Am I Nuts?

I haven't been here for a while because I decided in the last couple months that I didn't want to be a programmer for the rest of my life and I was just going to switch my major within about a couple semesters from graduation and try to gain entrance into the composition department at our school of music (which, after a final scary meeting with the head of the department in which I almost cried like an idiot while trying to answer the question of "why?!" - I don't even remember what I said - he announced I would be accepted). So now, instead of heading for a path of income guarantee, I am walking into the death trap of no return.

Yet, I don't care!

I must be insane. I'm realistic, though. That's got to be a plus. I don't think I can live with no regrets if I don't give it a shot, though. It's not like I didn't try to go for another career. Plus, I think I'll look really cool on a street corner in ten years. ;)

So why am I so giddy?? I must go dance around the room again. All hail composition!

Your illness is even worse than Nico's. I find that pretty hard to believe.

Haha, that made me smile pretty big. :mellow: Good luck to you, and do tell me how it is like when I embark on the same journey 2 years from now.

Nooo, not you too, Lethen! WHY?!

ahahahahahahahahaha.

I praise that your decisions rubs on more people. Today music has involved money for too long. People force music, but not with hard work, just with the ambition of getting more and more. In most cases it results in a low quality deed.

Save music, forget about the money.

Respect brother

heh...

I'd never drop programming that way as it is for me a passion on an absolutely different plane than music is, yet not lesser and not greater. But if you feel that way, I'd suggest you start thinking how to ensure your existance so you can enjoy yourself fully.

i was going to be a programer also, but when i was just about to get into college I registered for music... I had been studying music with instructors and by myself guitar, piano, flute, bass, but when i got to college i studied violin for some strange reason... i studied 2 years and then moved to Florida and studied 2 more years and they didn´t take any of my credits so i had to start from "0"... i think i´ll never graduate from MUSIC but i´m learning a lot more that way.. :ermm:

Revisor,

I respect you very much for that and I believe that is what I aspired to be like. You rock! However, at some point I had this odd and disturbing epiphany in which I discovered that I will always be rather cruddy at programming, no matter what I do, because I always get distracted while I'm doing it with ideas for compositions that just can't wait to be realized. It got worse and worse over the last couple years until I forgot to turn in a programming assignment online by midnight because I was busy scribbling out a third movement to a violin piece I was writing until 4 AM. The next morning I woke up with a jolt, remembered, was momentarily horrified, then laughed hysterically under the covers. I think that was the moment of no return.

I think music and art are about all I can handle, the programming will have to be something I do (badly) for my own enjoyment. arg.

People, tell me from your experiences (bad or good) what I should try to avoid over the next few years. Any big, not-obvious mistakes I should avoid in my new educational path? I can't screw up this time!

Oh god, I'm terrified about my first private composition lessons I have to take this summer. The teacher told me that "WE DO NOT USE COMPUTERS TO WRITE THE MUSICS!!" so I will have to present my horrid music notation handwriting over and over. The shaky caffeine hand does not like this at all. Thank god for my old organ teacher for making me do all those heinously tedious theory exercises all those years.

Ok, enough rambling. You guys are the only ones I can spill my guts to, though! My parents just roll their eyes nowadays!

Ok, enough rambling. You guys are the only ones I can spill my guts to, though! My parents just roll their eyes nowadays!

Sometimes I feel the same way about my own musical pursuits. For some reason my parents just can't seem to stand music - they don't even want to hear any kind of music at all. And most of my fellow med students don't really care to talk about music.

I'm not about to drop medicine, but music's enough of a passion that it's sometimes a bit depressing to have only this forum to talk to.

hey, giselle. sounds like a good decision to me. i'm an electrical engineer and i really like electrical engineering, but still even in this supposedly "safe" field, i'm stuck with a job i absolutely hate. anyway, my point is that it's not a great idea to pursue a career in something *just* because you think you could get a job in it.

on the other hand, programming isn't such a bad thing to be good at, imho. you can use it in a lot of fields. if you like programming at all and are pretty good at it, you might want to consider not dropping it all together. if you've fulfilled most of the requirements, you might consider ensuring you can get a minor in it (or major, considering how far along you are). just for an extra credential. but more important than that, you might want to think about the how you can apply your programming abilities to the field of music. be clear, at this point, i'm not saying how you can apply it to the music industry (i hear music software development is a very tough field to get into), but rather how it can aid in your own musical abilities or appreciation.

also, i should point out that no matter what you end up pursuing, you're going to have to think about making money and what you do with your time at some point. start that sooner, rather than later. it'll definitely help. you don't have to be preoccupied with it, but keep it in mind.

_object.session,

You're probably right. Right now I guess I'm in the honeymoon phase where it's all flowers and candy, but I have considered taking a bunch of computer music courses offered here that require having taken several CS classes. It interests me quite a bit. I'll have to wait to take them for a year or two because of the music class prereq's but it is a definite possibility. I had no idea that music software development was so hard to get into, I'd actually thought about that back when I was in CS! I switched the focus, but it certainly was still in the back of my mind. I guess only time will tell, I've sort of taken on a "I guess we'll just see what happens" mindset. I'm hoping to discover my particular strength with some guidance and training.

With regards to money; I honestly probably wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't gotten married so young. My (teacher) husband convinced me that I should just do what I truly love, after I talked in circles for ages about it. He supports us now so he feels we can manage until I can figure out what the heck I'm going to do - and even if I eventually just get a job that pays in the mid twenties while doing music on the side, we can survive modestly. I just hope I don't disappoint him. I just want someone out there to play my music and like it.

Okay, I'm off to listen to compositions on the forum. This place is mucho inspiring to me!

i should clarify about getting into the music software industry. i guess it's not really unique to that particular job market, but really it's the sort of "niche of a niche" problem. it's just too narrow a field for a person without experience to depend upon. also, music software companies tend to be fairly small. which means when they hire, they usually look for a specific set of qualifications. lastly, a lot of people would love to do something like this, so if there is a job you'd be qualified for, there'd be a lot of competition. of course, you shouldn't dismiss the opportunity completely. really, these days, you should expect to try for a lot of jobs you have little chance of obtaining.

anyway, it does sound like you've thought of the financial issues and all. it's true that living on relatively small amounts of money is certainly plausible. and entry level pay sucks for crappy jobs, too . .

heh. at least i get to post on music forums at work. :(