Life in Boston

The City

 
I am in my third week in Boston and am having a great time.  It took me a few days to adjust to being without my family and community.  I can no longer bike to the coop and see half a dozen or a dozen people that I know.  It was awesome living in a small town full of people that I loved, many of whom had known me since I was a single digit child. (Now I am 20!)  But I have been gradually meeting cool people, finding a good group of friends and becoming more familiar with (and less stressed by) the twists and turns of city life.

I have been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend, Audrey who is attending Berklee this year and I practically feel like a Berklee student already.  I know the class schedule, homework, dorms, students, and hopefully I will get to know the professors.  People assume I am a student at Berklee unless I tell them because why else would I be there?  I am even studying the same material because I bought the Berklee ear training and harmony books. 

I have been devoting a substantial portion of time to studying the Berklee materials, probably more than the average Berklee student.  Hours of harmony and ear training on top of piano practice, jam sessions and being in college (with online liberal arts courses from SMCC) make a job rather unrealistic but I have always been more interested in freelancing anyway.  I really do need to start making money but I think it will benefit me more in the long run to devote my time to building my music career in Boston.

There are so many musical opportunities and cool people to jam with in Boston.  Audrey and I along with our fiddling friend, Kathleen, played for the BIDA contra dance in Cambridge which was a blast (except that Audrey was sick).  After the dance, Mari Black (a national Scottish fiddle champion) contacted me wanting to jam sometime.  I have already started a couple weekly jams (and potlucks) with some fun Berklee and NEC fiddle players but I am excited for more. 

Another set of opportunities I discovered is the abundance of free concerts and events in Boston. New England Conservatory has a ton of master classes, lectures and workshops that are open to the public.  Both NEC and North Eastern are having workshops with film score composers in October which I am super psyched about.

My Home In Boston
I am living in Jamaica Plain with a nice, older woman who is a friend of someone in Belfast.  I am a five minute walk from the Arboretum (where I love to hang out and study) and a three minute walk from a food coop (already a member).  It is a twenty-five minute bike ride along a beautiful tree-lined path to reach Berklee and a forty-five minute cycle to get to Summerville where I have started taking piano lessons with my Fiddle Camp teacher, Neil Pearlman.



College Courses
I am taking Sociology which is interesting but the course is rather dry, Music Appreciation and History which is extremely easy so far, a Freshman Interest Group which is a one credit course required by SMCC, and Documentary Photography which is an awesome course largely because it gives me an excuse to take photographs and edit them.  I took classes this summer so I did not need to take a full course load this fall and I am glad to have the extra time to devote to music while I am in such a hub of music inspiration and opportunity.

Hope this makes up for the months I have neglected this blog.
All the best,
Clayton

Make Berklee Affordable 101

Hello World,

Figuring out my plans for college has been quite an adventure and the work is far from over.

THE PLAN
Ultimate Goals: Attend Berklee College of Music. Study film scoring and composition. Graduate with minimum debt. Find work as a composer!

Making Berklee affordable 101:

Step 1. Take cheap online courses from SMCC this summer/fall/spring to cover all transferable Liberal Arts courses required at Berklee.

Step 2. Study to test out of core music courses at Berklee (ear training, harmony, counterpoint, music history, etc.)

Step 3. Move to Boston this fall. Make connections at Berklee. Work to cover living expenses. Find kindhearted Berklee professors to give me advice, composition lessons and put a good word or two in the ear of higher authorities for me.

Step 4. Work on my musicianship and be awesome at my audition!

Step 5: Apply for scholarships/grants outside of Berklee.  Find people interested in sponsoring my education.

Quite a bit of work ahead of me to make this happen.

Let's do it!
Clayton

Update

Hello All,

Wow, I have been neglecting this blog terribly.  Having a Facebook page now isn't helping.
What have I been up to?  A lot of things have been happening in my musical life.

Violinist Audrey Buddington and I have enjoyed growing success with our musical careers.  We have been finding gigs, working on music videos, invited to play for the Ooh La La dance weekend in Quebec, working on an album of our originals, writing tons of music, and having a lot of fun.

I am currently working on intensive music theory, ear training and piano technique.  I am entering a busy composing stage as I am writing music for a Shakespeare production, composing pieces for a short stop-motion film, an infomercial, and am looking into possible payed work through Compass Light in Camden.

Best,
Clayton