Revaluating life - want to drop uni and pursue drums

Sorry to bump this again.

What are thoughts on "contemporary" schools where essentially focus is on 100% kit rather than more traditional music.

Here in UK we have BIMM and ACM for example.

I assume it's the same story, just probably not worth it? It's just I know of someone who went to one of these and is now a hugely successful drummer (played O2 etc)

Again though I assume he's just a one off , and the majority of drummers who go there will amount to nothing?
 
Drumsarefun said:
How do I get started?

I just think I'm 19 - i have no obligations, responsibilities (kids, mortgage) why shouldn't I?
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You should probably finish school, get your degree/diploma, and then try to find work as a drummer. I think you'll come to the realization pretty quickly that surviving as a full time musician will require a vow of poverty and/or playing music you don't enjoy playing.

Perhaps try auditioning for a gig on a cruise ship or with Cirque du Soleil.

Basically, I really think you need a dose of reality.
 
Drumsarefun said:
What are thoughts on "contemporary" schools where essentially focus is on 100% kit rather than more traditional music.
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It really depends on what you plan on doing. I don't imagine anyone is asking for a music degree, unless you're going to teach lessons, or fight 300 other people for a shot at that orchestra seat, playing triangle. Within the context of other situations, such as a rock band, kicking ass is the criteria.

Focus on the kit only might be okay, but it is limited focus, and you may end up neglecting other areas. To quote Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, "Drummers that are just drummers are very annoying." What he means is that it's important for drummers to have a concept of other instruments. Source of the quote, with additional context.

When I went to University for Percussion Arts, things went WAY beyond drums. My required classes included string bass, piano, marimba, music theory, ear training, notation, etc.

You might wonder when the hell anyone is going to ask you to play piano or string bass. But it's all about having that concept, because then you can play and write in a sympathetic manner that makes the other guy sound good, while being more musical.

Music theory can also improve your ability to communicate with other musicians, and it has helped me, especially in the studio, where time is money, and I'm serving as Music Supervisor for an album. Communicating quickly with studio musicians is key, when time is money.

I'm getting a bit of a refresher in Music Theory with my guitar instructors, and will be getting a major refresher in September with a composer who earned his Masters in Composition under Frédéric Durieux, and a prix d’analyse under Claude Ledoux. I'm expecting my brains to leak out of my ears.

But even if you don't have to use the actual names of things, you can still lean on the concepts.

I guess the short way to describe it is "well-rounded."

Also, lots of drummers end up becoming producers, and having an ear for all of the instruments, as well as the knowledge, is certainly a leg up.

Whenever I hear that joke about, "Who's the guy who hangs out with musicians? THE DRUMMER!" I tend to laugh, but for a completely different reason. I'm convinced that, in most cases, the drummer is the most musical person in the room.
 
Drumsarefun said:
Sorry to bump this again.

What are thoughts on "contemporary" schools where essentially focus is on 100% kit rather than more traditional music.

Here in UK we have BIMM and ACM for example.

I assume it's the same story, just probably not worth it? It's just I know of someone who went to one of these and is now a hugely successful drummer (played O2 etc)

Again though I assume he's just a one off , and the majority of drummers who go there will amount to nothing?
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If you work hard enough at drumming and being the greatest drummer you can be, then you have no choice than to believe in yourself. If you're not well-trained and well-connected, you will miss 100% of your chances just by not being there. Your friend was there when it became available. He put himself there. Where are you going to put yourself?
 
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Midnite Zephyr said:
If you work hard enough at drumming and being the greatest drummer you can be, then you have no choice than to believe in yourself. If you're not well-trained and well-connected, you will miss 100% of your chances just by not being there. Your friend was there when it became available. He put himself there. Where are you going to put yourself?
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It's true, but if I did a course like that for three years and nothing comes of it, that's £30,000 down the toilet.

I really do want to, but I'm not sure I could justify the risk when I think of it that way.

