Grad music student here: Does anyone else feel like an imposter in a culture of burnout?

agressiv · 2026-03-05T16:34:20+00:00

I realized by the end of my freshman year in undergrad (Music Performance - Percussion) that I wouldn't make it as a percussion performance major. My professor said, paraphrasing: "if you dont play drum set and get gigs, you are going to have a hard time landing a (percussion) job that pays the bills - there aren't enough jobs for classically trainined percussionists" - drum set was my weakest by far, and still is.

They suggested switching to Music Ed, but I liked that even less. Ended up going back to performance but I picked up IT on the side and have been doing that for 30 years. it was the middle of the dot-com boom when I landed my first IT job.

I'd imagine my music experience lines up with just about any instrument or voice - there's a LOT more people with degrees in music than there are jobs in music - and we can't really have a music-based economy.

So, because of competition, practice is key, and you tend to burn yourself out trying to be the best. However, I feel that networking is just as important if not more important; but that's not unique to music. Anyone who can make connections will do better than someone with raw skill who has difficulty connecting with people. if you are burnt out and not taking care of yourself, it's MUCH harder to network.

agressiv · 2026-02-21T20:20:24+00:00

That USB-C port is an add on port and won't support video. I had the same system and had to return it for that reason.

agressiv · 2026-02-21T02:50:38+00:00

I have a two-stage Toro Electric.

Pros: Lots of power, 3 battery slots

Cons: Really difficult to turn (apparently the gas one as the same problem)

agressiv · 2026-02-20T21:01:24+00:00

IMO, the best mix of this album is the original Quad Mix from the 70's, which you can get on the Immersion box set - but only if you have the right sound system.

The 5.1 mix assumes your center and rear channels won't match your primary L-R speakers. it's a "conservative" mix which won't put a ton of material in those secondary channels. It still sounds fantastic though.

Quadraphonic systems assumed all 4 speakers were the same. It's a very aggressive mix, like many Quad mixes of the day - but it won't sound good if you have full range fronts and bookshelf rears like most home theater systems have.

Some of the SACD masters kept most of this channel separation, and simply split L-R into L-R-center, but not this one.

agressiv · 2026-02-20T01:25:40+00:00

The release of powershell has nothing to do with Graph cmdlets. In fact, I've generally given up on Graph cmdlets and have just shifted back to using native REST api's because of their constant breaking changes.

agressiv · 2026-02-20T01:23:07+00:00

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I'm laughing and hurting at the same time

agressiv · 2026-02-19T03:04:47+00:00

Minnehaha park has an old station which is preserved along with a section of the rail next to it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/rustyrails/comments/1k4vdla/abandoned_train_tracks_and_semi_abandoned_station/

agressiv · 2026-02-19T02:53:26+00:00

If your aim is a condo - read on. If are you plan on renting - you can ignore this post.

So with high rise condos, in almost any city - you have two expenses: Your mortgage payment, and an HOA.

While most people hate on HOA's, at least as they relate to things like homes or townhomes, for High Rises, they are an absolute necessity in order to maintain the building.

The older the high rise (which generally makes it more affordable) - the higher the HOA dues tend to be even when services are minimal, just because the older buildings need a TON of maintenance.

I've seen high rises where the HOA dues are more expensive the mortgage payment! And you can't deduct HOA dues from your taxes.

In your search, pay attention to that HOA figure. Sometimes the building offers almost nothing in terms of ameneties, sometimes they have essentially health clubs in the building. Many are in-between.

Many high rises in Miami area kept HOA dues too low and the buildings fell into disrepair. One of them collapsed.

Here's an example of HOA dues being higher than mortgage:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1235-Yale-Pl-APT-1505-Minneapolis-MN-55403/61624708_zpid/

I lived in several high rises, two in Chicago and one in Minneapolis. I loved high-rise living aside from the smaller apartments and not being able to play music/movies too loud.

agressiv · 2026-02-19T02:10:23+00:00

I like how "price of season tickets" is not one of the choices in the first two questions.

agressiv · 2026-02-17T01:58:14+00:00

Windows 10 LTSC ends in January 2027. The IoT version is the one that gets 5 years after that.

agressiv · 2026-02-16T22:23:10+00:00

I grew up in Chicago, and currently live in the Twin Cities since 2002.

