I'm halfway through my junior year of college. I've been struggling with this issue the entire time I've been in school. Even when I was younger, I never had any kind of clear idea what I wanted to do with my life. Right now I'm majoring in music and economics, that's pretty well set at this point, no way I could change and still feasibly finish school. Over the last year or so, I've been pretty well grounded in the idea that I would continue on in music, largely due to realizations I've had over the course of my tripping career. I'm starting to question that once again though. I'll give you my musical background, because it's essential to my situation. Right now I'm focusing on composition. I write music for traditional instruments and instrumentation. This is because this is my best skill set musically. I was always immersed in the classical world throughout my life. I don't play guitar, can't sing worth a shit, and don't really know how to work with electronic music at all. I do play two instruments, at a pretty high level, but definitely not well enough to continue on as a classical performer. My intention has been to continue on in academia and eventually end up teaching composition at a college level somewhere. Several things are bugging me about this career path now. First, the sheer difficulty. I'm able to write music that I like, and that sounds good, but in the academic world that's not enough. I haven't been writing anything that resembles past classical music particularly, largely because I think anything in that style has been done already, and also because I think music is closely linked to the time period it's written in. I don't think writing neo-classical/neo-romantic/neo-whatever music is at all relevant anymore. My other main issue with this career path is that although I do like the music I write, this is not the style of music I listen to. In my opinion, a lot of the music written in the 20th/21st century in the "classical" domain is downright awful, and philosophically based on some faulty conclusions about what music should be. I do enjoy listening to older classical music, the great composers of the past, but like I said, I don't see a point in writing new music that resembles it. But I don't have the skill set to leave contempory classical music behind and move on to something else. And even if I did, it would become even more difficult to be successful and be able to sustain myself writing more "popular" music (definitely not pop - I'm just talking about writing music that people actually listen to today). But the alternative is even worse. Yes, I'm getting an economics major, but I am not at all a materialistic person, so I kind of despise the whole field. And I can't see myself enjoying working at any kind of job that would hire me because of an econ major. I don't know where this leaves me though. Music is one of the most important things to me, and I'd hate to leave it behind, but it's also one of the most difficult ways to make a sustainable living. I know no one can really answer this but me, but any input would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long read.
Something that stood out... If by "tripping career" you meant psychedelic drug use, I don't mean to piss all over your parade, but reality doesn't leave much room for incorporating your tripping realizations. That doesn't mean you can't use drugs and have an open mind and all that, but unfortunately you're a part of reality, and reality requires you to have food and shelter. Your best bet would be to stay in school, as you said, you can't really change it now, graduating is much better than dropping out. At least get your diploma/degree whatever. At least then you'll have options about what you do. In the meantime, find people to jam with, play some gigs/clubs whatever, but dropping out to pursure music is bound to get near homeless, hungry, and without many options in life. A lot comedians and musicians played clubs while in school, then when they graduated they pursued it while working a day job. Once the career took off, they quit their day jobs. I'd say that's your best route. Edit: The first time I missed the part about you teaching music. If that's the case, you could always study music once you're done your current studies.
Interesting post. I'm not sure I understand your musical dilemma though, so you don't like contemporary classical music idioms, but you think older classical music is "spent"? I've heard two people close to myself who are musicians voice similar concerns...Could you give us some examples of older music you like and newer music you don't like? Maybe suppy youtube links?? (that would be interesting ) What about what they call New Music? By what you've said, you don't really like it...things like John Zorn, Frank Zappa etc. None of that appeals to you? Here's a link I enjoy (though I know it's far removed from the music you say you like ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc0FRNb97Qw"]YouTube - Frank Zappa - Gum Joy [Capitols Lumpy Gravy]
By what you refer to as "spent", I mean that the great music of the past is just that, great, but there's no value to imitating it or continuing to write in that style in modern times. I'll give some examples of what I'm talking about as far as classical music of the past vs contemporary classical music: Beethoven's 7th symphony, mvmt 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs5pH4GKYkI"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs5pH4GKYkI Donald Martino, Notturno mvmt 1 (this work as a whole won the pulitzer prize in 1974): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXPQfe6bbQc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXPQfe6bbQc Milton Babbitt, Lagniappe (1985): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPj4iyKcPkM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPj4iyKcPkM arnold schoenberg, pierrot lunaire, mvmt 13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YCoAhBhXcA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YCoAhBhXcA I have no objection to stuff like frank zappa, actually quite enjoy his music. i'm talking about kind of a separate field of music though, the academic side of things, stuff that would only really get performed in an academic type of setting most of the time. that's what i'd like to get out of, but once out of that you're then in a completely different field, dealing with record labels, selling recordings, etc. when i listen to music i listen to the kind of music "normal" people listen to, pink floyd, beatles, shpongle, etc. (just quick examples, i have very diverse tastes). music that actually gets downloaded and listened to. To lunarverse - I am pursuing a degree in music, along with my econ major. the econ major was originally there as my backup plan.
This reminds me of when I began listening to jazz. Initially, I was very interested in avant-garde jazz, even though I was just a lay listener and didn't really understand it. It seemed so original to me, while straight ahead jazz...even things like Thelonious Monk, or Bird seemed boring to me. I liked Eric Dolphy, late Coltrane, etc. Also spent a lot of time listening to Ornette Coleman. It was only after I burned out on free jazz that I began appreciating things like Duke, Art Tatum, Horace Silver. The "originiality" was there, but much more subtle. Nowadays, I still like Eric Dolphy, but precisely because he dominates all aspects of the music, including the fundamentals. Same with Jaki Byard, I could name many. I haven't listened to classical music nearly as much, and I see myself going through the same development. Things like Donald Martino, Babbit, and Schoenberg appeal to me, because I am still a very coarse listener to the idiom. More subtle language, I have more trouble picking up on. Mozart bores me to tears. Sorry, I'm straying a bit from the original topic, but the other day I was doing a search of classical: Bizet, Liszt, Chopin (which I do love), Beethoven, etc... I came away with Rachmaninoff's, which is a beautiful piece that everyone knows, but at least I didn't really know with full consciousness. He seems like a happy medium between unstructured and traditional idioms. He sounds like the Eric Dolphy of classical music. Do you like his stuff? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19J8dO3T1S8&feature=related"]YouTube - Rachmaninoff - Vocalise For Violin
Yes, I do enjoy Rachmaninoff. He's best know for his piano stuff, because he was a pianist also, and absurdly good at it. His solo piano music is incredibly difficult to play, largely because he had huge hands and definitely wrote for himself. I'd classify him solidly under the Romantic period though, along with Chopin, Schubert, late Beethoven, Berlioz, Strauss, etc. Beautiful music, but definitely what I would consider "traditional"
We're like blood brothers. I also did an economics degree and by the halfway point decided I hated 95% of the people in the program and 95% of the career possibilities. I spent some more time working as a faller (knocking down trees) and am now in my final semester of an education program (and am excited about teaching). I am about to start my last and most major practicum in the beginning of February. In hindsight, I still enjoyed learning about economics on an academic level, although every econometrics class made me want to off myself.
Classical music is not spent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3lPocF6HuU&feature=player_embedded#at=19 Hotwater
