesister: cool. what do you want to do afterwards? how long have you been doing it for? did you need to have good skills playing an instrument to get in to that type of course? |
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i talked to a girl who is studying music in university before, and she said it was very hard, and boring in parts... like a lot of things in university i guess (sounds interesting, might have been interesting, but turns out to be treated such a way it becomes a giant quagmire of rebarbative, ultra-academic boring and hard work)... i looked at her lessons and didn't get anything of course... |
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hmm don't listen to me : ) |
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here, composition isn't part of university courses - they're special programs more or less at art school. the courses at university are purely theoretical, which makes them boring as hell. |
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sounds like the courses here - if you want to be creative, actually DO something, you give universities a wide berth. you see this awful thing with theatre schools and theatre courses at universities here. there are thousands of people each year trying to get into theatre school, especially the acting courses. most of them get turned away, and a few then turn to university, to study theory of theatre. big mistake.. |
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well on my music production course, proficiency in an instrument isnt compulsory, but obviously it does help. I'm not sure what I'm hoping to get out of it, job wise... that's so unstable at the moment. I started last september, 2nd semester starts at the end of janruary. my course is obviously different from "music" courses though, with emphasis placed on popular music - and not so much music theory. |
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i don't think we have any music related university programs..except for studying a particular instrument. |
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mylittlesister, what kind of establishment is your course run by, a university / private school / etc? have you got any web links to anything related with your course? |
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I'm at Leeds College of Music [] but the degrees are validated by . |
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I've applied to study composition or jazz guitar this september at university. I love doing theory, that's why I'd prefer to do composition. Approaching music academically is important though, I'd just feel unprepared while making music without it. |
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and u feel not restrictions by it? |
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no^, not not.... |
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well, If I feel restricted I just break the rule I want to break. I just use things as guides and if I can stay in the guide and be happy and it makes a good piece then it's fine. If I don't like the sound of something then, I'll start the experimenting. The rules are there for a reason and sometimes they help if you're looking for a particular effect, I mean theres no point in ignoring something that's going to help. |
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"The rules are there for a reason and sometimes they help if you're looking for a particular effect, I mean theres no point in ignoring something that's going to help." this wholly depends on what you're trying to do. the rules are there for the reason to easily repeat prior effects. they do little for innovation. not saying you can't innovate while using music theory, or even that anyone has to innovate per se, but principally the rules are for comfort, not for experimentation. |
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yeah, i like rules sometimes, and there are so many different rules in different cultures that you can mix and match stuff. but yeah, sometimes being ignorant can have a good effect :) |
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they're there for convenience, is what I'm trying to say. they're a guide to recreate, which is just a part of the musicmaking process, not the whole thing. |
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i study music at QUT in brisbane (aus) i love it... would highly recommend it... |
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yeah, your right I know. But experimentation doesn't always create good music either, I think it's about balance really, to record mindless experimentation is just a waste of time. The idea in my mind is to build upon existing ideas until you break away from it with your own ideas, that is development. Simply experimentation barely goes anywhere because there is no thought, no basis. Not in everycase though, looking back i'm sure there are some examples, i'm going around in circles here. |
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that's true ofcourse, it does depend on what you actually want to do. |
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I wouldn't agree with this, though: "Simply experimentation barely goes anywhere because there is no thought, no basis." there's always a basis, simply everything a person has ever heard. and to say there is no thought in experimentation.. I'm quite sure there's a lot going on there. |
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torture garden is taking the typical jazz musician's approach - learn what already exists and try to move on from it. My housemate is just like that :) I'm not saying it's a bad thing, my housemate comes up with some great ideas. |
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teapot, cool. i just happen to be from briz. was it hard to get in? what did you have to do for your application? not knowing how to play piano at all really at the moment, do i have any chance of getting in to such a course if i learn in the mean time? |
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i took a laptop into my audition... they welcomed me with open arms... ...if you wanna get into the course by playing piano, then its unlikely, because instrumentalists have to be of a really high standard... you've missed this years round anyway... |
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Fair point and looking at it now I agree, ha. However, the way I have experienced bare experimentation hasn't brought any real result for me. Say if I was just improvising then I would be drawing on my influences and things I have heard like you have said. But I'd always be thinking of ways to improve it and I'd just go back to composing mode. But then I'd just think why bother when I can just compose it the way I want in the first place. That's the way I'd personally "experiment" with the things I've heard. I'm sure you have others ideas... |
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*agrees* :) |
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i'd like to have studied music at uni, but i'm a worrthless prrick. |