I'm going in circles here, I've just got to decide one way or the other. Nothing is guaranteed, so there's no definite answer : /

I appreciate all the advice, thank you to everyone
 
DrumWild said:
It really depends on what you plan on doing. I don't imagine anyone is asking for a music degree, unless you're going to teach lessons, or fight 300 other people for a shot at that orchestra seat, playing triangle. Within the context of other situations, such as a rock band, kicking ass is the criteria.

Focus on the kit only might be okay, but it is limited focus, and you may end up neglecting other areas. To quote Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, "Drummers that are just drummers are very annoying." What he means is that it's important for drummers to have a concept of other instruments. Source of the quote, with additional context.

When I went to University for Percussion Arts, things went WAY beyond drums. My required classes included string bass, piano, marimba, music theory, ear training, notation, etc.

You might wonder when the hell anyone is going to ask you to play piano or string bass. But it's all about having that concept, because then you can play and write in a sympathetic manner that makes the other guy sound good, while being more musical.

Music theory can also improve your ability to communicate with other musicians, and it has helped me, especially in the studio, where time is money, and I'm serving as Music Supervisor for an album. Communicating quickly with studio musicians is key, when time is money.

I'm getting a bit of a refresher in Music Theory with my guitar instructors, and will be getting a major refresher in September with a composer who earned his Masters in Composition under Frédéric Durieux, and a prix d’analyse under Claude Ledoux. I'm expecting my brains to leak out of my ears.

But even if you don't have to use the actual names of things, you can still lean on the concepts.

I guess the short way to describe it is "well-rounded."

Also, lots of drummers end up becoming producers, and having an ear for all of the instruments, as well as the knowledge, is certainly a leg up.

Whenever I hear that joke about, "Who's the guy who hangs out with musicians? THE DRUMMER!" I tend to laugh, but for a completely different reason. I'm convinced that, in most cases, the drummer is the most musical person in the room.
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I suppose a lot of those skills I can self teach / learn as part of bands/orchestra at uni though?


I did think about teaching myself music theory as I like the idea of having knowledge outside of drumming, mainly coming from a writing standpoint, but I guess its useful in many ways
 
You could do what I did.

Worked in a job I hated for >10 years

Finally figured out what I wanted to do and by a combination of luck and talent joined the Fire Brigade full time in 2015. I absolutely love the job, which means I'm always looking forward to going to work, even working overtime shifts when I can which is something I would never have done while working in IT

Now thanks to the roster (it's probably different all over the UK and would be worth looking into) I have plenty of time off that I can focus on drumming. Due to family commitments I don't do much gigging but I have so much more flexibility than I would have done had I remained in a Mon-Fri job.

I'm 33.
 
My two cents.

Get your degree. You'll need a degree to make a decent living. You might make a good living playing drums or you might starve. Get yourself some training that can make you real money.

I'm not saying to not pursue drums. I think you should if you love it. But get an MBA too. Why couldn't you have a music degree and an MBA?

Then you can create a business that makes you money while you pursue your drumming. You can play, but not starve. And you could still achieve your dreams.
 
Follow your desires. Now. Don't wait. Your young. And if things don't work out, after two, four, five or ten years. Or you burn out. You'll still be young enough to start again. I'm 44 and still re-inventing myself every five to seven years.

Example: Ever since I was young, I wanted to own a small retail store. I finally did a few years ago. Then I realized, I hated it. Now I feel better, I got that, out of my system. I also lost a few grand of my money too. But, it was worth it.

Live life. Don't keep dreaming and dreaming.
 
University was THE best time of my entire life. I was doing something I loved. (Turned out I couldn't make a living doing it, but that's a detail.) If I hadn't loved every second of it, I couldn't have stood it, and this is in the days before tuition fees, AND the government paid me a grant. The idea of racking up thousands of £-worth of debt, studying something you don't care about and wouldn't want to pursue as a career, turns my stomach.

