In our first module at my recent educational institute we had the assignment to make a businessplan and marketingplan. It was a very extensive and intensive course but we made an awesome concept and the effort put into it was well spend.
Another assignment was to record a band and make an EP. (Extended Play).
Unfortunately I was not in a group until the deadline passed nor groups were assigned by a teacher at the beginning of the course. This situation gave me a false start. But since it was required in the first module to record an EP from start to finish, I laid out the cards myself and got in touch with this amazing band who wanted to record their EP. And so we did! From pre production to mastering, everything was done by me.
The school I attended in Toronto prepared me so well for these situations that I dove into the project and had the job done quite fast. Although I was not allowed to submit the assignment since it was a group project. But I have made great connections to a new network of people and I showed that I am capable of managing all stages in recording myself. Also brewing good coffee is added to the list of skills I currently posses!!
We are also being educated in studies of cultures. which is a broad subject and has many aspects. We as creative human beings, are surrounded with different cultures that I believe on the long run will be a mixed culture that will feel as a whole new one. I have an example.
Today in the capital of the Netherlands you can not walk into some stores and ask one of the staff a question in Dutch anymore. The other day I asked someone in Dutch, if she had a size medium shirt. The seller said: “I can’t speak Dutch, English?” I was surprised and switched to English for her. (They did not have my size shirt by the way). Later she asked me what the word “size” was in Dutch and I replied with “maat”. Before I left, the saleswoman said from the back of the store: “Next time we hope to have your maat in stock”, and we both laughed. What I am trying to say here is that we adopt words from other countries. The Dutch language for example is full of them; Paraplu which means umbrella but comes from French: “parapluie”. But we do not always change them a bit, we also just copy them: Computer, Überhaupt, Sultan, those are all words we have adopted.
We as creative people also do that with music too. We use what is given and alter it a bit, reproduce it in a slightly different way to make it ours.
This rule counts for every course that is being giving at my recent educational institute. Wether it is business and marketing, individual essays, audio for video or the studies of cultures. This way people attending these courses can take it all in and use what they need to further develop their skills. With help and support from the professionals that wants us to succeed.
Full Sonics 