The garage is a cold place to practice during Flagstaff winters, but in 2001, while we were building our house on Tombaugh, this was no hindrance to me and my imaginary peers. I just decided to exercise that wonderful right of every pretender and adjust the world according to my wishes. In this case, that meant adding gloves to the uniform of the Conservatory to which I belonged: the Slater Conservatory of Music. I wouldn't change those sweet hours spent practicing, nor the joy of interacting with the shadowy sounds and actions of my imaginary friends, but I will say this: pretence 'aint got nothin' on reality when it comes to music school!
I suppose I should take the time to be thankful that there are no Ms. Meechings as I had imagined, in black, high necked dresses, roaming around; and for that matter, I've not even thought how I didn't need gloves while practicing; but I guess I've been so overwhelmed with the wonders of reality, I haven't needed to search my past to console my present. So there's what Berklee isn't:
- Pretend
- filled with Ms. Meechings and
- Bitterly cold (not inside at least)
First word's that come to my mind:
Unbelievable, wonderful, amazing, marvelous...
Then it kind of just repeats.
I haven't started classes yet but I am eagerly looking forward to the privilege.
Henry and I are comfortably moved into our dorm room and awaiting our third roommate. All I know about her is that she is not a first semester student, has very cute accessories and provably smells like peaches, judging by the fruity assortment of perfumes, soaps, Febreeze, lotions and even scented hairspray. I provably won't meet her until Tuesday when classes begin. Until then however, Henry and I are comfortably situated.
The campus is scattered over a few blocks in Back Bay Boston, but the heart of student actives is the 150 Mass. (Massachusetts) Ave. building. This is due to the fact that I live there.
The cafeteria, most of the classrooms, the library, the media centers, security office, the learning center, most of the practice and recording rooms, as well as the performance center are also in that building. It used to be an old hotel and we eat in the swimming pool. Because the air is so humid anyways though, we hardly mind.
(Just kidding. They filled the pool now we eat on top of it.)
Every night at 10 they clear out the cafeteria and hold student performances. Performances are also held in other parts of campus including personal little halls and the larger performance center. Something I love about Berklee though is that performances are also constantly going on in elevators, and dorm rooms, and lounges, and practice rooms, and class rooms, and bathrooms, and stair wells. Ok, maybe not bathrooms...yet. But just wait till the rest of the students arrive!
Right now, with so few students and no homework, I can say that one of the most beautiful things about music is that you can't lock it up anywhere. Because of that, just sitting in your room is a sort of is a musical expedition, as your neighbors escort you through a smorgasbord of soulful, albeit illegal (we're not supposed to practice in our rooms), expressions. We'll see how I like that during finals.
It seems like every where I go around here I hear little angelic tidbits of unwritten melodies coming from a hidden Voice Majors. It's wonderful!
The practice rooms for percussion are down in the basement and are actually a little sketchy. The ones designated for piano principles (people who have piano as their main instrument), get to practice in the Piano and Percussion building where they have rooms of grand pianos and top quality uprights!
Yesterday we spent the day auditioning for placement in ensembles, and core music classes like theory, arranging, and harmony. I didn't know the answers to a lot of the questions, but I wasn't alone in that. Many of the questions had to do with crazy chords or modes, but some of them were groups of 5 random notes, many in different octaves, played on different instruments and we were to pick what five notes were played Life must be easy when you have perfect pitch!
The ensembles are ordered by numbers from 1 to 8 according to your experience and ability to read lead sheets and such. I think they put me in 1 because I've never played in an ensembles. The people I've talked to about it said they graduated with 2's and 3's though, so I don't mind.
Whelp, it's now officially tomorrow, so I think I'll take a shower and go to bed, but I'll get some pictures up soon!
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you want to hear about something specific!
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