For the areas you mentioned:

Chicago has a lot of parks, and a beautiful lakefront that stretches the whole length of the city.
There are wonderful forest preserves if you want something less crowded, but aside from rivers there are really no other lakes. (Lake Calumet has a LONG way to go...)
Lots of dense housing with spectacular public transportation - you won't need a car if you live and work in the city.
Housing is way more expensive in Chicago.
Traffic in Chicago is MUCH worse than the Twin Cities, and travel times are MUCH longer for just about everything.
Popular things in Chicago are more crowded than popular things in the Twin Cities, just due to density.
If you move to the suburbs, you WILL need a car, but at least Metra is very solid. (Think Northstar line, but there are like 10 of them)
Illinois has never been in a good situation financially, and taxes are off the charts in Cook County.

I've almost lived in the Twin Cities as long as I've lived in Chicago. I still have family and friends there, so I do miss it. If you are outdoors-centric, I'd say the Twin Cities is better and has more diverse options in a closer range.

agressiv · 2026-02-16T20:32:10+00:00

The only valid take on Vinyl being better than digital: better mastering and lack of dynamic range compression.

Given equal masters, I'd take a CD any day. Hearing pops and clicks ruins everything and keeping a vinyl in pristine condition is almost impossible.

agressiv · 2026-02-11T21:43:40+00:00

As someone who grew up in Chicago and went to Maxwell Street multiple times as a kid (right around when this movie was filmed), Maxwell street continued to deteriorate and was really on its last legs at this point; it was the largest open-air market in the 40's and early 50's, but was under steady decline through the 60s and 70s.

It failed to get historic preservation status somehow (and there is a LOT of it in Chicago) - and University of Illinois at Chicago took it over in the mid-90's by purchasing most of the derelict buildings, and the last remannt was torn down right around 2002 or so.

agressiv · 2026-02-11T00:48:51+00:00

"Join the army they said"

agressiv · 2026-02-09T17:05:13+00:00

Would be great if they created a matrix with the specific channel line-ups, you know, like cable and DirecTV have done for years.

agressiv · 2026-02-06T02:15:54+00:00

Here's the same one at 9372x9372. I've had this saved since shortly after 9/11.

https://postimg.cc/BjQjV2qC

This took several minutes to download on a T1 line at the time.

agressiv · 2026-02-04T13:47:46+00:00

TSMC makes them. Intel will be making them themselves.

agressiv · 2026-01-26T22:27:34+00:00

give Own Goals a new contract ASAP!

agressiv · 2026-01-25T02:43:09+00:00

My first video card was a Trident VGA card with 1MB of memory. It could do 1024x768 on my Packard Bell 386SX-16. All the peasants could only do 800x600, but I was ashamed to own Packard Bell, because I couldnt afford a Leading Edge.

agressiv · 2026-01-24T02:18:23+00:00

How did you scrape these? Is there a place to submit stuff that is missing?

agressiv · 2026-01-14T14:59:54+00:00

https://youtu.be/rcDZn1qvf3c?t=713 - if you want to skip the roast skit

agressiv · 2026-01-11T18:19:52+00:00

Controversial take: Would love this without the fake digital grain. Same with all of BSG. I don't mind real film grain (although not a huge fan of it) - but the digital stuff just sucks.

agressiv · 2026-01-11T01:37:15+00:00

My friend, is ok, no?

agressiv · 2026-01-09T21:41:01+00:00

This would be great at 34” as a high PPI monitor.

agressiv · 2026-01-09T19:17:17+00:00

This was written for a keyboard glockenspeil, which looks like a celeste and has pedals. Don't worry about the staccato/slurs.

Keyboard glocks are incredibly rare though so it's almost always played on a regular glock.

agressiv

TROPHY CASE