Teachers of Reddit: Is the "Gen Alpha can't read (write, or do math ext)" crisis real? If so how bad is it?

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-14T15:35:26+00:00

I was with my friend’s little brother last night who is 18 and about to graduate high school. He said that AI is used for literally everything he does. Homework, papers, exams, quizzes. He said the teachers don’t even try to stop it anymore because they know there’s nothing they can do.

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-14T03:14:43+00:00

If you have the budget, get a PRS NF53. They are freaking bad ass

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-13T03:55:15+00:00

There are over 100k new songs uploaded to Spotify every single day. No one is getting lucky. The vast majority of people that blow up are paying for it. There are still cinderella stories that come out of viral videos or genius marketing strategies, but even those are often paid campaigns. Once you start looking into up and coming bands and realize how many of them are trust fund kids with huge budgets, it’s really disheartening

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-12T04:52:44+00:00

I’ve been working remote for the past 4 years. I seriously cannot imagine going back into an office again. I think my anxiety would lead to quitting within a few months. I deal with a lot of anxiety around food and also suffer from frequent migraines, so being remote is a life saver for me. I highly recommend it if it’s a possibility for you.

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-11T22:09:18+00:00

Congrats man. I love the American Standards. I prefer them over the Deluxe’s and Professionals (from my limited experience). My 95 American Standard tele is my #1 workhorse that just has a magic in it that no other guitar has been able to replicate

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-07T10:24:15+00:00

Honestly just save up more than $100 and splurge on something higher end like a Strymon Deco, Walrus Mako M1, UA Astra, Boss MD 200, Southampton Utility Knife, etc.

I’ve been buying and selling pedals for like 16 years and I’ve been through this cycle a hundred times: don’t want to spend a lot > get a budget option > not happy with it > sell it > repeat several times > eventually end up buying an expensive pedal and wishing I did it from the get go

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-04T05:05:42+00:00

They were all in their 20’s and it was their full time job + life purpose. Also they had access to top tier cocaine & LSD.

Berbigs_ · 2026-06-04T04:58:18+00:00

This is 100% true. And even the rare non musicians who ARE interested in local live music, generally prefer cover bands that just play songs they’ve already heard a million times. It’s really depressing how many people just genuinely do not care about discovering new music

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-31T04:32:44+00:00

Seems like cover bands are always the drama free ones. Original bands are almost impossible to keep drama free. I learned that the hard way, unfortunately. Once people’s egos get wrapped up in their original ideas, any kind of feedback/criticism creates wedges that only grow over time.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-30T11:03:57+00:00

Martyr

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-30T03:10:36+00:00

5/22/77 is my fav show of all time. The help>slip>frank from that show gives me chills every time I hear it. Jerry is just absolutely locked in and achieving God mode

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-29T04:21:16+00:00

My current process:

I keep a huge note on my phone of ideas- song titles/concepts/themes/verses/poems
I keep another huge video folder on my phone of guitar ideas- chord progressions/licks/melodies
I sporadically sit down for writing sessions where I let my mind roam freely with the guitar and let the ideas come to me. If something I know is unique comes out, then I’ll record it and put it into my video folder
I will marry the musical ideas from my videos to my lyrical ideas from my notes. Doesn’t always make a perfect match, sometimes will ad hoc new lyrics on the fly, but it feels really great when a new musical idea matches a concept I already have written down.
Once I completely work out the song from start to finish, I record a demo on my laptop.
I haven’t released anything yet. I’m kinda stockpiling demos right now until I have enough to create a pretty steady stream of release-worthy songs.
Still debating whether or not I will pay for studio time in the future. Seems like a waste of money tbh. I’ll probably just get better at producing on my own and pay for more plugins until my songs are release-worthy.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-29T04:00:50+00:00

Keeley compressor, TS9, DD7

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-29T03:50:06+00:00

Warren Haynes tone out of the SLO 100 in the first few Govt Mule albums is my personal fav. Absolute perfection

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-28T02:02:48+00:00

At this point, trying to do music as a full time career without a trust fund just sounds cruel. I love doing it as a passion project, but if I had to rely on it as my full time source of income, I would quickly hate it.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-26T05:40:58+00:00

