<p>I am a computer engineering major who is ready to transfer this year. I really want to grow as a musician. This is difficult with such a demanding major. My idea was that I could minor in music so i would be forced to progress musically. Music is purely a personal choice and not a professional choice. UCSC has an electronic music minor. Does anyone have any experience with this as a minor? my other idea was to just take lessons on the side. I don't have very much musical background and I've always wanted to create music. i also love playing around with recording equipment. any ideas?</p>
<p>You do not say where you are now or how far along you are towards a BS. Depending on availability, you could consider taking some classes in music and technology where you are, to see how you like that field, before transferring. Or perhaps you have other reasons to transfer. </p>
<p>I actually know a few computer science/software engineering folks who later studied music and technology (electronic, electroacoustic, multi-media, interdisciplinary are all terms you will find describing programs) on the graduate level. Take a look at the Brown MEME program or the Bard MFA programs as examples. Most likely the UC system, Cal Arts, UCSD, UCSC, Berkeley etc. also have programs like this.</p>
<p>Have you composed music at all in the past?</p>
<p>How does the minor at UCSC fit in with requirements for the degree you are working on? What would you do privately on the side, performance, composition, music technology work?</p>
<p>I think it’s great that you want to progress musically and hope you can make it work.</p>
<p>If you like the electronic music genre, it’s a good fit with your computer engineering major, so why not!</p>
<p>Where are you transferring from/to? Are you looking for programs that combine the two, or are unsure if you have the portfolio/audition experience for those types of programs?</p>
<p>Standford, btw, has an electronic music masters program specifically for engineer undergrads…so if you just continue your degree, take lessons on the side or a minor, and then find you really really want to go further, that’s an option ;)</p>
<p>all my life i have had a desire to be a proficient musician but for some reason it never really happened. i have some pretty basic musicianship skills, however i would consider myself a beginner in pretty much all the important ones, reading music, improvising, composing, ect. I joined a guitar ensemble in my community college which i enjoyed however I noticed that it took time away from my physics course and i got a C. so to answer your question i have most of my lower division coursework for Comp Eng. done, i have taken one music theory class, and a few basic instrument classes (class piano, class guitar) and one ensemble class (guitar ensemble. my choice right now that i am having trouble with is between UC Irvine which is a very good school that is offering me a lot of money to go there but has no music minor, or Cal State Long Beach, also a good school but not as good as UCI, and probably won’t offer me near has much money to go there as UCI will, however they have a music minor program. I really want to go to UCI because they will pay for me to live on campus, but i really want to progress musically which i can do at Long Beach with their music minor. I’m just torn.</p>
<p>I just looked at the electronic music minor at UCSC out of curiosity and think you might want to talk with someone at the school or at Irvine or Long Beach for that matter, to see what kind of foundational work you need in music in order to do electronic music. Most music departments now have some electroacoustic composition lab and classes. But I think of this as being for advanced composers after doing a couple of years of theory and other studies.</p>
<p>As always, I could be wrong, and others can contribute more feedback on this.</p>
<p>If uc irvine is giving you a lot of money, would you consider taking classes on the side to develop your musicianship and then maybe looking at going for the second major in music tech, or self studying to eventually apply by portfolio to something like this masters program? – this is fairly well known among electronic musicians and a student from my son’s program has attended it. It’s one of a mere handful of intergrated MFAs in its disciplines of high calibre in the country. While one normally has a music degree as a foundation, you may find other ways to access it
[About</a> icit](<a href=“http://music.arts.uci.edu/icit/]About”>ICIT | Integrated Composition Improvisation and Technology – A Doctoral Degree in Music at the University of California, Irvine)</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the other school you’re looking at, but uci seems like a good fit for someone interested in computers and electronic music. I don’t think it matters whether you minor or not – many music schools do not allow for minors, for a variety of good reasons – but the trick would be to see if they would let you take some of the classes and studio by special permission. This does happen.</p>
<p>Eg. If you study music “academically” you can minor, but whenever there’s a serious “hands on” style program it’s rare to find a minor available because of the sequencing. Eg. not to many self-respecting composition classes will let you in without the prereq theory, etc. But sometimes you can still “get what you need.”</p>
<p>Example: friend of son’s was a great musician but not as experienced in composition and production as my son during high school. He wanted into a specialized music technology/comp/electronic favored program that is highly competitive (which my son attended.) He wasn’t accepted, but was able to take several of the lower level classes and develop his work, and is now situated to play 3 upcoming festivals/shows with my son and another major from the program. </p>
<p>So he was around the right people, instructors and program and although not a major, has enhanced his talent considerably whereby he was chosen over someone else who hadn’t accessed much electronic music/interactive performance training (but who was an excellent musician.)</p>
<p>This is a small example, but to my mind a minor is not particularly valuable on paper as far as the paper itself goes, but the intrinsic learning is what’s valuable, and so are the peers. So to me, it would be better to access the training (and peers) you need at the place with the strongest major program than worrying too much about whether they let you put it on paper or not.</p>
<p>There are always many ways to achieve your goal and in your case if you’re not at a place to access portfolio or auditioned programs that does not lock you out of developing your skill to the level at some future point where you can enjoy or employ your potential :)</p>
<p>So I’d say take the money, and take every opportunity you can to access the resources on and off campus to develop your potential. There are so any ways to put a CS degree to work in the field of electronic music that I’d say keep going that direction and find a way to merge the two eventually.</p>
<p>Life’s a marathon, not a race, and time is on your side :)</p>