MI Hollywoord/Berklee

[hybrid]

I'm thinking about doing a certificate course or even a degree in commercial music in either one of these..just got a few questions for you people who are in the music biz.

Are these schools really recognised in the industry?

Are the standards of these schools really high? Like, audition tape requirement etc...

How big is MI? (2000 students or something?)

Should I complete a bachelor degree on something else (I have psychology/criminology in mind) before I do those course/degrees?

 

I really want to do some intensive contemporary music studies but I don't want to limit myself by not doing other degress in a noraml college....

[6am eternal]

hybrid, let me ask you a question: should I buy a boat? should I start exercising? How much: 1/2 hour a day?

 

I'm not sure you get my point so here it is: WHAT IS YOUR GOAL?!

 

That's the first question you have to ask yourself, and spend time coming with a detailed answer, as clear as possible.

 

I'm an MI alumni (3 years ago), and I have spent a couple hours visiting Berklee when I was in Boston. Two totally different schools (from what I've seen of Berklee).

 

Berklee is more academic. More serious. More theory, reading, studies, bigger library, better facilities, bigger campus, older looking but yet with a lot of technologies, like internet access in the library (MI still doesn't offer that to their students as far as I know).

 

MI is more street oriented. More laid back. More fun, jams, playing live on stage with your teachers, putting your band together, smoking joints on the roof, surfing all day on Venice beach instead of practicing, this is California.

 

I'm not sure how Berklee works, so I'll tell you about my experience of MI. MI is a business. If you have money to give them, they want you. There is a fake aution tape thing going on but I doubt they ever listen to it. Once there you'll share classes with students who don't know how many strings there are on a guitar, or have never seen a real piano from less than 10 ft. The level of classes is disappointing, there is no organization, the degrees mean nothing, you can basically do whatever you want. A lot of the classes are based on "open counseling", which is basically a teacher in a 6x6' room with 5 chairs, and 5 students jaming with the teachers. A few teachers make the students take turns, listen and then criticize. Most just jam with or without you, and couldn't care less if you're plugged into an amp or not, and raise their volume if they start hearing your playing.

 

At MI, the theory classes are a joke. Actually, come to think of it, I believe the MI is a big joke. A big $3,500/quarter joke. It is run by japanese industrials who have never been there and don't know the difference between music and sushi. But depending on what you're looking for, you might, after some digging, find what you're looking for in a couple of their classes.

 

If you ever end up going to MI anyway, their best classes are LPW: Live Playing Workshop. You go to the library get tapes of songs you have to learn for the following week, and then you show up to the LPW knowing you song like you're going on an audition. You sign up, and when they call you, you go onstage with other students on bass, drums and keyboards (I'm assuming you play guitar, but it works the same for whatever instrument), and you play the song in front of the other students waiting their turn to play. Depending on how serious you are and how often you show up, and how many people want to play that song that week, you might play it a couple times, or you might wait 2 hours to get on stage and play it once. Don't expect the teachers to make any comments on your playing, though, they're too busy picking their feet. But it's good for you. In the end I was doing that everyday, and I ended up making friends with the guitar teacher, who let me play the song with the Bass teacher, drums teacher sometimes, and then that's really something. Those cats have been on tour with David Lee Roth and the likes. Quite an experience.

 

But you see what I mean: it's not all in the curriculum. It's what you're ready to try to do yourself, like making friends with a teacher, helping out after the class, doing the sound one day, the lights another, hanging around....street smart. Which can, or cannot, be a good thing.

 

I don't know what else to tell you. Feel free to ask me questions? I'm going out for a double double at in'n' out!

 

Cheers.

[BlueStrat]

My sax player is a Berklee graduate. He says it's more for players who want to be "legit". It's more performance oriented and less business. Great place to go to study classical or jazz, or so he says, but pop off with some blues or rock and roll and people turn their noses up at you and use terms like "working man chops", "blue collar players", etc.. At least that's how it used to be.

[Scheming Demon]

Wow sounds great, where do I sign up? Since I already know 1000's of songs I can get really really good at some recreational drug use which I gave up a very long time ago.

[hybrid]

Originally posted by Scheming Demon Wow sounds great, where do I sign up? Since I already know 1000's of songs I can get really really good at some recreational drug use which I gave up a very long time ago.

 

cost heaps though...

 

It's a bit of a disappointment about MI...never realised it's so business-like. I was expecting an institution with high standard and good teachers...I expected drugs and all, but still....oh well....I'm still interested in doing a 10-weeks course since getting high and just {censored}ing around for 2 months is not too much to ask for after my HSC (something like SAT for you americans:D)...if my parents are willing to pay/ if it fits my schedule...

 

Thanks heaps guys.

[ms.rekha]

I went to Berklee 10 years ago, and even though I was too busy smoking pot to graduate (the place ain't cheap!), the lessons I learned there have taken me far....

 

I, too, had heard stories of the intellectual, snobbish Berklee student. DISREGARD. Sure, you will overhear some ridiculous discussions ("Well, in that case why wouldn't you hyper-modulate to mixolydian and then split the octave"..... and I quote!!) but those discussions are usually held by incoming freshman boys who are just learning about theory and want to have a "My theory is bigger than yours" contest.

 

The level of talent in Boston is unbelievable, and many people just "hang around" Berklee to soak up the environment. Though I wouldn't recommend you do that if you're in the UK. Boston isn't a cheap city to live in and the American economy is a little precarious right now. In other words, if you're going to Boston for Berklee, go to class!

 

It won't be cheap and -- no -- it won't be easy. That said, the general education courses were a joke (of course I left in Dec.'93 so please don't take my word for it). By gen ed I mean: English, History, etc.,

 

The music classes, however ..... well!

 

You'll have access to state-of-the-art equipment;24 hour practice spaces; and always, always, the chance to hang and play with other musicians.

 

If you're young and fresh out of highschool, my advice would be to wait a year or two.... especially if you're not highly self-motivated and lacking in theory/experience. When I entered at age 19 I had 15 years of piano experience behind me and, even by Berklee standards, had a high level of technical skill. That translates to: I could read and play and had more than a basic knowledge of theory.

 

I did not, however, have much confidence or motivation or discipline. Many incoming young freshman enter Berklee after being "the {censored}" in their highschool/hometown. It's daunting, to say the least, to realize you can't comp a lead sheet worth {censored}....have no idea how to correctly arrange a horn chart...etc.,

A couple of well meaning peers took me aside and suggested I go to class, get serious, but I have to admit the first year and half all I did was smoke pot, jam from time to time and PASSED HISTORY OF ROCK.

 

I got serious after a long while and buckled down. Have to say I really enjoyed the school after that. My teachers ran the gamut between very lax (yes, there was one I would burn joints with, but MAN did he teach me about comping changes!) and very strict.

 

Berklee is, at the heart, a vocational school. You will leave there with many, many tools for turning that inner soundwave into living, breathing music.

 

I have found that my Berklee experience has opened many doors for me. When people find out I attended they are much more willing to give me the chance. And I'm still using the lessons I learned there 10 years ago....TODAY!

 

Good luck with your choices!