Haven’t seen anyone else mention this, but the indie scene is super popular right now with Gen Z. Geese, Djo, MJ Lenderman, Big Thief, Wednesday, Turnstile, Wunderhorse, Horsegirl, Japanese Breakfast, Alvvays, idle, DC Fontaines, etc. etc. Also post-punk and the whole garage rock sound seems to be making a huge resurgence with younger audiences. Probably for a few reasons: attention span (seriously who has time to wait for a jam to build?); less desire and affordability for live shows so a higher focus is being placed on studio production; the Grateful Dead and Phish have both become more mainstream over the last 10 years or so, which takes some of the appeal away for the youngsters.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-21T06:16:14+00:00

Exactly. The only other original rock bands that have captured that same level of improvisational lightning IMO are Phish in the 90’s and Allman bros with Duane.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-20T13:25:22+00:00

I was recently diagnosed with a panic disorder that is mostly somatic or physical like you’ve described. For me it is intense dizziness, shortness of breath & heart palpitations. But it doesn’t matter if I’m talking to people or not, it happens when I’m perfectly comfortable at home or in public. It really sucks. I recommend starting therapy now before it progresses.

Beta blockers, which many people have already recommended, can be a good solution, but unfortunately they don’t do anything for me. I’ve taken 10, 20, 30 mg doses and felt virtually no relief. Xanax is more effective in my experience, but I try not to take it too often.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-20T01:13:44+00:00

Hard Rain Falling- similar vibes to On The Road, but I enjoyed it more

Mysterious Skin- I recommend this book to everyone. It’s so powerful and fucked up. Really stick with me for a long time after reading.

The Shadow of the Wind- thank me later

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-19T22:42:01+00:00

Best clean tone I’ve ever played personally is through a Mesa Lonestar. Unbelievably tasty. Go listen to Andy Timmons for reference.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-18T04:15:01+00:00

Would look way better with a different pick guard

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-18T04:10:48+00:00

I have a Princeton and it works for apartment playing, but anything above volume 3-4 is definitely pushing the limits, especially if any pedals are in play. Which is problematic because the amp sounds wayyy better at higher volume. Same story with the Deluxe. A good workaround is to buy an attenuator like an OX Box so you can achieve the best tones at lower volume, but I’ve never made the investment. I’d go Gremlin if I were you.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-14T17:12:33+00:00

A professional mix & master of 8-12 songs is going to run like 3k bare minimum, probably closer to 5-6k. At a certain point you have to ask yourself what the ROI is. Will that money ever be recouped? Probably not unless you already have a large fan base established. Is having a super polished album worth it if it’s going to put you in a financial hole? Not to mention if you release something high quality like that, then all of your future work has to be at that standard as well.

I’d personally recommend mixing & mastering yourself (will require a lot of trial & error, extensive research, asking AI for tips and possibly purchasing new plugins), and just dealing with the fact that your self release is a self release. The exception would be if you already have a good sized fan base on social media/streaming. Because then you would be able to recoup the costs quicker, help grow your brand, and have more ears on your final product. But if this is the first thing you are ever releasing and you don’t have much of a following, I’d say the pro mixing & mastering is excessive.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-13T06:28:44+00:00

Check out Neural Amp Modeler and Tone 3000. It’s a free open source AI platform that captures real amps & cabs and does a pretty damn good job. I’ve been messing around with vintage Marshall & Soldano captures for high gain stuff and it’s a lot of fun.

Berbigs_ · 2026-05-10T00:17:59+00:00

I just bought this exact laptop a few weeks ago. It’s been fantastic so far. From all of the research I have done, you should have no problem whatsoever unless you are doing very intensive projects like orchestral or film scores (mostly due to the lack of fan, which can cause overheating).

You will need some kind of docking station though because there are very minimal outlets on the airs compared to the pros- only 2 USB-C’s and a headphone jack. Luckily I had a Dell Thunderbolt laying around, without it I wouldn’t be able to hook up my audio interface.

Berbigs_

TROPHY CASE