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teapot, what other things can you use to get in? what did you show them with your laptop? my experience is more with the technical side, ie audio software and hardware. can you get in to a music degree (not music technology degree) with these sorts of skills instead of being able to play an instrument well? |
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I used to hang out with lots of people that went to berklee music school in Boston. Rock star school. Basically. Produciton. All that. If you wanna do that. Take like a nine month course at a quick school and get an internship and work your way up. No need for a 4 year thing. |
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I wouldnt say its a rockstar school per se. its first and foremost a jazz school... but it also covers all forms of modern music, rock included. it actually has a really good composition department too, and the synthesis department is top notch. imo. I may be biased though, as I go there. I gotta run, but ill write my thoughts on Uni when I get back, ftc. |
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I wrote a long response, but I really think it all just comes down to this: make up your own mind. If you have a love for music, you can go about learning it in many ways. You could go to school, you could do it in your free time with private lessons, you could teach yourself through books, online, whatever. It really depends on how YOU work/learn best. For me, I love a school environment. For others, it would be a drag, and would stifle their creativity. There is no one way to do it. Remember, some of the greatest musicians of all time studied music formally, and likewise, some of the greatest musicians of all time didnt study music at all. And we could get into all sorts of arguements as to well maybe the ones who didnt study music but are great, were geniuses, and those who did study music, and were great, only got that way because they studied music, and had help. whatever. Its an arguement that can never be won or proven. And frankly its irrelevent. If you love music, and want to devote your life and/or time to learning it, theres nothing wrong with studying it, and likewise theres nothing wrong with not studying it. really, just ask yourself what path do you think suits you best? |
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oh, but let me add, its not easy to get into composition/production work for a living. and if you do get jobs... just be prepared to live paycheck to paycheck... its pretty much all freelancing. |
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Im in my first year studying music production at uni, and i already regret doing it. I had an argument with my lecturer who says you can't make a valid piece of music unless you own A mac Logic Audio Pro-Tools The Best, most expensive microphones Creativity is not encouraged, You are taught the exact same production techniques as everyone else so you end up with a bunch of clones making the same sounding shit. My advice: Lock yourself in your bedroom with a few bits of music making gear, unplug the internet and spend a year learning things for yourself. |
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dude... its a school. it teaches you what is already known to work. of course they teach you the standard... because it WORKS. be creative on your own time. school is for learning how it is/has been done. take that knowledge, and expand on it on your own time. and why take a project so seriously? its just a project. its a way for the teacher to measure if you have understood and can apply what theyve taught you. sure, you could fiddle about with stuff, and make some interesting stuff, but how can a teacher grade that? whats the basis? |
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I played one of my compositions to my class yesterday, it was a downtempo electronic piece, quite dubby. I was told it wasn't very good because it couldn't be rapped over. I suppose im a little disheartened at the moment because Im spending a shitload of money to do this course, ive been there since september, and so far learned fuck all. |
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well, that does suck if you havnt learned anything from it... |
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Im hoping it will improve. The remaining two years are based around disertation work which means I can set my own goals/challenges to achieve. I've been learning in my own time for nearly 10 years now so I should have expected not to learn much whilst they are teaching the basics. Your uni sounds better. What career would you like to get into when you finish? |
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what uni and what program iis it? if its not a secret |
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well, I never went into uni thinking about jobs... I went cause I wanted to learn more about music... but now that its almost time for me to actually get a job... I hope to do commerical production work, as it pays well, and can be done on a home studio. You know... music in commercials on tv etc, sound effects for cartoons... anything really. Its not a bad way to make a living if you can get a constant flow of jobs... and the more jobs you get, the longer your resume is, and the easier it is to get another job. Its just starting out that will be a bitch. Id LOVE to do some film scores, but those aren't too easy to snag... unless I go around to film schools (which I plan to!) as a starting point. of course theres always the get rich by selling my own records option. *cough* yeah nm |
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Southend BA Hons Music Production (Through Essex Uni) I had the opportunity to study in different places but other commitments meant that i needed to stay fairly local. (It still takes me well over an hour to get there tho.) |
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Thats exactly the sort of direction I will be heading in, film score work would be awesome..good luck with it :) |
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thanks :) and good luck to you too! I hope the course starts looking up for you... but yeah, its natural that if youve been doing it for awhile before then, that youll be bored with the intro stuff. I was making electronic music for about 4-5 years before I took any synthesis classes, and so the first ones with the intro material were like bahhhhh. but then I got to the advanced level stuff, and I learned a lot. so just hang in there... give it time! |
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kado, what sort of stuff did you have to show to get in to your course? |
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I did an access to media course, the equivelant of a couple of A-Levels. It only took 1 year and was quite interesting. |
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I did an access to media course, the equivelant of a couple of A-Levels. It only took 1 year and was quite interesting. |
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