If you are that serious about your drumming, and believe that you have the ability, then my advice would be to study drums at the Guildhall. Their graduates have a 100% employment success rate. They don't take many drummers, so you have to be shit-hot even to get in.

Whatever you do, don't go to BIMM in London.
 
I'll bet what's happening is that classes are starting up again, and you're thinking
"Oh man - not this crap again". Ha ha.
 
Drumsarefun, it just sounds like you don't have much of a concept of the field you're getting into. I think you need to get out and see some music-- any and all music possible for you to see live, because those are the first gigs you'll be trying to get. Talk to the drummer, tell him/her you're interested in getting into music, find out what they're doing professionally-- have some conversations.

I would seriously be going out 5-7 nights a week the next couple of months. Call retirement centers/community centers/fraternal societies and see if they're having music if you run out of places to go. Consider the money you spend drinking coffee an investment in your future. When you've done that, you'll have an idea of what you need to be able to do, and if this is something you want to get into.
 
toddbishop said:
Drumsarefun, it just sounds like you don't have much of a concept of the field you're getting into. I think you need to get out and see some music-- any and all music possible for you to see live, because those are the first gigs you'll be trying to get. Talk to the drummer, tell him/her you're interested in getting into music, find out what they're doing professionally-- have some conversations.

I would seriously be going out 5-7 nights a week the next couple of months. Call retirement centers/community centers/fraternal societies and see if they're having music if you run out of places to go. Consider the money you spend drinking coffee an investment in your future. When you've done that, you'll have an idea of what you need to be able to do, and if this is something you want to get into.
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I agree with Todd. You need to have a much better picture of what it is that you think you'd like to do musically speaking, and what opportunities actually exist.
 
toddbishop said:
Drumsarefun, it just sounds like you don't have much of a concept of the field you're getting into. I think you need to get out and see some music-- any and all music possible for you to see live, because those are the first gigs you'll be trying to get. Talk to the drummer, tell him/her you're interested in getting into music, find out what they're doing professionally-- have some conversations.

I would seriously be going out 5-7 nights a week the next couple of months. Call retirement centers/community centers/fraternal societies and see if they're having music if you run out of places to go. Consider the money you spend drinking coffee an investment in your future. When you've done that, you'll have an idea of what you need to be able to do, and if this is something you want to get into.
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Good idea, I live in a smallish town so would struggle to find that many gigs to fill up 5 days a week i imagine, but I will try to, certainly if I decide to take this gap year
 
Magenta said:
University was THE best time of my entire life. I was doing something I loved. (Turned out I couldn't make a living doing it, but that's a detail.) If I hadn't loved every second of it, I couldn't have stood it, and this is in the days before tuition fees, AND the government paid me a grant. The idea of racking up thousands of £-worth of debt, studying something you don't care about and wouldn't want to pursue as a career, turns my stomach.

If you are that serious about your drumming, and believe that you have the ability, then my advice would be to study drums at the Guildhall. Their graduates have a 100% employment success rate. They don't take many drummers, so you have to be shit-hot even to get in.

Whatever you do, don't go to BIMM in London.
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Haha so BIMM not thought of highly? Yeah I don't imagine I'd get in to guildhall, not sure if I need prior skills in aural/orchestral stuff, or just kit either.

I guess the thing with this is I want to play kit, not really the triangle in an orchestra. Not sure how it works.

Really though I will probably suck it up and finish my degree, it isn't totally unbearable, and really I don't seem to have many other realistic options (i.e. guildhall is probably too competitive)
 
Drumsarefun said:
I suppose a lot of those skills I can self teach / learn as part of bands/orchestra at uni though?
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Indeed, you don't have to become proficient at those other instruments, and I think that [for some] a handful of lessons can serve one well.

I just found this somewhat relevant note about studio musicians, and where that person is headed: https://youtu.be/CcKFiDONNDI

That's just one of many outlets and opportunities.
 
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