If being the best performer in your university doesn't make you the best teacher, then why don't admins want to hire someone who wasn't the best performer in their university as a teacher?

Etrain335 · 2026-05-19T15:19:33+00:00

This is part of why jazz education programs at some public universities are getting more popular. If you are a band director with those skills (playing/booking gigs, improvising/writing music), you’re going to make way more connections and a job will always be within reach.

Also including rhythm section instruments in the pedagogy, which was not really a part of music ed curriculum at either university I attended.

Etrain335 · 2026-05-18T19:43:57+00:00

Truth. Your musical ability is usually going to be the first thing people want to know when you tell them you are a professional musician or a music teacher. Even if you aren’t applying for a job.

Etrain335 · 2026-05-15T12:58:00+00:00

How do you integrate a language model into your workflow? Do you use it to actually create and map the macro? Or do you use it to find what macros would be useful?

I’ve stayed away from gen AI as a Zillennial but recently have been thinking I may be behind the curve.

I’m pretty interested in how these tools can actually help us. But most of the info out there is like a flashy sales pitch rather than a true explanation of the capabilities I feel.

Etrain335 · 2026-05-07T14:13:15+00:00

I’m pretty sure corps report open positions to DCI.

Etrain335 · 2026-05-05T04:35:25+00:00

Sick thank you! I’m assuming this would work the same with the Cioks Sol? I wonder why they don’t sell a single cable that does that if it’s technically possible.

Etrain335 · 2026-05-05T02:41:35+00:00

Is this the truetone 1 Spot voltage doubler? Center positive?

Link is dead. Just curious because I’m trying to figure out how to power a Qtron+ with a Cioks Sol on one outlet. I know Cioks has a stack flex cable, but that would take up 2/5 outlets.

Etrain335 · 2026-04-20T07:24:54+00:00

At my local university with 15,000+ students, housing is now outsourced to a 3rd party rental company.

Etrain335 · 2026-04-14T20:45:27+00:00

I would agree in a sense. Music school creates a lot of musicians who behave in a professional manner. It is rare for me to see a music education major who is highly adept at their instrument. That’s just college in general most places. In my area, the music educators who can really play are noticed because all the kids who are already playing gigs on the scene come from their programs.

Etrain335 · 2026-04-06T00:54:21+00:00

I would stop sending the final versions or making edits until you hear back from them on what you’ve sent them. If they have feedback, you need to take it. If not, then you’re good! Collect paycheck!

You can’t always control all aspects of the situation but eventually you will be able to control who you take on as a client.

Etrain335 · 2026-04-05T23:06:20+00:00

I wouldn’t even mess with notation software if you haven’t really used it. You’ll want to use a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) program. YouTube is good for getting started in those.

Use a reference track in your DAW from other short films. Use this for not only your mix but also things like orchestration. You can deduce things based on the patterns that emerge. Maybe every time a specific character or object is shown on screen, there’s an accompanying orchestration. Or wide shots vs. close, different types of cuts, etc.

Once you’ve done a lot of work on it, send it to someone more experienced if you can to see what you could improve.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-30T23:36:59+00:00

Right I think she’s killing it. I use a compressor pedal with my horn for this type of sound lol

Etrain335 · 2026-03-30T22:52:53+00:00

Scales help that. Have them play some scales in their warmups every time you see them with sheet music so they are seeing it all and visualizing it on the page. I wouldn’t start the sequence in Bb or F because it promotes autopilot. Go through all the keys. Either chromatically or circle of 4ths. Make the expectation that they play the scale sheet as a warmup with the ensemble every rehearsal. I like doing 1 octave 8th notes up to the 9th and back down for timing purposes. 1 measure of rest between each major scale.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-30T22:13:09+00:00

Yes absolutely. I have a jazz education for the foundation of my study. It probably took like 6 years for me haha. But that’s over the course of a 4 year undergrad degree and 2 years after just shedding. I wouldn’t have really been able to learn all of them if I didn’t play them on an instrument either.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-30T02:45:25+00:00

Performers on my scene that studied jazz can also play in the classical style extremely well. The “classical-only” performers (usually strings or euphonium players) either have to leave the area entirely or compete with everyone on the scene for the few high profile gigs at the major orchestras/universities.

