Back at uni...any tips for working on a tight schedule?

[lyons238]

Its nice when your independent study is in electronic music What I do is bring my laptop everywhere with me. Get a good set of headphones and work on ideas/loops/sample hunting in between class if you got like 30 minutes or so. After every class I used to go back to my dorm before going to my other classes, but now I just go to the library or sit somewhere and work a little at a time. But ya.....getting blitzed on the weekend is a lot of fun, but nobody wants to make kicks or eq sub/midrange bass when they're hung over.
Best of luck!

yeah i wish i was in school for electronic music. and yeah working in your daw is not near as pleasant when hungover...

[Ldizzy]

ive spent the 3 years ive spent in uni trying to do one thing : get thru without any regret.

i did it and im glad i put so much effort in my exams and shit.

in the meantime i had very little time to make tunes and finish them, simply because i always had to step out of that "zone" u get into when ur in creative mode... especially me since i now know that sleeping a lot and eating healthily gets me less creative...

however ive understood that i could take this to my advantage, and i basically ended up doing things i wouldve NEVER done without school (besides the fact that school if done properly turns u into a go getter, which is a priceless thing to have when ur a musician)...

by things i wouldve never done i mean : revisit my entire song library, discover new artists, read a lot.... improve technically...

if u cant get in the zone, u can do the dirty saddening work as it fits well with the productive mode of uni... so i ended up learning a bit of music theory, an incredible lot of engineering skills and a refreshed sense of musicality :

- i had never ever fiddled with synthesis before uni. softsynths used to scare the shit out of me except for amp envelopes. now i have an extensive collection of very unique patches and a conviction i could reproduce about any sound in my mind... (or find how to)
- i had never improved on my workflow. now im constantly building a better arsenal and putting stuff together in a way that consolidates my artistic identity
- i didnt' know how to play piano, now i can fuck around.
- i sucked at guitar, and i always will but i suck so much less.
- i did not know SHIT about mixing and mastering, now i can complete mixes by myself
- i ended up posting on forums a lot too hehe

so if u cant create, at least improve. its something u wont even bother doing if u have all ur time to create... life is giving u an opportunity to refresh ur musical self. do it !!!

[lyons238]

ive spent the 3 years ive spent in uni trying to do one thing : get thru without any regret.

i did it and im glad i put so much effort in my exams and shit.

in the meantime i had very little time to make tunes and finish them, simply because i always had to step out of that "zone" u get into when ur in creative mode... especially me since i now know that sleeping a lot and eating healthily gets me less creative...

however ive understood that i could take this to my advantage, and i basically ended up doing things i wouldve NEVER done without school (besides the fact that school if done properly turns u into a go getter, which is a priceless thing to have when ur a musician)...

by things i wouldve never done i mean : revisit my entire song library, discover new artists, read a lot.... improve technically...

if u cant get in the zone, u can do the dirty saddening work as it fits well with the productive mode of uni... so i ended up learning a bit of music theory, an incredible lot of engineering skills and a refreshed sense of musicality :

- i had never ever fiddled with synthesis before uni. softsynths used to scare the shit out of me except for amp envelopes. now i have an extensive collection of very unique patches and a conviction i could reproduce about any sound in my mind... (or find how to)
- i had never improved on my workflow. now im constantly building a better arsenal and putting stuff together in a way that consolidates my artistic identity
- i didnt' know how to play piano, now i can fuck around.
- i sucked at guitar, and i always will but i suck so much less.
- i did not know SHIT about mixing and mastering, now i can complete mixes by myself
- i ended up posting on forums a lot too hehe

so if u cant create, at least improve. its something u wont even bother doing if u have all ur time to create... life is giving u an opportunity to refresh ur musical self. do it !!!

wow quality post man. i very much agree. also you are right even if i cannot create all the time, reading and learning anything to do with music does improve your creation skills with practically 0 time in the daw. that happened to me at the end of last school year. i didnt make any songs but just read a ton over a couple of months and the next song i made was way better.

but yeah i really need to work on musical theory. i just dont know what the best way of learning it is. reading about it? or practicing playing out scales and chords? or both hehe

[victor w]

then i get out of class and i have work and homework and partying.

[sketchyderek]

The amount of shit I get done while I'm supposed to pay attention in class/studying is ridiculous.
I'm just finishing up my commerce degree, and I find most my profs are the same person... Bob Lablaw

Bob Lablaw Bob Lablaw Bob Lablaw Bob Lablaw Bob Lablaw Bla Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.. No need to pay attention to bla bla bla bla bla bla bla

[GV1]

Im back at uni this year to finish degree. i have to run a business plus dedicate to time to personalbprojects and family ... then i can think about musoc lol. plan your time tjough and stick to it. that works best. i make sure my assignments and additional study is done way before hand in dates that way your mind is at rest

[GV1]

Stupid phone makes my writing look poor. ill share my study method when im home.
.