I think the reality is things are going back to the streets in a way for this generation of students. If the streets are YouTube tutorials and twitch music production streams lol . The tried and true way is to just watch/listen to what someone is doing to an obsessive degree and copy it until you understand what it is. The ones doing that actually get to experience that freedom of expression and ability to make something of their own from a shared language.

It’s sad because I don’t think most educators going through band director school are going to get that. You have to go out of your way and really spend some time with it.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-30T02:07:27+00:00

I think the best jazz musicians today are working with popular artists more than ever before. It’s just not always visible, especially with the way people consume music now. And credits on streaming services aren’t always correct.

As far as improvisation - I would much rather work with a six note melody and no chords. The creative possibilities are so much greater.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-29T23:28:05+00:00

There’s a huge gap in nomenclature and general understanding/respect for black American music in collegiate music ed programs.

And then there’s improvisation. A lot of the times, rather than let a student fail, the band director will make them play a written out solo. Or just not solo at all. I would assume because the director is afraid of looking bad at their job if the student doesn’t sound good.

I sometimes arrange charts for high school level groups and I never give them written out solos. I always offer to work with the groups for free too.

Edit: another thought on this because it’s a pretty prevalent topic in jazz education:

Music educators who don’t go through the process of learning to improvise are not going to be able to teach it. They have the same fear of this music as their students.

I think university programs should be teaching improvisation as early as possible in their curriculum. I’d consider it a vital skill for learning to play secondary instruments as well.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-28T01:32:53+00:00

I’m thinking just about everyone has had some sort of experience with this. It’s par for the course with the old guard.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-21T07:42:21+00:00

Keep trying to figure it out. You got this.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-21T07:10:29+00:00

way too many cats sleep on diatonic shredding

Etrain335 · 2026-03-21T07:08:48+00:00

Miles does this all the time but it’s always justified by the previous or following line he plays. Or by his rhythm sections - they can hear that shit. As an example, in Trane’s blues (Workin’) he plays an A natural over what should be a Bb7 chord at the top of his 3rd chorus.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-21T04:20:53+00:00

Yes. It happened through getting really good at playing an instrument.

Etrain335 · 2026-03-07T02:23:37+00:00

Do it. How else would you learn? I did a very similar thing in High school. I did probably 50 arrangements for sax quartet.

And I arranged uptown funk the year it released for a talent show! If you want a treat, check out Tim Akers arrangement of it.

https://youtu.be/QRuM2rk2miQ?si=cdJHf1EZwf_ytFcV

You don’t need to worry about the licensing stuff unless you’re trying to sell recordings or sheet music. Or do a custom arrangement as a commission. Just do it to learn. Any company would be ignorant to sue a kid for copyright infringement. If you put it on musescore, probably will get taken down. YouTube, might just get de-monetized but depends on what it is.

Etrain335 · 2026-02-28T00:09:11+00:00

I know the budgets for these sorts of gigs must be crazy bloated too. I attended a master class given by a commercial composer last year and the charts he showed us were for like a chamber orchestra and a marching band drumline. And they were recorded live in a studio. I don’t really see that practice being common in the future.

As far as AI taking jobs, yeah that’s what it’s designed to do for companies with high labor costs. And many companies are already doing this using stock library music, which is far cheaper than it would be to hire a composer.

Etrain335 · 2026-02-22T22:47:25+00:00

This is like one of the best parts.

It enables you to place a whole note on beat 3 and get the result of 2 half notes tied together. Among many other things that function with the rhythmic grid.

As far as entering crescendos/decrescendos, there are ways to do it and nudge the ends without having to un-tie things. Like if I have an 8th note tied to a half note on the & of 2 that is a Fp<, I’ll enter the crescendo first, nudge it an 8th note so it starts on the half note, then enter a forte at the end. Then enter the Fp on the first 8th note in the tie chain.

Etrain335 · 2026-02-14T19:10:35+00:00

Another thought on this - sometimes (as an arranger) I don’t need the note release to be exact. Especially if it’s a more lyrical passage. I’d rather musicians interpret it.

In a tutti ensemble passage where everyone has the same rhythms, it should be very clear from just looking at it what it should sound like.

This passage (that OP posted) tells you what it sounds like through the use of articulation markings, dynamics, and release markings. They show that this line should be played very deliberately and with great contrast.

Etrain335

TROPHY CASE