[lyons238]

dont worry GV1 i know your writing is not poor. my phone does the same thing. but yeah im also a HUGE procrastinator. most of my assignments im doing em the last two days before they're do besides the big ones. i dont have the motivation to do em until i absolutely NEED to. not a good habit but i still get good grades. gotta work on that too. hopefully this year ill be able to change some things for the better.

[GV1]

Back now.

It can be difficult to boot yourself up the arse to get assignments done a.s.a.p rather than leaving them till the last minute. But, I messed up once. I had a programming assignment that I though "this is easy, I'll do this a couple days before the deadline". But in that week I was bombarded with problems in life. I was travelling back and forth to parents house, dealing with financial issues, lots of stress and worry too. It became impossible to focus on what needed to be done. I got it done, but I thought to myself never am I going through that again.

I forced my mindest to change, and thought if I do the work now, the day I get the assignment, I can have all the fun in the world without having that assignment screaming in my ear "I NEED TO BE DONE THIS WEEK". And for me it works really well. I'll often put everything in life on hold and get the best grade I can.

I suck at math, and some of the stuff during my Software Engineering degree forced me to go back and learn basic math, then tackle the issues I was having problems with to study for the exams. Even after learning algebra twice I've now forgot it again. I don't use it enough to need to remember it. Poor memory problems maybe, but hey. Anyway, I done the same thing revising for an exam, left it way to late, and I'm not kidding you I got 10% in one of the math exams. I had to explain my issues to the tutor and then they let me retake it. I got 98% the second time. So even from those statistics serious focused studying does matter ... to me.

I love university, but I don't follow the traditions that the kids follow. I'm 27 this year, it just don't appeal to me no more. When I was studying 2 years ago I was chilling with the younger lot, and their lifestyle just did not appeal to me. Drink, drink, more drink, partys daily, more drink, more drink, and this was the lifestyle for most of them. The money that gets wasted is a joke. This also hinders the learning processes. The number of times I walked into lectures late with a stinking hangover looking like something out of a coffin.

Sorry if I'm boring you. Just detailing my experience and mindset.

I dropped out end of my second year to start my business. But I always wanted to go back and just complete something. I left school in year 9, no qualification to my name apart from an Access to ICT course that I got at 23. I mean don't get me wrong, I was far from dumb. Most of the time people would turn to help from me rather than the tutors because I constantly took the monthly prizes for various programming and development competitions. But, anyway, for me, to achieve a degree even though I'd consider myself successful, is real success ...

... and this you cannot afford to waste at any age. You get one shot to break through the industry at a young age. I missed that. But I personally believe people should give university everything they have got. A 1st, with lots of achievements in the processes, is what the young lot should be giving it. Then once you have assignments, and study sessions complete, then go party hard and celebrate.

I made the wrong move at uni the first year. Had to force myself to change.

Even this time round I'll be putting everything on hold just to get the assignments done and to fully understand what's being taught. Here are some key things I do:

* Keep a diary. Make sure everything is planned.
* Produce a timetable. Set hours for study, and set your hours for the gym, music, hobbies etc.
* Eat a hearty breakfast and drink a pint of water before sleep and when you wake up. Seriously, it does work wonders and keeps you refreshed and concentrated at university.
* Stick with peers, but don't stick to their lifestyles, unless you have time.
* Pen and paper in the lectures, stops you browsing Facebook and DSF ... I was a fucker for that. The shit I missed because I was talking to the girlfriend on Facebook about what to have to dinner or how much she wanted me home so she could have sex (you can lol, but I'm being serious).

The bottom line is though, everything HAS to be planned. I'm starting next week, think I might skip Freshers, but if you want to hit me up any time feel free.

Where you studying btw? And what course? I'm at Staffordshire, have to do busses and train from Walsall up there. Nightmare!

[lyons238]

^ i go to Johnson and Wales University. I'm studying to get my major in business management and a minor in marketing.

also, you didnt bore me dont worry. but you seem like a good guy. glad everything did work out in the end for you and your still going for it. u must not be lazy

but yeah, those are some nice tips and i will definitely try to use some of them.

also sorry im not giving a very detailed response like i wanted to im just frustrated right now because i attempted to fix my phone screen which i cracked to shit. so i bought the digitizer online (touch screen) and replaced it, but during the process i cracked the LCD screen underneath it so now its all bled through. so before the outside screen was cracked to shit but it worked fine, now the inside screen is cracked and its pretty much unusable... ughh what a mess. tried to go the cheap route and now imma pay even more than if i just got a new phone for $100 from the insurance company.